The Civil Surface

The Civil Surface is the third and final studio album by the English progressive rock band Egg, originally released in 1974 on Caroline Records. 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 (guitar), Lindsay Cooper (oboe, bassoon) and vocalists Amanda Parsons, Ann Rosenthal and Barbara Gaskin.

The Civil Surface
Studio album by
Egg
Released1974
RecordedAugust 1974
StudioSaturn Studios, Worthing, West Sussex
GenreProgressive rock, avant-garde music[1]
Length40:36
LabelCaroline Records, Esoteric Recordings
ProducerEgg
Egg chronology
The Polite Force
(1971)		 The Civil Surface
(1974)		 Seven Is A Jolly Good Time
(1985)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]

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 in 1990 (quoted in Mark Powell's liner notes of the Esoteric Recordings CD re-release), Stewart explains that it was the unbending wish of drummer Clive Brooks 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, John Kelman wrote, "The Civil Surface reflects widening interests, with Stewart's greater jazz-centricity and wryly melodic Canterbury 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."[2]

Track listing
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Germ Patrol"Mont Campbell, Dave Stewart8:31
2."Wind Quartet I"Campbell2:20
3."Enneagram"Campbell, Stewart9:07
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
4."Prelude"Campbell4:17
5."Wring Out the Ground (Loosely Now)"Campbell8:11
6."Nearch"Campbell3:22
7."Wind Quartet II"Campbell4:48

Personnel

Guests

Wind Quartets
  • Mont Campbell – French horn
  • Maurice Cambridge – clarinet
  • Stephen Solloway – flute
  • Chris Palmer – bassoon

References
  1. Allmusic review
  2. "Egg: The Civil Surface album review @ All About Jazz". 13 October 2007.
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