Curved Air- Second Album

Curved Air were a sympho prog group with a double hook: a violinist and a female vocalist. With Sonja Kristina (vocals), Darryl Way (Violin), Francis Monkman (Guitar, Keyboards), and Florian Pilkington-Miksa (Drums) constant for the first few albums, the bass spot rotated, here under Ian Eyre. On this 1971 Sophomore effort, the band attempted to deploy all these strengths. The result is baroque symphonic prog.

Things kick off with "Young Mother", a synthesizer heavy rocker. Kristina's vocals are mixed very loudly and dominate the proceedings. The violin also plays a large role in the melodic development of the music, with a strong classical feel. Afterwards comes "Back Street Luv (Sic)", which was a #4 hit in the UK and got Curved Air on Top of the Pops. This is a great example of how progressive rock can be accessible, with some complex interplay between the instruments, but a 4/4 beat and no wild experimentation. Again, this one is all Kristina's, with a powerful mezzo-soprano. Next up is the violin ballad "Jumbo", which is very serene and features no guitars. However, the instruments repeat the same short cycle over and over again, and Prog is not meant to be vocal driven. As a result, the song meanders. Next up is "You Know", a track with a strange mix of pop, prog, and Hendrix-esque guitar. If not phenomenal, it is at least interesting. This side of the record closes with the eerie "Puppets", a minimalistic piece with piano and a creepy vocal section.

On the flip side of the record, we have "Everdance", which slaps you in the face with energy after "Puppets". It's very frenzied, with crazy percussion and violin work. This is much more progressive than anything on side A (due to Monkman writing, rather than some mix of the other members.) Up next is "Bright Summer's Day '68", which is similar but with more vocal parts and with a harpsichord thrown in for good measure. The final track is the 12 and a half minute "Piece of Mind", which fuses all of the instruments together into a constant thunder to back up Kristina on the vocals. The work feels brooding, and in the middle it suddenly speeds up and goes insane. A very interesting progressive rock song.

Second Album is almost a great record. It's got a phenomenal vocalist, a swirl of ideas, and a good variety of pieces to chose from. Yet, in comparison to a lot of other albums in the genre, it just don't have quite as much staying power. Still, it uses what it's got very well, and over repeated listens it endears itself to the listener, especially side B. This is a good introduction to the work of Curved Air and defiantly an album worth having.

This is a progressive rock fruit salad: everything is separable from the others, but taken together they really shine out. Grade: B+