OF QUEUES AND CURES

National Health's second LP is generally similar to their first, but there are several points of difference: co-founder Alan Gowen is no longer involved, Amanda Parsons' lovely vocals are missing as well, and whereas all material on the debut was composed by Gowen and Dave Stewart, here the songwriting is more evenly distributed, with Stewart contributing three tracks ? "The Bryden 2-Step (for Amphibians)" Parts 1 and 2, and "The Collapso" ? and bassist John Greaves, guitarist Phil Miller, and drummer Pip Pyle one apiece ("Squarer for Maud", "Dreams Wide Awake", and "Binoculars").

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.

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