CLEAR AIR TURBULENCE

I remember when this was first released seeing it on the record stand, brightly displayed artistic cover and yes the ex Deep Purple man with his new release. Needless to say I jumped in at the next available booth, earphones snugly in place, excited expectations and as the record shop owner went through the motions of commencing the vinyl spin I kicked back with visions of live in Japan.Visons of a sudden slap to the back of my head morelike.

Naturally I was quite shocked to hear all the brass and jazz soaked music. Probably one of my earliest experiences of jazz infused prog,maybe Cat Steven's Foreigner the first or Osibisa, but the title track was extremely satisfying music to hear that left me wanting more of the same. " Five Moons" followed and this is also a great song but after that my attention span started to wane. Most prog heads will agree that awesome prog is that good that even a shopping mall fire alarm would not get your attention or even a beautiful woman. But the second side of Clear Air Turbulence left me looking elsewhere and it's shortcommings whilst still very good like " Over The Hill" it just did not deliver the same set of consistency. The dangers of Vinyl I guess and an excuse to look around. Needless to say I did not buy the album but was glad to tape it from a friend and have enjoyed it over the years. It does show Ian Gillan at his diverse best, it also shows that collaborations as far back as 1977 with the likes of Ray Fenwick make one realize how gifted these musicians were.A very good album. Three and a half stars.