National Health (album)
1978 studio album by National Health
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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]
| National Health | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | February 1978 | |||
| Recorded | February – March 1977 | |||
| Studios | The Point, Victoria, London, on the Mobile Mobile; intro to "Elephants" recorded live at the M.L.T.S. (Tiel, Holland) | |||
| Genres | Jazz fusion, progressive rock, avant-garde | |||
| Length | 49:58 | |||
| Labels | Affinity Records, Esoteric Recordings (Reissue) | |||
| Producer | Mike Dunne | |||
| National Health chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [2] |
Critical reception
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
| 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
- 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)