Air Conditioning - CURVED AIR*****

It Happened Today/Stretch/Screw/Blind Man/Vivaldi/Hide & Seek/Propositions/Rob One/Situations/Vivaldi With Cannons

Air Conditioning was the debut album from the British progressive group Curved Air featuring electric violin and the ethereal voice of Sonja Kristina. Reputedly the first picture disc to be released, resulting in a disastrous diminution in sound quality. (UK:8)

"Curved Air never returned to this electric fury again, and despite some rawness this is a passionate record full of gems: the opener It Happened Today (with lovely violin); the acoustic folky Blind Man; the romantically hopeless vignettes of Screw, Propositions and Situations."

"Curved Air are pretty much a forgotten band these days which is a shame because their early 70s albums include some really good progressive rock. The music on this album is mostly very good. Some of these musicians had a classical music background. Songs like It Happened Today, Screw, Vivaldi, Hide & Seek and Situations are great examples. The other songs are interesting too. It's nice to realise that all of the songs do their job and none of them feels like filler. Air Conditioning is a really solid and enjoyable debut by a band that should be better known these days. Their debut is proof of that."

"Curved Air's first album showcases a sound achieved by combining early prog bombast (complete with classical covers in the form of two Vivaldi re-workings) with classic 60s pop - most evident in the chanteuse style that lead singer Sonja Kristina sings in. Not as full-on experimental as many contemporaries, but still an interesting experiment with a pleasant sound. Suffered from the marketing gimmick of making this album one of the very first picture disc LPs - only picture disc technology being in its infancy, the sound quality was necessarily scaled down."

"A milestone in progressive rock surfacing from the psychedelic mould, as Curved Air made mega-leaps in song construction and complexity. An impressive first effort. Song by song description is unnecessary as they are all cutting edge for 1970. It is unfortunate that this band didn't get the recognition they deserved."

"Air Conditioning was a solid blend of musicianship and then current psychedelic sensibilities. Songs such as Screw and Blind Man manage to convey an 'out there' sensibility while still being accessible to most listeners. Overall, it's a very solid rock album which has both the virtue and failing of being dated."