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

Before starting, let's just dispel a few myths: the first being that HC originated from Cambridge (as did Pink Floyd) and not Canterbury, even if sound-wise they approached Kent's capital. The second is how HC is regarded as the RIO par excellence: when the RIO chart was sealed by six groups coming from six lands, Henry Cow was nearing the end of its existence, so in fact very few of its music is sporting the RIO flag, even if of course the spirit and intention was there. As for history, HC's roots can be traced back to 68 with guitarist/violinist Frith and keyboards/windman Hodginson's partnership, as later joined consecutively by Greaves on bass, Cutler (through a common gig with the Ottawa Music Company) on drums and eventually Geoff Leigh (who would depart soon after this album's release) on wind instruments. This album is to be read as Leg End (hence the sox artwork) and quickly became the UFO that every self-respecting progressive artist had to hear (hence its legend) - I never thought I'd be able to pull this one ;-).

Musically describing Henry Cow is not as risqué as you might think (even if they were groundbreaking and never-done before), but if you can picture Gentle Giant/Gryphon pre-classical music, mixed with Zappa's sense of aesthetics, crossed with Soft Machine's zaniness, and Bartok's school of classical composition, you're actually fairly close to the truth. In all truth, Leg End is maybe the most accessible of HC's records because the least dissonant, but that's not saying that this album's music is top 40 material, far from it. You will find atonal, discordant moments two of the last three tracks), but compared to future records of theirs, this is rather lower key.

Out of the most outstanding works ever put out is Amygdala with its stupendous Canterbury jazz-prog ala Hatfield with a more unconventional array of instrument. This tracks rocks, jazzes, kents, classics, sweeps you in the stratosphere and throws you back out after it chewed your brains out, after having trampled down by a Gryphon-like beat. The flipside opener Yellow Half-Moon is also quite awesome, providing chills down the spine once the flute takes centerstage, before quickly leading in the closing section Teenbeat, which will not fail to shred you mind into a pulp-like pasta plate with Frith's fuzz guitar solo.

More unsettling are the two tracks Nirvana and Teenbeat who seems to get entangled throughout the track list; Teenbeat is often axed towards free-jazz and its three parts can be considered like the harder to get music, even if the reprise is much more energetic (Cutler being outstanding, here), as they sound like some kind of Centipede in Septober Energy. The Nirvana thing is book-ending the album's first side and not that spectacular. While a good part of the album's flipside is occupied by two free-jazz/atonal music, neither Chaffing, nor Bellycan are enthralling, but they sandwich the only sung track, the Wyatt-ey Nine Funerals.

Apparently this record was made from a flurry of material to choose from, and I find it rather dismaying that there aren't posthumous releases (at least two or three) of prior-to-debut-album music that have been made available before. Nevertheless, if you are not that much into RIO (or future RIO), but would like to investigate Henry Cow, I suggest that you start with LegEnd, because it only gets more complex and dissonant from this one onward. In the meantime HC's debut stands as my fave from them and could have reached the fifth star had they diddled a little less with atonalities.

"Legend" or "Leg End", Henry Cow's first release. The band got a recording contract with Virgin Records in the UK, on the back of winning the one and only "Rockatunity Knocks" competition, John Peel ran on his "Top Gear Show" on BBC Radio One.

It is the HC album which most reminds you of Soft Machine (of the "Volume 2" and Third" period), with its anglo jazz rock, but has less of the dissonance/free form/avante jazz we have discovered on subsequent HC records - really the RIOtag was to come later. Hence a sort Canterbury album - said with some irony when HC were originally based in Pink Floyd's territory of Cambridge.

A great first release and probably the one to ease yourself into RIO.

Henry Cow's debut album came out after they had been around in one form or another for about 5 years, so there was a lot of material to cherry pick for this album. This is Henry Cow's most accessible effort, and is probably the best place for newcomers to start, but better things were to come.

Henry Cow never stopped evolving, and each album has a distinct identity of its own. They drew on a whole range of influences, from rock to contemporary classical to free jazz and beyond. This is their jazziest album, a feeling reinforced by the twin saxes of Geoff Leigh (who was to leave shortly after this was released) and Tim Hogkinson. The album opens with the twin horn riff of Nirvana for Mice, a deceptively straightforward sounding piece. Listen to what's happening underneath the main theme and there's all manner of interesting interplay between John Greaves' bass and Chris Cutler's never predictable drums. A brief massed vocal leads into the almost tranquil Amygdala, where Leigh's flute and Frith's guitar meander in a purposeful way over Hodgkinson's organ chords. Some atonal twin horn duelling leads into Teenbeat/Teenbeat Reprise, the track proper featuring some blistering sax solos and the rhythm section firing on all cylinders, and a brief reprise of 'Nirvana' brought what was side 1 to a close.

Side 2 kicks off with a brief Fred Frith piece before Teenbeat Reprise picks up the pace again - this time it's Fred Frith's manic violin, possibly paying homage to Stefan Grapelli, which leads the proceedings. The Tenth Chaffinch is a studio improv of the kind that Henry Cow would do much better on Unrest and In Praise of Learning - there are some good ideas here, but 6 minutes is probably twice as much as was required. The album proper closes with a strange Tim Hodgkinson song, apparently about the French revolution.

