IN YOUR AREA

Confusing. That's the way I'd sum up this album. Starting with a version of the seminal Brainstorm which segues into a dreadful white reggae jam is not a good start. Listening to Love In Space now which although starting like a distant cousin of Zarozinia, soon takes a rockier direction......all the ingredients seem to be there but something's most definitely missing. A quick glance at the CD sleeve reveals why. Ladies & gentleman this is not a Hawkwind album. Captain Rizz, Ron Tree and cohorts have hijacked this album and Dave Brock just seems to be along for the ride rather than leading from the front. I have heard previous Hawks albums (eg Church Of Hawkwind) described as essentially Dave Brock solo albums. Well, In Your Area is the opposite. The aforementioned Love In Space is OK'ish and the following Rat-Race has a good feel to it. A couple of Calvert tracks follow but they're just not the same without the man himself intoning the words. So, that's the live part of the disc over with.......let's see what the band came up with in the studio. Other reviews on this site have described this music as 'experimental'.......it's most definitely not !! What it is, is different to most other Hawkwind albums. Most of their albums stick to a basic formula, although some may be spacier, some rockier, some based on jams, some more song oriented etc.. In Your Area introduces other elements which is not experimental just tedious. Brocks vision and trademark Hawksound is watered down by the other musicians tugging his sleeve and going...'ooooh, let's try this Dave. It'll sound really good'. Well it doesn't. To conclude, this is a very average album and for Hawkwind that's awful. The best parts are where Brock is singing and chugging as he's done before and since. For fans only methinks. It's not 'bad'......it's worse, 'mediocre'.