Air Cut is the great outlier in Curved Air’s early catalogue — a fourth album made by an almost entirely new band, after most of the classic line-up walked away. Released in 1973, it’s best known today for introducing a teenage Eddie Jobson, soon to join Roxy Music, and for the epic ‘Metamorphosis.’ More rock-focused and less classical than before, it’s a fascinating, underrated record.

The short version

Air Cut (1973) is the fourth studio album by Curved Air, and their last for Warner Bros. By the time it was made, only singer Sonja Kristina and bassist Mike Wedgwood remained; violinist Darryl Way, keyboardist Francis Monkman and drummer Florian Pilkington-Miksa had all left. In their place came guitarist Kirby Gregory, drummer Jim Russell and the eighteen-year-old prodigy Eddie Jobson, who took on both violin and keyboards. The result is a more rock-oriented album, highlighted by the ten-minute epic ‘Metamorphosis.’

A new band

After the classic Curved Air line-up fractured following Phantasmagoria — amid personality clashes and musical disagreements — Darryl Way, Francis Monkman and Florian Pilkington-Miksa all departed, leaving singer Sonja Kristina and bassist Mike Wedgwood to carry on. Rather than fold, they built a new band, recruiting guitarist Kirby Gregory, drummer Jim Russell and, most significantly, the astonishing eighteen-year-old multi-instrumentalist Eddie Jobson, who single-handedly covered both the violin and keyboard roles once split between Way and Monkman. The venture was originally to be called the Sonja Kristina Band, but Warner Bros. insisted on keeping the Curved Air name — and even supplied the punning title Air Cut, which Kristina reportedly never liked. Producer Martin Rushent, later a new-wave hitmaker, oversaw the sessions.

The sound

Air Cut is noticeably different from the classical-rock fusion of the earlier albums. With Monkman’s baroque flourishes gone, the music leans harder toward straight-ahead rock, though Eddie Jobson’s remarkable playing keeps the progressive spirit alive: his keyboards recall Tony Banks of Genesis, and Kirby Gregory’s guitar at times echoes Steve Hackett. Sonja Kristina’s voice remains the constant, more versatile and less chanteuse-like than before. The album swings between punchy rockers and more ambitious, folk- and prog-tinged pieces, and while it lacks the unmistakable character of the original band, the musicianship — especially from the teenage Jobson — is frequently dazzling.

Reading up on British prog? The books go deeper →

The songs

The album opens with ‘The Purple Speed Queen,’ a brisk, hard-edged rocker that became one of the band’s better-known tracks, and the delicate, folky ‘Elfin Boy,’ a showcase for Kristina’s voice and acoustic guitar. Its centrepiece is ‘Metamorphosis,’ a ten-minute Jobson epic that ranks among the finest things Curved Air ever recorded — a martial, shifting piece full of grand piano, organ, Mellotron and synthesizer that shows the young prodigy’s virtuosity in full. The instrumental ‘Armin’ offers superb violin-guitar-bass interplay, while ‘U.H.F.,’ ‘Two Three Two’ and the closing ‘Easy’ range from quirky rock to folk-rock.

Reception and legacy

Air Cut sold poorly and was coolly received at the time; many fans simply couldn’t accept Curved Air without Darryl Way and Francis Monkman. It proved to be the end of this incarnation: Eddie Jobson soon left to replace Brian Eno in Roxy Music — the start of a stellar career that would take in UK, Frank Zappa and Jethro Tull — while Gregory and Russell formed Stretch and Wedgwood joined Caravan. The original line-up would briefly reunite in 1974. In hindsight, though, Air Cut has been reappraised as one of Curved Air’s most progressive albums, and an intriguing early showcase for one of rock’s great multi-instrumentalists.

The verdict

Air Cut isn’t the place to discover Curved Air — start with Air Conditioning or the hit-laden Second Album — but it’s a rewarding listen for the curious, and essential for anyone following Eddie Jobson’s remarkable career from the beginning. Approached as a different band trading under a familiar name, it has real strengths, above all the magnificent ‘Metamorphosis.’ Come for the teenage Jobson’s virtuoso violin and keyboards, stay for Sonja Kristina’s enduring voice, and hear a band reinventing itself against the odds. It’s a flawed but genuinely interesting chapter in the Curved Air story.

Browse the bookshelf in the footer →