A clear case could be made for citing The Twilights' Once Upon a Twilight as Australia's greatest pop-psych album, Although almost
totally ignored on its original release in June 1968, the album now takes its place among the best of the genre, Between 1966 and 1967 The Twilights enjoyed eight Top 40 hit singles, Near-perfect pop-psych gems like '9.50', 'Young Girl', 'Time and Motion Study Man', 'The Way They Play', 'Cathy Come Home' and 'Comin' on Down' remain some of the finest moments in Australia's 1960s musical legacy, The Twilights had gained
much inspiration and experience on their trip to the UK (October 1966 to February 1967), during which they recorded three tracks at EMI's Abbey Road Studios with in-house producer Norman Smith (Pink Floyd, The Pretty Things): a cover of The Hollies' 'What's Wrong with the Way I Live', '9.50' and 'Young Girl', Upon returning to Australia, the band set about recording what was to be their greatest (and final) LP.
Just what is it that makes The Twilights' Once Upon a Twilight such an important pop-psych artefact? First and foremost is the quality of the songs themselves, with nearly all having been written by the band's resident musical genius, guitarist Terry Britten, Secondly, under the guidance of producer David MacKay, the band recorded the album as a complete work, so that even today it displays a unity of purpose and holistic purity not
generally achieved elsewhere, Thirdly, the sound of the album boasts all the trappings of period psychedelia, with all manner of studio trickery from echoed harmonies and gentle phasing to vocals fed through rotating Leslie cabinets.
Aztec Music's reissue of Once Upon A Twilight has been digitally remastered, and both the Stereo and Mono versions are included, The CD is packaged in a deluxe 6 panel digi-pak, with a 24 page booklet containing many rare photos and liner notes by noted Aussie Rock writer Ian McFarlane.