Henry Cow
Legend

Many of you (perhaps all) may wonder how it is possible to look, even for a few moments, at this 'horrifying' cover without any title. To solve this problem, I simply took the booklet and turned it to the back side, which instead features a 'zoom' of the same subject (it looks like a scene from FS Andromeda) but much more pleasant. Legend (or more properly Leg End) is the first album released by Henry Cow, a very important group of the '70s, due to some particularly innovative instrumental solutions. The work was released in 1973 (Manor Studios) between May and June with the exception of "Bellycan" recorded in November '73. The album consists of ten tracks totaling about forty-six minutes (1991 East Side Digital). The lineup consists of: Geoff Leigh (saxes, flute, clarinet, recorder, voice), Tim Hodgkinson (organ, piano, alto sax, clarinet, voice), Fred Frith (guitars, violin, viola, piano, voice), John Greaves (bass, piano, whistle, voice), Chris Cutler (drums, toys, piano, whistle, voice). The music offered includes many musical genres and at times the listening may seem, to some listeners, slightly distressing and challenging, especially in the more improvised parts like the tracks: "Nirvana for Mice", "Teenbeat Introduction", "Extract from -With the Yellow Half-Moon and Blue Star-", "The Tenth Chaffinch" and "Bellycan". However, at other times, the music takes on more intriguing and pleasant aspects like: "Amygdala" (in the booklet notes it is stated that this particular version was recorded in August 1990 with Lindsay Cooper (bassoon). "Nirvana Reprise" instead is a brief instrumental by Frith's guitar, simply stunning. In my opinion, the masterpiece of this album is "Teenbeat Reprise", featuring an extremely agile drum and an incredible guitar by Fred engaged in a long solo. The only sung track is "Nine Funerals of the Citizen King", definitely curious and nonetheless pleasant. The musicians all have excellent technical and compositional abilities, and they demonstrate it perfectly in this work, it is no coincidence that the group would rapidly gain a good reputation in the more 'cultured' environments of English music, thanks also to the particular 'blend' of various musical genres. Also of importance are the collaborations with other groups like Slapp Happy, as the two formations would eventually merge in the album "Desperate Straight" of '75. The adventure of Henry Cow would continue until 1978, when they effectively disbanded. Worth mentioning is Frith's solo career, at times also interesting, where he would continue his experimentation mainly directed towards new sounds. This album is an important work but is recommended (in my view) only to a certain type of listener, given its distinctive musical proposal. The booklet is decent, containing some important notes related to the lineup (but not only) and a mediocre photograph, whereas original is the image printed on the CD of a staff with the corresponding notes. P.S.: "Sock by Ray Smith".