THE HENRY COW LEGEND [AKA: LEGEND OR LEG END]

I have always loved some weird and more abstract music. Stuff like The Residents, Captain Beefheart, Frank Zappa, etc and etc. Avant Garde music is pretty neat to me on how they can blend both traditional and non traditional musical elements together to make a weird, hypnotic, or sometimes creepy experience. With that being said I won't call it my favorite genre of music, or Prog, however I do have a soft spot for the bands that make these weird sounds. One of these bands is Henry Cow. Just now I listened to their debut album. I was pretty prepared for what was too come. After all this wasn't my first rodeo in the Henry Cow ring, since a few months ago I listened to the very great 'In Praise of Learning'. I knew I would at least enjoy this album, so I listened to it and so here are my thoughts.

The first song, Nirvana for Mice, introduces us to the early sound of Henry Cow. Before being Avant-rock, they were more sorta Canterbury or Fusion or Avant-Jazz. Stuff like that. It is a pretty smooth yet weird song that gets more abstract the more it goes on. The next song, Amygdala, is more in line with Fusion works mixed with some bits of Avant Garde of course. It is a smooth, pretty mellow track you can listen to. After that we get to what I think is probably my least favorite track on the album, Teenbeat Introduction. Now I know the point of Avant-Prog music is too be rock like and abstract in sound, however I feel like this song kinda gets on my nerves a bit, plus it's very annoying, especially at the end. But it leads to the very good Teenbeat, a very sick jazzy song that holds some cool brass instruments and drumming. Side 2 is where the really good stuff takes place. Extract from with the Yellow Half Moon and Blue Star is a very free form and jazzy song with a very cool bass riff that leads to some cool drumming. The reprisal of Teenbeat is like a remembrance of the good times you have had with the first side, and plus the electric can go pretty hard at times, like a solo in a 70s hard rock or metal band, but in a free form and weird environment. The Tenth Chaffinch is a very hypnotic track. It is creepy in it's sound and the abstraction is super interesting. It's like if Teenbeat Intro wasn't just nonsense for the sake of nonsense but instead, nonsense to make something that is executed greatly. Then the last song, Nine Funerals of the Citizen King is such an amazing track. It is like a combination of all the best elements of the best songs on the album and uses it to make a good finale for the record.

Overall this album is very good, however it definitely has it fair share of some issues that if you listened to the album can be quite noticeable. But that doesn't detract from the good stuff on the album. Overall I enjoyed this album and I think some people can to if they like more experimental music.