IN PRAISE OF LEARNING

This is my favourite Henry Cow album, a highly original musical and political tour-de-force. Dagmar Krause's vocals are unique, and though some may find her singing harsh (I don't), no one can deny the sheer presence she brings to the music (particularly when coupled with Tim Hodgekinson's lyrics). Living in the Heart of the Beast is, in my mind, HCs penultimate piece ('Beautiful as the moon' comes close...though I like the version on 'Concerts' even better). (For the uninitiated, imagine a grumpy Ute Lemper singing socialist manifesto's over top of music that is a cross between Zappa's ensemble modern and Wyatt's Soft Machine, with Fripp (actually Frith) providing ripping electric guitar solos, and you get the picture). This is an album that gets better, and more appreciated, with every listen (unlike some of the other Henry Cow albums). There is a bit of 'difficult listening' noise thrown in (Morning Star for instance), which takes away slightly from the effect of the whole, but the main pieces are ones of intense emotion, complexity, and sheer inventiveness.