Legend

Artist: Henry Cow
Label: East Side Digital
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 021561804821
EAN: 0021561804821
ASIN: B000000PLL

Release Date: 1991-05-13

Legend

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Tracks:

Nirvana For Mice
Amygdala
Teenbeat Introduction
Teenbeat
Nirvana Reprise
Extract From 'With The Yellow Half-Moon And Blue Star'
Teenbeat Reprise
The Tenth Chaffinch
Nine Funerals Of The Citizen King
Bellycan

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Unrest

Customer Reviews:

ehhh..........2007-02-15

i've never been able to appreciate this band too far beyond a purely academic level. i guess maybe that's what they've always gone for, which is commendable in a way...i mean, they use rock instruments but are to be approached more in a 20th century classical sense, like steve reich, phillip glass, or something ...but honestly, i have a difficult time listening to this kind of music as it rarely ever illicits an instinctual reaction in my gut...again, im sure that's nowhere near the way you're supposed to appreciate this stuff, and you can tell i am coming at henry cow from a more "rock" background. but i have to admit, for me there should always be, at the very least, some form of the unexplainable, instinctual attraction in music...in all honesty, i think there are flat out amazing parts of the "western culture" and "unrest" albums (especially "ruins"), and their playing and sound is right up my alley... and because of this, i've ended up listening to all of their studio albums.

the main reason why i've never been able to have a serious gut reaction to much of henry cow's music, is that any interesting music is usually gone in a second and never developed ("teenbeat" has a lot of good examples) or a theme is way too nonsensical for any form of appreciation in my brain ("amygdala" has a bunch, although a passage at the 2:20 mark is absolutely stunning). on top of that, the only parts that truly "develop" are their atonal improv sections ("teenbeat" introduction...wtf?!?!?), which i cannot stand listening to...like pretty much the entire second half of the "unrest" album.

overall, this band produces the most flat out interesting and frustrating music i've ever heard. if this paradox seems intriguing, you might end up buying all their records, like me, hoping for the right one to come along ... unfortunately, it never did.

Tremendous album ruined by the remix, buy the original........2004-10-14

In response to the previous reviewer I don't see how Henry Cow could be considered bourgeois. Their music was not meant to comfort or bolster exploitative or middle class values or assumptions as to what music is or isn't. Rather their music is a radical rethinking of both progressive rock, its symphonic pretentions, rock and improvised music. It's radical and revolutionary, or is that an irreconcilable ambition, to make forward looking, progressive marxist music? Maybe they should have stuck to the blues or folk music, that's proletarian isn't it? The album is almost entirely instrumental, how in hell is that bourgeois? The Cow mix both incredibly complex composed pieces with stretches of improvised rock and jazz-like interplay that continually challenge the listener. You're taken on quite a wild ride with Geoff Leighs woodwinds, Fred Friths guitar, viola, the unconventional drumming of Chris Cutler, John Greaves nimble bass playing and the keyboards of Tim Hogkinson. The music is difficult and sometimes perhaps overly ambitious, but never boring. The album is primarily instrumental, the one vocal being on the Nine Funerals of the Citizen King and you'll know why they didn't sing on any of the other tracks after hearing that one. Henry Cow were trying to throw off convention and forge their own path and for the most part are successful with Leg End, their first album. One thing about this CD, which is a remix: DO NOT BUY IT. It sucks, the remixers radically changed the dynamics between the instruments and added reverb over everything all to the detriment to the music. It sounds horrible compared to the original. Get the original mix, its out there on Amazon.

Henry Cow was.......2003-03-30

an extremely ideological enterprise. In light of that, their production can be explained (and understood) more easily. Obviously capable musicians, they stick to their guns when it comes to their Marxist beliefs, but the funny thing is that they inadvertently fall a prey to the most paradoxical postulate of their beloved theory - negating of negation. First, by playing a nice art-rock composition they turn very much to bourgeois cultural standards thus betraying (negating) their proletarian origins; then after developing a feeling of guilt, they immediately follow up with a counter-cultural opus to negate the previous negation so the balance would be restored. Or so they think. As a result, their attempts to adhere to the ideology produce the most ridiculous mixture of good musical pieces and non-conformist rubbish which comes at the expense of aesthetics so intentionally and forcefully that the whole idea of a working class band turns into a total stupidity. Mingling Marxism and art never gave rise to anything meaningful. Leftist leanings were not unusual in rock at the time (Soft Machine's Robert Wyatt, Samla Mammas Manna joined Rock in Opposition founded by Chris Cutler), but no one group imposed their ideology on their listeners so militantly. One good thing - the sock on the album's cover was probably inspired by the calembour "Legend - Leg End" being a cover for a foot, leg's end. I just don't get it why it was used on the covers of their other albums.

calm before the storm.......2000-05-12

'Legend' (after the sock) is the lightest, least demanding of Henry Cow's works. Compared to 'In Praise of Learning', it seems lightWEIGHT. But there is a lot going on here: pellucid chamber rock constructions; tight, thematic riffing; highly original use of instruments - Cutler already exploring percussive sound drama, Frith finding new sonorities like the geographic curves on 'Nirvana'. And there are beautiful, calm moments Henry Cow would never find again.

Beware of this CD, even though it's good.......2000-02-22

If you're thinking of buying this CD then I recommend you seek out the new re-remastered version, or the original vinyl. For some reason when East Side Digital first reissued this on CD they felt like it needed re-mastering. So, the changed some mixes around, added reverb on lots of things and made it sound generally really terrible.

Music Album:

Music Album

Music Album

Music CD

Lift Every Voice ~ Andrew Hill

Contakt ~ Morscheck & Burgmann

Highlights ~ Bireli Lagrene

Spirit Talk ~ K-Jazz All Stars, Fambrough, O'Connor, Dial

Lyin' in the Face of Love ~ Anna Montgomery

One is Not Fun, but 20 is Plenty ~ Matthew Savage & Eyran Katsenelenbogen

Music CD 71