Airborne
AMG AllMusic Guide: Pop Albums:
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Airborne
- Artist: Curved Air
- Rating:
- Release Date: 1976
- Genre: Rock
Review
The final Curved Air album before the band's late-1976 split is a somewhat under-rated effort, an album that may not be able to hold a candle to the superlative triumphs of their first three records, but still a strong summation of all that made the group so important in the first place. With founders Sonja Kristina and Darryl Way flanked by former Greenslade bassist Tony Reeves, future Police drummer Stewart Copeland, and guitarist Mick Jacques, Airborne kicks off with the delicious "Desiree" -- the band's last genuine chance of restoring former chart glories -- and peaks later with the moving "Heaven (Never Seemed So Far Away." Those two tracks, at least, would not have looked out of place on any of the band's better-feted releases. The rocky "Touch of Tequila," too, is a highlight and, if the album elsewhere sinks towards a more-or-less identikit mid-'70s rock rut ("Broken Lady," "Hot and Bothered") Kristina and Way, at least, retain enough of their old identity to ensure things never scrape the bottom of the barrel. Indeed, had the band's manic reinvention of "Baby Please Don't Go," a non-album single drawn from the same sessions, only been added to Airborne in favor of either of those turkeys, a mere "listenable" album would have been transformed into something altogether grander. ~ Dave Thompson, Rovi| Airborn (Album by Various Artists) | |
| Airborne (1983 Album by Don Felder) |
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Airborne
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
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Airborne (Curved Air album)
| Airborne | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Curved Air | ||||
| Released | 1976 | |||
| Recorded | Trident Studios, Spring 1976 | |||
| Genre | Progressive rock, folk rock | |||
| Length | 39:40 | |||
| Label | BTM | |||
| Producer | Dennis MacKay, Curved Air | |||
| Curved Air chronology | ||||
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Airborne is the sixth studio album by Curved Air and was recorded in 1976. Like their last few releases, it was not a significant commercial success. After a follow-up non-album single, "Baby Please Don't Go" b/w "Broken Lady", the group disbanded. Drummer Stewart Copeland went on to form The Police, while violinist Darryl Way and lead singer Sonja Kristina both pursued solo careers. Bassist Reeves and guitarist Jacques both later became members of the semi-pro band Big Chief.
The Police covered "Kids to Blame" in their early performances, using a stripped-down punk arrangement of the song. Stewart Copeland also reused a guitar riff from "Desiree" in his hit solo single "Don't Care".
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Contents
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Background and Recording
The album sessions marked the debut of Stewart Copeland as a songwriter. Around the release of Midnight Wire, he was informed about publishing royalties for songwriters, and responded by churning out compositions until the band accepted a few of his contributions.[1]
Producer Dennis McKay quit the project midway through recording, leaving the remaining four tracks to be produced by Curved Air themselves.
Reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    [2] |
Allmusic described Airborne as an overlooked record and "a strong summation of all that made the group so important in the first place." While appraising the album as a whole as weaker than their first three, claiming it veers towards generic 1970s rock, they regarded "Desiree" and "Heaven (never seemed so far away)" as equal to anything on the band's strongest releases.[2]
Track listing
| Side one | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length | |||||
| 1. | "Desiree" | Stewart Copeland, Sonja Kristina | Mick Jacques, Stewart Copeland | 3:12 | |||||
| 2. | "Kids to Blame" | Norma Tager | Copeland | 3:19 | |||||
| 3. | "Broken Lady" | Kristina | Tony Reeves | 3:13 | |||||
| 4. | "Juno" | Darryl Way | Darryl Way | 3:23 | |||||
| 5. | "Touch of Tequila" | Kristina | Jacques, Reeves | 3:49 | |||||
| Side two | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length | |||||
| 6. | "Moonshine" | Way | Way | 11:36 | |||||
| 7. | "Heaven (never seemed so far away)" | Copeland, Stuart Lyons | Copeland | 3:18 | |||||
| 8. | "Hot and Bothered" | Tager | Jacques | 2:53 | |||||
| 9. | "Dazed" | Way | Way | 4:17 | |||||
| Bonus track on CD issues | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length | |||||
| 10. | "Baby Please Don't Go" | Big Joe Williams | Big Joe Williams | 2:31 | |||||
Personnel
- Sonja Kristina – vocals
- Darryl Way – violin, keyboards
- Tony Reeves – bass, keyboards, double bass on "Broken Lady"
- Stewart Copeland – drums
- Mick Jacques – guitars
Guest musicians
- Robin Lumley – piano on 'Broken Lady'
- Alan Skidmore – sax on 'Hot & Bothered'
- Henry Lowther – trumpet on 'Hot & Bothered'
- Frank Ricotti – congas
- Jack Emblow – accordion on 'Broken Lady'
- Bob Sargeant – organ on 'Desiree' and 'Kids to Blame'
Additional credits
- Tracks 3-5, 7, and 8 produced by Dennis McKay
- Tracks 1, 2, 6, and 9 produced by Curved Air
- Track 10 produced by Tony Reeves
References
- ^ Sutcliffe, Phil & Fielder, Hugh (1981). L'Historia Bandido. London and New York: Proteus Books. ISBN 0-906071-66-6. p. 16.
- ^ a b Thompson, Dave. Airborne (Curved Air album) at Allmusic. Retrieved 2011-06-18.
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