DARRYL WAY & OPUS 20: THE HUMAN CONDITION

In the nineteen eighties, Virgin Records introduced the sublabel Venture Records, which featured light classical, jazz, ambient and experimental music, including a number of favorites from this site (Robert Fripp, David Sylvian, Bill Bruford, Bian Eno, Holger Czukay among many others). This album was, as far as I know, the sole release from Curved Air's Darryl Way on this label.

The album is a light classical piece, with Way on solo violin, in front of a string orchestra, called Opus 20, along with a piano player and percussionist. The piece, while not spectacular, is not bad. Way avoids the hyper experimentalism that dominated late 20th century orchestral music, and focuses more on melodies. His orchestration is full and lush, giving the music a similar feeling to some of Aaron Copland's more popular works.

At times, especially with drums, Way's rock background peeks through, but he manages to keep that contained well.

It's a pleasant album to listen to, especially if you are not expecting a rock album.