MUSIC IS PAINTING IN THE AIR (1974-1977)

It's been pretty frustrating over the years if like me you are a SENSATIONS' FIX fan. Some of their albums have never been re-issued on cd while others have been re-issued only once or twice. Difficult music to track down for sure meaning most of my copies are either pirated or cdrs sadly. There was an Italian box set series from 2009 which included a four SENSATIONS' FIX albums(one in each of the first four volumes), but honestly the sound quality wasn't that great. So here we are with one of the best sounding recording I have ever heard. Band leader Franco Falsini always recorded and mixed their albums and owned the master tapes thankfully. He spent a year mixing these tracks and cleaning them up. These are all either alternate mixes of songs from their studio albums and Franco's solo record("Cold Nose"), or previously unreleased songs from their many recording sessions.

The tracks are not in any particular order other than this was the order in which Franco was inspired to place them. I like what he's done here as we get recurring themes and different parts of songs spread out instead of back to back. Everything flows beautifully. I'll focus on some of my favourite tracks over this two disc recording.

The first track from disc one that blew me away was "Leave My Chemistry" from "Portable Madness". A passionate track with the synths and drums leading the way. I love when the guitar comes in. It soars briefly after 3 minutes. The next one to tickle my fancy is "Grow On You" from "Boxes Paradise". It was called "The Flu" originally and is a vocal track that is quite catchy. The vocals bring STONE ROSES to mind. Check out the beautiful "Dark Side Of Religion" from the "Finest Finger" era which was previously unreleased. Spacey vocals in this one too. "Fragments Of Light" from "Fragments Of Light" era is simply gorgeous. This also was previously unreleased. Lastly from disc one we get an alternate version of "Map" from "Finest Finger". Just a great sounding tune with the guitar and drums leading the way.

Disc two favs begin with "Music Is Painting" from "Fragments Of Light". How good is this ! Love the sound of the guitar, just a great instrumental. "Cold Nose Story" from "Cold Nose" is so uplifting. It's a cosmic vocal track. "Slow Motion Movie" is interesting because it reminds me of early PINK FLOYD around the "Meddle" era. This is a previoulsy unreased track from the "Fragments Of Light" period. "Crossing Berlin" is not so surprisingly(given it's title) a very electronic sounding tune. Another previously unreleased tune from the "Vision's Fugitives" era. Lastly we get the haunting "Darkside 2" also previously unreleased from the "Finest Finger" period.

I love this style of music because it makes me feel so good. Congrats to Franco for his labour of love in preparing this stunning recording for his many fans. Thanks for the beautiful painting.