Leg End is an astonishingly assured debut album. Every bar of music is crammed with ideas, nobody coasts and there is little superfluous material. Whilst there are some parallels with contemporary acts like Soft Machine and Egg, Henry Cow was a unique act which was to cast a long shadow over the more experimental, avant garde end of prog for decades to come. Essential listening.

In some ways, the Henry Cow collective is the final frontier of prog. The kind of band that has far more in common with avant-garde jazzers than your "average" symphonic prog rock group, Henry Cow grew out of a group of left-wing Cambridge intellectuals who made music that combined sophisticated jazz-rock with atonal, discordant contemporary classical sensibilities. If you're a Gentle Giant fan who can also take delight in Frank Zappa's and Soft Machine's zaniest moments, then Henry Cow's largely instrumental debut Legend is an absolute must.

The opener Nirvana For Mice is a burst of solid jazz-rock that seems to go nowhere, primarily because of the lack of distinct melodies. In some ways, the least accessible piece on the album and one could almost imagine that it's there to scare off the unadventurous. It's followed by a wonderful Tim Hodgkinson composition, Amygdala. An absolutely stunning work, it is one of my favourite bits of progressive jazz-rock ever. Each of the five players shows remarkable dexterity and creativity, from the delicate flute of Geoff Leigh and Fred Firth's outstanding guitar work (this ultra-talented man makes Robert Fripp and Jan Akkerman look like commercial sell-outs!) to Hodgkinson's sax and the sympathetic, astute rhythm section of John Greaves and Chris Cutler. I can't tell you plays the great jazz piano on this one since four members are credited with playing the instrument in the liner-notes!

The third track Teenbeat Introduction is pure off-the-cuff atonal jazzy improvisation that serves as (you guessed it!) an introduction to Teenbeat. The sort of thing that takes a dozen listens just to figure what each musician is doing, it's one of those pieces that shows you just how special (and difficult!) Henry Cow were. The Frith/Greaves piece Teenbeat that it leads to is a great piece that tends to remind me of early Gentle Giant. Ambient, fast and furious, it's a delight to behold, with Frith turning in some dazzling violin work.

The tempo is then turned down a couple of notches by Nirvana Reprise which is a minute long Frith guitar instrumental that wouldn't disgrace Hackett or Howe. Extract from "With the Yellow Half-Moon and Blue Star" is another typically bizzare Henry Cow tune that rides mainly on Frith's violin, but passes through all kinds of phases during its brief two and a half minute tenure, before seguing into the ferentic, King Crimson-esque Teenbeat Reprise, which is probably the most fiery piece of all here. Firth's aggresive lead guitar is backed all the way by some stunning piano which eventually takes over for one of the album's most ambient sections.

The album closes with two more doses of collective improvisation in The Tenth Chaffinch and Bellycan which are great, but perhaps a little too much considering how heavy the album has already been. Thankfully sandwiched in between is another strong composition from Tim Hodgkinson, Nine Funerals Of The Citizen King. It contains the only lyrics you'll actually hear on the whole album, and unsurprisingly, its melody is closer to Robert Wyatt than anyone else. With strong violin backing and some interestive percussion and flute going on, it's yet another effort that will test the patience of even most proggers, but has somehow wormed its way into my affections over time.

Ultimately, the Henry Cow test is one that every would be progger must face, and I can think of no better place to start with than the visceral Legend. I should mention that the version I have was remixed for CD release in 1990 by Hodgkinson and Frith, and Lindsay Cooper (who actually joined Henry Cow from Comus after Legend was recorded) took the opportunity to record some new basoon parts for Amgydala. Not having heard the original, I wasn't the least affected by this, but some purists may well take offence. ... 84% on the MPV scale

It's not fusion, and it's not quite Canterbury...but if you're a fan of either genre, LegEnd may definitely appeal to you.

Time for a big However: RIO/ avant-garde fans may find this a little less to their tastes than other HC albums. There's plenty of the darker, more experimental leanings that one would expect from the RIO founder- but given that RIO was as yet un-proclaimed, it's understandable that this is somewhat of an embryonic album, even for a band known for regular stylistic instabilities.

Not that the songs are rough, nor the playing undeveloped- quite the opposite. Virtuosity oozes from the saxes and drums, and Frith is unique and impeccable on the frets as always. I find his violin/ viola work here to be more interesting when used as an effect, but even in the more strictly melodic passages his multi-instrumental talent is impressive. They're unmistakably up to the task of carrying out the tricky merger of discipline and wild exploration.

Song structure, on the other hand, is a bit hit-and-miss; the album develops many fascinating and evocative harmonic and dynamic shifts, but just as often seems adrift. Unlike most later HC releases, LegEnd struggles to develop and maintain distinctive passages. HC tantalizes me with intriguing setups but just as frequently lets me down by moving back into more (relatively) familiar experimental jazz-rock territory (case in point: "Nirvana for Mice" and "Amygdala", both alternately brilliant and bland). "Bellycan" also embodies my reluctance to really bond with this album; the beginning is tantalizing, but loses me during the latter half- I'd rather listen to Coltrane when I want spiraling sax. However, I readily admit that SOFT MACHINE/ HATFIELD fans will have no trouble getting into Henry Cow's first album, nor will fans of ZAPPA's jazzier offerings. And the confirmed UNIVERS ZERO- style RIO fans will find "Yellow Half-Moon" a perfect precursor (though it does little for me, surprisingly).

