Air Conditioning - Curved Air

Advantages: Genuine lost masterpiece
Disadvantages: Taken so long to be re-released on CD

...When Darrly Way, Francis Monkman and Florian Pilkington-Miksa quit Curved Air, it left only founder Sonja Kristina (Linwood) and Phantasmagoria player Mike Wedgwood to soldier on. In doing so they picked Eddie Jobson on keyboards and violin, Kirby Gregory on guitar, Jim Russell on kit, with Mike on bass, vocals, acoustic guitar and percussion and Sonja on vocals and acoustic guitar. Sound simple? Well, for one thing, Eddie was only 17 years old, and neither Jim nor Kirby had left their teens. So we basically had a band with an average age of about 19 trying to fill the shoes of a band who were known to be some of the best musicians in the UK, if not the world. Air Cut. Not a dud note on the whole CD, playing at such a level that it takes your breath away and such a mix of music and styles that it dazzles. Is it Curved Air? Of COURSE... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Dramatic and mesmorising
Disadvantages: Not as good as the first album - but different

...Very rarely do you find an instumental soundtrack album can stand alone (i.e. without the film) but Air seemed to have managed this with ease. Having not seen the movie, but being a fan of Air, I rushed out to buy the cd, and although the tracks can be repetative, they are no more repetative than say, Bach's Theme and Variations. Air seem to have a real talent for making their music dramatic, and this album is no exception. With the opening track "Playground Love" the soft almost childlike music makes you drift away into your own world, created by Air. And it likewise through the whole album. Take their first album "Moon Safari" and throw in a bit of futuristic child music and you have "The Virgin Suicides". Nice.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: "Mother of Pearl", Roxy's finest Album
Disadvantages: Nothing

...This was Roxy Music's third outing and their finest ever album. This was unusual because they had lost the creative talent of Brian Eno (due to a power struggle / personality clash with Brian Ferry as detailed in Eno's song "Blank Frank" from his "Here Come The Warm Jets" album) and replaced him with 18 year olf Eddie Jobson (from Curved Air, thus adding electric violin to their line up, demonstrated on "Street Life"). The cover maintained the Roxy Music predilection for scantily clad models , in this case draped over the whole original gatefold sleeve, in a torn red dress amonth the jungle vegetation look very hot (ie sweating) but with perfect make-up. This was the first Roxy Music album to contain a single, the opening track "Street Life". It's a fast slice of pop rock, which then flows into the gentle ballad "Just Like You... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful