"Hawkwind - Sonic Assassins" by Ian Abrahams

Yesterday I finished reading this book. It's very informative in regards to the band's evolution in general and the (often confusing) conflicts between members - and there's been a lot given all the line-up changes - in particular, explaining most of it. It's clear that Abrahams did a lot of research, not just about what was happening within the band itself but also about its place in a broader cultural context. This book has further reinforced the impression I get that there is a huge generation gap in music between artists who started in the 1970s or 1980s and those who started in the 1990s or 2000s. I also liked the fact that the walkthrough of Hawkwind's discography in the appendix had a "what they said then vs. what they say now" for each album.

Now, as for the negatives... it's a bit cursory/summary-ish at times, trying very hard to cram as much information into as little space at possible. This is preferable to rambling on for too long about the same topics, but parts feel a bit rushed. I also got some mixed messages about how objective or subjective Abrahams set out to be. On one hand, when it comes to aforementioned conflicts inside the band he goes out of his way to present all points of view (apparently Dave Brock had a phase in the late 1970s where he became a bit of a control freak) but on the other the writer sometimes lets his own opinions slip through about the quality of respective albums.

Don't get me wrong, though, this book is definitely worth reading. I learned a lot that I didn't know before from the various interviews with the band I've read. The cover art is also quite nifty:



By the way: How is Carol Clerk's much longer The Saga of Hawkwind? The reviews I've read say that it focuses more on the band members' biographies than the band's artistic evolution and that it's much more subjective than Hawkwind: Sonic Assassins.

Thanks. I'll be on the lookout for it.