High points for me: "Teenbeat Introduction" and "Tenth Chaffinch" are both eerie and chaotically ethereal, hinting at complex structures lurking deep between the notes- exactly what I look for in the RIO genre. "Nine Funerals" is whimsically menacing (or is that menacingly whimisical?) and contain some of the album's finest string moments as well as an uncharacteristic vocal center. Fans of PONTY or KING CRIMSON (of the "Lizard" period, at least), should take to this piece like a duck to water. Given the extreme boldness and talent, as well as historical importance, I should be giving this no less than four...but as a whole, it simply refuses to grow on me as much as other Henry Cow albums.

This album, which I only recently discovered, completely blew me away.

It's SO enjoyable, there's SO much going on... As other reviewers have pointed out, anyone interested in the instrumental side of Gryphon (especially the NON-medieval stuff), Gentle Giant, National Health or Zappa's UNCLE MEAT will definitely enjoy this. "Don't expect cheerfulness" one reviewer warns... Well, it's true that some of the melodies sound a little severe (in an early 20th century, neo-classical kind of way) but the music changes constantly, which makes it terribly hard to describe (just like PFM's early albums, although Henry Cow are - of course - completely unromantic) and you'll come across many moments of breath-taking loveliness. Apart from just TWO noisy free-jazz sax solos (don't let 'em fool you, there's one in the opening track!) LEG END contains absolutely nothing that's not easy to listen to. But you need to sit down and really listen. This is not music you do the dishes to.

So what exactly is there to enjoy? Well, I wrote a few things down... You'll hear lively flute solos accompanied by lyrical electric guitar arpeggios... Lots of tiny fugue-like passages which are taken up in turn by flute, bass guitar, clarinet and violin... Tongue-in-cheek sax melodies which come straight out of 1950s cabaret... Rapid lead guitar solos just as exciting as the one Steve Howe plays on "Awaken"... Splendidly recorded improvisations on bass, lead guitar and percussion which may remind you of the craziest moments in "Interstellar Overdrive"... And much, much more...

The album ends on a splendid song which somewhat reminds me of Bertold Brecht and Kurt Weill (although I've only ever attended their "Mother Courage"). It's sung by the entire band in splendid multi-part harmony, with gorgeous arrangements for viola and violin. I read somewhere this song contains the first overt statement of Henry Cow's marxist ideas. If so, theirs was a very British kind of Marxism (closer to Groucho than to Karl) and clearly related to the Canterbury Scene: the lyrics refer to Gertrude Stein ("the mama of Dada") and to Lewis Carroll's immortal poem "The Hunting of the Snark".

At the time of writing, I haven't lived long enough with LEG END to know if it's really on the same level as, say, OF QUEUES AND CURES or LARKS' TONGUES IN ASPIC. Nevertheless, it seems undeniable that this is one of the true masterpieces of progressive music.

P.S. I just noticed I actually based my review on the so-called "original mix" from 2001. Earlier editions of the album may have sounded murky, but that 2001 mix is crystal clear. I've therefore decided to award it five stars. Meanwhile, THIS version, the older one, is getting four. Thank you for your patience!

Ah, the land of the terrible pun, where Canterbury-style soft sock - I mean rock - meets jazz. Not quite a legend, this album does point the way towards the future emergence of the so-called 'rock-in-opposition' genre. Therefore it is a must-listen for every serious student of progressive rock.

A must-listen, but definitely not a must-own. This album is not radical enough for the RIO fan, too serious and atonal for the Canterbury fan, and altogether too weird for the majority of prog lovers. That said, it's certainly a challenge worth taking up. Be patient: the dissonance doesn't last long and starts to make sense after a while ('Teenbeat' in all its guises is a very interesting listen), and there are some stellar moments (the guitar in 'Teenbeat reprise', the way 'Amygdala' develops, and the splendid 'Nine Funerals'). Other tracks don't work for me: the improv 'The Tenth Chaffinch', for example, offers a fascinating soundscape but lacks the spark this sort of experiment ought to have.

The HENRY COW socialist collective would go on to record better and far more challenging albums than this, but 'Leg End' is definitely the place to start. And if you're not lured to go on any further, at least you can tell the occasional prog-snob in the forums that you've listened to it!

Legend is the debut album from avant garde rockers Henry Cow. I´m new to Henry Cow but it´s clear that I have been missing out on something fantastic when listening to Legend. This is very very complex and challenging music that will take me years to fully comprehend but is instantly enjoyable all the same and that´s the way I like it. It´s very intriguing IMO and be warned that if you do not have patience for complex avant garde rock this will probably make you very frustrated.

