Darryl Way's Wolf (Curved Air) - Saturation Point [Japanese Ed. SHM-CD] (1973)

Year: 1973 (CD Nov 26, 2008)
Label: Universal Music (Japan), UICY-93827
Style: Progressive Rock, Symphonic Rock, Instrumental
Country: Taunton, Somerset, England
Time: 47:30
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 335 Mb

WOW! When a progressive rock band has violin and guitars in his music, usually they are not played at the same time. In fact, they are simultaneously played here, and this really contributes to give Wolf a very personal trademark. This not very well known prog band gives us here a wonderful album, full of impressive violin, electric + acoustic guitars and dynamic & punchy bass! No one else than Ian Mosley himself(Marillion)plays the drums here: they are very well played and quite complex. Everything is very well synchronized, like Gentle Giant. It sounds a bit like Curved air, Caravan, Happy the man, Gentle Giant and Frank Zappa, but this album has really its own sound, and this makes the band very interesting. The record is mainly instrumental, and the keyboards are surprisingly rare, simple and discreet: they mainly consist in electric piano. This record is heavier and more symphonic and straightforward than "Canis Lupus": there are some very seriously loaded parts, very progressive, and the violin is more omnipresent.
(rateyourmusic.com/music-review/greenback/darryl-ways-wolf/saturation-point/216103)

01. The Ache (04:51)
02. Two Sisters (04:21)
03. Slow Rag (05:18)
04. Market Overture (03:38)
05. Game Of X (05:48)
06. Saturation Point (06:46)
07. Toy Symphony (07:14)
08. A Bunch Of Fives (03:30)
09. Five In The Morning (02:40)
10. Two Sisters (Single Version) (03:19)

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Curved Air - Second Album [Japanese Ed. SHM-CD] (1971)

Year: September 1971 (CD Apr 8, 2015)
Label: Warner Music (Japan), WPCR 16300
Style: Progressive Rock, New Age
Country: London, England
Time: 42:27
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 285 Mb

The aptly titled “Second Album” catches Curved Air at the peak of their popularity following the success of the single “Back Street Luv” which remains one of their best known tracks. However in line with the high turnover that was to characterise the band’s line-up, seeds of discord were growing between guitarist Francis Monkman and multi-instrumentalist Darryl Way which led to one side being dedicated to tracks penned by Way and other members of the band while the other saw all the Monkman compositions lumped together.
The second album is always a tricky step for a band who achieve success with their first LP. Usually recorded in the gaps of a busy touring schedule, with little time to come up with new material, it can be a band’s undoing. However “Second Album” is a good effort which opens with not one but two bangs, the excellent “Young Mother” that includes an excellent instrumental break in its midst and the already mentioned “Back Street Luv”. “Jumbo” shows a band stretching its wings with the use of a string section. “You Know” is another good rocker that clearly displays the influences of american band Spirit described by Darryl Way in the liner notes, the excellent hook played in unison by the keyboard and the guitar works a treat.”Puppets” meanders a little and might be the only real filler track here but things pick up instantly with “Everdance” where Curved Air’s trademark violin and an almost chidlike-nursery rhyme lyric make it instantly memorable. Monkman’s inventivity shines through on “Bright Summer’s Day 1968” with its unusual melodies and time signature changes. Closing off the second side is the ambitious “Piece of Mind”, again a track where Monkman’s singular music vision is well displayed. This carefully constructed music suite manages to stay interesting for the whole course of its thirteen minutes.
(louderthanwar.com/curved-air-second-album-album-review/)

01. Young Mother (05:58)
02. Back Street Luv (03:41)
03. Jumbo (04:10)
04. You Know (04:11)
05. Puppets (05:29)
06. Everdance (03:08)
07. Bright Summer's Day '68 (02:54)
08. Piece Of Mind (12:53)

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Darryl Way's Wolf (Curved Air) - Canis Lupus [Japanese Ed. SHM-CD] (1973)

Year:  (CD Nov 26, 2008)
Label: Decca Records (Japan), UICY-93826
Style: Progressive Rock, Acid Rock
Country: Taunton, Somerset, England
Time: 44:14
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 327 Mb

Despite releasing three albums of well-crafted songs and exceptional performances over just two years via Decca’s Deram imprint, Darryl Way’s Wolf remain largely ignored in most histories of progressive rock’s 70s heyday.
At the time, they enjoyed enthusiastic reviews and live popularity, but failed to break into the charts – a fact that may have contributed to their subsequent invisibility.
Their formidable 1973 debut, Canis Lupus, features the ex-Curved Air maestro Way’s masterly use of violin and keyboards, alongside John Etheridge’s frenzied legato-style guitar, Dek Messecar’s supple bass and Ian Mosley’s whip-cracking drumming. A nuanced production from King Crimson co-founder Ian McDonald refines the music’s subtler points.
(loudersound.com/music/albums/darryl-way-s-wolf-cadenza-box-set)

01. The Void (04:36)
02. Isolation Waltz (04:40)
03. Go Down (04:44)
04. Wolf (04:10)
05. Cadenza (04:51)
06. Chanson Sans Paroles (06:29)
07. McDonalds Lament (07:10)
08. Spring Fever (03:30)
09. Wolf (Single Version) (04:01)

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Curved Air - Air Conditioning [Japanese Ed. SHM-CD] (1970)

Year: November 1970 (CD Apr 8, 2015)
Label: Warner Music (Japan), WPCR 16299
Style: Progressive Rock, New Age
Country: London, England
Time: 45:19
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 290 Mb

Air Conditioning, the debut album from Gloucestershire band Curved Air, is widely considered to be one of the pioneering albums of the progressive rock genre. Recorded in July 1970 and released to an unsuspecting public just four months later, this was unlike much of what had been heard previously. Many of the bands that are remembered today as some of the greatest prog bands of all time were yet to unleash something quite as different and out there as Air Conditioning. Genesis' debut had been firmly routed in the 60's pop genre, Pink Floyd were yet to release anything truly incredible and Rush were many years away from releasing their debut. Of all the classic prog albums, only King Crimson had released one yet, in the form of In The Court Of The Crimson King, which would go on to influence Air Conditioning. However, this was a different form of prog rock. Whereas bands like King Crimson focused on shifting their sound up every thirty seconds, Curved Air were more geared towards showing off the significant talent of vocalist Sonja Kristina and were also one of the first rock bands to use a violin which makes for one interesting listen.
(full version: sputnikmusic.com/review/53985/Curved-Air-Air-Conditioning/)

01. It Happened Today (05:02)
02. Stretch (04:06)
03. Screw (04:02)
04. Blind Man (03:35)
05. Vivaldi (07:33)
06. Hide And Seek (06:19)
07. Propositions (03:09)
08. Rob One (03:27)
09. Situations (06:24)
10. Vivaldi With Cannons (01:37)

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