Forum Home Forum Home > Progressive Music Lounges > Prog Polls
  New Posts New Posts RSS Feed - Most Underrated Hawkwind Album (1970-90)
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Events   Register Register  Login Login

Most Underrated Hawkwind Album (1970-90)
 Post Reply Post Reply Page  12>
Poll Question: Which Hawkwind studio album is most underappreciated?
Poll Choice Votes Poll Statistics
3 [10.34%]
1 [3.45%]
0 [0.00%]
0 [0.00%]
2 [6.90%]
1 [3.45%]
6 [20.69%]
6 [20.69%]
1 [3.45%]
0 [0.00%]
3 [10.34%]
0 [0.00%]
0 [0.00%]
0 [0.00%]
3 [10.34%]
1 [3.45%]
2 [6.90%]
You can not vote in this poll

Author
Message
  Topic Search Topic Search  Topic Options Topic Options
Braka1 View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: August 22 2019
Location: Australia
Status: Offline
Points: 1171 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Braka1 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Most Underrated Hawkwind Album (1970-90)
    Posted: July 17 2020 at 05:11
I've reverted to 'Underrated' because it's a less awkward and shorter word.

A couple of notes:

There have been at least 15 more studio albums since 1990, and there just isn't room in one poll for that many options, so if there is interest in a part two I'll post it later.

I'm classing '25 Years On' as a Hawkwind album, since it was only released under the Hawklords name for legal reasons.  I'm less convinced about 'Church of Hawkwind', but it seems generally to be accept as canon.

*there are at least a couple of albums I might have included and chose not to. The most obvious are  'Zones' and 'Out & Intake'. Of the latter, Brock said ""it was bits and pieces we had hanging around", and more than half the tracks on 'Zones' had appeared previously in some version or another.   I realise that classing these as compilation or rarities albums invites someone to make the same case for 'PXR5', but I think this is a canonical HW album beyond any reasonable doubt.

I usually omit live albums, but the case for 'Space ritual' is just too strong. It's not going to win a poll like this anyway :)

Believe me Pope Paul, my toes are clean
Back to Top
moshkito View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: January 04 2007
Location: Grok City
Status: Offline
Points: 17529 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote moshkito Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 17 2020 at 05:36
Hi,

It's impossible for me to think which album I like the most ... I can STILL (almost 70) put on Space Ritual full blast on the earphones ... and even on the stereo if it's not midnight to keep all the birds awake!

From this list I would say that HALL OF THE MOUNTAIN GRILL and ASTOUNDING SOUNDS AMAZING MUSIC ... are totally out of this world, and I constantly play "Reefer Madness" and "Steppenwolf" ... because they still make sense today ... and they are so strong.

The later versions are not appreciated as much, but ELECTRIC TEPEE, is BY FAR, one of their most under-rated and un-appreciated album ... in the tradition of "Space Ritual", it is an incredible "assault" on the senses musically and sonically ... but not something I have ever seen anyone else talk about this album. I like, occasionally, to say that it is one of the best "acid rock" albums ever ... in that it is non-stop ... and the ending piece is the one that confuses every rock fan silly ... Hawkwind shows and fests, for many days and nights were all a nice powow for everyone ... and one person that heard this said it was just crap ... I guess it doesn't say much for the GD and their versions of the powow and dance circles for years ... now gone forever ... the single thing that is missing the most at the Eugene Country Fair, that made it so special and great.

Honestly, there are other things in there that deserve credit ... SPACE BANDITS has a lot of nice things, and the material with the Native American is very powerful and deserves mention ... but there is no way that folks here can often appreciate a mixing of cultures and an understanding for each other ... that is missed altogether. It signals the eventual "powow" in ELECTRIC TEPEE ... 

LEVITATION is a very nice album, with excellent production and a different level of drumming, that made Hawkwind sound very different, but it was OK, and some of the material in it is fine, although I kinda thing that it lacks the depth and strength of other material going back to the early days ... I like GB in it, but I think his involvement, forced the band to bring the "songs" down to be more concise and tight, rather than have a flight of fancy and guitar moments ... but it did not exactly make it bad ... I simply do not seem to listen to it as much as the rest of the stuff.

