okay album

Album Rating: 4.0

Btw, I was up on Amazon looking up this band earlier today, thanks to your review. Were you aware that whatever is left of Hawkwind actually put out a new album in 2016?

Album Rating: 4.0

cool review dude



album slays, th eopeners are among the best shits ver made in prog

Sounds interesting I'll look this up soon.

Album Rating: 4.5

@ Divaman

Yes, "The Machine Stops". But I never listened to it. Anyway, you can read a review of it, here on Sputnik. Another reviewer made it already in August. And, according to him, the album isn't bad at all.

Album Rating: 4.5

@ Maco

Thanks, man.

Album Rating: 4.5

@ Sir Lord

Thanks pal.

"the openers are among the best shots ever made in prog"

I completely agree.

Album Rating: 4.5

@dfevil

You can bet on it, man. Check it.

Album Rating: 4.0

Great review dude and very complete. The openers are really some of the best I've ever heard. About your choices, yeah they're in general surprisingly good. Pos.

Album Rating: 4.5

Thanks, bro. It's always a pleasure to be recognized in our work.

Cheers, man.

Nice review--would not have guessed the Hawkwind/Motorhead connection. I was skeptical when you wrote about poetry interludes, but they are nice and don't break up the mood or flow of the album . . . After one listen, the first two songs are great, but there is also a lot of nice stuff throughout the album--looking forward to getting to know this better.

Album Rating: 4.5

Okay, Twig. Somehow, you're right about the interludes of poetry. However, in my opinion, maybe it would be better not to have them, I guess. If it was not for that, maybe I would give the album 5.0. Anyway, in general, they do not spoil all the work.

Album Rating: 3.5

Glad to see Eloy in the recommended by reviewer's section. ''The Golden Void'' reminds me a lot of some good old Eloy, especially the vocal lines. The first two are indeed the best of the album, followed by ''Magnu'' and ''Dying Seas'' imo. Just as you, e21, album loses some points because of the spoken words here and there.

A little thing that could be confusing in your review, at the 2nd paragraph (or maybe it's just me);

''Their music incorporates different styles such as psychedelic rock, progressive rock, hard rock and heavy metal. Indeed, Hawkwind was always a very special and unique band in the panorama of the progressive rock in the 70’s.''

I would change ''Their'' by ''Hawkwind's music'', because the reader couldn't know clearly if you're talking about Hawkwind or Motorhead.

Great review, posd.

Album Rating: 4.5

"Glad to see Eloy in the recommended by reviewer's section."

Yeah, it's pretty obvious to me because the psychedelic/space rock influence in both bands. It's pratically the same with the music of Ozric Tentacles, despite they don't use lyrics on their albums. The other two recomendations are more about bands who are also considered underground groups.

"Just as you, e21, album loses some points because of the spoken words here and there."

I agree but I forgotten to mention another weak point of the album, the last track. Despite be a very good track, it has nothing to do with the concept of the album. It's out of context. It was only made to be released as a single. This is the other thing that prevents me to give 5.0 to the album.

About your suggestion, I think you are right. The expression, as it was, could be a bit confuse. I changed it already.

Once more thanks, bro. Your coments and suggestions are always great and very welcome.

Cheers.

Album Rating: 3.5

I'm not that familiar with space/psychedelic prog, except maybe for Gong and Eloy which I investigated the majority of their discog. Ozric Tentacles is not exactly the kind of band I'm looking for (out of what I heard). They are too risky and eccentric in their spacey style imo. Amon Duul II, Soft Machine and Steve Hillage are all great from what I've heard by them. In conclusion, I think I don't give enough chances to the genre. As for Hawkwind, I only know this one and Hall of the Mountain Grill.

Thanks for your kind words, buddy. The same goes to you. Cheers!

Edit; And I agree, the last track seems out of place on here, even if it's not a bad song by any means...

Album Rating: 4.5

"I'm not that familiar with space/psychedelic prog"

In short, what I think about space/psychedelic prog is this:

Pink Floyd can be regarded as pioneers of spacey music during the band's early phase, as exemplified by certain tracks from "The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn" or the stirring live performance of "Careful With That Axe Eugene" from "Ummagumma". Hawkwind with the collaboration with sci-fi author Michael Moorcock is another pioneer. His lyrics are performed by a narrator and underlaid with synth elements. The German band Grobschnitt provides another fine example of classic space rock with their epic live effort "Solar Music". Another excellent example is the German band Eloy. Other bands explored the space rock sound, especially Gong who released groundbreaking albums in the genre at the start of their career.

However, a space rock scene can be found in most countries and eras. Representative examples of the style are bands such as Ozric Tentacles with their stronger emphasis on electronic elements and Nektar, perhaps the most krautrock British band ever.

About krautrock, we have many bands influenced by space/psychedelic prog. The pioneering early 70's bands in this genre represent the progressive acid rock sound of Germany, experimenting with long instrumental improvisations, emphasizing the use of psychedelic effects and weird electronic sounds. Some examples are artists like Amon Duul, Ash Ra Tempel and Can. The Progressive Electronic style emerged from Krautrock. The most influential artists of this genre are probably Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze who explored a distinct psychedelic musical style at first, which was influential for the development of the "space rock" sound.

However, this is only a slice of prog story. As we know what is really important is our love for the music we like. So, if I was to much boring and professoral with my extensive explanation, I'm really sorry. It never wasn my intention. Anyway, if you need more information about what I wrote, you should never hesitate. If I can, I will tell you all what I know. What I really can tell you, right now, is that all this bands are great bands, in their own way.

Cheers, pal.

Album Rating: 4.5

i love all of Hawkwinds studio releases from master to alien 4 but this ones the best .

Album Rating: 4.5

I agree with you Ianman. This is really the best.

Album Rating: 3.5

Thanks for the infos, e21. I forgot to mention Pink Floyd and Nektar as some other bands that I know very well. I'll try Grobschnitt. I'm not that interested for Krautrock. Not enough melodic and quite dissonant with broken structures frequently. The progressive electronic has its high points, but then again, it often lacks of melodies and coherent structures. I love me some good old Tangerine Dream though.

Do you know the band Crippled Black Phoenix? They are a rather dark, modern progressive space rock with fantastic atmosphere and influenced by Pink Floyd, but with their own sound. There are plenty of soaring guitar, clever keyboard and awesome vocals. Some violin too. Try I, Vigilante if you haven't. And if you like it, try (Mankind) The Crafty Apes, by them. This one is perhaps overlong, but it contains more gems.

Cheers, my friend.

Album Rating: 4.5

Honestly, I had never heard of that band. But as I could check, it seems to be a very interesting psychedelic/space prog group. I will check it soon as I can. Thanks for the information.

About Grobschnitt, I'm sure you will like them. Grobschnitt is a very symphonic prog band, probably the most symphonic of all German prog bands. I advise you to begin with "Rockpommel's Land", despite their three debut albums are all great. Then, you can check their live album "Solar Music", wich is considered by many, one of the best prog live albums ever.

Cheers too, man.