HW: 70's versus now

[John Majka]

I think that post-1979 Hawkwind has produced as much classic stuff as the
70's era.  Let's see...

Levitation--I can't say a bad thing about it! Masterpieces in every track!

Sonic Attack--a much more patchy album, but it still has "Angels of Death"
and "Rocky Paths" and "Living on a Knife Edge" all of which are great, I
think.  There are a few tracks that don't interest me much, but hey, when a
band is as consistently great as Hawkwind, I forgive them for penning a few
mediocre tracks every now and then!  Their track record is still WAY better
than that of the average band.  Overall this is probably my least favorite
Hawkwind record, but I still like to listen to it.

Church of Hawkwind--this is a much weirder album, but after all, that's what
I like about Hawkwind:  the fact that they aren't afraid to experiment.
Sometimes when they venture out on a limb it might not be the greatest thing
ever, but I certainly appreciate the fact that they try to stretch
themselves a bit.  I would hate it if they were mired in a "Doremi Fasol
Latido / Space Ritual" mindset.  Luckily they aren't!

Stonehenge:  This is Hawkwind, Do Not Panic--I love this album!  In fact
it's one of my very favorites.  That version of Psi Power is incredible!

Choose Your Masques--another very solid record.  It's got well-constructed
songs just dripping with psychedelia... you have to love Harvey's "If you
want to get into it, you've got to get out of it" refrain at the end of the
first album side... wisdom for the ages!

Zones--some of the production sounds like it could be a home studio
recording, but it doesn't matter a bit.  After all, Guided By Voices are
brilliant and most of their albums are recorded on 4-tracks or just a
handheld recorder.  Highlights:  that great Huw Lloyd-Langton lead on "The
Island," Moorcock's dementedly inflectionless "Running Through the
Backbrain" and of course a great rendition of "Social Alliance."  And you
people badmouth this album?!?

Chronicle of the Black Sword-- at the time of its release it was seen as
sort of a "rebirth" of Hawkwind, implying that they had somehow faltered
along the way which wasn't true at all!  This is a really great album, but I
feel that it is hampered by Danny Thompson's awful plodding drums and some
of the heavy metal-isms of the day (like Brock's extremely metal vocals on
"Song of the Swords").  That's OK though.  All is forgiven, because it's
still a wonderful album and it gave us...

Live Chronicles--a fine double concept album.  It would have been better if
Hawkwind could have had a more skillful drummer at the time, but aside from
that, I can't really complain about this record at all!  Another masterpiece
of sorts, really!

Out and Intake--I bought this the day of its release and just thought "Wow!"
when I heard it, because it was so relatively psychedelic compared to the
Black Sword album that preceded it.  "Cajun Jinx" is one of my all-time
favorite HW songs!

Xenon Codex--when I bought this one I thought, "How do Hawkwind keep being
so brilliant over such a long career?"  I couldn't believe how good it was.
Again, the plodding drums of Danny Thompson don't really help things, but I
love this record.  Huw Lloyd-Langton's best-ever lead is on "Lost
Chronicles" and this album has bunches of great songs.

Space Bandits--The opening track blew me away because it was my first
introduction to Richard Chadwick, and what a difference he makes (especially
after enduring Danny Thompson)!  "Images" was relentless in its
uncharacteristic energies--with those stops and starts and those incredible
leads from Simon and Dave, and the contributions of Bridget--a really great
song in the Hawkwind catalog!  And the fun doesn't stop there!  In fact I
love every song on this record!

Palace Springs--This might be my favorite Hawkwind record ever.  Is it
really that good?  Yes, it is!  "Treadmill" is one of the best-ever Hawkwind
songs (even if it does recycle some lyrics from one of Dave Brock's solo
albums)... I just love the dynamics on that one as it builds into that moody
and crazy keyboard extravaganza from Harvey!  The dynamics are equally
intense on the live recordings, particularly "Golden Void" and "Damnation
Alley" where we heard that reggae bit for the first time (which was
subsequently inserted into about half a dozen other songs live).  A
testament to the greatness of Hawkwind!

Electric Tepee--A masterpiece, and a double at that!  The only low point for
me is "Sadness Runs Deep" which I've always felt belonged on a Dave Brock
solo album and not here, where it seems so out of place.  The many
instrumentals on this one are amazing--"Going to Hawaii" is quite a psychic
journey, and then the final bit, "Electric Tepee" is an ultimate statement
of the Hawkwind credo!

It Is The Business of the Future to Be Dangerous--brilliant title, and an
equally brilliant album!  A more psychedelic, rambling and instrumental
affair than previous efforts, nevertheless this is one of my favorites as
well.  Low on guitar work, but high on keyboard and drum wizardry.  The
closing track "Avante" is again one of those tracks that seems to sum up the
whole ethos of Hawkwind in a couple of minutes of pure molten psychedelia!

The Business Trip--This album has my favorite drum production sound,
absolutely perfect!  This is definitely one of my favorite albums, and it
proves that even as a 3-piece Hawkwind were mopping the floor with most
other pretenders to the throne of space rock.  It is potentially a little
over-produced as regards the carefully overdubbed audience noise at key
moments, but that's really my only complaint, and it's a very small one!
What a fantastic batch of music!

Alien 4--This album has some greatness:  "Alien I Am" and "Sputnik Stan" and
"Blue Skin" (which is really just "I am the eye that looks within" with
vocals) and "Journey" (which I have heard people criticize but I think it's
an interesting instrumental).  I could probably live without "Xenomorph" and
the couple of Ron things right before it, but once again I'll forgive
Hawkwind for stumbling a little since they do it so rarely in their career!
I felt as if the last four tracks or so were just sort of "tacked on" to the
end of the record, as they don't really fit in with the theme of the album.
"Festivals" in particular should have been on a Brock solo album...it
doesn't really seem to fit here.

Love in Space--another double live album.  Of all the Hawkwind live albums,
this one is probably my least favorite.  It's OK... but just not that
exciting, and I'm not sure why... the performances just seem a little
"canned" I guess...

Distant Horizons--This album is a bit of a hodge podge, but overall it's
really very good.  "Phetamine Street" is my favorite track from this one,
with "Wheels" being a close second.

In Your Area--low on "new" material but heavy on revitalized live and
reworked studio stuff, this album is very solid!  That performance of "Love
in Space" segueing into "Aerospaceage Inferno" is one of the most beautiful
things anywhere...

Well after having summarized each album I feel that I haven't really said
that much but have really just devolved into fanboy slobbering, which is
fine since it shows how loved these records are.... basically I am just
saying that post-1979 Hawkwind is just as valuable as that of the 1970's.
In fact, I probably listen to and enjoy the newer Hawkwind more than the
older Hawkwind.

John Majka
jmajka2 at home.com


> Theres heaps of classic stuff from the 1980 + era ((I dont claim to be all
> that knowledgable on Hawkwind history or Hawklore etc butI would list the
> following as serious classics -
>
> Levitation - Motorway City - Dust Of Time - Fifth Second of Forever -
Right
> To Decide - Love In Space - Space is their Palestine - Images - Wings -
Out
> Of The Shadows - { Every track on the chronicle of The Black Sword Studio
&
> Live } - Back In The Box - Treadmill - Arrival In Utopia - Choose Your
> Masques - LSD - Rocky Paths - etc etc etc
>
> Thats all I have to say about that for now......
>
> Mb
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: John Rennie <john at JMAIL.FSBUSINESS.CO.UK>
> To: <BOC-L at LISTSERV.SPC.EDU>
> Sent: Tuesday, March 27, 2001 3:38 AM
> Subject: Croydon
>
>
> > 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.
> >
> > JR
>