OF QUEUES AND CURES

I've heard some people say that National Health was the last great Canterbury Scene band. And if it were true, then the classic era of Canterbury Scene would've definitely gone out with a bang. I'll probably do a review of the debut later, but right now I'm talking about their 1978 magnum opus, Of Queues And Cures. With a total run time of over 50 minutes, it's more of an experience than a listen if anything. These men truly were geniuses when making this. Speaking of the men, the band was somehow made up of only four guys. Phil Miller on guitar, Dave Stewart on Piano, Organ, and Minimoog, John Greaves on Bass, and Pip Pyle on Drums and percussion. The band was also helped by an assortment of woodwind and string instrumentalists and the album was produced by Mike Dunne.

As for the track listing, it opens with The Bryden Two-Step (For Amphibians) Pt. 1, which in the beginning sounds peaceful with it's nature sounds and soft keyboard, but eventually goes into this chaotic yet happy jazz explosion. The song never really calms down and for the most part it manages to maintain that exciting feeling. The song is entirely instrumental and really shows its similarities with another Canterbury Scene band, Hatfield And the North. It also just so happens that three of the guys who played on this album had been a part of Hatfield And the North before joining National Health (two of them were also founders). The next song, The Collapso, is another Jazz instrumental that the feeling the opening song had. It isn't nearly as good or as fast paced as the opening track, but it still does a good job at satisfying the listener. Next is Squarer for Maud and it opens with a much more gloomy and dark sound with a deep piano and bass with a less complex song structure but still being progressive. Over time though it goes into that experimental energetic jazz I was talking about in the other songs. Squarer For Maud is also technically the first song with lyrics, but those are just spoken word talking about how to pronounce a word.

Side Two opens with Dreams Wide Awake which (from what I hear) opens with a sort of heavy opening. Not that it's heavy metal or anything, it just has a bit more of an edge to it than the other songs. Eventually the song calms down for a couple of minutes before gradually going back into that same sound I've been talking about. The next song, and my personal favorite off the album, is Binoculars. It has this soft opening similar to the opening of The Bryden Two-Step. It then goes into this pretty rhythm before we get the first actual lyrics from the song. They seem to be making fun of some individual along with the two American actors John Wayne and Rip Torn by repeatedly calling them boring. A Little over halfway through the song and this almost beautiful keyboard part comes in and the lyrics start again. The song is really pretty and despite what the lyrics are it still sounds really happy. Anyway, the next song is Phlâkatön, which is just 9 seconds of gibberish. The last song is Pt. 2 tif the Bryden Two-Step (For Amphibians) and it's very similar to Pt. 1, but still kind of its own song. But all good things must come to an end and eventually fades out to nothing.

For me it's a 5/5, and it's probably one of the most important records in the history of Canterbury Scene. It pushes the boundaries of Progressive Rock, Jazz Fusion, and as mentioned, Canterbury Scene in a way bands in the late 70s and early 80s just weren't doing. It also blows my mind how because despite the album having fantastic musicianship, it was recorded in only one month. In the end I would highly recommend to fans of Hatfield And the North, energetic jazz, and overall just Progressive Rock fans. It has everything a fan of that stuff would want, and would probably open a door to anyone who isn't.

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