Croydon

[Sam Kirwan]

Agree with that entirely.  On the Emergency Broadcast Album (might be
collection - can't remember) there is the harshest most industrialised most
spankingly top version of Shouldn't Do That.  It's amazing, I couldn't
praise the track enough, no other version since the original has affected me
as much.  Tracks lik Black Elk Speaks on Space Bandits and Sputnik Stan
shouldn't be cast off either and the whole of Xenon Codex, Business of the
Future, Electric Teepee even Palace Springs has moments.  As a final point
'cos I'm no expert but I don't know of many bands that can turn out more
than ten top class, blinding albums in a lifetime.  Hawkwind have
loads.......

Sam




-----Original Message-----
From: Nick Medford [mailto:nick at HERMIT0.DEMON.CO.UK]
Sent: 26 March 2001 21:30
To: BOC-L at LISTSERV.SPC.EDU
Subject: Re: Croydon


In message <002e01c0b61f$c49897f0$0100a8c0 at rattus>, John Rennie
<john at JMAIL.FSBUSINESS.CO.UK> writes
>I didn't get there (I didn't even know about it :-( ) and am now deeply
>regretting it.  However I have to say that the set seems to owe a lot to
the
>pre 1980 albums.  Fair enough, since that's my favourite Hawkwind era too,
>but apart from a few exceptions there just don't seem to be that many
>classic tracks from the post 1980 stuff.  I'd be interested to hear what
>others regard as post-1980 classic tracks, or even post 1980 classic
albums.

Well, they threw a few new numbers into the set, but I think most fans of
the band would accept that '70-'79 were the classic years- responses to the
top 5 albums thread reflect that. The studio output since then has been
patchy but the live shows- and live albums- remain top quality. 'Electric
Tepee' would be my pick as best studio Hawkwind album of the last 20
years.

Ten great Hawk-tracks of the last two decades (in no particular order):

Damage Of Life
Ghost Dance
LSD
Treadmill
Angels Of Death
Dream Worker
Space Is Their Palestine
Hippy
Levitation
TV Suicide

...there are others...

How many of these would get in my all-time HW top 10? No more than a
couple. But worth remembering that the band continually re-invent the old
classics too... see any live show for confirmation.

FWIW I think the main weakness of the more recent output is not the
quality of the good stuff- which remains superb- but the lack of quality
control, with too much second-rank or filler material finding its way onto
the albums. But, I'm grateful that the band still exist as a quality outfit
and
haven't lapsed into self-parody or bloated middle age like so many of their
70s peers. That in itself is an achievement.
--
Nick Medford


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