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Curved Air - Masters From The Vault
RRP: £8.99
Our Price: £14.32 (subject to change)
It's a miracle to have this record at all. One extra star!
Review date: 2005-08-17 Rating: 8 out of 10
The last record of the classic Monkman/Way/Pilkington-Miksa/Kristina/Wedgwood line-up and, as always, a missed opportunity. Vivaldi, Darryl's interminable instrumental, was OK on stage, but dies on the small screen but Melinda fares much better, with Sonja playing nice running clawhammer guitar. Marie Antoinette is the best of the bunch, with clever playing by all and good vocals from Mike and Sonja. High points? As always, Florian's drumming is a treat, a presentation of time-keeping and flair, and Mike is good throughout. Sonja is always first-class except when she gets carried away and growls: and Darryl and Francis are, of course, talented and exceptional musicians. Why do they always choose the less exciting songs for video?!
Still, the bottonm line is that it's good to see this gang of excellent musicians in the heady days when you could see five top bands playing their own music in five consecutive nights. Not so now. Curved Air carved out their own niche and nobody has quite filled it. Good.
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Reviews
Curved Air available at last
Review date: 2003-12-16 Rating: 6 out of 10
Many years ago I remember a series being shown on British Television called "Sounds of the Seventies". It was a repeat of a Belgian TV series filmed in circa 1972 and hosted such bands as Curved Air, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Yes and Black Sabbath.
Unfortunately the Curved Air performance was very disappointing for me - over half the show was devoted to the violin solo/dirge that features in the middle of the extended version of Vivaldi.
As you've probably guessed by know, this Masters of the Vault DVD is a recording of that performance.
Now, don't get me wrong, the start of Vivaldi is a real barnstormer, but to fill most of a precious TV slot with the electronic feedback violin solo dirge is perhaps a bit OTT - even Hawkwind wouldn't have done that!
In balance, if you're a Curved Air fan, I would still buy this DVD for the rest of the set - quite simply there's nothing else available in DVD or video.
Sonja Kristina is still wondrous as the band's vocalist and one of my all-time favourite tracks - Melinda more or less - features on this DVD. Just be prepared to fast-forward once the first few minutes of Vivaldi have played out.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Curved Air
Creators:
Curved Air (Primary Contributor)
Recording label: Classic Rock Legends
Manufacturer: Classic Rock Legends
EAN: 0823880010248
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2003-03-17
Universal product code (UPC): 823880010248
Audience rating: Exempt
Language: English (Original Language)