HALL OF THE MOUNTAIN GRILL

I´m no expert on things about Hawkwind, but among all albums I´ve heard so far from this classic space rock band, this is surely my favourite. It is also their most symphonic, melodic and varied. Thanks to Simon House´s mellotron and violin they reached another level entirely with Hall Of The Mountain Gril. While their roots are still firmly planted in the psychedelic/space rock tradition, this is a truly ´song´ oriented work (meaning that those pointless jams and excessive repetitiveness are almost absent). The group uses their minimalistic approach to maximum effect on most tunes while the tracklist show a very flowing sequence of great songs. Even bassist Lemmy Kilmister (future Motorhead) has a chance to shine on his Lost Johnny, a terrific rock´n roll number.

All the band members are in fine form here. And the songwriting shows how creative and tight they were at the time. So it is no wonder that one of Hawkwind´s best songs is the opener: The Psychedelic Warlords (Disappear in Smoke) is one of my favourites ever. A very inspired and well arranged and played space rock number, no less. The second track , Wind Of Change, is also outstanding, being a fine (and rare) climatic symphonic instrumental. And so on. There is no filler here, only very good stuff. Robert Calvert´s absence is not a bad thing (I never really liked his poetry interludes anyway. Specially during the vinyl days when it robbed precious time that could be filled with more music).

My CD came with four bonus tracks, of which only It´s So Easy is really a worth addition, the rest are just single (i.e., shortened or edited) versions of three tracks: Paradox, You Better Believe It and The Psychedelic Warlords. Otherwise the sound of my copy is crystal clear and very well balanced.

Conclusion: maybe Hawkwind´s best ever CD, at least on the prog fan point of view. It is also an excellent starting point if you want to know this groundbreaking band. A real masterpiece in progressive rock music. 5 stars.