HW: Review - Hawkwind 'PXR5' (1979)

[Paul G Ward]

                         Record Review: Hawkwind 'PXR5'
                         ------------------------------

Disclaimer: I've done this a few times now, but I still have *NO* literary
            talent whatsoever! In fact it's getting harder as I go :-(
            My humble opinion is mine, and no-one elses! I do know what I
            like though, and that means HAWKWIND!

            Any reference to record labels & catalog numbers reflects what
            my copy is, and is not necessarily the only (or original)
            release.

Artist/s:       Hawkwind
Title:          PXR5
Label/Cat#:     Charisma CDS 4016
1st Release:    1979
Lineup:         Bob Calvert, Dave Brock, Simon King, Simon House, Adrian Shaw


                     ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
                     ³ H.M. Govt. Health Dept' WARNING: ³
                     ³         THIS WIRING CAN          ³
                     ³   SERIOUSLY DAMAGE YOUR HEALTH   ³
                     ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ

This album is probably best known for it's cover, the rear of which features
an incorrectly wired British Power plug, complete with the above warning. This
wasn't good enough though, and it was removed from sale until all the albums
had a black sticker placed over the offending graphic. Subsequent releases had
a black square printed where the incorrect wiring used to be. This album was
actually recorded before the previous release (under the Hawklords banner),
but had to be held back due to legal problems over the band's name. It is a
collection of previously unreleased live tracks recorded at seperate gigs
between 1977 and 1978, as well as two original tracks recorded at Dave Brock's
farm in Devon.

Wow! The opening drumbeats of "Death Trap" heralds the beginning of one of the
fastest and rockiest Hawkwind tracks in quite a few years. These guys
obviously spent the weekend before they penned this track at illegal street
drags! After it's sudden ending, the much gentler "Jack of Shadows", based on
a Roger Zelzany (RIP) novel, begins. I quite like this track, and is a great
sing along slow rock number, but not all Hawkfans agree. Samples of the speech
which Nixon made after Armstrong's first steps on the moon form only part of
"Uncle Sam's on Mars", a hilarious satirical dig at the expenditure put into
space exploration by the US of A, while their country is falling apart at the
seams, and the promise of eventual destruction of the world environment being
totally ignored by those who could do something about it. Space Rock Greenies!

"Infinity" is the first of two Brock synth pieces on the album, and (IMHO) is
the better of the two. It tells the tale of an immortal being bemoaning his
long lost humanity. The second, "Life Form" is more of a synth instrumental,
with lots of spacey background effects,  and a re-sampled vocal (which I think
says 'Life Form', but I'm not sure), which builds into a crescendo, then
suddenly dies. It is obviously intended as an introduction to the first track
on side two, but somehow flipping the record over destroys the effect!
Brock plays all intsruments (synth, guitar, etc.) with the exception of drums,
provided by Simon King, on both of these tracks.

The opening track on side two, "Robot" is the why I am a HawkFan! One hot &
balmy Australian summer night 16 years ago, I was tuned in to a remote pirate
radio station (relying on the summer night conditions to pick it up at all)
when I was totally blown away, and my life changed forever! If only I was
older than 13, then my pledge to buy EVERY Hawkwind release which I made that
fateful night could start sooner. As it turns out, I never got this album
until last year (1994), and my pre-pubescent dream of Kompleteness is still a
long way off (I have got all the 'official' releases). Enough about me - Isaac
Asimov, if he ever heard it, should have been proud of this tale of the rage
and humiliation felt by a robot who knows he is better than his human masters,
but is bound by the three laws to obey. It really rocks too!

"High Rise" was to become a Hawkwind classic, and has some of the most
descriptive lyrics ever penned by the mighty Hawks. Social rot personalised by
a High Rise apartment block, accompanied by a dark, slow and foreboding key-
-board and bass-line best describes this track. It is one of my favorite
Hawkwind tracks of all time (and I'm not alone here either!). `The tentacles
of human gore - spread out on the pavement from the 99th floor'. The album
concludes with the title track, "PXR5", the Hawkwind spaceship '... and we go
from star to star to find the dream ...'. Is it a fairly upbeat track, with
drums dominantly accompanying the vocals, and all the spacey sounds we all
expect from Hawkwind Space Rock. It is not in the class of classics like
'Masters of the Universe' or 'Brainstorm', but is a great track nonetheless.

PXR5 is a 'gotta have'. This is my opinion, but I'd be surprised if any other
Hawkfan argued with me on this one. Buy it.


--
Paul Ward        aka: Assassin Sonique'          .---.  __  .--------   Long
R & D Manager, P & C Micro's Pty Ltd            /     \( o`-,  -----   may
mail: sonique at aardvark.apana.org.au            ////    '~ (    ---   they
http://aardvark.apana.org.au/~sonique/my.html /////// :    ; ---   Fly!