The later Hawkwind, for me did not fare as well ... the revisits with Tim Blake were nice LIVE and such, but he did not stick around, or was not specifically interested in the Hawkwind material. 

All the other albums have at least one or two things worthy of mention and enjoyment, although I probably would like to take 2 of those and make ONE album out of them ... which I might think would help the legacy that WAS/IS Hawkwind, stand up longer and better.

Still a magnificent band and the only thing I would love to see is for Nik Turner and Dave Brock to mend fences and hug each other ... together they helped create a beautiful monster!


Edited by moshkito - July 17 2020 at 13:10
Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told!
www.pedrosena.com
Back to Top
ExittheLemming View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: October 19 2007
Location: Penal Colony
Status: Offline
Points: 11415 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ExittheLemming Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 17 2020 at 05:56
Never been a huge Hawkwind fan but I do enjoy most of their output that involved Robert Calvert. He seems to have brought a discipline and economy to their music from which it benefited immensely. Quark Strangeness & Charm is an often overlooked gem in their catalogue. Ditto their contractually redacted incarnation as Hawklords: 25 Years On
Back to Top
The Dark Elf View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar
VIP Member

Joined: February 01 2011
Location: Michigan
Status: Offline
Points: 13065 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote The Dark Elf Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 17 2020 at 06:49
I wasn't aware there was a Hawkwind album that was overrated.
...a vigorous circular motion hitherto unknown to the people of this area, but destined
to take the place of the mud shark in your mythology...
Back to Top
ExittheLemming View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: October 19 2007
Location: Penal Colony
Status: Offline
Points: 11415 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ExittheLemming Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 17 2020 at 07:17
^ their fanbase is seldom guilty of hyperbole but for me that would be Space Ritual, oft cited as 'the greatest cosmiche rock album of all time' which takes on 'tallest dwarf in the village' dimensions when specious hippy w.a.n.k is conflated with a spiritual and epiphanic listening experience maaan (and you can't even see Stacia dammit)
Back to Top
friso View Drop Down
Prog Reviewer
Prog Reviewer
Avatar

Joined: October 24 2007
Location: Netherlands
Status: Offline
Points: 2506 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote friso Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 17 2020 at 08:43
Levitation isn't underrated by Hawkwind fans. Yet - if it would be listed as the single symphonic prog album by a different artist, it would have been seen as a late seventies gem of the symphonic prog genre.
I'm guitarist and songwriter for the prog-related band Mother Bass. Find us at http://www.motherbass.com. I also enter stages throughout the Netherlands performing my poetry.
Back to Top
Gentle and Giant View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: October 24 2019
Location: Blackpool
Status: Offline
Points: 4373 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Gentle and Giant Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 17 2020 at 08:45
Originally posted by ExittheLemming ExittheLemming wrote:

Never been a huge Hawkwind fan but I do enjoy most of their output that involved Robert Calvert. He seems to have brought a discipline and economy to their music from which it benefited immensely. Quark Strangeness & Charm is an often overlooked gem in their catalogue. Ditto their contractually redacted incarnation as Hawklords: 25 Years On

I agree with this. My favourite era is the Bob Calvert one. I place Quark, Strangeness and Charm in my top 20 albums of all time, so 'tis my vote.
Oh, for the wings of any bird, other than a battery hen
Back to Top
BaldJean View Drop Down
Prog Reviewer
Prog Reviewer
Avatar

Joined: May 28 2005
Location: Germany
Status: Offline
Points: 10387 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote BaldJean Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 17 2020 at 08:56
Originally posted by moshkito moshkito wrote:

Hi,

It's impossible for me to think which album I like the most ... I can STILL (almost 70) put on Space Ritual full blast on the earphones ... and even on the stereo if it's not midnight to keep all the birds awake!

