Curved Air – Live was the first official live album by the British progressive rock band Curved Air. It was recorded on the band's reunion tour in December 1974 and released in 1975. Though it failed to enter the charts, it made enough profit to pay off the tax bill which had compelled Curved Air to reunite, allowing Francis Monkman and Florian Pilkington-Miksa to again leave the group.
Contents
Background
Sonja Kristina's vocals on the album are atypical of her 1970s performances, both live and in the studio. By her own account, she was in a distraught emotional state following the breakup of her first marriage, and this provoked more wild and raw on-stage singing.
Reception
Allmusic wrote that "Kristina herself is possibly in her best voice ever, while the instrumentation rides roughshod over the... belief that Curved Air were at their best in the studio", offering high praise to nearly all of the individual cuts while criticizing none of them.
Personnel
Curved Air
Sonja Kristina – lead vocals
Darryl Way – violin, keyboards, backing vocals
Francis Monkman – lead guitar, organ, VCS3 synthesizer
Florian Pilkington-Miksa – drums
Philip Kohn – bass guitar
Recording details
Recorded live at Cardiff University and Bristol Polytechnic in December 1974 with the Manor Mobile
Re-mixed at Air London Studios
Produced by David Hitchcock for BTM Productions
Recording Engineer and Re-mix engineer Django Johnny Punter
Assistant Engineers – Phil Becque, Paul Nunn, Sean Milligan, Andy Morris and Alan Perkins
Design and Artwork Liz Gilmore
Photography Michael Allard for BTM design
Special thanks to Ben Mullet and Yamaha for stage equipment