CANTERBURY SCENE

8. Fol De Rol follows with this mantra from another age, a moment where each note coming together becomes nostalgic, vibrant, or exasperating, depending on the listeners' tastes; perfection of the moment, soulless tinkering.

9. Shaving Is Boring follows with the typical Canterbury take; It starts out of nowhere, it's barely audible, and then, and then it transforms into a minimalist electronic musical mishmash that holds up, like the work of Tangerine Dream; confusing, astounding, gradually captivating; an open-door break, the sound of footsteps, and the finale, as if coming from elsewhere, for the organ-bass-guitar assault on Canterbury time, the one that melts time with notes. 10. Licks for the Ladies follows, as if there were no sides on LPs at the time; a rural atmosphere with a distant vocal on an acoustic guitar and its electric organ. 11. Bossa Nochance follows, just more energetic. 12. Big Jobs No 2 (by Poo and the Wee Wees) in the same vein, well, why separate tracks that are only the musical continuation? Soft vocals and guitar play the part with a honeyed undertone. 13. Lobster in Cleavage Probe arrives, electric organ on choirs of sirens or nuns in bloom, the bucolic scene is confirmed; a battle without weapons between two female choirs wandering in cloudy limbo before the powerful solo, launching 14. Gigantic Land-Crabs in Earth Takeover Bid and its unashamedly crimsonian solo into violent, archaic, heavy territory?yes, the word is out, which makes me smile at the look of my prog friends, impervious to the prog metal movement, in short; a little sweetness, clarinet, tweet, tweet, or almost, before the new deluge and 15. The Other Stubbs Effect closes the debate with the psychedelically disturbing outro.

Side A's first track, "The Bryden 2-Step (for Amphibians)" Part 1, begins with a hushed "dawn" introduction (complete with birdsong), which gives way to an energetic theme that might at first be mistaken for something by Emerson, Lake & Palmer before settling into a fusion-y interlude and concluding with a hypnotic passage featuring a bass solo. Regarding the next track, "The Collapso", suffice it to say that it bears no resemblance to calypso, even though Selwyn Baptiste appears briefly on steel drums; in fact, it sounds particularly ELP-ish. The final track on Side A, "Squarer for Maud", is rather more foreboding, sounding at times somewhat like some extended instrumental excursion by the Starless and Bible Black-period King Crimson, and incorporates a sudden spoken-word interjection that feels like it could have come from Robert Fripp's Exposure.

Opening side B is "Dreams Wide Awake", which starts out in a way that could put you momentarily in mind of Edgar Winter's "Frankenstein" and then goes back into the standard National Health solo-trading that's always enjoyable to listen to but would be a challenge to identify which track it came from if you were to hear a random segment of it. The next track, "Binoculars", features actual singing (by John Greaves), making it the most reminiscent of Hatfield and the North of anything on this LP; there's also some nice flute and clarinet by Jimmy Hastings. The album closes with "The Bryden 2-Step (for Amphibians)" Part 2, which starts with an almost bolero-like riff before breaking into the main theme from Part 1 and finally drifting off ethereally in typical Dave Stewart fashion. 4.99 a essential for the Canterbury section of a collection.

The album begins with The Bryden 2-Step Pt. 1, a lush and powerful melody of fast-paced jazz fusion while mixing avant prog elements into it, all while staying on a positive side. This is an excellent way to start the album and truly shows National Health's creativity when writing. The clean production on this track also puts it out there as one of the Canterbury Scene's finest examples. It's always shifting in different ways everywhere the song goes, keeping the sound fresh and unique from anything else on the song. The instrumental aspects also add more space for the band to experiment in, and they take it to their full advantage. Seriously, it's incredible how the band can go from ambient nature noise to rapid-fire jazz tunes at such volumes in such little time during the first minutes alone. The next song, The Collapso, continues this trend, being much more quirky guitar and drum work. This track is much more laid back while still pushing boundaries and exploring many different wacky instrumentations and structures. Sure, the technicality and quality of the first track aren't here, but this is still an incredible piece. One of the main problems I have with the song, though, is that it is far too short. I know the band was already stretching out what they could fit on a vinyl and that they were running out of space on a singular vinyl, but if it weren't for those limitations and they could've made this song longer, I would've liked it a lot more (as good as it already is). Squarer for Maud is probably the best song on the album, and while it might be one of the longest, the true greatness of this number is revealed more and more as the song progresses. The perfect transition from dark and ominous jazz fusion to lush and powerful avant-rock melodies is truly one of a kind in this song. The structure is also constantly teetering between different strange time signatures and wild jazz experimentation. It's hard for me to state the key perfection this song has, but basically it has every good aspect on this album doubled in terms of quality.

