Air Cut is the fourth studio album by Curved Air

Curved Air

Curved Air are a pioneering British progressive rock group formed in 1970 by musicians from mixed artistic backgrounds, including classic, folk, and electronic sound. The resulting sound of the band was a mixture of progressive rock, folk rock, and fusion with classical elements...

 and was recorded in 1973, following the departure of three of the band's founder members. Only Sonja Kristina and Mike Wedgwood

Mike Wedgwood

Mike Wedgwood is an English bassist and singer. He is related to the Wedgwood family of pottery fame.Wedgwood joined The Overlanders in 1968 following their biggest hit, a cover of The Beatles song, "Michelle", and remained with them until 1971.Following a stint with Arthur's Mother from 1971–72,...

 remained in the band from their previous album and Air Cut took them in a more rock-oriented direction.

Reception

While offering high praise for the track "Metamorphosis", Allmusic's reaction to the album was otherwise lukewarm, stating that most of the songs were straightforward rock numbers and "pictured a group trying to widen its audience without sounding convinced it was the right thing to do." It concluded that Air Cut's main point of interest is the debut of Eddie Jobson

Eddie Jobson

Edwin "Eddie" Jobson is an English keyboardist and violinist noted for his use of synthesizers. He has been a member of several progressive rock bands, including Curved Air, Roxy Music, U.K., and Jethro Tull. He was also part of Frank Zappa's band in 1976-77...

.

Side One

Side Two

Personnel

• Sonja Kristina
  Sonja Kristina Linwood
  Sonja Kristina , is an English musician most recognizable as the vocalist for Curved Air.- Biography :...
  
   – lead vocals (except on "Two Three Two"), acoustic guitar
  Acoustic guitar
  An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
  
   on "Elfin Boy", backing vocal on "Two Three Two"
• Kirby
  Kirby Gregory
  Graham "Kirby" Gregory, often credited simply as Kirby is a British musician best known for playing with rock bands Curved Air and Stretch....
  
   – electric guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  s, backing vocals, bass guitar on "World"
• Jim Russell – percussion
• Eddie Jobson
  Eddie Jobson
  Edwin "Eddie" Jobson is an English keyboardist and violinist noted for his use of synthesizers. He has been a member of several progressive rock bands, including Curved Air, Roxy Music, U.K., and Jethro Tull. He was also part of Frank Zappa's band in 1976-77...
  
   – electric violin
  Electric violin
  An electric violin is a violin equipped with an electronic output of its sound. The term most properly refers to an instrument purposely made to be electrified with built-in pickups, usually with a solid body...
  
  , VCS3 synthesizer
  EMS VCS 3
  The VCS 3 is a portable analog synthesiser with a flexible semi-modular voice architecture, by Electronic Music Studios Limited in 1969....
  
  , mellotron
  Mellotron
  The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin Music Master, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard intended for music...
  
  , pianos, organ, harpsichord
  Harpsichord
  A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
  
   on "Elfin Boy", backing vocal on "U.H.F."
• Mike Wedgwood
  Mike Wedgwood
  Mike Wedgwood is an English bassist and singer. He is related to the Wedgwood family of pottery fame.Wedgwood joined The Overlanders in 1968 following their biggest hit, a cover of The Beatles song, "Michelle", and remained with them until 1971.Following a stint with Arthur's Mother from 1971–72,...
  
   – bass guitar
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  (except on "World"), backing vocals, lead vocals on "Two Three Two" and "Easy", acoustic guitar on "World"

Credits

• Artwork design by Modula
• Artwork illustration based on drawing by Ian Fink
• Engineer – Paul "The Rock" Hardiman
• Photography – Mal Linwood-Ross & Mike Putland