Average Rating: 3.13 Rating Variance: 0.57 Objectivity Score: 89% (Well Balanced)
Sort by: Rating | Release Date | Rating Date | Name4.5 superbHawkwind Doremi Fasol LatidoHawkwind Quark, Strangeness and CharmHawkwind Hall of the Mountain Grill4.0 excellentHawkwind Canterbury Fayre 2001Hawkwind Palace SpringsHawkwind Take Me to Your LeaderHawkwind LevitationHawkwind Warrior on the Edge of TimeHawkwind Space Ritual3.5 greatHawkwind Yule RitualThis is a well recorded, guest-filled live affair from the New Years-Eve 2000 London Astoria show. Alan Davey is back on bass which did not bode well for Jerry Richards staying in the band. This recording is the last official release to feature Jerry and Ron Tree. Dave’s method of terminating Jerry and Ron was to not invite them to future gigs and recordings –this obviously did not go over well with Jerry and Ron. The set list is a big departure from their recent tour material, with only Spacebrock and Damage Of Life being recently recorded songs (Damage of Life had been included on some early releases of Spacebrock, but it dates back to the early 90s). Tim Blake and Simon House are great to have back on stage with Hawkwind –Simon in particular adds quite a nice electric violin to the arrangements. A lot of Bob Calvert songs are in this set (5!) and this gives Ron Tree a chance to shine as a Calvert interpreter. Michael Moorcock literally phones-in his contribution over a telephone line from Texas. The highlights for me are Spacebrock and Damage of Life as these are the only professional live recordings of these songs and they are well played this night. I like most of the reinterpreted Calvert songs with Spirit of the Age getting the most radical rearrangement. Sonic Attack is a bit of a dud here, but other than that, I can say I enjoy all of these songs as presented by this line-up. Buy / listen with confidence to this well-recorded, well played, live set. Unfortunately this one is getting hard to find cheap so you may need to access YouTube to hear it.Hawkwind Electric TepeeHawkwind PXR5Hawkwind Love in SpaceAnother tour, another live album– rinse and repeat. This set is a nice sounding live representation of their theatric Alien 4 tour. You may miss the dancers and fire breathers, but the music here is almost a complete set-list from the tour (omitting only The Golden Void). It includes most of the best tracks from the Alien4 album (except for Festivals), and in each case the songs are improved in their live incarnation. For example, Sputnik Stan gets an extended instrumental work-out, Blue Skin has a spoken word poem inserted into the groove and Xenomorph has better, more-up front, vocals and harder driving bass. Alien (I Am) also benefits from a clearer vocal mix (whether added in the studio or live, I don’t care). The live version of Love in Space smokes the studio counterpart by including additional guitar. Other highlights include the resurrected Silver Machine and Assassins of Allah / Space Is Their Palestine –a stormer. Robot is also included and is a pretty strong update, though again I prefer Calvert’s original here. Ron Tree acquits himself well as the new guy and front man. He has the energy in spades and his spoken pieces are reminiscent of Bob Calvert’s tenure, but alas his poetry is not at Calvert’s high quality level. This would be Alan Davey’s last tour with the band for several years. His presence here is strong as usual and it is no wonder he was always Lemmy’s favorite Hawkwind bassist. So an excellent collection here that is highly recommended. In fact, it almost makes Alien 4 a redundant album –except that you still need Festivals from that album. The bonus tracks include the studio Love in Space which is good, but sounds a bit like lounge music from the Starship Enterprise. The live version of Lord of Light helps to round-out the complete ’95 setlist and is actually a pretty good version of this Hawkwind classic. I can’t remember whether I liked this version of Sonic Attack –I don’t recall hating it, so there’s that. Purchase and listen in confidence.3.0 goodHawkwind Alien 4Hawkwind The Xenon CodexHawkwind 25 Years OnHawkwind Astounding Sounds, Amazing MusicHawkwind HawkwindHawkwind In Search of SpaceHawkwind The Business TripA “live” album in name only as there was much studio sweetening added to these tracks. At least three tracks are complete studio creations (Quark, Terra Mystica and Berlin Axis) Still there is much to recommend the album. The sound and production are strong and serve the music well. Several older songs get interesting face lifts, like Quark Strangeness and Charm. Nobody will beat Calvert’s original studio version –so why try? Instead, they opted to re-jig the song by slowing down the tempo and vocal delivery to create an entirely new listening experience that, for me, works well. Green Finned Demon gets a lush arrangement which I think stomps the original 80s version –this is my favorite version of the song. You get a couple of the best songs from Electric TeePee (L.S.D. and Right To Decide) that are a bit more lively than their studio versions (though I think the studio versions are stronger). They also added an excellent version of “You Know You’re Only Dreaming” titled The Dream Has Ended A rare cover of The Right Stuff is also included. The album is a nice sampler of the period and it could work as a nice introduction to early-mid 90s Hawkwind. Probably not essential, but I am glad to have it.Hawkwind Live Seventy NineNot essential but enjoyable. Calvert is gone, but the band carried on and secured a record contract. The positive: Tim Blake -a phenominal keyboard player and sound texture guy; the negative, the signture sound gets watered down a bit towards generic hard rock. Motorway City is a great track that will be tightened and, imo, improved on Levitation, but it is great to have this early version. Lighthouse is nice and harkens back to, well, space music. Spirit of the Age is OK, but Calvert's departure is really felt here. Shot Down in The Night is often anthologized and for good reason, the song has drive and energy to spare. The Silver Machine Requiem was a funny idea, but they would prove unable to reture this gem permanently (or for even very long). I like the Urban Guerilla bonus track too -nice energy on that one. The sound quality of this material is pretty good, far from bootleg quality, but beware of the 'Complete Live 79" that is also available -the sound quality is audience recording quality on that one. Hugh Lloyd Langton (RIP) is back in the Hawkwind fold and would prove a strong creative force well into the 80s. I like his playing here, but I think his presence helped to drive Hawkwind into generic rock territory that I am not wild about. Regardless, the guy is a talented soloist who, when properly restrained, enhanced many a Hawkwind song and wrote a few classics along the way.2.5 averageHawkwind SpacebrockHawkwind In Your AreaHawkwind It Is the Business of the Future to Be DangerousHawkwind Space BanditsHawkwind Choose Your MasquesHawkwind Sonic AttackHawkwind Distant HorizonsHawkwind Live ChroniclesI only have the original single disk version so a few narrations and a couple of songs are missing, but I doubt my opinion would be changed by the inclusion of these tracks. On the plus side –this disk does include most of the highlights from their 80s releases, including Song of the Swords, Dragons and Fables, The Shade Gate, Rocky Paths, Choose Your Masques, Zarozina and Angels of Death. There is also an excellent new song, Moonglum, by Huw that I like more than most of these tracks. So as a sampler of Hawkwind’s 80s output you could do much worse than this release. Unfortunately the narration, probably fun live, is a distraction to the flow and I don’t care for it. The older songs as played and arranged here come up short to their 70's counterparts. The recording quality is excellent, but it is from ’86 and sounds more dated than Space Ritual from 1973! Weird.2.0 poorHawkwind Take Me to Your FutureHawkwind White ZoneHawkwind The Chronicle of the Black SwordHawkwind Church of Hawkwind
Bands: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
