COMPLETE

If you're new to National Health, and don't already have their other albums, this is a great choice if you can find it--it's three for the price of, er, two, reasonably well-mastered, and Stewart's commentary in the liner notes is extensive and absolutely priceless. (Did you know Pip Pyle is made entirely of metal? Read on, true believers!) Heck, I'd be half tempted to pick it up for the liner notes alone!

So you wonder if National Health is worth collecting in the first place? Well, I can't claim not to be biased, but this was, and probably still is, my favorite rock band of all time. Without a doubt at the top of the Canterbury pile IMO! Mindbogglingly complex, yet extremely tasty, compositions would be the source of inspiration of many a Dave Stewart column in Keyboard Magazine for years to come--and they stand up to repeated listens... and repeated listens. Fabulous dual keyboard work, rock-solid and smooth drumming across some of the more hideous time signatures to grace the history of music, an absolute lack of pretense despite being ambitious as hell, and a thoroughly twisted and utterly British sense of musical humor are just some of the highlights.

The meat of the album, of course, is the full contents of National Health and Of Queues and Cures. The tracks from D.S. al Coda are quite a different beast, feet planted firmly in the 80s--several are remakes of compositions from Gowen's earlier Gilgamesh albums. For those, I tend to favor the original recordings, but there's no denying Gowen's compositional chops here, and there's new stuff that's well worth a look. "Apocalypso" is a more broadly comic reinterpretation of the "Collapso," with new improved technology, but the pounding drum samples and slightly slower tempo don't quite keep up with the spry insanity of the original. Finally, "Paracelsus" is a light-hearted and warm welcome to the entire collection, but Missing Pieces has it in its entirety. As a survey, though, this is a fantastic collection, and if you're like me, it will keep you madly happy for weeks to come.