Curved Air

Curved Air play with themselves on their third album, featuring a bonus live DVD.

After two albums, Curved Air were getting a sense of direction as the classically trained duo of violinist/ guitarist Darryl Way and keyboard player/ guitarist Francis Monkman refined their songwriting to fit the distinctive folk-tinged vocals of Sonja Kristina.

Unfortunately, Way’s flamboyant classical rock tendencies were increasingly at odds with Monkman’s more measured modernist approach and they were both blithely pursuing their own agendas, almost oblivious to each other.

It’s not immediately obvious on 1972’s Phantasmagoria as the opening Marie Antoinette and the simple but memorable Melinda (More Or Less) build on the style the band had developed on Air Conditioning and Second Album, with Kristina subtly adapting her voice to the atmospheric backing of each track. She even gets away with a cautionary tale of masturbation on Not Quite The Same, which is somewhat ironic given her fantasy status among thousands of adolescent prog-rock fans.

Way’s more musical fiddling fantasies take over on Cheetah and Ultra Vivaldi, the former a fine example of his progressive instincts while the latter is a retread of his baroque-rock skills that had already been featured on both of Curved Air’s previous albums.

Monkman takes charge for the second half of the album, starting with the quirky charm of the title track, which is both theatrical and catchy, but he lets his enthusiasm for synthesizers run away with him on the disjointed Whose Shoulder Are You Looking Over Anyway? where even Kristina’s voice is electronically treated to sound like a primitive vocoder – something neither she nor the song needs. The last two tracks are more successful, with less electronic interference and some jazzy outbursts to liven things up.

The bonus tracks include the sprightly but disconcerting single Sarah’s Concern that preceded the album and should have been included originally. And for those anxious to hear Kristina’s linguistic skills, there’s a French version of Marie Antionette and an Italian version of Melinda (More Or Less).

However, the real bonus is a DVD of

Curved Air on Belgian and Austrian TV shows promoting the album. It’s a reminder of why the band attracted a loyal live following, although the producers seem strangely reluctant to show a complete band shot, preferring to focus on close-ups of individual members, their instruments or the hands playing them. A sign of the times maybe.

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hugh Fielder