Dreams Wide Awake is the opening on side two and is composed mainly of drum-driven, hard-rocking, progressive rock accompanied by excessively evolving guitar and keyboard solos in the beginning, while the second half has more happy-sounding material similar to what was found on The Bryden 2 Step Pt. 1; it still brings its own unique twists and manic rhythms into the mix. It's another great piece of this record, and while it may be on the weaker side of things, it's still essential to keep this album's flow going. For a while, the next song, called Binoculars, was probably one of my most played songs. It's catchy while staying inside the realm of the band's best music, with the eleven minutes of length giving it length to squeeze wonderful vocal sections with instrumental jamming and individual spotlights on each of the band members talents. It has a neat dynamic between uplifting, soft, and quiet moments and heavy levels of loud and bombastic experimentation that make this song all the better. There is a short interlude called Phl'kat'n before we end off the album in the second part of The Bryden 2 Step, which, as the name implies, continues the musical developments found on the first part. This song definitely focuses less on having an introduction and throws the listener into the wild stuff. Sure, there are some repeating melodies from the first part, but the band manages to stay original and create a whole new atmosphere within this track. It ends off the album magnificently with this great performance.'

In conclusion, every listener of progressive rock needs to hear this marvelous sensation and feel the experience and excitement that is Of Queues and Cures. Literally, this is one of my top favorite albums of all time. Nothing on this record lets me down, and while this might be my second favorite Canterbury Scene album (behind Hatfield and the North's debut), it is impossibly close. I would give this record a perfect 5/5, but I think it's just barely out of reach, mainly because of that eight-second song (if you could call it that), and when talking about perfection, everything matters. My official rating is 4.75/5. I would highly recommend it to all listeners of this genre if you haven't already. It's incredible!

The story begins when the pig-farming Egyptologist Mr. Tea Being is sold a "Magik Ear Ring" by the enegmatic Antique Tea Pot Street Vendor and Tea Label Collector known only as Fred the Fish. The ear ring is capable of getting messages from the planet GonG via a pirate radio station known as Radio Gnome Invisible. The two travel to the Hymalayas, where they meet (in a cave) the Great Beer Yogi, Banana Andana, a figure who tends to chant "Banana Nirvana Manana" and get drunk on Foster's a lot. Meanwhile, elsewhere on Earth, the protagonist Zero the Hero is going about his everyday business when he experiences a vision which causes him to start worshiping the Cock Pot Pixie (also known as Hashman), one of the Pot Head Pixies of Planet GonG. Zero is distracted, however, by a cat, which he offers fish and chips to. The cat is actually the Good Witch Yoni, who gives Zero a potion which knocks him out, thus concluding the album. Characters in the Mythology can easily be equated to band members: Tea Being is bassist Mike Howlett, Zero the Hero is Allen himself, Didier Malherbe (who met Allen and Smyth in a cave on Majorca) is Banana Andana, and the Good Witch Yoni Gilli Smyth.

Radio Gnome Invisible- One of the stranger tracks on the album, which has strong overtones of the band's earlier releases as well as the subtleties that the group aquires with their musical progression. Flying Teapot- Easily the highlight of the album, this twelve minute piece makes great use of saxophone, piano, spacey effects over a great bass line and solid beat. Pot Head Pixies- One of the more surreal songs on the album. While comparatively short, its idiosyncratic lyrics and catchy tune make it instantly likeable. Octave Doctors- This track is the only major annoyance on the album. Lasting barely longer than a minute, it seems to have been included solely as a link between the third and fifth tracks (and as an excuse for Blake to experiment with his synths).

Zero the Hero- In terms of the plotline, this is the most important track on the album, introducing us to the protagonist Zero. Malherbe's sax playing is excellent here, and the mirific ambiences seen here act as a preview to some of the atmospheres in Angel's Egg, the next instalment of the trillogy. An absolutely amazing song. Witch's Song- Contains good instrumental parts, but Gilli Symth's lyrical parts detract somewhat from the overall quality. However, a good track with a more schizophrenic style than its predecessors, which provides a great end note for the album.

