X IN SEARCH OF SPACE

Hawkwind's sophomore release "In Search Of Space" was the official statement of affirmation and maturation for the sort of space-rock standard that thsi combo led by Brock & Turner was aiming to achieve. Now that the seacrh was over, the next step in the band's musical mission was to reinforce its elements and strengthen teh whole framework: so, all thing considered, this album happens to install the Hawkwind ideology in its first full fruition. The long opener 'You Shouldn't Do That' is a magnetic delivery where frenzy and good vibrations combine among a display of black magic and electronic surrealism. Ollis' drumming and the guitar's constant riffs are samples of how deeply rooted in the immediate legacy of garage rock and 60s psychedelia the band's essential motifs were, but also there are signs of moving forward toward new, weird territories in the way that the whole band manages to build an unearthly atmosphere, and more specifically, the relevant audio generator input that encapsulates both the excitement and the terror of travelling through space across a mysterious darkness that might as well bring you joy or destruction. Sometimes the resulting cacophony sounds captivating, other times it tends to appear amateurish, but one thing is clear, it is defined by a serious commitment to psychedelic explorations in music. 'You Know You're Only Dreaming' starts a bit less crazy although it retains mush of the emotional tension of the preceding track, only that it is framed in a more reflective mood: definitely, the sound production makes it sound overwhelmingly cosmic. In fact, once the guitar settles in after teh sung section, the track displays a better accomplished sense of darkness and doom. More caustic and edgy, 'Master Of The Universe' opens up the album's second half with a catchy display of sheer dirty rock flourished with intruding sax solos and augmented by Anderson's thundering bass lines. In my opinion, the album's second half is the better one, and so, 'We Took The Wrong Step Years Ago' brings quite a convenient change of pace with its dominant acoustic guitar passages, in this way leaning a bit closer to acid-folk. 'Adjust Me' is just amazing, a half-chaotic half-dramatic instrumental set of cosmic moods in which the distorted sax and the audio generator synthesizer take center stage among the wild sonic scheme that goes on developing with an iron will. Hawkwind states a sonic allaince with "Ummagumma"- era Pink Floyd and their German krautrock cousins. FInally, te halbum ends with Anderson- penned 'Children Of The Sun', an acoustig guitar-driven chant about the dreams of spiritual freedom, very hippy indeed. It will be in "Doremifasol Latido" and other following albums that Hawkwind will concretize its musical voice in its ultimate definition, but "In Search Of Space" shows that the band is not only right on track, it is seated on the right spot from where the culminatio and subsequent progress can be properly started. I give it 3.3 stars.