HW: Live 79 (An invitation to a 1 minute hate)

[Stephen Swann]

andrew writes:
>
> Okay, as stated this is an attempt to deflect some wrath from Larry's
> doorstep. But whilst everyone's sleeves are still rolled up, like a small
> child with a stick standing by a hornet's nest i can't resist asking a
> question that has been bugging me for quite a while.
>
>   Why do people love Live 79 so much? I have *never* been as embarrassed
> listening to HW album as i am listening to the clumsy synth ploddings on
> Shot Down in the Night. No, to be accurate, i am not embarrassed by any
> other HW release. From this low it does at least rise to mediocrity with a
> few fairly innocuous versions of old faves. To my ears though the whole
> thing (with the exception of Lighthouse which really does shine brightly -
> and would do so whatever it was surrounded by) is as eventful as anything
> released during the ratheer irksome New Wave Of British Heavy Metal.

You know, my first reaction to Live 79 was that it sucked.  I picked
it up incidentally as part of the Castle two-for-one package with
Levitation.  I gave it a listen, and really hated it for the plodding,
thud-thud-thud drumming.  I mean, Motorway City on Levitation (whether
you personally like it or not), at least rolls along with a propulsive
rythm, courtesy of Ginger Baker.  The version on Live 79 walks like a
man on stilts.  And I agreed with you about Shot Down in the Night.

And you know, I honestly don't know when the change of heart happened.
It started certainly with Spirit of the Age, the Live 79 version being
probably my favorite-ever rendition of that one.  But I don't know
when the rest of it started growing on me.  My attitude toward it
certainly underwent a case of evolution, rather than revolution.  :)
But now it's something that I listen to rather often (as these things
go).  I mean, it's in no danger of replacing Space Ritual or Live
Chronicles as my favorite live albums, but I include it in a second
tier of "favorably viewed" live albums, along with The Business Trip,
Reading '85, and BBC Radio One.

>   If previous releases had been utterly dire, the maybe it could be seen as
> being a return to form of sorts. But we're talking about a sequence that
> saw Quark -> PXR5 -> 25 Years On which had the Hawks continuing the
> willingness to experiment and extend themselves that IMO began with Hall...
> IMO Live 79 sticks out at as a step sideways and backwards into mere metal
> mediocrity.

The Huw Lloyd-Langton Speed Metal version of Hawkwind?  ;-)
Gotta realise, that's my second-favorite Hawkwind era, and _Live
Chronicles_ is in serious contention to be my favorite album.  By
anyone.  On the other hand, _PXR5_, I don't really like much, nor
_Astounding_ (didn't that come in the era immediately before
Live 79 also?).

Actually, I get the feeling that this discussion (like most that we've
been having here lately) is mostly about the context in which we
discovered the music, and how we felt about it at the time - not about
any sort of "absolute musical value" that can be assigned to it.
In terms of absolute musical value, I'd probably have to rate
Doemi pretty low, since it's such simple, repetetive stuff.  Too
bad that I LOVE IT TO HELL AND GONE, eh?  ;-)

>   That's how i see it anyway, so convince me please. What is so great about
> Live 79?

Steve
swann at plutonia.com