NATIONAL HEALTH

The only National Health album (excluding the tracks collected on Missing Pieces) to feature both Dave Stewart and Alan Gowen, the highlight of this piece is definitely the riotous interplay between their keyboards, as showcased on the tremendous Tenemos Roads. Arguably the most important Canterbury group of the punk era, National Health's lineup is as perfect an all- star Canterbury team as you could want to imagine, with every member having played in Canterbury groups ranging from the absolutely central to the maddeningly obscure.

A natural development from Hatfield and the North's albums (the lead vocals are even handled by former Northette Amanda Parsons), National Health also contains hints of Egg (in its driving rhythms and Dave Stewart's keyboard work) and the heavier side of Matching Mole (particularly Phil Miller's compositions from that band). Anyone who enjoys the fusion end of the Canterbury scene will absolutely love National Health, anyone who's at all interested in Canterbury should make a point of getting their albums since they represent the scene's last great flowering in the 1970s, and progressive rock and fusion fans in general will find a lot to love here.