HW: musings on "Alien 4/"Love In Space" 1995/1996...

[Christian]

.... I thought "Alien 4" quite the highlight CD of Hawkwind's 90's output,
except that the sides got torn where you slide the disc in... I am quite
the romantic with this CD... a tasty little package for old Hawkwind fans
with Ron Trees debut in studio. I don't know if there was a jewel case
version for this rather nice EBS release, which, I presume would have been
on Griffin. Some people have me framed as a liar who didn't have this CD
for real, as someone who just talks about it without ever having owned it,
which is not true at all..... From my website:

" I just thought the "Alien4" album was too slickly produced and that the
music was too simplistic, and the overall effect was a bit "blah", despite
a nice digipak and everything. I never knew there a jewel case edition of
this thing until years later. Was the jewel case edition released on
Griffin or something? My digipak was on EBS, of course. I got it at Free
Record Shop in Oslo in 1995 when it just came out, in fact. Highlight
tracks included for me "Sputnik Stan", "Beam Me Up", "Blue Skin" and
"Festivals". Dandy little booklet with some nice illustrations, though! I
truly hated "Love In Space" by the way, their suckiest live set in years,
IMO. Nifty robot of Ron's onstage, though. I have the video so I should
know. Did he ever get to sell the thing? Great stage show on the tour
despite suckily and over slicked up production detracting from the band's
live sound, I thought, though the video isn't half bad. Alien 4 had a cool
pic of an alien peeking at a pregnant lady too on the cover if I remember
correctly! My problem with the digipak was that the sides got torn where
you slide the disc in, other than that it was very nice, I may have seen
the jewel case version somewhere but wouldn't want it for all the world,
though.

Christian, probably aka Ax Gengrich or somebody equally qualified on these
matters of digipaks and things

"you shouldn't get a dog if you've already got a cat"

I was just thinking about Ron Tree and Captain Rizz and how much they
contributed to the Hawkwind sound in the latter half of the 90's. Ron Tree
(Bastard) always seemed like the new Nik Turner to me, bringing a punk edge
to the band again unheard since the 80's with stuff like "Reptoid Vision"
and "Phetamine Street" and the giant stage prop robot. When I saw them in
NYC in '95 he just blew me away in full flight goggles and a fluorescent
paint spattered lab coat doing "Master Of The Universe" and "Urban
Guerilla", it was hardcore at its best with the subtle reggae bits in Urban
Guerilla really making the grade too. I also liked his version of "Lord Of
Light" on the "Love In Space" EP and some of stuff off "Alien 4" as well
like "Beam Me Up" and stuff. Anyway, as for Captain Rizz, I thought him
such a wise Rastafarian philosopher of The Apocalypse (as Ron Tree also
seemed such a philospher on the Apocalypse too with "I am The Reptoid")
that he just made the grade as full time member in my opinion. His whole
thing on "Wheels" about oil and the rap that goes "Hawkwind's in your area,
Hawkwind's on your land" was just great. In spite of what people have said
about him, I just thought he added to the spirit and anarchy of the
Hawkwind spirit that made Hawkwind so great in the early and mid 80's with
Harvey Bainbridge, Danny Thompson, Nik Turner, Alan Davey and Huw
Lloyd-Langton and the rest of the members in the band. It's great to know
Huw and Alan (Ali) are back in the band but shouldn't there be a fully
fledged new studio album in the works from this rejuvinated classic 80's
lineup?

Anyway, I just had to ease my mind about Ron and Rizz because it's been on
my mind for awhile. Do any other Hawkwind-deadheads share my opinions on
them? Aren't they the two wisemen of the Apocalypse?? "
Chr.