Label : Curved Air Records
Review by Matteo Bussotti
Curved Air‘s foundation goes back to 70s, and many people remember them as one of the most important band in prog/folk rock at those times. So…do Curved Air have the right to come back now, in this time full of commercial, “easy listening”, electronic and computer music? Yes, they sure have. “Live Atmosphere” is a CD from old rockers for old rock lovers (like me, for example); if you hate 70s prog-rock, you’ll surely not enjoy much this album, I can tell you, and you can stop reading this review here. If you haven’t stop reading…well done! I can assure you that “Live Atmosphere” is worth at least a chance, but let me say that you’re not going to listen to it only one time. If you love the genre, you’ll love this album. Curved Air‘s song are perfect in their “old style”, they truly are beautiful. From “Marie Antoinette” to “It Happened Today” you can feel every musician’s experience in his own field, you can hear how every one of them contributes to create the perfect melody, harmony and sound in every song, with beautiful solos for every instrument, played with a grace only found after years of practicing, on and off stage. You’ll get caught up in every song’s melody, with Sonja as your guide with her beautiful, deep and very powerful voice; it’s amazing how se hasn’t got any worse since her younger days, instead she’s more confident with her voice, and she holds all the audience in her hands like a puppeteer with his puppets. Every member of the group is special in his way, and not mentioning every one of them would be a crime. As I said before, Sonja simply shines with her beautiful voice. Kit Morgan is capable of creating the perfect solos with just the right notes: he’ll leave you amazed not for his speed, but for his style, which is even a more important thing for me. Florian‘s drumming is always as it should be: powerful when it’s needed, softer when you just need to create atmosphere. Chris Harris‘s bass pumps up the tempo, defining all the variations and all the various rhythms; needless to say, Chris and Florian work perfectly together. Paul Sax gives us some really astounding violin melodies, giving that gracefully powerful imprint to all the songs, contributing to make Curved Air‘s sound even more beautiful and complex. Finally, Robert Norton‘s keyboards…well, you may not notice him all the time, but if you listen carefully to all the songs, you’ll notice he’s always there, keeping all the pieces together, and believe me, without him, none of the songs would be the same. So…what do we have to say about this album? It’s a rare masterpiece. Apart from the songs, its beauty resides in the capability to bring back to glory 70s prog rock, which so many people around the world love so much. I was very pleased, while listening to this album, to discover that we have also nowadays bands such as Curved Air. They are there for every one of us, to let us not forget from where real music comes from, and that old music (and musicians) still has got A LOT to teach us.
Rating – 85/100
Tracklist
- Atmospheric Overture (Intro)
- Marie Antoinette
- Propositions
- Easy
- Hide And Seek
- Screw
- Phantasmagoria
- Melinda
- Everdance
- Back Street Luv
- Stretch
- It Happened Today
- Atmospheric Overture (outro)
Line Up
- Sonja Kristina – Vocals
- Kit Morgan – Guitar
- Chris Harris – Bass & Backing Vocals
- Robert Norton – Keyboards
- Paul Sax – Violin
- Florian Pilkington- Miksa – Drums
Links