AIRCONDITIONING

Curved Air's "Air Conditioning" is a stellar debut for the band that arguably boasts some of the finest musicians of the 70s prog era. The incomparable violin prowess of Darryl Way on electric violin is unmistakeable on the outro of 'It Happened Today' or the intro jig of 'Stretch'. Francis Monkman is a marvel multi instrumentalist playing scorching lead guitar, organ, piano, Mellotron, electric Harpsicord, and VCS3 synthesizer. On bass is Robert Martin and the drummer is Florian Pilkington-Miksa. One cannot write a review about a Curved Air album without mentioning the gorgeous vocals of Sonja Kristina. On this debut she makes her presence known with some excellent singing injecting just the right amount of inflection and intonation into each song.

There are nice harmonies on 'Stretch' with the catchy chorus, "this was meant for you, that was meant for me." This track is followed by 'Screw', with creative violin motifs and a brooding atmosphere backed by intense lyrics; "see the screw slowly turn around, see it sink without a sound, feel your head slip with every turn, feel the steel knob begin to burn, all is lost now it seems that way." The Hammond shimmers and distorts the sound in places which is poor quality mixing but one has to forgive this given the year this was made in 1970. Though my CD is not a remaster version. The booklet is very poor too containing just white pages and lyrics and not even any info on the band or production credits. They are all on the album cover that incidentally spells 'Mellatron' wrong. The CD cover is the same as the vinyl picture disk there is no sign of the original cover gatefold which was banned for its nude picture of the band.

There are some dull moments on this including 'Blind Man', with Sonja warbling unnecessarily, but it picks up with the memorable vivacious 'Vivaldi', the 7 and a half minute version. Of course 'Vivaldi' was a smash single for the band and rightly so with Way dazzling on violin, including a mind bending solo section. The instrumental stayed with the band throughout their chequered career and, along with 'Back Street Love' on their next album, it became a live staple. Sky did make a million recreating the track when Monkman joined that band. This original version though is incredible and the scintillating guitar of Monkman is as good as the Sky version.

Side two of the album originally began with the rocking 'Hide and Seek', featuring a heavy guitar riff and quick time sig changes. Kristina is exceptional on this and Monkman shines on the lead breaks. The many changes in feel and virtuoso musicianship make this a highlight of the band's career.

'Propositions' is ok with some great guitar playing but I could have done without the silly lyrics. 'Rob One' is a short instrumental that feels like filler, or a B side though of course Way is a marvel on violin. 'Situations' is a slow song with a more reflective Kristina, "life is not as simple as it seems, and night's the only place to keep a dream." I like the way it changes with bright keyboards and Kristina on her highest octave. The wah-wah psychedelic guitar is a welcome embellishment, along with the stirring mellotron swells.

Finally 'Vivaldi with cannons' returns to the Vivaldi tune but this time adds spiralling electronic whistles and thunderous cannon blasts for good measure. The debut for Curved Air is a real hit and miss affair, with some poor production, but it does demonstrate the virtuoso dexterity of the band and Kristina's well executed vocals. It was a beginning but better was yet to come in the next years, cementing the reputation of the band as vital to the prog scene.