Phantasmagoria

Curved Air | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 13, 2001)
• Original Release Date: 1972
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Collector's Choice
• ASIN: B0000584US
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #262,326 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Marie Antoinette

2. Melinda (More or Less)

3. Not Quite the Same

4. Cheetah

5. Ultra-Vivaldi

6. Phantasmagoria

7. Whose Shoulder Are You Looking over Anyway?

8. Over and Above

9. Once a Ghost, Always a Ghost

Editorial Reviews

The band's 1972 album for Warner Brothers. Features ninetracks, including 'Marie Antoinette' and 'Cheetah'. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Hidden Gem, March 25, 2002

By 

"kev-mc" (Yonkers, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Phantasmagoria (Audio CD)

The first Curved Air song I heard -- "It Happened Today -- left me decidedly unimpressed. Yet good word of mouth by real music fans convined me to give this album a chance. And I'm glad I did.

It's got all the familiar staples of the British prog LP: odd time signatures, historical and literary references, instrumental experimentation and prowess, and (of course) a sprawling multi-movement suite. All which gels quite nicely: "Phantasmagoria" is a classic from the somber opening moments of "Marie Antoinette" to the joyously upbeat ending of "Once a Ghost Always a Ghost."

The haunting acoustic piece "Melinda (More or Less)" 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 (check out "Cheetah") and gives it a fairly unique sound. The synth-piano keyboard instrumental "Ultra-Vivaldi" speeds to an impossibly fast climax and holds up well against the contemporary work of the Wakemans and Emersons of the world. Which leads us to the centerpiece/magnum opus: the four part "Phantasmagoria" suite that is the entire second half of the album. Like the best multimovement suites in the prog genre, it holds together as a musical whole over the course of four different thematic changes. And the concept -- Lewis Carroll set to music -- is a refreshing change of pace from the sometime overwraught epics of the more well known prog bands.

You can't really go wrong with an album that ends: "Nobody will know you're there / unless you care to sneeze / head in arm and hand in hand / we'll haunt the seven-seas." All-in-all a nice compliment to any record collection that already contains Close to the Edge, Foxtrot, Brain Salad Surgery, and/or Thick As A Brick.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The air is always curved if you choose to see it, September 14, 2005

By 

Steve McMullen "chronosynclasticinfundibi" (Upland, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Phantasmagoria (Audio CD)

The third album follows the tradition with some refinement. Born from the British group Sisyphus in 1968, the core of Frances Monkman (Guitar), Florian Pilkington-Miksa (Drums) and Rob Martin (Bass) met up with another visionary, Darryl Way (Violin, Keyboards) to form Curved Air. Very shortly, they were joined by Acoustic Guitarist/Singer Sonja Kristina. A milestone in the Progressive/Folk Rock genre had surfaced from the psychedelic mold, and Curved Air was still making mega-leaps in song construction and complexity. Personnel change for this album brought Mike Wedgewood in as Bassist. From the beautiful Marie Antoinette to the straightforward pop tune Phantasmagoria to relentless Cheetah, the quality just kept coming. The complexity and continuous changes in tone and beat set the mark for other Prog Rock groups to emulate in songs like Over and Above with its multiple layers of sound. More electronic and synth experimentation on this album than the others - Ultra Vivaldi and Who's Shoulder Are You Looking Over Anyway? - Highly recommended, of course.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful third album from Curved Air, October 13, 2004

By 

BENJAMIN MILER (Veneta, Oregon) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Phantasmagoria (Audio CD)

This is without a doubt the most elaborate album Curved Air had released at that point. Here the band included strings and horns to their music. The band had problems keeping bass players too, they were now to their third bassist, Mike Wedgwood, who would later be a short-time member of Caravan (for the album Cunning Stunts and Blind Dog at St. Dunstans). Phantasmagoria was basically the final album with the original lineup (more or less, save the bassist, of course). The first couple of songs are not too far off from Second Album, like "Marie Antoinette" and "Melinda (More or Less)", both stunning ballads, the former obviously dealing with Marie Antoinette who was beheaded during the French Revolution. These two songs are no doubt enhanced by the vocals of Sonja Kristina, who without a doubt became quickly one of my favorite female vocalist. "Not Quite the Same" features lyrics that I am unable to mention here. "Cheetah" is an instrumental piece dominated by Darryl Way's violin, while "Ultra-Vivaldi" was obviously Francis Monkman doing Vivaldi on the VCS-3 synthesizer (although the band did explore Vivaldi on Air Conditioning, their debut, so this wasn't exactly new for the band). The second half of the album finds the band being more experimental. "Whose Shoulder Are You Locking" is a strange, Francis Monkman electronic experiment with what sounds like Sonja Kristina speaking through a vocoder (I understand this involved some sort of computer and someone who worked for Electronic Music Studios, the company responsible for the VCS-3/Synthi "A" synthesizers, as well as later on, vocoders). I am not totally clear on how this experiment worked. "Over and Above" finds the band going even further in jazzier territory, with vibraphones and xylophones, horns, strings, passages that at times might remind you of Zappa or Gentle Giant, as well as tons of cool jazzy passages dominated by vibes. "Once a Ghost Always a Ghost" continues in Curved Air fashion, with lots of horns with a quirky bent. Although their previous album (Second Album) is easier to get in to, Phantasmagoria proves that Curved Air was a band deserving just as much attention as their prog contemporaries like Yes or ELP (although Curved Air did received moderate UK success). Wonderful album that's truly essential.