[Review] Curved Air: Midnight Wire (1975)

Here’s a riddle: How can you find your Way and lose it at the same time?

Kronomyth 6: The Air who lost its spectacles and found its Way.

“When we did the albums Midnight Wire and Airborne, I wasn’t at all happy with the musical direction the band were going in…. Darryl was taking us into a much more blues rock and pop-oriented approach, and that didn’t appeal to me.” – Sonja Kristina, in a 2018 Prog interview.

Midnight Wire reminds me a lot of Gentle Giant; not the clever Gentle Giant of Free Hand and Interview, but the crappy Gentle Giant of The Missing Piece and Giant for a Day. With some Joe Walsh/James Gang thrown in just to throw you off the scent of prog. Darryl Way stuck around after the Curved Air reunion tour, which should have signaled a return to form. Instead, the two remaining Airs can’t seem to agree on a way forward for the band, with Darryl pushing the band toward mainstream rock and Sonja Kristina handing in a perfunctory performance while handing off the lyrical duties to her stylist, Norma Tager. Rounding out the latest incarnation of Curved Air are Mick Jacques, Stewart Copeland (who would soon date and later marry Sonja Kristina), John Perry and Peter Wood. The first appearance of Copeland is bound to intrigue, but he plays it surprisingly safe on this album. Midnight Wire isn’t a completely lost cause; the title track, though unwieldy at seven-and-a-half minutes, will please prog fans looking for an epic performance. The instrumental Pipe of Dreams is soothing and both Day Breaks My Heart and Dance of Love find a workable middle ground between prog and pop. That said, Woman on a One-Night Stand and Orange Street Blues are a hot mess, and The Fool makes “Two Weeks in Spain” feel like a vacation. Apparently, Airborne wasn’t any better, and the band broke up soon after. So, if you’re looking for where the curve in quality begins its descent, it’s here. Darn shame, since Air Cut showed there was still helium in their balloon, but everything has to come down to earth eventually.

Original elpee version

A1. Woman on a One-Night Stand (Sonja Kristina/Norma Tager) (5:06)
A2. Day Breaks My Heart (Darryl Way/Norma Tager) (4:38)
A3. The Fool (Darryl Way/Norma Tager/Mick Jacques) (4:27)
A4. Pipe of Dreams (Mick Jacques) (3:58)
B1. Orange Street Blues (Darryl Way/Norma Tager) (5:01)
B2. Dance of Love (Mick Jacques/Darryl Way) (4:36)
B3. Midnight Wire (Darryl Way/Norma Tager) (7:32)

The Players

Stewart Copeland (drums), Mick Jacques (guitars), Sonja Kristina (vocals), Darryl Way (violin) with Derek Daiman (backing vocals on A3), John Perry (bass), Norma Tager (lyrics), Peter Wood (keyboards). Produced by Ron and Howard Albert; engineered by Will Reid-Dick.

The Pictures

Album sleeve design by Liz Gilmore and Bob Searles of Art Direction. Photography by Michael Allard, Jill Furmanovsky and Derek Richards.

The Plastic

Released on elpee in November 1975 in the UK (BTM, BTM 1005). (First appeared in 11/1/75 issue of New Musical Express.)

1. Re-issued on compact disc in 1995 (Repertoire, REP-4499 WY).