The music is very influenced by Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention and of the jazzy part of Soft Machine´s music. If you take the most avant garde rock compositions from Zappa and mix them with some free jazz sections ( which are nicely structured and not as chaotic as it sounds at first) and just a touch of Canterbury ( mostly in the sole vocal track Nine Funerals of the Citizen King) you´re just about there. Henry Cow is a very original band though so this is no ripp-off. There are many great songs on the album and I´ll mention Amygdala ( My favorite) and Nine Funerals of the Citizen King as being standout tracks in masterpiece quality. Songs like these are some of the most beautiful avant garde rock songs I have heard so far. I must admit that Songs like Teenbeat Introduction and Tenth Chaffinch is a bit too trying for my patience. They are simply too avant garde even for me. They are not unbearable to listen to, but strange dissonant sounds with only sporadic percussion isn´t something I can endure for a very long time without going insane. I like the more structured songs much better.

I´ll enjoy the more avant garde songs in time I´m sure as I can hear the potential, but lacks the total understanding yet. But that´s great. I don´t want everything on an album laid out imidiatly. The really good albums always take me years to get through but then they usually last forever.

The musicianship is one of the most fantastic things on the album. It´s beyond outstanding. I have searched my mind to try and remember the last time I heard something this unique and bands like Magma and Dun comes to mind but it is very seldom I have heard anything this excellent.

The production is a story of it´s own. The drum sound is just brilliant. Very speedy percussion parts are emphasised brilliantly and everything is perfect in the mix.

I´ve given it some thought and even though I was gonna give this album 4 big stars after my initial listen I have listened to Legend many times since and grown even happier about it every time. This will have to be one of my very rare 5 star albums. Highly recommendable to people into avant garde rock with jazzy tendencies. Masterpiece.

As the band was initially formed with open mind, you definitely need an open mind in enjoying the music of Henry Cow which has been categorized as RIO (rock in opposition). And this album was actually the first culmination of the founding fathers Fred Frith and Tim Hodgkinson, fellow students in a blues club at Cambridge University in May 1968. Since the meeting, they played together to fine tune their musical tastes and horizon starting from the blues style. They dared then to support Pink Floyd's concert in June 1968, not even one year since their first inception!

It took couple of years until approximately 5 years when they're ready with this debut album. The album kicks off with "Nirvana For Mice" which has significant components of jazz-rock fusion which does not seem to have a structure or a direction. That's the challenge in the music of Henry Cow because this song is a good example of music with no melody - or at least you can hardly identify the melody. If this is the first time you listen to Henry Cow, you might stop the CD and do not want to replay. But hold on ..the next track "Amygdala" is an excellent composition especially (for my personal taste) is the evocative flute-work by Geoff Leigh coupled with Fred Firth's stunning guitar work. This can be considered as one of the best jazz-rock compositions. It continues with "Teenbeat Introduction" which shows the complexities of Henry Cow and at the same time it creates a challenge for us to understand what the musicians are trying to do. The violin work that appears in this track creates special attraction to me. The music changes into a slower tempo with the next track "Nirvana Reprise" which sounds to me like a bridge with guitar instrumental.

Overall, this is really a complex album in general with sort of unique enjoyment when you can get away the expectation of melody. I would say this is a composition-based album. The use of lyrics in "Nine Funerals Of The Citizen King" and stunning violin work combined with percussion make this album is an excellent choice for prog heads who want a challenge. Keep on proggin' .!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW (i-Rock! Music Community)

Leg End is not something I would classify as "avant-garde," at least not against whatever litmus tests used to categorize progressive music. To my ears, this is a little bit more like eclectic progressive rock music. It blends jazz and quirky elements, but the arrangements are very strong (most of the time). Many of the pieces transition right into the next one, which is something that can be a good or a bad thing depending on how it is executed. In my opinion, there's not one bad transition here from one track to the next. I suspect that much of the music should appeal to Gentle Giant fans; I know it appeals to me.

"Nirvana for Mice" The first track on the album begins with a pleasant jazz section that migrates into more experimental rhythms. The bass work stands out the most to me, even though the saxophone playing is over-the-top. The vocal section at the end seems out of place and ends the piece abruptly.

"Amygdala" This is a fine piece, with mellow instrumentation and an exceptional arrangement, and easily my favorite on the album, especially with the backing synthesizer work. The piano and guitar playing are excellent, but the flute is fantastic. Sometimes the piece makes me think of "Cadence and Cascade" from King Crimson, but this is highly original stuff. This is music that makes me thirst for more of its kind.

"Teenbeat (Introduction)" The introduction, it seems, is nearly as long as the piece itself. I won't say much about it because it is not anything I ever want to hear again; suffice it say, it's "Moonchild" junior- louder and even more unpredictable.

"Teenbeat" Fortunately, the introduction gives way to something more structured and more pleasing, with exceptional drumming and a backdrop of choir. At times the guitar is subtle, and at others, it stands out. Frith's guitar playing here is some of the best I've heard in recent times, and it reminds me of Gary Green at the top of his game. In fact, the whole piece is evocative of good Gentle Giant. The jazzier sections are so much fun to listen to.

"Nirvana (Reprise)" Once again, I stand in awe of the guitar presence (even though there are no other instruments). I find it unfortunate that the piece was not elaborated upon (since it's one of my favorites here), but it is excellent for what it is.

