Air Conditioning (album)

Air Conditioning is the debut studio album by English progressive rock band Curved Air. It was released in November 1970 and reached number 8 in the UK albums chart in December 1970.[2]

Air Conditioning
Picture disc "A'" side.
Studio album by
Curved Air
ReleasedNovember 1970
RecordedJuly 1970
StudioIsland, London
GenreProgressive rock, art rock
Length44:34[1]
LabelWarner Bros.
ProducerMark Edwards
Curved Air chronology
Air Conditioning
(1970)		 Second Album
(1971)

On the picture disc (subsequently used as the album cover) the album title was shown as "Airconditioning", while the subsequent green label issue had it as "Air Conditioning".

Background and recording

Though Sonja Kristina is credited as the sole lyricist of "It Happened Today", in a series of interviews conducted from late 1998 through March 1999, Francis Monkman claimed to have conceived the song's title and basic lyrical concept.[3] Kristina concurred that Monkman came up with the title but asserts that the lyric "isn't really about anything specific."[4] In contrast, though "Propositions" is credited solely to Monkman, he denies having written the lyrics and suggests that they were written by Kristina. He explained the inspiration for the song's music: "I was a great fan of Terry Riley (having played in the 1st London performance of "In C" in 1968) and was very impressed by A Rainbow in Curved Air. Then I had a kind of "musical vision" of a high-energy rock sound going into a Terry-like tape-loop improvisation. That became "Propositions"..."[3]

Both music and lyrics for "Situations" were written jointly by Darryl Way and Rob Martin. Martin recalled that their collaboration on the song was so tight that often each melody was produced alternately by first one composer, then the other.

The lyric of "Hide and Seek" describes a post-apocalyptic scenario in which a lone survivor searches in vain for another living person; Sonja Kristina has stated that this lyric can be taken literally or symbolically. She commented, "It's a nightmare, the sort of thing when you dream about being left in an empty city."[4]

Kristina's vocal on "Blind Man" was inspired by Donovan's performance on "Hurdy Gurdy Man".[4]

Picture disc

The album was one of the first vinyl picture discs[5] to be produced, and it was released as a limited edition of 10,000.[6] Picture disc technology was in its infancy and this resulted in a level of surface noise. The disc was re-issued in conventional album format (the "Green Label" edition), with a photo of the original picture disc on the album cover.

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[7]

Track listing

Side one
  1. "It Happened Today" (Francis Monkman, Sonja Kristina Linwood) – 4:55
  2. "Stretch" (Darryl Way, Monkman) – 4:05
  3. "Screw" (Way, Linwood) – 4:03
  4. "Blind Man" (Way, Rob Martin) – 3:32
  5. "Vivaldi" (Way) – 7:26

Side two
  1. "Hide and Seek" (Way, Linwood) – 6:15
  2. "Propositions" (Monkman) – 3:04
  3. "Rob One" (Martin) – 3:22
  4. "Situations" (Way, Martin) – 6:17
  5. "Vivaldi (With Cannons)" (Way, Monkman) – 1:35

One other song was recorded and released only on singles:

  1. "What Happens When You Blow Yourself Up" (Monkman, Linwood)  – 3:34

Personnel

Though Rob Martin is credited for bass, he had already left the band due to a hand injury prior to recording, and Sonja Kristina revealed in an interview that Francis Monkman played all of the bass parts on the album.[8]

Curved Air

Singles
  • "It Happened Today" / "What Happens When You Blow Yourself Up" b/w "Vivaldi" (UK & The Netherlands release)
  • "It Happened Today" b/w "What Happens When You Blow Yourself Up" (US & Germany release)
  • "It Happened Today" b/w "It Happened Today" (promo issue)
  • "Vivaldi" b/w "It Happened Today" (Italy release)

References
  1. "CURVED AIR Air Conditioning music reviews and MP3". progarchives.com. Retrieved 22 December 2009.
  2. "The Official Charts Company – Curved Air – Air Conditioning". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 December 2009.
  3. Wynne, Richard. (1999) "Francis Monkman" Archived 1 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine (via link to "Francis". The Official Curved Air Website.
  4. Welch, Chris (April 2011). "Curved Air – Airconditioning". In Airconditioning [CD booklet]. London: Blue Mountain Music.
  5. "Curved Air Home Page". curvedair.com. Archived from the original on 1 September 2009. Retrieved 28 August 2009.
  6. "Curved Air – Airconditioning (12", Pic) at Discogs". discogs. Retrieved 28 August 2009.
  7. "allmusic ((( Air Conditioning > Overview )))". AllMusic. Retrieved 22 December 2009.
  8. Dome, Malcolm (9 June 2021). "The story of Curved Air's debut album Air Conditioning". Prog Magazine. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
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