HALL OF THE MOUNTAIN GRILL

Hall of the Mountain Grill is the fourth album from psychadelic space rockers Hawkwind and a major change in sound compared to the previous album Doremi Fasol Latido which was released in 1972. Doremi Fasol Latido is maybe the most heavy and dirty album Hawkwind ever made while Hall of the Mountain Grill has a much more symphonic sound.

The music is still unmistakebly Hawkwind. Insistant relentless beats, psychadelic sounds and heavy rock bottom. With the addition of former High Tide member Simon House on Keyboards, Mellotron, Electric violin and backing vocals Hawkwind also adobted a very symphonic approach which really sets Hall of the Mountain Grill apart from their previous albums. Being totally new to Hawkwind I have reviewed their albums from an end and I can honestly say that this one is easily my favorite among the first four studio albums. It´s such a great album and songs like The Psychadelic Warlords (Disappear in Smoke) and You´d Better Believe it are good examples of how great Hawkwind can sound. But Hawkwind isn´t only about heavy psychadelic space rock. There are also some really psychadelic songs which doesn´t rely on relentless beats like D-Rider, Web Weaver and Goat Willow. Wind of Change is a symphonic song where Simon House violin is dominant. Lost Johnny needs to be mentioned too as it has Lemmy Kilminster ( Later of Motörhead fame) on lead ( Sandpaper) vocals.

The musicianship is great even though I think I hear a couple of mistakes by drummer Simon King. This is definitely the best performance from Hawkwind so far.

The production is excellent. Grand and symphonic when it needs to and rocking hard when that is needed.

Hall of the Mountain Grill is an excellent progressive rock album of the psychadelic kind and the new symphonic direction Hawkwind has taken on this album is really successful IMO. Where I´ve rated the three first albums small 4 star and big 3 star ratings I think Hall of the Mountain Grill deserves 4 BIG stars. This is very recommendable for fans of psychadelic progressive rock.