HALL OF THE MOUNTAIN GRILL

4.5 stars

Very nice cover art for a pretty strange title. Important in HAWKWIND's discography, "Hall Of The Mountain Grill" is surprisingly smoother than their two previous heavy stoner studio releases. The band still plays efficient space rock, however the compositions now become shorter, less improvised, more focused and melodic. The arrival of Simon House at keyboards and violin brings a particular color to the music. He will be present on all remaining official HAWKWIND 70's albums.

The tracks "You'd Better Believe It" and "Paradox" might have been recorded live, although the audience cannot be heard.

The opener "The Psychedelic Warriors" is simply a classic from HAWKWIND. A soft space rock tune, with a hazy ambiance. The pretty instrumental "Wind Of Change" uses slow synthesizers layers and violins to create an aerial, melancholic ambiance. "D-rider" is a cool space metal song with electronic sound effects. The enjoyable "Web Weaver" reminds a little "You Know You're Only Dreaming" from the "In Search of Space" record. The rocky "You'd Better Believe It" is also pleasant and features multiple various solos, as well as Lemmy Kilmister at choirs.

The title track is in fact a short dark transition driven by piano and guitar. "Lost Johnny" is composed and sung by Lemmy. At this time, his voice is not as stony as in MOTÖRHEAD. A heavy scratchy rock tune, that the bassist will reuse later in a speeded-up version on his future band's debut album. Not much to say about the short experimental ambient "Goat Willow", rather anecdotic. The closing track, "Paradox", sounds very similar to "D-rider" during the beginning, but contains a powerful passage with an efficient space metal riff.

Compared to their previous albums, the music and flow is much better balanced. There are no genuinely weak tracks, however the songs tend to be a little less memorable and refreshing than on their two previous studio releases. Although the softest and maybe least known effort from HAWKWIND 's stoner period (1971-1975), "Hall Of The Mountain Grill" is nonetheless one of the band's best and most accessible albums. An essential listen for every space rock fan.

Prepare once again to take off aboard the spaceship...

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