From this list I would say that HALL OF THE MOUNTAIN GRILL and ASTOUNDING SOUNDS AMAZING MUSIC ... are totally out of this world, and I constantly play "Reefer Madness" and "Steppenwolf" ... because they still make sense today ... and they are so strong.

The later versions are not appreciated as much, but ELECTRIC TEPEE, is BY FAR, one of their most under-rated and un-appreciated album ... in the tradition of "Space Ritual", it is an incredible "assault" on the senses musically and sonically ... but not something I have ever seen anyone else talk about this album. I like, occasionally, to say that it is one of the best "acid rock" albums ever ... in that it is non-stop ... and the ending piece is the one that confuses every rock fan silly ... Hawkwind shows and fests, for many days and nights were all a nice powow for everyone ... and one person that heard this said it was just crap ... I guess it doesn't say much for the GD and their versions of the powow and dance circles for years ... now gone forever ... the single thing that is missing the most at the Eugen Country Fair, that made it so special and great.

Honestly, there are other things in there that deserve credit ... SPACE BANDITS has a lot of nice things, and the material with the Native American is very powerful and deserves mention ... but there is no way that folks here can often appreciate a mixing of cultures and an understanding for each other ... that is missed altogether. It signals the eventual "powow" in ELECTRIC TEPEE ... 

LEVITATION is a very nice album, with excellent production and a different level of drumming, that made Hawkwind sound very different, but it was OK, and some of the material in it is fine, although I kinda thing that it lacks the depth and strength of other material going back to the early days ... I like GB in it, but I think his involvement, forced the band to bring the "songs" down to be more concise and tight, rather than have a flight of fancy and guitar moments ... but it did not exactly make it bad ... I simply do not seem to listen to it as much as the rest of the stuff.

The later Hawkwind, for me did not fare as well ... the revisits with Tim Blake were nice LIVE and such, but he did not stick around, or was not specifically interested in the Hawkwind material. 

All the other albums have at least one or two things worthy of mention and enjoyment, although I probably would like to take 2 of those and make ONE album out of them ... which I might think would help the legacy that WAS/IS Hawkwind, stand up longer and better.

Still a magnificent band and the only thing I would love to see is for Nik Turner and Dave Brock to mend fences and hug each other ... together they helped create a beautiful monster!

I second your opinion on "Electric Teepee"; it is a great album. I also like "The Chronicle of the Black Sword" a lot; I totally fell in love with it when it came out


A shot of me as High Priestess of Gaia during our fall festival. Ceterum censeo principiis obsta
Back to Top
Man With Hat View Drop Down
Collaborator
Collaborator
Avatar
Jazz-Rock/Fusion/Canterbury Team

Joined: March 12 2005
Location: Neurotica
Status: Offline
Points: 166178 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Man With Hat Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 17 2020 at 21:22
I guess Quark 
Dig me...But don't...Bury me
I'm running still, I shall until, one day, I hope that I'll arrive
Warning: Listening to jazz excessively can cause a laxative effect.
Back to Top
Tom Ozric View Drop Down
Prog Reviewer
Prog Reviewer
Avatar

Joined: September 03 2005
Location: Olympus Mons
Status: Offline
Points: 15921 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Tom Ozric Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 17 2020 at 21:40
Originally posted by BaldJean BaldJean wrote:

Originally posted by moshkito moshkito wrote:

Hi,

It's impossible for me to think which album I like the most ... I can STILL (almost 70) put on Space Ritual full blast on the earphones ... and even on the stereo if it's not midnight to keep all the birds awake!

From this list I would say that HALL OF THE MOUNTAIN GRILL and ASTOUNDING SOUNDS AMAZING MUSIC ... are totally out of this world, and I constantly play "Reefer Madness" and "Steppenwolf" ... because they still make sense today ... and they are so strong.

