WARRIOR ON THE EDGE OF TIME

As I look through the ratings on this album, the follow up to the fantastic 5 Star "Hall Of The Mountain Grill", I am glad to see that there are more 5 Star ratings on this than anything else which is rare and should be. A 5 belongs to only the albums that are truly good throughout. Out of the 54 albums I have done reviews on only 5 are one is have pegged as 5 star. Only albums that are rock solid in all areas get that ranking and this one is one of them. I have never given a 5 Star rating on more than one album by a group and this will be number 2 for Hawkwind.

I my opinion, the best of the band is contained in this and the above mentioned "Hall" and they are back to back in the chronology. On "Hall" they added a few new players and instruments and they were a huge addition to their sound in a very good way. The bands other albums I can find a few songs or a handful I may think are good but this one is great throughout. They reach their spatial peak if you will.

"Assault & Battery" starts off the album with the soaring mellotron and a flute compliments the sound well. "The Golden Void" is an extension of the first track as they flow well together. Other than King Crimson I really am not that fond of horns on a prog band but they are definitely part of the band's sound and they work well. "The Wizard?" brings back the poetry which I can take or leave but it works well as it flows into the instrumental "Opa Loka" which is pure Hawkwind. It then flows into one of my all time favorite Hawk songs "The Demented Man." What is weird is I have no idea why I like this song so much. It has an acoustic guitar and voice but the sonic synth atmosphere is where I am mesmerized by it. It sounds emotionally tragic. The song just reaches into me and pulls me into its emotional pit.

The next few songs are good including another poetry rendition. The next song that really amps it up is "Spiral Galaxy 28948" and the sonic soaring synths and drumming are really good in this one as another great instrumental. It rolls into "Warriors" another poetry journey. Again I am not all that fond of the poetry segments but they are part of who the band are and they do them well. "Sonic Attack" is of course their signature poetry session and it is great! "Dying Seas" oddly sounds a lot lie a pop tune from the early 60's to start with but then it comes into its own instrumentally. The band is the best jamming band I have ever heard. "Kings Of Speed" is an all out rocker without anything spacey about it. "Motorhead" ends the album and it is a lot like a 1950's rocker including the fact that it is basically a song done in mono with very little stereo. The end gets a bit spacey.

In all, this album spells out who Hawkwind are. A big High 5 Star.