4.0 out of 5 stars
Trey Imaginative!, November 23, 2011
This review is from: The Polite Force (Audio CD)
Originally released in 1971 (a magic year for music, IMO), this is a wonderful, engaging slice of (at times) psychedelic jazz/rock/classical music, created by an organ/bass/drums trio known as Egg. No guitarist, and it doesn't seem to matter - the organ gets distorted. This might have been too weird even for that era - ESPECIALLY the 9 minute sound collage that is "Boilk". Not too weird for me, however - I likes my albums rare und bizarre. Actually, the other tracks aren't all THAT strange.....altho "Contrasong" gives the impression of Chicago on acid with a lounge singer, which I personally dig. You may feel different. Mont Campbell's vocals ARE a bit 'Holiday Inn'-ish, which doesn't bother me - the lyrics themselves are NOT lounge fare. The last track loses my attention a bit, hence the 4 star rating. If memory serves, it's a 20 minute instrumental, and VERY few (if any) bands can keep me interested with a 20 minute instrumental, even considering the diversity displayed.
Anyhoo, the playing is wonderful, the sound is great, the music's imaginative......you could do MUCH worse. A fantastic and fairly obscure band, this is probably my favorite of their 3 albums (tho The Civil Surface is great as well). In the vein of Caravan, Soft Machine, early ELP (but with humor), Hatfield & the North, etc, etc.
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