The later versions are not appreciated as much, but ELECTRIC TEPEE, is BY FAR, one of their most under-rated and un-appreciated album ... in the tradition of "Space Ritual", it is an incredible "assault" on the senses musically and sonically ... but not something I have ever seen anyone else talk about this album. I like, occasionally, to say that it is one of the best "acid rock" albums ever ... in that it is non-stop ... and the ending piece is the one that confuses every rock fan silly ... Hawkwind shows and fests, for many days and nights were all a nice powow for everyone ... and one person that heard this said it was just crap ... I guess it doesn't say much for the GD and their versions of the powow and dance circles for years ... now gone forever ... the single thing that is missing the most at the Eugen Country Fair, that made it so special and great.

Honestly, there are other things in there that deserve credit ... SPACE BANDITS has a lot of nice things, and the material with the Native American is very powerful and deserves mention ... but there is no way that folks here can often appreciate a mixing of cultures and an understanding for each other ... that is missed altogether. It signals the eventual "powow" in ELECTRIC TEPEE ... 

LEVITATION is a very nice album, with excellent production and a different level of drumming, that made Hawkwind sound very different, but it was OK, and some of the material in it is fine, although I kinda thing that it lacks the depth and strength of other material going back to the early days ... I like GB in it, but I think his involvement, forced the band to bring the "songs" down to be more concise and tight, rather than have a flight of fancy and guitar moments ... but it did not exactly make it bad ... I simply do not seem to listen to it as much as the rest of the stuff.

The later Hawkwind, for me did not fare as well ... the revisits with Tim Blake were nice LIVE and such, but he did not stick around, or was not specifically interested in the Hawkwind material. 

All the other albums have at least one or two things worthy of mention and enjoyment, although I probably would like to take 2 of those and make ONE album out of them ... which I might think would help the legacy that WAS/IS Hawkwind, stand up longer and better.

Still a magnificent band and the only thing I would love to see is for Nik Turner and Dave Brock to mend fences and hug each other ... together they helped create a beautiful monster!

I second your opinion on "Electric Teepee"; it is a great album. I also like "The Chronicle of the Black Sword" a lot; I totally fell in love with it when it came out
I have to agree here too !
Business of the Future fares quite highly for me as well. Blood of the Earth is a knockout.
Perhaps their first album is the ‘underrated’ one - my least listened to from the Hawks.

Edited by Tom Ozric - July 17 2020 at 21:41
Back to Top
Braka1 View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: August 22 2019
Location: Australia
Status: Offline
Points: 1171 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Braka1 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 17 2020 at 23:17
Evidently I need to do part two (1991-)

Believe me Pope Paul, my toes are clean
Back to Top
Manuel View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: March 09 2007
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 13373 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Manuel Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 18 2020 at 16:52
Probably ASAM.
Back to Top
verslibre View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: July 01 2004
Location: CA
Status: Offline
Points: 17223 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote verslibre Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 18 2020 at 19:38
The correct answer is: Space Bandits, which is almost never brought up. It's the first album to feature, for the first time, a woman on lead vocals, and it was the right move, that voice belonging to Bridget Wishart.
eBay
Back to Top
Mortte View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member


Joined: November 11 2016
Location: Finland
Status: Offline
Points: 5538 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Mortte Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 18 2020 at 22:47
I think Hawkwind is very underrated as band at least in PA. Not any their album in top100 album list (instead 10 Italoprog albums that I can´t understand), only album in ratings goes little over 4 is "Warrior", but even that got only 656 ratings. I have given 5 stars to their "In Search Of Space" - "Warrior"-albums, 4 almost all the other. Only boring album of theirs is their latest "All Aboard the Skylark". I may be a fanboy, but I think they really deserved more attention here.
Back to Top
Tom Ozric View Drop Down
Prog Reviewer
Prog Reviewer
Avatar

Joined: September 03 2005
Location: Olympus Mons
Status: Offline
Points: 15921 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Tom Ozric Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 18 2020 at 23:10
Space Bandits is mostly superb. The addition of Bridgett (formerly of the Hippie S.l.a.g.s.) was a great choice.
Samantha Fox also hooked up with the Hawks on occasion.


