Phantasmagoria - CURVED AIR***

Marie Antoinette/Melinda (More Or Less)/Not Quite The Same/Cheetah/Ultra Vivaldi/Phantasmagoria/Whose Shoulder Are You Looking Over Anyway/Over & Above/Once A Ghost Always A Ghost

Phantasmagoria was a disappointing third album from the classically influenced progressive group Curved Air. None of the tracks reached the standard of their first two releases. (UK:20)

“Hugely disappointing, lightweight and second rate. I expected something more tuneful and less hippyish. It doesn't swing, it doesn't groove, it is sounds school-lacking in charisma totally.”

“Mostly this is intellectual melodic rock, which makes a couple of experiments seem even weirder (the grotesque musique concrete Whose Shoulder). The highlight though is Over & Above, a tour-de-force of stylistic transformations: from Broadway, to manic gypsy violins, to hyperactive brass, to fluid Canterbury jam, to spy-soundtrack, and so on.”

“The first two tracks, closer to serious progressive folk/rock, are the strongest cuts, particularly the sublimely beautiful, soft and delicate Melinda. The rest are a strange collection of musical curios, a markedly soft-sounding somewhat playful light pop, not withstanding progressive musical development and the ever-immaculate violin of Daryl. The title track is poppy but reasonably catchy Whose Shoulder is a slice of experimental ambience, not especially grating but not arresting either. Overall, despite plenty of subtle dark vibes through the lyrics, this is emotionally and musically a rather light disappointment.”

“All the energy and joy is totally missing, why couldn't they have fun and let go? Melinda is the only good song, it's a nice ballad that suits Sonja Kristina's voice. The others are more or less irritating or insignificant.”

“The haunting acoustic piece Melinda replaces the standard guitar solo with a gorgeous violin solo over delicate acoustic picking. If the tragedy Sonja sings of doesn't get to you, this solo certainly will. The electric violin is in fact all over this album and gives it a fairly unique sound. The Phantasmagoria suite that fills the second half of the album holds together as a musical over the course of four different thematic changes.”