HAWKWIND

Of their early albums, Hawkwind's Hall of the Mountain Grill ends up being their most -- dareIsay -- mature. As a result, it took me several listens to warm up to it (because of my own pathological brand of immaturity!). Tracks like "Wind of Change"/"D-Rider" are more placid and swooshy than the full-tilt psychedelic spaceship explorations found on Doremi Fasol Latido or Space Ritual. But this attention to detail, definitely lacking in their earlier studio output, makes this album a worthy entry in their early discography. The live cuts "You'd Better Believe It" and "Paradox" bring some of the energy and menace found on Space Ritual and don't sound all that out of place next to the album's other studio-gestated cuts. Overall, this album flows better than their earlier efforts though it lacks anything as amazing as "Brainstorm" or "Master of the Universe." Though I prefer this album's successor, Warrior on the Edge of Time, Hall of the Mountain Grill has plenty to offer fans of Hawkwind and psychedelic/space rock. 4.5 its one of the best entries from these great space rockers.

Take me to your Leader shows that Hawkwind are actually a phoenix. Before this album Hawkwind appeared on their last legs, Spacebrock was a poor outing and the band hadn't released anything truly worthwhile for a long period of time. Take me to your Leader however, shows not just signs of rebirth, but also of new growth for these venerable veteran space rockers

To say that this is entirely a Hawkwind album would be a little bit of a lie, instead this album is dedicated to Hawkwind and friends. Take me to your leader containing a rather large list of additional members, all of which only appear on a track or two.

Take me to your Leader starts off with a remake of the track 'Spirit of the Age', which originally appeared on the Quark, Strangeness and Charm album. In a bizarre twist of fate, the new track might actually be superior to the old one with its modern sounding cracks and pops. The lyrics to this new track are slightly different to the old one, showing either adaptability or a mild case of musical dementia. However, this new track is much faster paced and flows a lot better. Matthew Wright does Robert Calvert proud with his take on this track.

But "Take me to your Leader" isn't a case of Hawkwind retracing old ground in an attempt to find greatness, the album instead grabs a machete and begins to hack its way through the undergrowth on a path of freedom. Tracks like 'Out Here We Are' are much slower and thoughtful, they contain an excellent mix of both drumming and synthetic styles, which sound much more modern than anything Hawkwind had done before. With five years between this and Spacebrock, it is clear that Hawkwind spent much of this time researching new ways to make music. Some of the best parts of this album are when Saxophonist Jez Huggett joins the fray, his excellent work bringing the band to whole new heights.

Hawkwind bring a lot more style with them on this record, and this album does contain a fair share of influences, both old and modern. Songs like 'Digital Nation' would sound at home on a Radiohead album, whilst other parts sound similar to music released from post-rock artists. Take me to your Leader happens to be the most consistent Hawkwind album released in years, and some of the tracks sit at the high-end of anything released by the band. 'Sunray' is a musical wonder, with Arthur Brown's distinctive voice going perfectly with the band's upbeat sound.

The final track 'A letter to Robert' brings home something that Hawkwind have always had an issue with; feeling. It is a conversation between Arthur and deceased vocalist Robert Calvert, a man who suffered painfully for his greatness. As you listen to the ramblings of Calvert, you gain a sudden sense of realisation. This album isn't about Hawkwind, this is a dedication to one of their most important members, with Take me to your Leader, Robert Calvert sings once more.4.0

Of their Lemmy-era records, Warrior on the Edge of Time features the best production and finest instrumental craftsmanship. It is anchored by the longer tracks, most notably the suite of "Assault & Battery" and "The Golden Void," "Opa-Loka," and the fantastic "Magnu," which sounds like a flying saucer crash landing. The lyrics are still loaded with fantasy adventure sci-fi concept album nonsense courtesy of songwriter Michael Moorcock, but they are never really a distraction. Though the record lacks the scuzzy-psychedelic propulsion of Doremi Fasol Latido or Space Ritual, it improves on the direction found on Hall of the Mountain Grill. This would be bassist Lemmy's final hurrah with the group before departing and forming his own band, Motörhead. Fans of early Hawkwind will find themselves liking it despite its move away from the psychedelic proto-punk found on their earlier records. 5.0 probably in the top three of their discography.

This is fine. It's not much better than fine - but how many people are seriously expecting Hawkwind to totally upend the space rock subgenre this late in the day? With Thighpaulsandra involved, Dave Brock charts a course even deeper into the "soundscape over songs" territory that the preceding The Future Never Waits dipped into.

This is the lineup responsible for the Albert Hall gig in 2023, so we know that they're entirely capable onstage of executing more classic-style Hawkwind material; one can only conclude that what is going on here is a purposeful creative choice, and with the ruminations on time and song titles like "What Are We Going To Do While We're Here?", there's going to be more than a few who suspect that Dave Brock's been contemplating his mortality a tad.