Overall- A great album -hampered only by poor sound quality and slightly weak production- which is definately the base for the success of the later albums of the Trillogy ("Angel's Egg" and "You"). Although one must listen several time in order to get used to the eccentric psychadelia of the album (and the gong Mythology, see above), it is more than worth the effort. The use of jazz-style improv, early synthesisers and a completely unique style make this an excellent addition to any progressive music collection. 4.0 great concept album

The bulk of the record is taken up by three multi-part epics, starting with the highlight "Solar Musick Suite". This 17- minute opus developed from a song originally played with Khan and then Gong, and here it is in its fully fleshed out glory, taking up almost the entire first side of the LP. Hillage and the band move through many different moods, textures and tempos with graceful ease, playing with time in a way not many musicians can. Hillage's lyrics are idealistic new age spiritual hippy themes, which can be an aquired taste. The song moves through mellow parts, knotty parts and eases into great grooves that let Hillage rip on the Gitfish, culminating in a ferociously intense jam that brings to mind an extremely psychedelic Mahavishnu Orchestra. "Fish" and "Meditation of the Snake" serve as an interlude to the other mega compositions of the record, ending the first side or "Inglid".

The second side "Outglid" begins with the Hillage concert staple "The Salmon Song". If there was a radio single from this album, it's this 8 and a half minute aquatic rocker. With a straightforward rock riff this is the most conventional song on the record. Theres another mind-bending complex part in the middle before the main riff comes back in and Hillage once again takes it into the stratosphere with an amazing solo. The last song might be the most complex, with the 7 part "Aftaglid". This track moves through many different sections; loose jams, polyrhythmic chaos, pastoral acoustics, Middle-Eastern mantras, and glorious freak outs. The song builds to yet another intense jam and brings the album to a very satisfying conclusion.

Steve Hillage has created a masterpiece of a record, one of the last breaths of the original progressive and psychedelic rock era. His later albums would all follow the Zen filled vibes of this album, but never quite reach the psychedelic heights of this.4.5 great debut from one of the best canterbury guitarists. FISH

Ashley Raynor on bass here was a great choice. He's upfront and quite impressive. I have to say this album was so uplifting to listen to all last week. Like being warm and cozy in my warm little house while the blizzard rages outside. Those distorted keyboards that are Canterbury 101 are all over this album, more so than the studio records. It's like Dave Stewart in his younger days, although Dave stands alone in my opinion as the greatest Canterbury keyboardist.

We get those two 14 plus minute monsters from "Dominion" to open and close this record. That would be "You" and "Toxicity" and both are amazing here but I prefer "You". We get an unreleased track in "Perspektiv", and it sure sounds similar to the previous song "Uppmarksamhet", both are all instrumental, and they blend into each other here. Some majestic mellotron and organ on this new one. The only track from the debut is "Before The Light" which Ryan introduces as "a golden oldie".

Not a perfect record by any means, and I prefer the two studio albums to this, but talk about bringing a smile to my face every time I spun this recording. I love my Canterbury. Some real moments on this one, and they are throughout this 42 minute album. Highly recommended to Canterbury fans out there.

They thank "All the lovely people in..." And they mention Jordsjo, Wobbler, The Chronicles Of Father Robin, Tusmorke, Panzerpappa, The Samuel Jackson Five among others. Some returning guests like the duo from JORDSJO and a couple of others. Unfortunately Steiner Borve is not back from PANZERPAPPA playing sax. Both albums are 40 minutes but this one has ten tracks while the debut has six songs. And while a couple of reviewers whose opinions I respect feel this second one is much better than the debut, I have to disagree. Just my musical tastes really, but I feel the debut is a 4.5 star record while this is a solid 4 stars, so a step down.

I like the debut cover art more as well, especially when you open it up to that two panel scene. Having said that if I could pick one song from either album I would pick the closer from this second one called "Thank You Kleveland". I'm at a bit of a loss to explain why, other than I love how repetitive it is, and the intensity. It turns more powerful late. Now the previous three tracks before this closer are probably my least favourites. So yes I feel this album isn't as consistent as the debut.

I do really like both of the "Dali Lamas Five-Dollar Mamas" tracks very much. They remind me of the debut with so much going on and there's plenty of energy too. Brighter sounds thanks to the keyboards. Catchy and a nod to Canterbury. That opener is a new direction and one I do like. The first section is familiar with those avalanche of sounds that fluctuate. How good is this! But then the change as it turns darker and more intense. A nice contrast as well between the opening two songs.

Track three is mellow with female vocals. Too relaxed really. A miss. But then "Planet Bygningsetaten" makes up for it. Next to the closer this is my second favourite. I love the contrast of the two sections, with one being female vocal led and the other male vocal led. Canterbury keys as well. "Cloudboy Blidbop" starts off in a relaxed way with guitar leading before keys and a more dynamic sound take over after 2 minutes.

This is a band I will be "in on" for a while. So much talent, and I want to see where they go from here. I will be riding this bus for a while. Nice picture of the band doing these challenging poses in the liner notes. Again the keyboardist makes me laugh.