NATIONAL HEALTH

National Health is one of the later names in the Canterbury movement. This first record out of 1977 is an abstract fusion musical piece with characteristic Canterbury sounding keybords and guitars. With a female vocalist National Health broke with the general stream, but it fitts well by the sound. She uses her voice sometimes like an instrument and sometimes just for singing.

This record is a bit hard to get a grip on. While musical very intelligent, it's quite hard of finding it's goal. There are many solo's on this record and no one of them really comes from the ground, while the tunes are quite beautiful. The atmosphere however is great and the appreciate the instrumental interactions: it all fitts together so nicely.

This is the point where fusion and canterbury came together. This is the final station of canterbury. Canterbury has lost it's catchyness and became as abstract as fusion like Weather Report. The sounding of Canterbury still has something more to offer than most fusionbands in my opinion. Where the catchy repeating keyboard riffs are lost, there is still an catchy atmosphere.

A nice addition to any Canterbury collection and prog in general.