Sonja Kristina & Curved Air

It Happened Today that I completed a Jumbo listening marathon of all of Curved Air's eighteen albums, so let's take a trip back in time with The Purple Speed Queen, Sonja Kristina and her band. As well as being a rock goddess, Sonja Kristina also had the demanding Situation of being a Young Mother during Curved Air's heyday in the 1970's. You Know you're listening to Curved Air when you hear the sound of Darryl Way's manic violin playing, which can best be described as Ultra-Vivaldi. When Curved Air first emerged with their stunning debut album "Air Conditioning" at the tail-end of 1970, the wonderful World of prog was Not Quite the Same again. In a striking Metamorphosis, Darryl Way temporarily left Curved Air due to the tempting Proposition of forming his own band Wolf in 1973. Curved Air also featured the classically-trained pianist Francis Monkman (a co-founder of the classical/rock fusion band Sky), whose fingers Ever Danced over the keyboards with the agile speed of a Cheetah. Curved Air's best-known song was of course, Back Street Luv, which climbed to No. 4 in the U.K charts back in 1971. It'd be something of a Stretch to call them a "one-hit-wonder" though with eighteen albums to their credit. It's Easy to see why Curved Air have such a strong loyal following with such classics as Vivaldi, Melinda (More or Less), Phantasmagoria, and the tragic tale of the last Queen of France, Marie Antoinette. The unforgettable music of Curved Air rises Over and Above most of what passes for music on the radio these days. Despite being around for half a century now, their music is as refreshing as a warm breeze of curved air on a Bright Summer's Day.

Edited by Psychedelic Paul - October 20 2023 at 16:29

kenethlevine wrote: I like their first 4 albums but don't love any of them.  Very talented, seemingly not interested in commercial success on anybody else's terms, but their songs just don't consistently appeal to me.  But to me they are significant for "metamorphosis" alone, one of the great epics of the prog era.  I just wish they had done more like that.  There are some other really good tracks strewn throughout those first 4 albums, not all of which I like but all of which I can appreciate

Edited by Psychedelic Paul - February 01 2021 at 01:08

Yes, the live album is very good and is kind of like a best of album too. Good call.

I only know the songs "back street luv" and "it happened to day." The latter was on the supernatural fairy tales box set.

Edited by AFlowerKingCrimson - January 31 2021 at 12:21

I think the first 4 studio lp's are all good.....Phantasmagoria being my favorite.

SteveG wrote: Much like Ken, I appreciate them but was never knocked out by their output. I think that Sonja being a sex kitten may have hurt them in the asexual world of prog rock.

Sonja Kristina - Presenter Showreel

The glorious seventies. There were actually quite a few prog or "proggy" bands with female lead singers. Amon Duul II, Babe Ruth, Renaissance, Ruphus, Octopus, Curved Air, Frumpy, Brainticket and a few more.