Edited by Tom Ozric - July 18 2020 at 23:12
Back to Top
Braka1 View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: August 22 2019
Location: Australia
Status: Offline
Points: 1171 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Braka1 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 19 2020 at 01:37
Originally posted by verslibre verslibre wrote:

The correct answer is: Space Bandits, which is almost never brought up. It's the first album to feature, for the first time, a woman on lead vocals, and it was the right move, that voice belonging to Bridget Wishart.






With Wishart's vocals and the melody/chords in this song, the verses at times sound amazingly like Amon Duul II circa 'Wolf City'.

This album also saw the very welcome return of Simon House - who absolutely shreds it with that violin solo around 5:15.  Unfortunately both he and Wishart only lasted for one studio album - but the live VHS of this lineup is worth getting. 'Palace Springs' could have been a great live album if House had been on 'Golden Void' etc.


Edited by Braka1 - July 19 2020 at 01:41

Believe me Pope Paul, my toes are clean
Back to Top
Braka1 View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: August 22 2019
Location: Australia
Status: Offline
Points: 1171 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Braka1 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 19 2020 at 01:57
This was a pretty tough one.

My close runner-up is 'Astounding Sounds'. It was their current album when I discovered them. I never quite got why this album received so much scorn. Side one is almost completely taken up by 'Reefer Madness' and 'Steppenwolf', both of which are classics. Side Two isn't as strong, but there isn't anything obnnoxious there except maybe 'Aubergine that Ate Rangoon'.  Other than that you have several perfectly decent instrumentals ('Chronoglide Skyway', 'City of Lagoons'), 'Kerb Crawler', which is a crunchy rocker along the lines of the non-album single 'Back on the Streets' (this must have been an awful shock considering 'Warrior on the Edge of time' was only a year earlier, but I had no problem processing the two styles). Dave Brock pokes fun at Turner's 'Kadu Flyer', but it actually has a pretty interesting melody and overalkl I've always liked it.

But I voted for 'In Search of Space'.  It gets continually overshadowed by 'Doremi', which is always cited as the beginning of HW's true Space rock sound. Which is nonsense. ISOS is where it all came together. Sure 'Master of the Universe' and 'You Shouldn't Do That' sounded awesome a year later with Lemmy and Simon King, but had they been on this album it may have sacrificed the atmospheric acoustic vibe of tracks like 'You Know You're Only Dreaming', 'We took the Wrong Step Years Ago' or 'Children of the Sun'



'Quark' is quite probably HW's best album, IMHO, but I don't know that it's badly underrated.

Believe me Pope Paul, my toes are clean
Back to Top
Rick1 View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: April 14 2020
Location: Loughborough UK
Status: Offline
Points: 2792 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Rick1 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 22 2020 at 01:02
Interesting thread.  The poll question is underrated.  I am a huge fan of the Calvert era and felt their output declined steadily once he had left.  I went for the debut album in the end (Tim Blake's declared favourite).  To this day, no-one really knows what to make of this equivalent of near free jazz book-ended by two conventional songs (I prefer 'Mirror of Illusion' to 'Hurry on Sundown' any day).  The experiments of Dikmik are astounding - another innovator overlooked once the spaceship took flight.
Back to Top
Enchant X View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: July 31 2014
Location: Australia
Status: Offline
Points: 870 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Enchant X Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 22 2020 at 02:32
Astounding Sounds Amazing Music is a really good Hawkwind album I think is underrated
Back to Top
Droxford View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: June 16 2020
Location: England
Status: Offline
Points: 287 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Droxford Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 22 2020 at 12:21
Looks like I am the only person who voted for 'Warrior on the Edge of Time' . Three of my favourite Hawkwind tracks 'Assault and Battery', 'Magnu' , 'The Demented Man' appear on it- and feel that they get overlooked, but all deserve more attention.
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply Page  12>

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down



This page was generated in 0.188 seconds.
Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.