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[Jonathan Jarrett]

On Fri, 19 Nov 1999, Tim Stephenson wrote:

> Not me.  A Hawkfan from way back when, I bought Electric Tepee when I was
> bored one day, probably my first music purchase for five years.  Gobsmacked.
> Went back the next day, bought Space Bandits and It is the Biz.  Good and
> Superb.  Bought CD player and Distant Horizons.  Started having multiple
> orgasms.  Bought Alien4.  Couldn't believe I'd lived before.  Got Love in
> Space.  There's nothing else to life after this is there.   Played Space
> Ritual...... put it back - forget it.

        I rate _Love In Space_ higher than almost anything else they've
ever done, but I except, there, ISoS, DFL and SR. SR and ISoS I would find
it hard to live without, and DFL I play more than any other HW album. I do
think the nineties stuff achieved a simliar coherence to the early stuff
though, after the eighties were mostly spent in pursuit of a sound, not
that that didn't turn up some interesting by-the-way stuff. Mostly by
Harvey.

        I also rate _California Brainstorm_ far higher than is really
justifiable. Yours,
                    Jon

P.S. All that said, once you have LiS I don't believe there's any real
need ever to play _Alien4_ again.