"Extract From 'With the Yellow Half-Moon and Blue Star'" This is one of the quirkier tracks, but it does have a clear composition. I enjoy it for the most part, though there are some elements that grate against the ear. And even if it's slightly unappealing, it's a terse two-and-a-half minutes.

"Teenbeat (Reprise)" The sudden start, plus the distorted guitar and upbeat bass playing, make this a really exciting track. The drumming is wild, and the piano adds a softer touch in the midst of the musical fray. Still, there are quieter moments that feature some great instrumentation. This is more like jazz rock than anything.

"The Tenth Chaffinch" I love the first minute of this, but then it becomes a little too (and then far too) weird for my tastes. There are some spooky voices that permeate the middle section, something that would likely frighten small children. The doodling on the piano lends to this effect. There is a droning note that carries on while what sounds like a Vocoder goes over it. This is tied with "Teenbeat (Introduction)" for the worst track on the album.

"Nine Funerals of the Citizen King" With all the instrumentals, one would be tempted to believe Henry Cow has no vocal abilities to speak of, but finally, there is proper singing, and it's well done. There are layers of voices over sparse instrumentation. When the music does thunder in about three minutes in, it sounds regal, with rolling toms and trembling saxophone.

"Bellycan" Electronic noises dominate the beginning of this track. It's rather disjointed and stilted, which is an unfortunate way to close the album. Perhaps Henry Cow was just finishing their album in such a way that the hearers would know where they would be going musically.

HENRY COW's debut is an eclectic blend of SOFT MACHINE and Frank Zappa with a dash of Rio / Avant thrown in the mix. Lots of wind instruments are used. And check out the lineup: Geoff Leigh, Tim Hodgkinson, John Greaves, Fred Frith and Chris Cutler.

"Nirvana For Mice" opens with horns, drums and bass and it sounds amazing. I wish the whole song sounded like that, although the change a minute in is still good but with less melody and some dissonant sax. "Amygdala" features some flute before a minute and then the tempo picks up 1 1/2 minutes in. The drums and sax stand out before it calms back down with piano. The tempo continues to change. "Teenbeat Introduction" features some dissonant sax with light drums that come and go. It blends into "Teenbeat" which is both intense and crazy to begin with. Intricate sounds follow then a swinging sound 2 minutes in. It's followed quickly by a collage of beautiful sounds. Violin 3 minutes in with clarinat to end it. "Extract From "With The Yellow Half-Moon And Blue Star"" includes a good guitar melody for a minute. Some guest pixiphone on this one as well. I have no idea what that is either. A great sound before 3 minutes. "Teenbeat Reprise" is my favourite song on here. An uptempo song with some fantastic guitar, drums and bass on it. The guitar gets quite aggressive. "The Tenth Chaffinch" has a spooky organ and synth intro with dissonant sounds coming in with no real melody. An experimental song with some cool percussion after 5 minutes. "Nine Funerals Of The Citizen King" actually has vocals ! This song reminds me of early SOFT MACHINE or Barrett era FLOYD. Violin 2 minutes in. A dramatic horn / drum section a minute later. Vocals return after that.

Just a great album that I highly recommend.

This, the first album by Henry Cow, is almost more like the sound of Soft Machine than the rock in opposition that the band came to represent. The music is much more jazzy, and jam laden than their subsequent releases, but still has the off the wall compositions, and free style playing that marks all of their albums.

The more organized compositions sound to me like Canterbury mixed with Frank Zappa's early avant garde pieces, with a bit of free jazz thrown in to the mix.

My favorite songs on this album are Teenbeat and Teenbeat Reprise, both featuring soloing over nicely off beat rhythms.

A good starting point from a great band.

I still remember the first time I listened to Henry Cow's Leg End. I was blown away by the off-the-wall nature of the music, yet at the time also very impressed by how much musical merit and beauty the compositions themselves have.

Much of what you will hear on this album is very Avant-Garde and Jazzy, yet it's also a great starting place for new Henry Cow listeners, because so much of the album is actually pretty accessible. The content is rich and varied, featuring a wide range of varied instruments from clarinets and saxophones, to guitars, basses and pianos, to even Whistles and Toys. All of those elements combine to create a very unique, yet surprisingly listenable treat!

At times the music will flow into very peaceful, melodic passages that give breaks between the more rough sections, and it creates a nice balance, I think. Clearly the musicians featured in this band are more than capable musically, yet they choose to write music is an unconventional way that nobody before them quite did, and that makes for some killer moments that are unique only to this album. I think that's why a lot of people enjoy this type of music so much; it's much harder to replicate or recycle when the melodies and riffs are breaking every rule all the time.

Again, I cannot stress just how amazing it is to me that such original, off-the-wall music could also be so much fun to listen to right from the beginning. A lot of music I won't appreciate until I've listened to it several times, but right from the first time I listened to Leg End all the way through, I loved it. I think plenty of others will have the same reaction, so I recommend this album as a starting place foe getting into the band. There is just so much substance here that makes it worth listening to, even for people who may not be naturally drawn to avant-garde style music.

