01	War						02:31
	02	Living In The Heart Of The Beast						16:18
	03	Beginning - The Long March						06:00
	04	Beautiful As The Moon - Terrible As An Army With Banners						07:02
	05	Morning Star						06:02

Tim Hodgkinson, organ, clarinet, piano;
Fred Frith, guitar, violin, xylophone, piano;
John Greaves, bass, piano;
Chris Cutler, drums, radio;
Dagmar Krause, vocals;
Peter Belgvad, guitar, vocals, clarinet;
Anthony Moore, piano, electronics;
Lindsay Cooper, bassoon, oboe;

with Geoff Leigh, soprano sax; Mongezi Feza, trumpet; Phil Becque, oscillator

Bob Eichler:
This is the first Henry Cow album I've bought, and so far the only one. To be honest, after my first several listens I came to the conclusion that I didn't like the album and it got shelved. That's why it was the only album here on the G&S site that I owned but didn't offer a review for - I was afraid that I just didn't "get it".
All that just changed - I dug the album out to give it one more try, and for some reason it clicked with me today. I've always liked the first track (it reminds me of Thinking Plague's "Dead Silence" in that it's a very strange song that is very accessible at the same time), but today I found myself enjoying all the other tracks as well. Even tracks three and five, which earlier had sounded like nothing but noise to me, this time grabbed my attention. "Beginning: The Long March" in particular is just a very cool sounding track - I think I was getting hung up on its lack of structure and failed to notice the intensely menacing feel of the song.
I've definitely come around to Henry Cow, and plan to get more now. My advice to anyone who tries this album and doesn't like it is to let it sit for a while and then come back to it. It might just grow on you. However if you're the type who sticks to symphonic prog and neo, and hates anything "avant", avoid this album at all costs.

Heather MacKenzie:
The reaction that I had to the play Waiting for Godot is the same reaction I had to listening to Henry Cow's In Praise of Learning; kind of annoyed. The idea of nothingness (the play) and the idea of chaos (this music) both aggravate me in a serious way. They obviously are very skilled and creative musicians, but this is just not my thing. Most of this has an improv feel, with some very dissonant moments and diverse instrumentation. They also experiment with the recording aspects. The music is somewhat patchwork and random, and the vocals out there. I think this would probably appeal to RIO fans. I'll stick to my melodic music.

Sean McFee:
In Praise of Learning saw the core Cow line-up of Hodgkinson, Frith, Cutler, Greaves and Cooper join forces with Slapp Happy (Dagmar Krause, Peter Blegvad and Anthony Moore). At the same time, the band's Communist political leanings were gaining a stronger influence in the work. This led to the most vocal-heavy Cow album to date. Dagmar Krause added her unique and somewhat idiosyncratic vocals to the established angular sound of the band to create a truly interesting blend of music. "War" is like a RIO single, clocking in at under three minutes and featuring a brief cacophonous instrumental bookended by Krause's powerful intonations.
If "War" was the RIO single, then surely "Living in the Heart of the Beast" is the RIO "Close to the Edge", featuring a possibly serialist opening, dystopian lyrics and imagery denouncing Capitalist empires and a downright consonant battle hymn to conclude. The band moves next into more of the free music that they had embraced, although at this point the jazz/Canterbury links are cut in favor of textured, arhythmic constructions of sound.
In short, In Praise of Learning is no less a challenge to the listener as other Cow work, but presents its challenge in a new way. The presence of vocals, albeit nonstandard, may provide an anchor for someone unsure how to handle the music, but at the same time emphasizes the differences between Cow and more conventional prog acts.

Brandon Wu:
One of the more amusing descriptions of Henry Cow's music reads: "Everyone solos at once." Anyway, this is one of the two albums that resulted from the collaboration between bands Henry Cow and Slapp Happy. The latter band's contributions include the first track, "War" (which also happens to be the only really accessible track on the disc), and, most obviously, the voice of singer Dagmar Krause. Krause's style takes quite a while to get used to - think of a slightly less demented version of the Sprechstimme style (a bizarre cross between singing and storytelling) exemplified in works such as Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire, and you've got the right idea. Aside from the vocals and the opening track, the material is classic Cow, right down to the terribly hit-or-miss group improvs found on the latter half. "Living in the Heart of the Beast" is a fantastic (composed) epic; some complain about the awfully pretentious lyrics, but perhaps since they're delivered in such a bizarre manner, I find it difficult to be bothered by them. The music is chaotic, seemingly disorganized, and wonderfully experimental. Though the second half of the album, excepting "Beautiful as the Moon...", is tough for me to get into, especially the improvised pieces (which, honestly, I don't enjoy at all), I'd heartily recommend this album to any RIO fans who don't mind a little strangeness in the vocal department.