For a time, Curved Air enjoyed considerable success with their first two albums, Air Conditioning (1970), and Second Album (1971), both of which were interesting prog-rock albums with a strong classical avant-garde influence.
They also had a hit with "Back Street Luv" in England in 1971, and they opened up for acts such as Yes and Jethro Tull with a supreme live stage show.

But all was not well in the camp with them, since there was now considerable friction within the group, mainly between keyboardist/guitarist Francis Monkman and violinist Darryl Way, who had ideas about how their music should be developed. During that time, they also got rid of bassist Ian Eyre and replaced him with Mike Wegdewood, who also could play acoustic guitar and sings background vocals. With lead singer Sonia Kristina and drummer Florian Pilkington-Miksa in tow, the band set about recording their next LP entitled Phantasmagoria with producer Colin Caldwell.

Originally released by Warner Brothers Records in 1972, Phantasmagoria is their most diverse album, drawing from jazz, folk, and Brazilian music, as well as the blues, classical, and avant-garde influences that were present on their first two albums. Also, the band uses outside musicians for the first time, since the first two albums were self-contained.

The first side begins with "Marie Antionette". Written by Sonia and Darrell, this is a commentary on the French Revolution. As Sonia sings, "Marie Antionette/Your Shadow's Falling/Along The Land/Anger Born Of Hunger/Poisons The Hearts Of Your Royal Men/Fire In Their Eyes/Steel In Their Eyes/They Rise/Chanting Revolution/Vive La Nation!", it sounds like she's witnessing the uprising face to face. Darryl takes a more prominent role on keyboards, playing most of the piano tubular bells, and synthesizers, while Francis rips out a vicious guitar solo (though he does play electric piano).

Next, there's "Melinda More Or Less". Written by Sonia, this is a folk tune she wrote while on tour about a woman who alternates between fantasy and reality (She also plays acoustic guitar on this track too). Francis plays harpsichord, and Darryl plays some sweet violin solos on this track. The group is also joined by Annie Stewart on flute, which makes the tune sound a bit medieval.

"Not Quite The Same" is the next tune. Written by Sonia and Darryl, this song is about a guy who was unable to get relationships, girlfriends, or a date, so he turns to self-play (with the help of a few girlie mags). That's all I'll say on the subject. Music-wise, this is the first attempt for the band into jazz territory (complete with a horn section), and they do it well. Francis does a great synthesizer solo while Sonia scat sings to it in perfect harmony. The real star on this track is Florian, however. His style of drumming is real colorful, but weighty (like Alan White of Yes). He proved that he was capable of playing jazz, and his style is highly reminiscent of Joe Morello (of the Dave Brubeck Quartet).

"Cheetah" is an instrumental written by Darryl that's a fast hard rocker. Here he does some dazzling violin work while Francis plays some harpsichord and buzzing guitar. Darryl plays the song with mind bending speed, evoking the work of Jerry Goodman (of the Flock and the Mahavishnu Orchestra), and Allen Sloan of the Dixie Dregs. Francis also provides some buzzing guitars and thumping harpsichord. Aside from Mike Brown (from the Stories and The Left Banke), I haven't heard anybody use a harpsichord in a rock context that good before or since.

Closing out side one is "Ultra-Vivaldi". This is an electronic music piece with Francis and Darryl programming and playing synthesizers. They play the same line over and sequence it, until it's played in different pitches and stops. Hearing this reminds me a lot of Walter Carlos, and some of his electronic music projects.

Side two starts with the title track, "Phantasmagoria". Written by Francis, this is about what to do if you see a ghost. As Sonia sings in the chorus,"Don't ring for a taxi/Don't call a policeman/Don't send for a Doctor/He'll just give you pills/Don't hide in the cellar/you may not believe it/it's probably friendly/just alone like you", it's sounds like somebody having an encounter with Casper or Jonathan Muddlemore (for those who don't know, he was a colonial-era ghost who befriended a bunch of teenage kids in the TV cartoon show Funky Phantom). Music-wise, this is another classical-rock song, and Darryl plays another great violin solo while Francis stays in the background playing piano and organ.

"Whose Shoulder You're Looking Over Anyway?" is another one of Francis' electronic music experiments. Here he tapes Sonia voice numerous times, and he takes the tapes and puts them through a big modular synthesizer (the kind that look like the switchboards for Bell Telephone). The end result is hearing robot-like voices for about three minutes, which sounds like something from a science-fiction movie.

Clocking in at over eight minutes, "Over and Above" is the highlight of this album. Written by Francis, this song deals with out-of-body experiences. As the lyrics go in one verse, "One fine night I left my soul/To journey on the wind/Far Beyond The Stars I Watched/To See Where It Would Go/In The Twilight Realms Of Space/Spirits known but with no face/Eyes to see/No Hands To Place Around The Ether/Try And Grasp The Meaning/Why And Wherefore of this world", it sounds a bit metaphysical. Music-wise, the band again moves into jazz territory (with the music using odd times signatures of 5/4 and 3/8), but sounding more like Frank Zappa and the Mothers Of Invention circa 1971. Sonia and Mike harmonize instead of her doing the sole lead vocal, and Darryl plays some hair-raising solos. The real star on this track is Francis himself, where he plays various keyboards (plus tubular bells and gong), and he does some cool solos on synthesizer and guitar. The band is also joined by a horn section and Frank Ricotti on vibraphone and xylophone, and they both do a great job of playing on the song. A splendid progressive piece indeed.

Closing out side two (and the album for that matter) is "Once A Ghost, Always A Ghost". Written by Francis and Sonia, this song again deals with ghosts, only this time it's a ship. As the lyrics go in the last verse, "Isn't It Original To Be A Ghost And Make The Most/Of When You Come To Call/Nobody Will Know You're There/Unless You Care To Sneeze/Head In Arm and Hand In Hand/We'll Haunt The Seven Seas", it sounds like the main goal of the Flying Dutchman (for those of you who don't know, that's a legendary ghost ship). Music-wise, it's just like "Over And Above", where the band uses Frank Ricotti on percussion and a horn section (along with Sonia and Mike harmonizing the lead vocals). But unlike the previous track mentioned, the band utilizes Brazilian rhythms on this track (reminiscent of Gato Barbieri and Sergio Mendes' Brasil 66), and Francis plays harpsichord in an unconventional way again. The band really shows they're capable of doing this, and they do it with panache!

In short, Phantasmagoria is perhaps the best album the band ever did, and the group showed that it could get beyond the realm of its typical prog-rock stuff that they did before. All five of them gave great performances, and really poured their hearts into what they did.

Editor's note:Phantasmagoria was successful in England and Europe (as all of their albums were), but it didn't stabilize the band any. Following tours to support the LP (which included being the opening act for the Doors and Deep Purple), Francis, Florian, and Darryl all left the band, reportedly due to musical and personality differences. Darryl formed a band called Wolf (which cut three albums for London Records before disbanding), Francis did session work, and Florian played in Kiki Dee's band for a while. Sonia and Mike kept the band name and replaced the other three guys with guitarist Kirby Gregory, violinist/keyboardist Eddie Jobson, and drummer Jim Russell. This lineup made an album called Air Cut, which is O.K., but it didn't match the previous albums, and the group disbanded shortly thereafter. Sonia returned to the theater playing in the musical Hair, while Mike joined Caravan.

See my other Curved Air Reviews:

Air Conditioning:http://www.epinions.com/content_86925610628

Second Album: http://www.epinions.com/content_70369906308



Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Driving