I still don't think every Prog fan will appreciate this, though most will, in time, and if they allow themselves to. However, for most of us who enjoy different types of sounds anyway, I think you may be surprised as to just how much you enjoy Leg End, and how fast. That's why I think it deserves a very, very high 4.5 out of five. It's original, vast and essential for those who wish to find out what this style of music is all about. It is truly one of the more remarkable albums I own. You just have to hear it to understand what I'm talking about. Almost nothing album this album is familiar, yet somehow, it pleases the ear much quicker than many of its peers. A perfect springboard for newcomers, and an all-time classic for the veteran fans. In my opinion, you simply can't be a true fan of this style of music without first hearing Leg End. It's quite an experience.

Very happy listening.

A Legendary Record?

Henry Cow's debut, Legend (or Leg End), is the first 'RIO' album I own. However, as for what 'RIO' stands for, 'Rock in Opposition', I have to concur with Robert (Epignosis) that this sounds much more like a band that plays eclectic prog rather than avant-garde.

If I had to sum-up in a couple of words what this album sounds like, it would be the following: a jazzy group (there's really no 'rock' elements whatsoever) that sometimes gets into free jazz grounds, featuring the quirkiness and complexity of Gentle Giant. Yes, that would be it, and as you should figure out with that short summary, this album is indeed not an album for any Prog listener, though I think any Eclectic Prog fan with a slight appreciation to jazz should be able to get into this.

The band right from the start, with 'Nirvana for Mice', engages you completely with their originality and clever songwriting. It has it all: the jazz prominence with the sax and the kick-ass rhythm section, the occasional quirkiness and the brilliant composition overall. After that, Henry Cow is still able to surprise you with their originality and complexity, mainly with the magnificent 'Amygdala' which is like those gentler tunes by Gentle Giant which are done beautifully and still offer a lot musically, the Zappa-esque 'Teenbeat Reprise' with some really fine guitar playing by Fred Frith, and finally the Canterburish, vocal-focused 'Nine Funerals of the Citizen King'.

Unfortunately Legend does have some few flaws, like the free-jazz/experimental tune 'Teenbeat Introduction' which simply has no coherence, although for some that may be something good, and the badly done, 'Bellycan', with its electronic sound being out-of-place in this rather jazzy-sounding album, it's a pity because I do hear some good ideas behind the mess that that tune is. However, taking in consideration that this is a debut album, those flaws are more than acceptable considering the maturity and quality of the rest of the album.

Overall, an excellent Prog record that standouts mainly for its original playing and composition style. I highly recommend this to all fans of Gentle Giant, Frank Zappa, quirky jazz rock and of Eclectic Prog in general.

Whether LegEnd by Henry Cow is an "RIO" album or not seems to be a matter of debate. For my part, I would say that the term "RIO" is meaningless when applied to anything released before the actual RIO festivals were set up, because the participants in them had very little in common musically beyond being shunned by the record companies and having an avant- garde approach to progressive music. It makes somewhat more sense to apply the label to works by the original bands after the festivals kicked off, since it would only be natural for them to draw more on each others' ideas after working so closely together, and it makes perfect sense to apply it

So, if LegEnd isn't RIO, what is it? For my part, I think it has an undeniably Canterbury- influenced sound, making it no surprise that Henry Cow members would crop up on undeniably Canterbury albums from time to time. It sounds, in fact, like the group taking the Soft Machine's work on Third in a different direction from the free jazz that legendary group would drift into on its fourth and fifth studio albums, opting instead to add a few elements of chamber music, draining out the spaciness and adding some wild Gentle Giant instrumentation and complexity (and some vocal harmonies when it comes to the matter of the Citizen King). It's certainly an interesting mixture and a good start for the group, though their most original work was yet to come.

Henry Cow's debut album - it's extremely difficult to put this one into words - first few things that come to mind are complex, difficult, Canterbury, whimsical, technical, Zappa - in a word - BRILLIANT. To have come this far in Prog, it's understandable that many folks may be less than thrilled by something like this. Henry Cow comprise of a band whose members have been performing their art since the end of the 60's. Notable members include guitarist Fred Frith, who is as individual as BOB FRIPP and organist Tim Hodgkinson, who likes to manipulate his sounds with fuzz, as well as playing saxes and clarinet. Drummer Chris Cutler plays his instruments with anything but conventionalism. With all the foundations laid out by Frank Zappa, Caravan, Egg, Soft Machine and the like, the Cow compose a selection of innovative, complex, and challenging music, both melodic and atonal, featuring a good dose of improvisation. To make an 'off-beat' sound somewhat 'normal', and sax work outside of 'regular' and familiar patterns, these guys know what works. At the end of the day, it's all good fun, intellectual, and unique sounding. The distinctive 'Sock' artwork on the cover (by Ray Smith) has become something of an icon for the group, adorning their next few releases - top stuff from an artistic point-of-view.... Having a young MIKE OLDFIELD (not so long out of KEVIN AYERS' band) engineering part of the first track, Nirvana For Mice, doesn't hurt. It's really cool that Oldfield's roots started within the Canterbury sub-genre of Prog. My words barely scathe the tip of the iceberg with this amazing album, but it qualifies as an absolute masterpiece of the progressive music genre. 5.

