''The Civil Surface'' is the third and final studio album by the English

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

band

Egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the ...

, originally released in 1974 on

Caroline Records Caroline Records is a record label that was founded in 1973. Founded in the United Kingdom to showcase British progressive rock groups, the label ceased releasing titles in 1976 and then re-emerged in the United States in 1986. The label rel ...

. The band had broken up in 1972, leaving some of their favourite stage pieces unrecorded. At organist Dave Stewart's suggestion, the trio re-united solely to record these final numbers. Among the guest musicians on the album are

Steve Hillage Stephen Simpson Hillage (born 2 August 1951) is an English musician, best known as a guitarist. He is associated with the Canterbury scene and has worked in experimental domains since the late 1960s. Besides his solo sound recording and reprodu ...

(guitar),

Lindsay Cooper Lindsay Cooper (3 March 1951 – 18 September 2013) was an English bassoon and oboe player and composer. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and th ...

(oboe, bassoon) and vocalists Amanda Parsons, Ann Rosenthal and

Barbara Gaskin Barbara Gaskin (born 5 June 1950) is an English singer formerly associated with the UK Canterbury scene. Gaskin was lead vocalist in British folk-prog band Spirogyra (1969–1974). From 1973 to 1976, she sang backing vocals with Dave Stewart ...

. Listeners have complained that the drums are mixed too loud on the album's organ trio pieces. In an article written for the UK fanzine

Ptolemaic Terrascope {{Infobox magazine , image_file = pto.png , image_size = , image_caption = ''Ptolemaic Terrascope'' logo , editor = Phil McMullen (1988–2005) Pat Thomas (2005-07) , editor_title = , staf ...

in 1990 (quoted in Mark Powell's liner notes of the

Esoteric Recordings Esoteric Recordings is a UK independent record label specialising in 1970s progressive rock, folk, psychedelic, and jazz-rock reissues as part of Cherry Red Records. Its releases include both catalogue reissues and new works from artists who ...

CD re-release), Stewart explains that it was the unbending wish of drummer

Clive Brooks Clive Colin Brooks (28 December 1949 – 5 May 2017) was a drummer, best known for his work in the English progressive rock band Egg. Biography Uriel/Egg Clive Colin Brooks was born in Bow, East London. Answering a ''Melody Maker'' ad in ear ...

that his drums be featured prominently in the mix, and that the other members were unable to persuade him otherwise.

Reception

In a 2007 review for website ''

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

'', John Kelman wrote, "The Civil Surface reflects widening interests, with Stewart's greater jazz-centricity and wryly melodic

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

flavor most notable on the longer tracks "Germ Patrol," "Enneagram" and "Wring Out the Ground (Loosely Now)" ... The complex writing—episodic tracks filled with complex meters, rich harmonies and tight arrangements, as well as some strong solos—bears an unmistakable link to Hatfield but, with Campbell's rigorous classicism an equal part of the equation, it still sounds like Egg."

Track listing

Personnel

* Dave Stewart – organ and piano, electric piano, bass (6) *

Mont Campbell Dirk Campbell (born Hugo Martin Montgomery Campbell, 30 December 1950), previously known as Mont Campbell, is a British composer, multi-instrumentalist, and company executive. Campbell is best known for his work with progressive rock bands suc ...

– bass, vocals (5),

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most o ...

, piano *

– drums

Guests

– guitar (5) *

– bassoon, oboe (1,6) *

Tim Hodgkinson Timothy George Hodgkinson (born 1 May 1949) is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds, lap steel guitar, and keyboards. He first became known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry ...

– clarinet (1,6) * Jeremy Baines – flute (2) * Amanda Parsons – vocals (4) * Ann Rosenthal – vocals (4) *

– vocals (4)

Wind Quartets

– French horn * Maurice Cambridge – clarinet * Stephen Solloway – flute * Chris Palmer – bassoon

References

External links

Lyrics to ''The Civil Surface''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Civil Surface, The Egg (band) albums 1974 albums Caroline Records albums Esoteric Recordings albums