Reviewed by Gareth Hills

Geoff Man led an interesting life to be sure, balancing his time as a progressive rock musician with his duty as vicar at St Luke's, Deeplish, Rochdale. By the time of his tragic death in 1993, Geoff had amassed an impressive back catalogue, both from his time spent as vocalist for prog rock band Twelfth Night, to his own idiosyncratic albums both as a solo and with his band. This release is a retrospective collection of demos released with his last outfit, Eh! Geoff Mann Band. Those who have not heard Geoff and cohorts adventurous musical explorations before will be surprised to discover just how good they actually were. All of the musicians are accomplished and while the "production" is raw to the point of non-existence, its audio defects don't detract that much from the music. My only criticism might be regarding Geoff's heavy reliance on his "wobbly" guitar effect, which makes quite a few tracks sound a little like Pink Floyd's "Run Like Hell", but as this was a much loved Mann trademark I'll let that go. Not only was Geoff an excellent songwriter he was also a gifted band arranger as Eh! Geoff Mann Band's arrangement of the Beatles evergreen "Eleanor Rigby" demonstrates that. Although this delve into the archives will, first and foremost, be snapped up by Geoff Mann/Twelfth Night completists there is music here which, despite the passing of time, would be enjoyed by any aficionado of the progressive end of rock music.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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