EGG

Legendary act of the Canterbury scene, Egg actually emerged in 1968 out of the ashes of Uriel with the same members (David Stewart on keyboards, Mont Campbell on bass and Clive Brooks on drums) minus guitarist Steve Hillage.The absence of Hillage naturally brought a change of sound to a more organ-driven style and Egg signed a contract with Deram, followed by a single in August 69'.A brief reunion with Hillage led to the classic Psych/Prog Arzachel album, but Hillage soon returned to his studies and the trio continued as Egg on the recordings of their first full-length album, the classic ''Egg'', released on Deram in March 70'.

Highly influenced by the sound of THE NICE but not leaving apart their psychedelic background, Egg came up with an album of Classical-inspired Progressive Rock with major psych influences as a more polished version of THE NICE.A couple of tracks though with aggresive vocals, powerful drumming and jamming organ versions are sure to remind of the later, but the majority of this album's legth show Egg trying to deliver a more professional and refined Classical approach on rock music.As expected the musicianship is heavily driven by Stewart's organ and piano lines, somewhat split between melodic passages, Classical adaptions and more improvised solos, always supported by the frenetic bass of Mont Campbell and the skillful drumming of Clive Brooks.The amalgam of Egg's sound is certainly the long epic ''Symphony No. 2'', a nice journey in Egg's history, offering, besides the undisputed Classical education of the band, plenty of dramatic moments, experimental beats and psychedelic cuts.

Egg's debut may sound a bit dated for today's standards but it still deserves a place in a prog man's collection.A historical piece of music regarding the Canterbury school of Psych/Prog and a must-have for anyone into keyboard-based Progressive Rock or early-70's Art Rock.Go for the Esoteric Recordings CD reissue, which offers also the pair of tracks featured on Egg's first ever single.Recommended.