Description
Because of Henry Cow's presence on this album, Hopes and Fears is considered by some to be "the lost Henry Cow album". But the predominance of songs makes the album a bridge between Henry Cow and Art Bears, a move away from Henry Cow's usual intense compositions, and the beginnings of Art Bears's music, fully realised on their next two albums. It also shows Fred Frith experimenting with folk and dance music ("Terrain", "Moeris Dancing", "The Dance"), which he explored further on some of his subsequent solo albums, particularly Gravity (1980) and Speechless (1981).
"Joan" and "On Suicide" had been performed live by Henry Cow in 1977 and appear on Volume 7: Later and Post-Virgin of The 40th Anniversary Henry Cow Box Set (2009). This version of "Joan" differs from the earlier live recording in that it is shorter, and the lyrics are not the same. Chris Cutler wrote the original lyrics for "Joan" and Tim Hodgkinson's "The Pirate Song", but Henry Cow were unhappy with them, and the songs were withdrawn from their repertoire. "Joan" was only performed a few times, and "The Pirate Song" not at all. Prior to the Hopes and Fears recording session, Cutler rewrote the lyrics of the two songs, but once again there were objections from the feminist faction within Henry Cow. Dagmar Krause, however, supported the new lyrics and both songs were recorded with the revised texts.
The longest track, "In Two Minds" is the closest Art Bears came to playing "conventional rock music". The instrumental section in the song sounds like a homage to The Who, a fact that Chris Cutler does not deny, considering the influence the band had on him and others.
Read more about this topic: Hopes And Fears (Art Bears Album)
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