Bruce Eder (AllMusic) says:
It was inevitable that Egg would be compared with Emerson, Lake & Palmer — a trio of bass/keyboards/drums with the bassist also singing, coming along at the very end of the 1960s, incorporating serious classical influences (and directed quotations) into their extended pieces. On their second album, The Polite Force, they try for a higher wattage sound than Emerson, Lake & Palmer, without as high velocity a brand of song. Dave Stewart’s organ playing is as aggressive and melodic as Keith Emerson’s, and he accomplishes a lot with less in the way of high-speed histrionics. That doesn’t mean they aren’t given to some electronic excesses. The album is diverting enough in its successful spots to carry the rest of it, but there are some missteps — including one track dominated by guest horn players — that were enough to keep this album from being a favorite, even among art-rock fanatics. Reissued in Japan in the late ’90s as part of the Decca/Deram psychedelic retrospective series.
Wikipedia Says:
Released in 1971, The Polite Force is the second album by British band Egg. It is often regarded as the band’s best work and displays an advance in compositional maturity which moves away from the lingering psychedelic-pop sensibilities of their debut album toward a more avant-garde instrumental approach. The music is a fine example of early English progressive rock, bearing many similarities to Soft Machine. Although the music of Egg does have occasional singing, it is mostly instrumental and as such relies on tight ensemble playing and interesting thematic and melodic material with extended chordal harmonies and irregular time signatures.
The tracks all appear separately with spaces in between them on both the long playing record and the Compact Disc. On the original long playing record from Deram, “Long Piece No. 3” is listed with the four parts. A time of 21:57 is given as the overall length of the piece, with separate incremental lengths of time given for each of the parts. The reference to the side number and tracks therein is the same as the vinyl album. In turn, the compact disc has 7 tracks.
Notes: The song “A Visit to Newport Hospital” tells the story of the band’s origin:
There used to be a time when we lived in the van
We used to loon about with Janice, Liz and Ann
Now looking back it seemed to be a happy time
And so we kid ourselves we didn’t really mind
The hang-ups and the lack of bread
There were four of us then, the group was Uriel
We played five nights a week at Ryde Castle Hotel
We spent our time avoiding skinheads and the law
It was a freedom that we’d never felt before
And now we’re doing this instead
It was a way of life that was completely new
And so we found that we had quite a lot to do
The time passed slowly and each day was much the same
We ate and loved and slept and no one was to blame
For saying things better left unsaid
Egg
The Polite Force
(Deram, 1971)
MediaFire DL Link
01. A Visit To Newport Hospital
02. Contrasong [MP3]
03. Bolik (incl. Durch Adams Fall Ist Ganz Verderbt [J.S.Bach])
04. Long Piece No. 3
