clive mitten - tales from a misspent youth vol II - 2023
“... tricks of the tales / tales well told ...”
intro
Waiting for new review material from Italy, a belated review of a Clive Mitten (Twelfth Night) project. After the album with reinterpretations of the old Twelfth Night work which was reviewed on progVisions in 2021 under the name 'Suite Cryptique - Recomposing Twelfth Night 1978-1983', Clive Mitten has made two double albums in which he explores the music of his youth and provides it with an orchestral environment. Both double albums were released under the name 'Tales From A Misspent Youth'. I have never heard Volume I, but I received a physical promo copy of Volume II that I never got around to. Nevertheless, a review of this remarkable album belongs on progVisions. Hereby, under the heading 'better late than never', a review of this double album.
line-up
All tracks arranged, recorded and pruduced by Clive Mitten in his home studio, E17, January to October 2023.
review
About the album 'Suite Cryptique' I wrote at the time 'You can find the most wonderful orchestrations and arrangements on this remarkable album. An album that could be interesting for the lovers of classical music, cinematic music, and the open-minded music lover in general.' This also applies to this album, except that these are not compositions by Twelfth Night but by Emerson Lake & Palmer, IQ, Yes, King Crimson, Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, Genesis, Marillion, Rush and Van Der Graaf Generator. The soundtrack of the youth of many progressive rock lovers.
Disc one of this double album is entitled 'Tricks Of The Tales'. A nod to the 'Trick Of The Tale' album by Genesis. The funny thing is that there are no Genesis numbers on the first CD, they are a medley on CD 2 which is entitled 'Tales Well Told'. The first CD opens with the Emerson Lake & Palmer number 'Tarkus'. In the booklet you can read that 'Tarkus' is set for three pianos, mini Moog, string orchestra, wind and tuned percussion soloists, drums and organ. This fairly classical setting is of course extremely suitable for an orchestral jacket. It must have been a hell of a job to find out all the parts of Emerson and Palmer down to the note and translate them into an orchestral keyboard version. But Clive Mitten has succeeded in making a fascinating whole out of it. It is very well put together and you can easily recognize all the familiar melody lines. Only the digital drum parts I would have liked to see replaced by real drums, but that is of course not possible in a solo home studio setup. The ending with the church organ and Mini Moog is very beautiful. The second number is by a contemporary of Twelfth Night. IQ, a band that is still active today, is represented by the number 'Widow's Peak'. You can tell that Clive Mitten enjoyed this. 'Church bells announce the second half before a solo cello enters with the guitar part. A glockenspiel plays the guitar delay part.' It has become a beautiful and melodic performance that exposes the strength of the original composition. Very well done and a pleasure to listen to. The next number is also great, and what a challenge this must have been. This is the classic 'Close To The Edge' by Yes. The opening is done with a string quartet. To convert the vocal parts of Jon Anderson into good sounding music must have been a real challenge. You have to listen to this with an open mind, otherwise two CDs full of this kind of music will be too much for you and you will be more inclined to pull the original out of the closet. But I find it very fascinating to follow all this, a feast of recognition. The end with the church organ is again something to savor. The next band in the spotlight is King Crimson which is represented by the combination of '21st Century Schizoid Man / Starless'. The hectic and fast part is done with tuned percussion. The quieter parts are done with piano. The part with 'Starless' is done with bass, marimba and Mini Moog. And of course a string orchestra for that Mellotron part. At the end Clive throws in a female choir. Another timeless classic is of course 'Stairway To Heaven' by Led Zeppelin. This has become a very sensitive whole with a double string orchestra and a violin for both the vocal and the guitar part. You have never heard 'Stairway To Heaven' like this before. The first CD closes with one of the classics of Jethro Tull. 'Thick As a Brick' is of course also suitable for an orchestral performance. Personally I think this suite that is compressed to almost 21 minutes is very successful. One of the highlights of this remarkable album.
The second CD has the subtitle 'Tales Well Told'. The CD opens with 'Fanfare For The Common Man' which is originally a Copland composition that has been adapted by Emerson Lake & Palmer into a progressive rock version. This is already a fairly classically tinged number with a lot of piano, but now even more parts have been done on the piano. In the fat part at the end there are a lot of church organ and synth parts. Then follows the music that I have been listening to for more than 50 years now. The second number I ever heard from my beloved Genesis and which has grown into my favorite number. 'Watcher Of The Skies' is combined here with 'The Fountain Of Salmacis', The Musical Box' and 'Firth Of Fifth'. The latter number has the ultimate Steve Hackett guitar solo and is of course on our favorite Genesis studio album 'Selling Of The Pound'. The Mellotron part of the opening of 'Watcher Of The Skies' is done with the string orchestra. The entire number is performed with string orchestra, pianos and drums. This is not so strange anymore, nowadays there is also a piano duo that performs Genesis compositions. The transitions to 'The Fountain Of Salmacis' and 'The Musical Box' are subtly done and nicely put together. "The Musical Box" is done here with four pianos. 'Firth Of Fifth" is a work of art on the piano and string orchestra and drums. The famous guitar solo can be found here as a synth solo with the sound of a flute. This is of course the Genesis classic that you can never hear too often, in whatever form ... timeless music. A surprising choice for me is the King Crimson combination 'Discipline / Frame By Frame'. 'Discipline' is performed with pianos, Mini Moog and drums. The piano parts are clear but the Bill Bruford drum parts with programmed drums? Then you have to make choices and that is what you hear here. 'Frame By Frame" with violin and viola is surprising and well done. This combination must have been a challenge too. The second contemporary of Twelfth Night is of course Marillion and they are represented with the combination 'Garden Party / Grendel'. I might have expected "Garden Party", but not 'Grendel'. So it is again a surprising choice for me. It is of course to convert the vocal parts of characteristic singers into good melody lines. The quiet and strange first part of Grendel without drums is a surprising choice, but somehow it works. The difficult rhythm for the melodic ending is done with two drummers. Rush is represented by 'Cygnus X-1 Books I and II'. perhaps a surprising choice. It has become a combination of string orchestra and tunned purcussion. Later the beautiful sound of an oboe is used. I find the first part of this number a bit of an odd one out. The album is concluded with the first part of 'Refugees' by the British band Van der Graaf Generator. The melodies are really beautiful, a worthy conclusion to a remarkable double album.
conclusion
If you like Clive Mitten's 'Suite Cryptique' from 2021 with the renditions of the Twelfth Night classics, you should definitely also listen to this double album (I personally don't know Volume I). Then you also know a bit what to expect. It is all very well done and cleverly put together, but it will not be everyone's 'cup of tea'. I think you have to have an open mind to take on this challenge. If you, like me, also listen to classical music, this is probably an advantage because the threshold is not too high. But if you put time into it, you will come across surprising things. For example, the beautiful Genesis four-part consisting of 'Watcher Of The Skies', 'Fountain Of Salmacis', 'The Musical Box' and 'Firth Of Fifth' which has beautiful transitions. Or the performance of IQ's 'Widow's Peak'. 'Tarkus', 'Close To The Edge' and 'Thick As A Brick' are also good. I do think that listening to the two albums back to back is perhaps a bit too much of a good thing. But it is fascinating to hear your classics from your youth in these one-man orchestrations. Very well done and it shows the love for the music.