LATER AND POST VIRGIN

Part of the expansive range of Henry Cow archival releases that first saw release in the Road boxed sets before getting individual releases (and recompiled in the Cow Box Redux), Later and Post-Virgin is, as the name implies, a grab-bag of material from the twilight years of Henry Cow. Virgin and Henry Cow had become mutually unhappy with their contractual relationship, and Virgin agreed to release Henry Cow from their remaining obligations in mid-1977, after having breached the contract by refusing the Cow access to the Manor to record their next album.

But it would be internal creative differences that would slaughter the Cow in due course; though the wide range of performances this draws on leads to a certain lack of unity, that lack of unity itself reflects what was going on with band. Note in particular the presence of Joan and On Suicide - two songs which would see the light of day on the first Art Bears album, when after being recorded with Henry Cow a band dispute broke out over the song-oriented direction and eventually the compromise reached was that Krause, Cutler, and Frith would use the Art Bears project name for the material and the rest of Henry Cow would be credited as guests (in a sort of reflection of the process that saw Slapp Happy and Henry Cow merge).

The upside of the tensions within the band is that you get a decidedly broad range of material here, with different band factions each pushing their own material. It might not quite as gel as more harmonious moments chronicled in these live releases, but we're still dealing with competently executed and creatively interesting music turned out by a seasoned group whose creative fires were still burning hot at this point.

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