THE BEST OF CURVED AIR

Not really a big fan of Curved Air, I was nevertheless very impressed by "Back Street Luv" when it was released as a single in 1971. I was prompted to investigate the band further after good reviews and comments on PA by purchasing "The Best of Curved Air" and I am indeed impressed by the hypnotic sultry vocals from Sonja Kristina, and sophisticated musicianship from the band. The stunning cover photo is worthy of a mention, its primary colours really jump out at you!

"It Happened Today" is a song I remember from way back, and their exciting rendition of "Vivaldi" is brilliant, great to hear a well-played violin on a Prog album, speaking as a classical music fan majoring in violin concertos! ( did anybody mention Jimmy Page's violin bow making an appearance here....possibly!!). This even surpasses Sky's excellent version IMO. A more conventional song "You Know" has a very infectious melody, followed by the aforementioned "Back Street Luv" (that's how they spelt it on the single i remember). This song absolutely exudes class and sounds fantastic after all this time.

Side 2 starts of with "Melinda", a folky song about the lovely lady Melinda, (more or less), with flutes, the violin and acoustic guitars, very pleasant indeed. The instrumental "Cheetah" sounds to me the proggiest track so far, featuring the violin and....harpsichord (and a growl?), and ends with a Clockwork Orange style "speedout". Great stuff! Tinkling classical style pianos introduce "Metamorphosis", then breaks into an organ-led marching beat, now we're getting some real Prog vibes coming through, and another excellent performance from Sonja. This is the longest track on the album, the performers drift in and out, sometimes fooling the listener into thinking the song is fading out. The organ dominates this track, an almost Genesis style vibe, blended with Sonja's vocals makes a heady mix. Must say this track alone will prompt me to investigate Curved Air more seriously! The last track "The Purple Speed Queen" provides an upbeat sound, rounding the album off nicely, and includes some great guitar and keyboard solos, "slow down Emily Jane..".

Overall a very classy and sophisticated album, brilliant sound quality (vinyl LP) , and I'm very pleased I "discovered" Curved Air on PA ! Highly recommended for those who wish to sample the group, an excellent addition!

Short'n'sweet

A good if rather brief introduction to the music of Curved Air, "The best of" covers the band's output from their first album through to the wonderful "Air Cut". Being a single LP release space is at a premium, meaning that only 4 tracks are included on each side. It is however to the credit of the compilers that the have avoided simply selecting the most commercial tracks and have included a couple of longer pieces.

That said, Curved Air's only significant hit single "Back street Luv" is here, as is the lilting "Melinda (more or less)" from "Phantasmagoria". The highlight in undoubtedly the sublime "Metamorphosis" from "Air cut", a ten minute romp through a prog classic.

The other track worthy of note is "Vivaldi", a seven minute violin feature from the band's first album, which when combined with the distinguished vocals of Sonja Kristina on other tracks, immediately served to distinguish them from other bands of their ilk.

The downside of such a brief album is that it tends to skim across the surface, omitting many fine songs, and offering a distorted view of the music of the band. A decent place to start though for those who know nothing of the superb music of Curved Air.