SPACE BANDITS

This one is really for Hawk-fans only and contains some suprises, the most obvious being the addition of female vocalist, Bridgett Wishart who had previuosly been a member of the Hippie Slags all-girl group. Rumour has it that she was drunk backstage at a Hawkwind gig in Nottingham, England and was asked, along with her band to jam with them on a new song they were working on called "Back in the Box" ( which appeared on the Palace Springs live album ). She accepted, the rest of her band chickened out and she eventually became a full-time member briefly in the early 90`s. She has a voice and singing style not unlike that of Debbie Harry of Blondie and donned costumes and danced during Hawkwind live performances.

The album blasts off with an unusually high energy heavy track entitled Images which reminds the Hawk-fan of the 1980 Levitation album and is definitely the highlight of the CD along with the second selection. Black Elk Speaks re-enacts a native prayer recital by a guest speaker, John Neihardt, which seems to refer to the book of Genesis and follows Christian theology very closely. The Blondie- sounding vocalist joins in the chanting and all this is spoken over some impressive atmospheric guitar painting along with ceremonial tom-tom beating which adds to the setting of a native elder worshipping his god. It works very well and is one of my Hawkwind faves.

Unfortunately after this glorious start the album loses it`s pace. The band experiments with electronic devices and effects throughout and although the rest of the album becomes rather patchy it does have it`s moments. Wings, which is kind of a Mournful Lament for the birds affected by the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska certainly evoked some emotion out of this reviewer who happens to be an avid bird enthusiast. Out of the Shadows has some cool motorcycle sound effects at the beginning but putters out and runs out of gas. TV suicide uses some cool sampling effects but ends too abruptly just as it`s starting to go somewhere . The album would have worked better with the re-positioning of the two stronger introductory tracks in the middle and conclusion, respectively, to break up the some of the monotony which occurs on the latter part of the album.

A funny album in that it contains a couple of Hawkwind`s best compositions and some of it`s more experimental and not so up to par offerings. Hawkwind fans should go for it while the uninitiated would be better off with Electric Teepee which is a better example of Hawkwind in the 90`s. I`d feel bad if I gave it two stars so it gets three gold ones on the strength of the two introductory tracks.