Henry Cow was formed in the summer of 1968, soon after two Cambridge University students, Tim Hodgkinson and Fred Frith, met in a blues club. The two quickly found they shared common approach to music and started performing as a duo. In a short time, they were joined by a few other musicians and after various personel changes Frith and Hodgkinson recruited a bassist John Greaves, who would stay in the band for a longer period of time. It was around 1971, when Henry Cow started functioning as a proper band, playing at numerous music festivals and taking part in John Peel's "Rockortunity Knocks" contest, for instance. The band took their time to observe ever-changing musical trends and constantly learn. By and by, the quartet was joined by Geoff Leigh on woodwinds and Chris Cutler on drums. In 1973, the quintet signed a deal with Virgin to record their debut, which they called Legend (or Leg End as it is often called).

Legend comprises diverse musical styles including "the new thing" avant-garde jazz of Ornette Coleman, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, and Eric Dolphy, 20th century classical music of Arnold Schoenberg or Bela Bartok, as well as some material of their contemporaries - Soft Machine, Gentle Giant, King Crimson or Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention. Henry Cow's music is demanding and complex throughout, full of exceptionally clever detailing. The band's sound is rich in countless free sections, odd time signatures, reocurring themes, unconventional arrangements, and unusual sounds overall.

All of the previously mentioned characteristics are executed in possibly the best imaginable way. Virtually every musician appearing on Legend is a multiinstrumentalist. Tim Hodgkinson handles most keyboard parts, including glorious Farfisa organ, and can be often heard playing clarinet and saxophone. And very proficiently, I might add. This becomes evident on Hodgkinson-Leigh sax duel (or is it an affair?) on the opening track "Nirvana For Mice." Fred Frith's guitar tone varies from being wild and fuzzy, to the point of being almost synthesizer-like, to polite and glassy à la Chet Atkins. Frith also plays violin, which is an important element of the band's music, giving it a feel, which slightly reminds me of Bartok's violin concertos. Geoff Leigh lais down saxophone, flute, clarinet, and recorder parts, presenting himself as a virtuoso on most of the instruments. John Greaves on the low strings is capable of forging fantastic, yet complex grooves, while Chris Cutler's drumming is characterised by astonishing precision combined with unusual ease. With all of that in mind, without a shade of doubt, the musicians of Henry Cow present phenomenal musicianship and musical know-how throughout the whole work. The sounds of the so-called "toy instruments" such as a pixiphone, played by the guest musician Jeremy Baines, are not uncommon and enrich the album, giving it even more of a unique sound.

Legend opens dynamically with "Nirvana For Mice", which, as the time proved, has become one of the band's most memorable and loved pieces. The elaborate instrumental arrangement in shifting time signatures already proves the excellent compositional and musical skill since the very beginning. A mellow "Amygdala" follows, highlighting Geoff Leigh's celestial flute, Tim Hodgkinson's beautiful Farfisa organ sound. The latter's composition is filled with beautiful melodies and contrasted motifs. Next piece, "Teenbeat Introduction" opens with an atonal free-jazz-inspired mayhem, in the vein of Peter Brötzmann. The loose instruments seem to find common ground and, joined by the blurry choir of Cathy Williams, Maggie Thomas, and Sarah Greaves, create a tense build-up climaxing in the sophisticated "Teenbeat." Side two opens with a reprise of the first piece, this time played just on electric guitar by Fred Frith. "Extract from 'With the Yellow Half-Moon and Blue Star'" with a somewhat Eastern European folk-y feel to it shifts between jazzy and classical influences, once again showcasing Frith's unbelieveable compositional skill. The full version of the track was, according to notes on the 40th Anniversary Box Set, commissioned by the Cambridge Contemporary Dance Group under Liebe Klug. It was named after Paul Klee's painting "Avec la demi-lune jaune et l'étoile bleue." When the tension of the composition is at its highest, it is released on "Teenbeat Reprise" - a rapid jazz-rock jam with Fred Frith's saturated guitar in the foregroud. When the piece starts to grow a bit quieter, it suddenly turns into "Tenth Chaffinch", a music-less experimental recording described as "a conversation between Ligeti's choir on LSD and drunk Buddhist monks" in Will Romano's book Prog Rock FAQ. Then comes the last, and, in my opinion, the most interesting track the band has ever produced - "Nine Funerals Of Citizen King." It does not have any static time signature, nor a key, but derives its musical influence from European folk music. The progression is incredibly difficult to follow, while the lyrics intelligently reffer to dadaism, William Shakespeare, king Louis Philippe I and the story of the second French revolution, as well as a conspiracy theory regarding the "Citizen King" and an English poet William Wordsworth working together. The track is closed with a dark woodwind sound, resembling a diving fighter plane.

All things considered, Henry Cow's debut album is a consistent and a very mature work. Borrowing from many different genres, Legend sounds like no other record. Flirting with, but never quite becoming progressive rock, jazz-rock or Canterbury scene - Henry Cow occupy a strange territory of their own. Experimental, complex, vigorous, original, eclectic, extremely intelligent, mature, and one-of-a-kind, in short - a beautifully twisted masterpiece, five stars.

Legit or just a big joke?

