Unrest (Henry Cow album)

Unrest is an album by British avant-rock group Henry Cow, recorded at Virgin Records' Manor studios in February and March 1974. It was their second album and was released in May 1974. It was their first album including oboe and bassoon player Lindsay Cooper, who replaced saxophonist Geoff Leigh. American critic Glenn Kenny said Cooper's presence on the album grounded the band in European art music.

Unrest was dedicated to Robert Wyatt and Uli Trepte.

Content

When Henry Cow began recording Unrest, they found they did not have enough composed material to fill the LP. Because of studio time constraints, they were forced to "improvise" and developed a "studio composition" process that involved improvising to tape, tape manipulation, loops, layering and overdubbing. The balance of the LP (tracks 2 to 5 on side 2) were "composed" in this manner. On parts of "Ruins" and "Linguaphonie", the bassoon, alto saxophone, drums and voice were recorded at half or double speed. "Solemn Music" was from Henry Cow's music for John Chadwick's production of Shakespeare's The Tempest, and is the only piece from that suite to be released. A remixed version of "Bittern Storm over Ulm" appeared as "Bittern Storm Revisited" on The Last Nightingale EP in 1984. An excerpt of "The Glove" was later reissued on the 2009 40th Anniversary Henry Cow Box Set bonus CD, A Cow Cabinet of Curiosities, and "Torchfire" on the 2019 Henry Cow Box Redux: The Complete Henry Cow bonus CD, Ex Box – Collected Fragments 1971–1978.

In 1999 Recommended Records and East Side Digital issued a remastered version of Unrest on CD with the bonus tracks omitted.

LP reissues

In 2010 Recommended Records released a 180g vinyl, limited (1000 copies) edition (RERVHC2LP) of Unrest, mastered from the 1999 CD edition.

Reception

Initial

Reviewing the album in Melody Maker in June 1974, Steve Lake called it "a great record" and "more unified and coherent" than Legend. He described Unrest as "a kind of mood cycle" that starts with "optimism, working through arid wastes that suggest hopelessness and dejection ... and ending on a note of hope with the sound of an orchestra tuning up". In 2014, Fact ranked it the 15th best album of the 1970s, writing:

<blockquote>Unrest compositions are knotty, labyrinthine and sometimes extremely noisy. But Unrest magic lies in its grace and softness. These are tricksy compositions painted in soft autumnal shades – dancing oboes on 'Half Asleep / Half Awake', lowing horns on 'Ruins (Part 2)’, Fred Frith’s birdsong impressions on 'Torch Fire'. With some seriously top-drawer players (Tim Hodgkinson, Chris Cutler, the unimpeachable Fred Frith), it’s a pamphlet’s width away from muso territory, but always stays just on the right side of indulgent. Not the most immediate album here, for sure, but let Unrest work on you, and you’ll be rewarded many times over.</blockquote>

Track listing

Personnel

;Henry Cow

Tim Hodgkinson – Farfisa organ, piano, alto saxophone, clarinet
Fred Frith – stereo guitar, violin, xylophone, piano
John Greaves – bass guitar, piano, voice
Chris Cutler – drums
Lindsay Cooper – bassoon, oboe, recorder, voice

;Production

Phil Becque – recording engineer, mixing engineer (side 1)
Andy Morris – recording engineer
Mike Oldfield – recording engineer (part of "Ruins")
Henry Cow – mixing engineers (side 2), producers
Ray Smith – cover art
Matt Murman – remastered 1999 CD reissue