ART & ILLUSION
Twelfth Night
•Neo-Prog
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3.01
| 53 ratings | 6 reviews | 11% 5 stars
Good, but non-essential |
Studio Album, released in 1984 Songs / Tracks Listing 1. Counterpoint (5:57) - Andy Sears / vocals
Artwork: Candace Pridgeon and Patrick Hughes and to Quinino for the last updates Edit this entry |
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TWELFTH NIGHT Art & Illusion ratings distribution
(53 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(11%)Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(19%)Good, but non-essential (40%)Collectors/fans only (23%)Poor. Only for completionists (8%)
TWELFTH NIGHT Art & Illusion reviews
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Collaborators/Experts Reviews
PROG REVIEWER
The opening track "Counterpoint" definitely has balls and is highly melodious but this sounds totally outdated nowadays. Somehow, it reminds me on "The Chameleons, a monument of the English wave scene of the eighties. Also the first part of the instrumental track C.R.A.B. could easily included on an album from The Cure but when the tempo is speeding up and a Hackett like guitar solo starts to enlighten the atmosphere, you realize this is a neo-prog band you're listening to. This is very much similar to a classic like "a poet sniffs a flower" ; nice one ! On "Kings & queens" you could have the impression the band is heading in the heavy rock direction. Fortunately there's some highly enjoyable progressive excerpts as well. Tracks like this one and "Counterpoint" are sounding chaotic and energetic. The final track on the original lp was "A first new day". A highly melodic track in the vein of "love song". Sears sings beautifully on a science fiction landscape of lush keyboards. It used to sound great but nowadays it all seems so plastic to me !
There's some demo versions added to this cd release. The lack of studio tricks on these songs reveal more of what's left of the familiar TN-sound. You can also find 3 alternate versions of tracks that appeared on the slick sounding XII album from 1986. These tracks are more accessible than those from A & I. "Take a look" was the only progressive outing on that album and this version is even more progressive including exciting extended instrumental excerpts. For me this is the only track of their 1986 recordings that's worth of checking out.
To my opinion this album introduces the downfall of the band. Twelfth Night fans should check this one out for the 4 best tracks of the post Mann period. This album is much more interesting for digging in the English part of history of neo-prog in the eighties than for satisfying listening experiences in 2005.
PROG REVIEWER
PROG REVIEWER
Is the attempt to heavy rock better ("Kings & Queens"), not sure at all. The band was not exceptional so far with its previous releases. Not too bad is "Counterpoint": upbeat, in the mood of its time and catchy; but not quite prog in my views. The lamenting vocals during "First New Day" are quite unbearable.
I believe that the best conclusion is held in the title of the closing instrumental: "C.R.A.B." they called it. And so it is? Let's be generous here: two stars. It is indeed very generous.
PROG REVIEWER
And to be honest, the Art & Illusion mini-album - more of an EP, really - isn't that far removed from the sound of the Geoff Mann era. Hell, the title track is even a Mann-vintage track - you can hear him performing it on the Flashbacks archival release, and the 2CD "definitive edition" release of Live and Let Live. Sure, there's no dark epic here on the level of Creepshow or We Are Sane, but that wasn't their sole preserve even under Mann, and any of the tracks here sit naturally next to material like Fact and Fiction or Human Being.
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Reviewer
The title cut is up next, a song already well known to TN fans, as it was a number performed by Geoff but not recorded. This has to be one of the band's bounciest numbers, full of energy and enthusiasm. Instrumental "C.R.A.B." showed yet again that the band had an extremely solid bassist in Clive Mitten while Brian pinned down the beat, which allowed Rick and Andy Revell to move away and move the melody around. "Kings & Queens" has probably the heaviest section on the album, although the introduction doesn't really give that impression. It cuts and changes, moving from dynamic rock to soaring vocals with a sparse background, solid from start to finish. "First New Day" is one of my favourite TN numbers, simple and pleasant, yet strikingly dynamic and hard-hitting at the same time. While the atmosphere is mostly in the music, it is the vocals that combine with it to give this song such a strong edge.
And this is where the album finished, but not now. What follows are the three tracks that the band were paid to record as demos by MCA in May 1984. If 'Art & Illusion' had been a full album then these would probably had been on it as well. These three were "Blue Powder Monkey", "Blondon Fair" and "Take A Look", two of which were re-recorded for 'XII'. The first of these has a rather lightweight guitar riff, and is not one of my personal faves. But that gives way to the very much Japan-esque "Blondon Fair". This is a classic in every sense of the world. This is total atmosphere, yet after the introduction seems to take on a life of its own. "Take A Look" comes in at 12 minutes, and not a second of it is wasted. Yet again this is one of their best ever songs, although this version sounds recognisably different to their later version, particularly in the vocals which were strengthened.
As if that wasn't enough, the album closes with alternate versions of four of the original songs. The booklet is crammed full of photos, information by Andy Sears and Brian, as well as all of the lyrics
Latest members reviews
Not bad at all, although the album is rather short. This is the first album featuring new vocalist Andy Sears after the departure of Geoff Mann. This album in fact is imo better than the follow-up. The album rocks hard and the vocals are really good, in fact in reminds me bit of IQ's Peter Nich ... (read more)
Report this review (#189200) | Posted by Kingsnake | Friday, November 14, 2008 | Review Permanlink
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