This album will test:

1) your patience. Is it serious or is it just goofing around on your instrument? Some segments makes sense like Amygdala, we could almost hear Gentle Giant. I say almost. Otherwise, it's pretty non-sensical. Or is it just so advanced, nitwits don't get it?

2) your musical judgement. « Why I cannot enjoy this? Why don't I understand what's going on? I thought I was open minded! »

3) your sanity. How many spins are needed to grasp the « genius »?

I hear adventure, I hear improv, I hear a desire to push forward a concept but I don't hear genius. Hell no.

You know why they call it free jazz? Because nobody would pay to hear it. (chuckles)

Challenging and uncompromising, the legendary HENRY COW may go down in history as one of the 1970s most defiantly uncommercial bands whose mission was to create music so complex and daring and so far out of the box that even almost a half century down the road, many will still have a difficult time grasping onto the bizarre nature of the music that this band founded by Fred Frith and Tim Hodgkinson crafted. The origins of HENRY COW go as far back as 1968 when the two founders joined their avant-garde fetishes while at Cambridge University with a decidedly anti-commercial attitude that would keep them well outside the gatekeepers of the music industry for the band's entire existence however if anything HENRY COW showcased a blueprint as how to find an audience, sell albums and become a LEGEND even while swimming upstream in an industry that was more concerned about cranking out music that appealed to the lowest common denominator.

First of all HENRY COW does not refer to Henry Cowell although it would make perfect sense to assume as such. Cowell was one of the 20th century's most outrageously experimental classical artists and he surely must have been at least an influence in passing but the both Frith and Hodgkinson have denied this and stated that the name is supposed be nonsensical and given some of the Canterbury Scene influences on the band's debut LEGEND which is the first of three albums to feature a sock on the cover and refer to the end of a leg (hardy har har. It only added an extra layer of irreverence and suggests that the Canterbury Scene was one of the primary impetuses in HENRY COW's whimsical avant-garde jazzy-rock with no [%*!#]s left to give approach of musical madness. While HENRY COW was opening for Pink Floyd as early as 1968, it took the band many years to actually put together an album but in 1973 the debut LEGEND was finally released and of course found many critics unable to grasp exactly what it was they were hearing since HENRY COW was extremely unorthodox, unapologetically complex and more irreverent than any punk rocker who came after.

While HENRY COW would create one of the most unique sounds in all of progressive rock and even start an entire movement called Rock In Opposition, on this debut album the band was still testing the waters and finding their way through the abstract ethers of the avant-garde. LEGEND was only a quintet at this point but due to the multi-instrumentalist nature of all the members on board still resonated as what many must have perceived as a full orchestra of sort. Hodgkinson himself performed on the Farfisa organ, piano, alto sax, clarinet and bells. Frith handled guitar duties while also adding violins, violas and piano. Geoff Leigh performed on saxophones, flute, clarinet and recorder and John Greaves added bass, piano and whistles. Chris Cutler was the main percussionist but also added sounds from toys, pianos and whistles. While the album was primarily instrumental, there were a few moments where all of the members contributed vocals. While the album seems a little too all over the place for its own good, it's utterly amazing how talented these guys were from the beginning especially considering they basically took a few inverted rock messages from Frank Zappa and turned it into a veritable musical genre.

The opening "Nirvana For Mice" begins the album and sounds like a brass-rock band that has been hitting the pubs a little too much upon first listen. The time signatures are all over the place but then it really kicks into an alien sounding set of pulsating rhythms, psycho-jazz dynamics and an in-yer-face disscontempt for pretty much everything else that was gracing the airwaves during the early 1970s. The beauty of the album is that the members were all talented composiitionalists who offers a very diverse array of mondo-bizarro transitions between straight forward 70s jazz-fusion, Canterbury Scene flavors and completely unhinged avant-garde jazz excursions that would make Cecil Taylor and Sun Ra blush (just check out "Teenbeat Introduction" which basically melds with the following "Teenbeat.") One of the secrets to the stylistic approach on LEGEND was what Frith described as "chance methods" to compose which offered moments of chaos and order to intermingle in wild and unpredictable behaviors!

LEGEND is a tough nut to crack and anyone who thinks they can tackle this one on a single listen or even four or five is delusional. This one takes a great long time to comprehend as it takes all of the advanced methodologies of musical composition to their extremities. Sure this one isn't as streamlined as the band's grand finale "Western Cultures" but all of the HENRY COW elements are presented here albeit in a freeform improv sort of way. While i wouldn't call this my favorite HENRY COW album at all, i have to admit that this one has grown on me after quite a few spins over the years. There is literally nothing else that sounds like HENRY COW even in the modern era some half century later after this debut emerged in 1973. While the album may seem a little too loosy goosy for some, it really does have an underpinning that emerges over time. Canterbury fans go straight to the closing "Nine Funerals Of The Citizen King" which offered glimpses of where Hatfield & The North would go while showcasing a proto-punk irreverence and Canterbury whimsey simultaneously. HENRY COW was one of a kind and although the following albums are more properly constructed, the debut LEGEND stands on its own as one of the primo examples of [%*!#]-it-all prog running amok therefore cannot be discarded in any way.

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.