Product Review

The 5 full-length discs in Box 1 cover Henry Cow's career from the pre-Virgin Records days up to roughly 1975. These are all previously unreleased recordings, some live, some demo, some studio, all sonically enhanced by Bob Drake's painstaking re-mastering. We are treated to everything from early BBC sessions to somewhat later live improvisations, alternate recordings with Robert Wyatt, to the full 18 minute version of "With the Yellow Moon And Half Star"; (The Bacchae). There are many compositions and improvisations new to anyone who only knows the official releases; The disks also document a number of one-off projects and events and - where different or remarkable enough to justify inclusion - live versions of parts of the LP repertoire. The hefty, 60-page booklet is chock-full of historic information and exclusive photos.