IN YOUR AREA

I think that it was opening song "Brainstorm" had turned into a reggae number that I first started to think to myself, "What the hell has happened to Hawkwind?" I remember seeing them in concert in the early Eighties and being blown away by their power. "Brainstorm" is a Nik Turner classic, and such deserves some respect, surely? Yes, I know that bands have to move and not stand still, but if they don't respect something why bother with it at all? My feelings about the whole album were somewhat clouded after that which is a shame as I like Hawkwind. This album contains six live and eight new studio songs, although it doesn't say when it was recorded. As well as the inevitable Dave Brock, the rest of the band now comprises Richard Chadwick, Ron Tree, Jerry Richards, Capt. Rizz and Crum. The introduction to "Love In Space" sounds as if it belongs on 'Dark Side Of The Moon' instead of an album of the band that gave us 'Quark, Strangeness & Charm'.

Thank heavens it turns into a definitive 'Wind rocker with swirling keyboards and driving guitars. This is one of the few songs which features Dave on vocals, and one of only three that he wrote with no co-writers, so perhaps it is no surprise that it comes across eventually as true Hawkwind.

The album fluctuates dramatically, with some songs coming across well, while others are just sad reflections of what Hawkwind once were. One for fans only I'm afraid.

Feedback #58, May 2000

It is not the first time that "Hawkwind" is mixing studio and live tracks. The very good "Palace Springs" was a good example of what could be achieved by this approach.

And even if the live tracks (the first six numbers) were recorded in my home country (at the "Ancienne Belgique" which is a legendary concert hall in Brussels which list of artists who have played there is absolutely impressive) I am a lot more skeptic about this one.

To have integrate a reggae part into the otherwise great "Brainstorm" is beyond my reach. I like reggae while played by "Culture" or "Steel Pulse", but I don't really need "Hawkwind" to do so. The other live tracks are fully on the heavy-hard-space-rock side of the band.

Comparisons with "Palace Springs" don't work in favour with this rather average "In Your Area". Very few great moments are available being live or studio tracks. "Diana Park" is probably the best one gets here, but it is .the closing song.

This is just an album for die-hard fans. Not deserving the one star rating but definitely no more than two.

In 1998, one has to wonder why Hawkwind was even still a band after putting out a string of mediocre (or less) albums for quite some time. It was during that year that the band decided to put out "In Your Area" which is an album where the first half of the album is live and the 2nd half is in studio. The core of the band at this time was down to 4 members with the consistent member Dave Brock running the show. But, when you hear this album, you have to wonder if he really was running things. It sounds like he is only there in order to use the Hawkwind moniker as for the most part, his guitar and other contributions seem a bit lackluster.

There were other members, so to speak, than these core 4, but they were not considered members as much as they were guests. Included among these guests is Captain Rizz who I think was there to try to make the band more "relevant" or something. You can hear his input almost from the start. After about 5 minutes of a live version of "Brainstorm", the song suddenly takes a huge turn for the worse as it takes on a plastic reggae beat and Rizz adds his vocals which are totally out of their element here. This doesn't just last for a minute or two either, but end up continuing for the rest of the 11 minute track. This happens again in "Love in Space/Rat Race" which ends up being even more annoying than the first track.

So, you might be hoping that the studio side of the album is better. It isn't. The songs have no heart. They sound like they are attempting to reinvent space rock, but instead of that, they make a mockery of it. Even though the track "Hippy" shows a little bit of promise, it isn't enough to save this album. There just isn't that much more to say about it. Fortunately, the album didn't sell well. If it had, it would have made Hawkwind into a joke. This is one to stay away from, even if you are a fan, however, there are those that must have the entire library, so leave this one for them.