National Health (album)
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| National Health | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | February 1978 | |||
| Recorded | February – March 1977 | |||
| Studio | The Point, Victoria, London, on the Mobile Mobile | |||
| Genre | Jazz fusion, progressive rock, avant-garde | |||
| Length | 49:58 | |||
| Label | Affinity Records, Esoteric Recordings (Reissue) | |||
| Producer | Mike Dunne | |||
| National Health chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [2] |
National Health is the first album recorded by the progressive rock and jazz fusion group National Health, one of the last representatives of the artistically prolific Canterbury scene.[3] Although it was created during the rise of punk, the album is characterized by lengthy, elaborate and mostly instrumental compositions that combine prog and jazz elements.
Critical reception
[edit]In a retrospective review, All About Jazz wrote that "revisiting the disc over 30 years later reveals a strength in composition, improvisation and orchestration/arrangement that makes it another high point in the careers of everyone involved."[4] In his History of Progressive Rock, Paul Stump said that National Health "retains an askew charm, dominated by a wheezy, rough-and-reedy sound at odds with the amniotic sybaritism of most Progressive production jobs at the time." He opined that despite the album having been criticized for "excessive compositional rigour", the elaborate and inventive compositions actually enabled the soloists to be more adventurous.[5] The Billboard Guide to Progressive Music called the album "easily the best of [National Health's] three releases."[3]
Track listing
[edit]| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Tenemos Roads" | Dave Stewart | 14:43 |
| 2. | "Brujo" | Alan Gowen | 10:19 |
| 3. | "Borogoves (Excerpt from Part Two)" | Stewart | 4:16 |
| 4. | "Borogoves (Part One)" | Stewart | 6:37 |
| 5. | "Elephants" | Gowen, Stewart | 14:37 |
Personnel
[edit]- Phil Miller – electric guitar
- Dave Stewart – acoustic piano, electric piano, organ (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5), Clavinet (track 3)
- Pip Pyle – drums, glockenspiel (tracks 2, 5), pixiphone (track 5), gong (track 1), cowbell (track 1), tambourine (track 1), finger cymbals (track 2), shakers (track 2), bells (track 2)
- Neil Murray – fretless bass guitar
with
- Alan Gowen – acoustic piano (tracks 2, 5), electric piano, moog synthesizer
- Jimmy Hastings – flute (tracks 1–3, 5), clarinet (tracks 3, 4), bass clarinet (track 1)
- John Mitchell – percussion (track 1), güiro (track 2), temple block (track 2), conga (track 3)[6]
- Amanda Parsons – vocals (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5)
References
[edit]- ^ Nickson, Chris. "National Health – National Health | AllMusic". Allmusic. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
- ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 6. MUZE. p. 126.
- ^ a b Smith, Bradley (1997). The Billboard Guide to Progressive Music. Billboard Books. pp. 137–138.
- ^ Jazz, All About. "National Health: National Health / Of Queues and Cures article @ All About Jazz". All About Jazz.
- ^ Stump, Paul (1997). The Music's All that Matters: A History of Progressive Rock. Quartet Books Limited. p. 223. ISBN 0 7043 8036 6.
- ^ "AllMusic Review by Dave Lynch". allmusic.com. Retrieved 13 September 2010.
External links
[edit]- National Health at Progarchives
- Biography at Calyx Club
- Discography
- Gnosis website
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