Well, if his meditations result in material like this, I can live with that. It's not Lemmy-powered early 1970s thunder, but it's pleasant gentle space rock background music; if that combination of words fills you with disdain, then you'll likely not get out of this, but if you're an up for a more ruminative, soundscape-oriented, exploratory side of Hawkwind, you may find it enjoyable.

Compiled from a range of festival appearances during 2021, as COVID restrictions began to ease and Hawkwind began shaking off the lockdown rust, this is a decent collection of tracks which blend classic material and newer tunes nicely. There's a bit of a party mood, including a shambolic cover of It's Not Unusual - yes, the Tom Jones track, which the band largely play as a bit of banter (having cajoled Richard Chadwick into attempting lead vocals on it), so it's not exactly all-killer-no-filler, but with nearly two hours of material on here there's space for a little fooling around alongside the rest.

Capturing the band as they were deep in the creative process leading to their 2024 studio album Stories From Time and Space, this live show was also a gala celebration of 50 years of Space Ritual. They don't play through Space Ritual from beginning to end - they'd already done that exercise nearly ten years prior for the 40th anniversary! - but they do play chunky extracts from it, with friend of the band and fellow space rock pioneer Arthur Brown guesting to perform the poetry readings. The preceding setlist is a great tour through the Hawkwind back catalogue, as well as providing a sneak preview of material which ended up on the next studio album. On the whole, another wonderful entry in the band's extensive back catalogue of live releases.

The late 2000s were a bit of a fallow period for Hawkwind; in terms of their studio releases, they'd sort of puttered to a halt in 2005-2006ish with a couple of sub-par releases heavily dependent on old material (Take Me To Your Leader/Take Me To Your Future), and things didn't pick up there until 2010. In terms of live releases from the period, few distinguish themselves; Knights of Space is alright, and having Tim Blake present on keys is always pleasant, but this isn't much more than pleasant, if you see what I mean - it's a reasonable live set and I'm glad I've got it, but I can't see it seeing getting as heavy rotation as, say, Spaced Out In London, which was from five years prior and yet has a very similar lineup and track listing. There's a lack of energy and enthusiasm here, a sense that for a period Hawkwind were going through the motions, which thankfully they were eventually able to overcome.

In 2001-2002, Hawkwind played a number of gigs highlighting fellow space rock pioneer Arthur Brown as a featured vocalist. The Canterbury Fayre live set features one of these, and he's more heavily featured on the Out of the Shadows live release, documenting a December 2002 show. This live set documents another show from that period - just a few days separated from Out of the Shadows, in fact - and as with that show, it includes some cuts from Arthur Brown's back catalogue with the Crazy World and Kingdom Come, as well as Lighthouse from Tim Blake's solo career, due to Blake having reunited with the band at this point in time. Is it redundant with Out of the Shadows? Maybe a little, but when the band's this good I can't quite hold that against them.

Distant Horizons was an alright but not brilliant Hawkwind album from an era when their studio releases were kind of hit and miss, but Hawkwind have always been able to maintain high live standards even when their studio output has gone through patchy phases. Brock, Chadwick, Tree, and Richards do a fine job of blending the classic Hawkwind space rock style with more modern musical currents here; between this and Love In Space, the Distant Horizons album kind of gets upstaged by its contemporary live releases, and whilst I'd rate Love In Space above this, Hawkwind 1997 nonetheless offers another side of the story.

If you are newbie about Hawkwind... But who can be today about Hawkwind? (excuse the irony) "Master Of The Universe" is not a simple compilation but an attempt to serve you in 40 minutes the definitive Hawkwind album between 1971 and 1974. Can he do it? No... But because it's impossible. Nowadays it is difficult to categorize Hawkwind in a real genre as they have so many elements of Krautrock, Psychedelia and Proto Punk as well as Hard Rock all expertly mixed to create an original and not easily classifiable music. In short, for Great Britain, a unique band. Being a compilation (first released in 1977) "Master Of The Universe" is only good for a Hawkwind newbie or to be inserted into the CD player in a car.

Having said that I immediately note that the last track is "Lost Johnny", the one that Motorhead will rework on their first album (i.e. "On Parole") and in the first official album ("Motorhead"). for the rest they are classic Hawkwind compositions, minimalist in arrangements and hypnotic to the core. In a certain sense there is no band closer to Krautrock in Great Britain than Hawkwind. Hawkwind are a transversal band because they manage to please a really wide audience and not just a specific group and I like them for this very reason.

A compilation like "Master Of The Universe" can only deserve to be rediscovered (or discovered) if you love minimalist music and without too many frills. But it is not a masterpiece. Like all compilations it is not. It is just a way to discover an immense band. So do not put your money if you have everything of Hawkwind. And, honestly, let's face it: Long live Hawkwind.