SMILING AT GRIEF.... REVISITED

It is sometimes hard to recognise that Twelfth Night only released four studio albums during their existence, two with Geoff Mann as singer and two with Andy Sears. In a world containing any justice they would have been huge, and their albums would all rightly be recognised as classics, yet we all know the world is not fair and so they disappeared. But, it must be said that due to the fans and the incredible work put in by drummer Brian Devoil they have had a much longer life than anyone expected. Albums have been reissued and extended, new rarities have been made available, and a whole series of live shows released on CD. They even reformed and in various line-ups put on some fantastic shows, and now they have turned their attention to their debut studio album, 'Smiling At Grief'.

To put this into some context, the band had started life as an instrumental outfit at Reading University, settling on a line-up of Andy Revell, Brian Devoil and Clive Mitten. Their mate Geoff Mann was around as backdrop painter, while Rick Battersby operated the dry ice, but their first singer was Electra Mcleod who sang on one tape. After she left there were various auditions held, and by the time they recorded this their debut album in 1982 the line-up was settled with Geoff and Rick both now in the band to create the 'classic' line-up.

'Smiling At Grief' has been made available in a few different versions prior to this, but this time the band invited in others to remix different songs and possibly even add some instrumentation and additional vocals to the original. The project was kicked off by Steven Wilson, who had this to say, "This is easily my favourite period of Twelfth Night, when the band were reaching for some kind of new wave / progressive hybrid ? and successfully so, they really captured something of that moment in time, both the past and the future. Even if these were meant to be quick and dirty demo recordings it's been great to be given the chance to elevate the sonics a little (hopefully!)". Each musician was given a song, or two, to work with so as well as Wilson we have Pete Jones, Andy Tillison, Rod Reed, Gareth Cole, Simon Godfrey and many others and the result is a cleaning up of the originals yet everyone has stayed true to the originals, paying homage as opposed to trying to turn them into something which is theirs.

In all this set contains the original nine tracks plus seven bonus cuts while there are another five available digitally. I always felt this was the album which contains greatness, just not at the same level as 'Fact and Fiction', but "Creepshow" will always be thought of by many as Geoff Mann's finest hour, and the versions by Simon Godfrey and Paul Hodson demonstrate why that is indeed the case. Surely any fan of modern prog already has this album, often multiple times (like me), but this is yet another which must be added to the list. 40 years on, it is still completely essential. I haven't said a single word about the music and what it sounds like, but if you are a TN fan you already have this in your collection, and if you are a proghead and don't know about TN then now is the time to rectify that omission.  

In the early Eighties the socalled Neo Progressive Rock Movement started to blossom, spearheaded by Marillion, and in their slipstream IQ, Pallas, Pendragon and Twelfth Night. These bands are considered as the most popular Neo Prog bands from that era, but Twelfth Night was the maverick, their sound was hard to pigeonhole, and by far the most original. On this wonderfully recorded (by Steve Wilson) new version of Twelfth Night their first album with Geoff Mann entitled Smiling At Grief ... Revisited (originally from January 1982) you can get an excellent impression from that unique blend of rock, prog, New Wave and synthi-pop, wih the focus on Geoff Mann his very distinctive vocals. The way Geoff Mann colours each song is an extra dimension to the music, from the very first moment I heard his voice (when Fact & Fiction was released in October 1982) I was blown away. About this release the following product details from the band.

"Twelfth Night's 1982 Smiling At Grief album was the first music released with new vocalist, Geoff Mann. With the 40th anniversary arriving in 2022, it was decided to celebrate Smiling At Grief by releasing a 'brand-new' version, by asking friends and peers to remix the album using the original master tracks. The response was amazing as contributions were received from Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree), Peter Jones (Camel), Simon Godfrey (Tinyfish), Tim Bowness & Brian Hulse, Rob Reed (Magenta), Karl Groom (Threshold), Andy Tillison (The Tangent), Lee Abraham & Stu Nicholson, Dean Baker (Galahad), Gareth Cole (Fractal Mirror), Paul Hodson and Mark Spencer. Some are straight remixes, some enhanced with new instrumentation, and some have been radically reworked, to produce an album that will be treasured by all prog rock fans."

My absolute highlight is the dynamic epic composition Creepshow (two remix-versions) in which Geoff shines with varied vocal contributions, from tender and romantic to theatrical and venomous, this is trademark Geoff Mann, supported by strong work on guitar and synthesizer.

Other interesting tracks are East Of Eden Extended (typical Eighties synthesizer sound and fiery guitar), the wonderful This City (emotional vocals), The Honeymoon Is Over (remix by Karl Groom, keyboards and guitar, here Geoff his vocals remind me of Madness), Intro Puppets (Mark Spencer with Mellotron choirs and a Giorgio Moroder-like synthesizer sound), the instrumental Für Helene Part II (unique 'embryonal' Twelfth Night sound with wah-wah drenched guitar, embellished with the unsurpassed Mellotron choirs), Three Dancers (exciting rock guitar by Gareth Cole, along powerful vocals by Geoff Mann, to me it sounds between Bowie and Spandau Ballet) and the Mark Spencer remix Makes No Sense (slow rhythm, dreamy duo vocals, 1981 Geoff Mann session, and moving guitar solo with Mellotron choir sound, goose bumps).

Neo-Prog History!