ARMED OBSERVATION

Found a used LP copy of this in a nearby Eugene, Oregon record store, and it really blew me away! I've been aware of Doctor Nerve since 1996, seen them described as something like "For those who no longer find Henry Cow challenging enough". I wouldn't say that, but it's still a wonderful and challenging listen like all the best in RIO. Armed Observation came out in 1987, on Cuneiform Records, a label which RIO seems to be a specialty (and it's nice to see Cuneiform Records is still around cranking out goodies). I remembered 1987 very well, being 14/15 that year. Mainstream music was pretty much a wasteland, you only needed to turn on to MTV or local rock station and get inundated with cheesy hair metal or synth pop. Debbie Gibson and Tiffany released their debuts, and Whitney Houston released her second album, which was equally popular as her debut. If, in the prog world, the best you can do is Big Generator by Yes, you're in trouble (Big Generator was a disjointed mess, and if you enjoyed 90125, you know that Big Generator just wasn't up to snuff). And of course Genesis still riding high from the previous year's Invisible Touch (but then Genesis hadn't really been prog since about the time Steve Hackett left, although you could argue about parts of Duke, though). Anyways, Armed Observation is just what I needed to hear from a 1987 release! Really twisted jazz-influenced RIO, that at times bring to mind the instrumental Zappa and Gentle Giant, both at their most "weird". The King Crimson influence has itself felt towards the end of the album with Fripp-like guitar. What I really love is the jazz approach. In the 1980s there was just way too much fuzak and smooth jazz infecting easy listening radio stations, and you can tell these guys wanted absolutely nothing to do with that, going for more of a late '60s/early '70s jazz influence. There's also a reminder of how Univers Zero may have ended up like if they were more jazz rock inclined. RIO is a genre that I don't always dig, as there is just way too much nonsense and messing about (too many groups trying to be "weird" for "weird's sake"), but I know good RIO when I hear it, and Doctor Nerve is one of those. This is just some crazy and demented stuff. The one Zappa song this album reminds me of is "The Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue" from Weasels Ripped My Flesh, which was clearly Zappa going full-on RIO before it ever existed! I also really appreciate that Doctor Nerve avoided synthesizers like the plague, as much as I enjoy the sounds of synths, you have to bear in mind this was 1987, and pretty dreadful digital synths were the rule of the day, and these guys clearly wanted nothing to do with that. So much '80s music ended up dated, and these guys avoided those dreaded '80s production tricks that dated so much of the music of the era badly. I can see why this music was called "Rock in Opposition" (I realize the name was coined by Chris Cutler for some 1978 music festivals featuring Henry Cow and similarly like- minded bands), as it was truly "in opposition" to what was popular, where they refused to dumb-down their music to follow fads. Anyways, Armed Observation is truly one of the best albums I have heard from the 1980s and if the description sounds great to you, this is a required album in your collection!

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