HW: Epoch Eclipse Review.

[Doug Pearson]

On Thu, 18 Nov 1999 21:38:20 -0000, Tim Stephenson
<timnjaq at TSTEPHENSON.FREESERVE.CO.UK> wrote:
>Olivier Boigey <Olivier_Boigey at TECHNOLINK.ORG> wrote:
>>on 17/11/99, Doug wrote:
>>
>>> Because it's not the same old Anthology/Acid Daze
>>
>>For HW newcomers, these comps are not so bad; they have wild live versions
>>(I think of Shouldn't do that for instance) which are complementary to the
>>original studio versions.
>
>Whoah!!  Disagree.  These crappy bootleg-like albums are for diehards only.
>Newbies out there after early Hawks live staff should look for Space Ritual
>or 1999 Party a LONG time before touching Yuri Gagarin and its relations.
>(Tip - still dont get them and dont pay money for them)

Despite my negative mention of Anthology/Acid Daze above, I agree with
Oliver (and Chuck) that there's some good stuff on that compilation, like
the Watchfield Festival jam.  I only mentioned them in a negative light
because of the sheer number of times these have been released under so many
different titles; it's gotta be annoying as hell for the band, since every
time there's a "real" new release (DH & IYA being the two most recent),
there's four releases of the same-old-sh*t, confusing the hell out of
everyone except those hardkore fans who can recognize the cash-ins for what
they are.

I'll even go out on a limb and add that even though 'Yuri Gagarin' is
highly-unrecommended (as much for the uncharacteristically weak performance
as for the unlistenable sound quality), 'Space Ritual 2' (for the extended
"Brainstorm" and "Time We Left") and 'Text of Festival' (especially for the
"sound...Shouldn't...improvise...compromise...reprise" jam) are among my
favorite Hawkwind recordings.  I might even prefer them to 'the 1999 Party'
(if only because that one has such a weird remix).  I just don't need 8
copies of each ;^).

Speaking of unrecommended recordings, I recently picked up one of those
budget Cleopatra 4-CD boxes (a good deal, if you don't already have any of
the CD's).  This one is *mostly* great, with a Spiral Realms CD (I worship
Simon House), Calvert's 'Freq' (with bonus tracks that I didn't have!
yeah!), and the 'Psychedelic Warlords' comp (with a couple tracks I didn't
already have on CD).  But it also includes the Nik Turner 'Sphynx' remake
(the Cleopatra one, not the original one on Charisma with Steve Hillage,
etc., which I love).  Man!  Is that one a stinker.  I love Nik, I love
Helios Creed & Chrome, I really like the Pressurehed/Farflung crew, but I
just can't enjoy this CD.  At least the follow-up, 'Prophets of Time', is a
*huge* improvement (and the two subsequent live sets are great).

        -Doug
         ceres at sirius.com

ObFaveNewCD: Debris' 'Static Disposal' reissue (the LP goes for $150+ these
days) w/tons of bonus tracks - incredible mid-70s band from Oklahoma who
were heavily-influenced by the Velvet Underground and Eno-era Roxy Music
and fit in well as contemporaries of Pere Ubu and MX-80 sound.  Highly
recommended ...