LOVECHILD

When I saw this release on LP in a record shop in the late-90's, I was instantly curious - sporting a stylistic re-hash of their debut release's cover, I whipped it up straight away (15 bucks) and almost ran red lights and broke the speed limit to get home so I could hear it A.S.A.P. Once home, a quick skip through each track held promise, oh, what 'could have been'.....

Opening with a brief synth piece, performed by a guest, John O'Hara (don't even know how he's linked to Curved Air) left me wondering 'why?' The songs really sound half-baked and in-complete. The gorgeous singing of Sonja Kristina is still intact, Mike Wedgewood's prescence is felt, but super-star Eddie Jobson was very low-key, contributing only light violin and keyboard touches, I'm sure he could've 'decorated' these songs with more colour, had the line-up not fragmented half way through. Only a few tracks move me - 'Lovechild', the lengthy 'Seasons' (though the violin sounds a bit flat, not usual Jobson quality) and 'Paris By Night' (which showed potential). The remaining tracks are rather 'empty' and straight-forward so I can only recommend this to fans and collectors by awarding it 2 stars.