OF QUEUES AND CURES

The only lineup change from their debut is bassist Neil Murray being replaced by former HENRY COW's bassist John Greaves. As has been noted, the lineup for the first two NATIONAL HEALTH albums is the same as the HATFIELD AND THE NORTH's except for the bass player (Richard Sinclair).There was a HENRY COW connection with "The Rotters Club" album as well back then, as bassoon and aboe player Lindsay Cooper guested on that one. I just have to say that I have been listening to so much amazing music lately including this album and THE MUFFINS' "Manna / Mirage" , HENRY COW's "Western Culture" and COS' "Viva Boma". This record has compositions from each band member while their debut was pretty much Dave Stewart's baby.

"The Bryden 2-Step (For Amphibians) Part 1" opens with birds chirping as the synths flow with lots of organ. The song kicks in after 2 minutes with prominant drums. Some excellent guitar 6 minutes in before the song calms back down before 8 minutes. Bass and light drums to end it. "The Callipso" hits the ground running before settling down a minute in. There is a Caribbean sounding section with some guest steel drums as the tempo continues to change. The first two songs and the last one are Stewart compositions. John Greaves composed the next one called "Squarer For Maud" and there is a definite HENRY COW flavour to it. There is even a guest appearance from former HENRY COW cellest Georgie Born. This one is darker sounding with angular guitar melodies. Organ arrives before a great guitar solo 3 minutes in. Spoken words 6 minutes in as the guitar comes back. This is great ! It becomes uptempo with some guest clarinet from Jimmy Hastings. Piano, drums and cello to end it. Love the ending.

"Dreams Wide Awake" is a Phil Miller tune. He asked Stewart to contribute some "mad" organ at the beginning, and that is what we get along with an aggressive and abrasive sound. A change arrives 2 1/2 minutes in. Guitar 6 minutes in is good as the song ends with a jazz vibe. "Binoculars" and "Phlakhaton" are both Pip Pyle songs.The later an 8 second drum solo, the former has Greaves on vocals. The only song with vocals by the way. It opens with solemn organ sounds for a minute then vocals and drums come in. Jimmy Hastings adds some beautiful flute melodies to this song and the drumming is outstanding. The vocals come and go and the song ends with a nice bass, guitar and drum melody. "The Bryden 2-Step (For Amphibians) Part 2" reprises the same melody as part 1 but has brighter moments as well as some atmosphere to end it. The drumming, guitar and organ work stand out.

It's kind of cool that in 1978 Canterbury was still being recorded and released, and we certainly are the benefactors of this. A must have for Canterbury fans. By the way Dave Stewart prefers this record over the debut, and so do I.