Release date: 25.10.2019
Label: Cherry Red
Production: Hawkwind
Length: 42:33
Genre: space rock/progressive rock
Rating: 9.5
“All Aboard the Skylark” is the thirty-second studio album from the indestructible English space rock patriarchs Hawkwind. According to bandleader and sole founding member, guitarist/vocalist Dave Brock, the new record is a full-on return to the space rock sound that defined their most revered work of the seventies. Before “All Aboard the Skylark” came out, Brock’s claim sounded a bit odd, maybe even overconfident and pompous, since Hawkwind never actually stopped playing space rock, even if over the years, after brief experiments with metal in the eighties and electronics in the nineties, they modernized their sound quite a bit.
But one look at the new album’s ‘retro’ cover, which brings back memories of the Hawkwind classic “Hall of the Mountain Grill” (1974), makes it clear this won’t be your typical record for their fiftieth anniversary. On “All Aboard the Skylark,” Hawkwind really did get a lot closer to some of their seventies experiments sonically too, with the difference that this time they mostly steered clear of stretched-out psychedelic jams, while still coming up with highly eclectic and ‘provocative’ creations, complete with those typical sci-fi lyrics.
After longtime vocalist Mr. Dibs left in 2018, Brock once again took over the vocals completely, while Haz Wheaton, who went off to Electric Wizard, was replaced on bass by returnee Niall Hone. Neither change brought any major shake-up, since of all the singers in the cult space rockers’ rich history, Brock’s vocal approach is surely the one most firmly lodged in the brain of the average Hawkwind fan. Keyboardist Magnus Martin, who occasionally joined Brock’s guitar experiments on rhythm guitar, also contributed some vocals on a few tracks, mainly in the ‘calmer’ parts.
The opener, the fully electrified “Flesh Fondue,” sets up the album brilliantly and is easily one of the punchiest Hawkwind creations of the last decade. Brock’s singing on this prog-punk hybrid sounds rebellious and youthful like it hasn’t in ages, even though the guy is closing in on eighty. His younger bandmates keep pace with breakneck drum fills and psychedelic textures on the keys. The instrumental “Nets of Space” is a mix of Brock’s guitar grinding, Chadwick’s eclectic drumming wizardry and psychedelic synth effects featuring strange ‘space creature’ voices. The somewhat folk-rock-leaning, deeply nostalgic “Last Man On Earth,” with Martin on lead vocals, features romantic acoustic guitar arrangements, fiery sax passages and a mighty guitar solo.
“We Are Not Dead…Only Sleeping,” which refers to the common sci-fi idea of putting the human body into full hibernation during space travel, is a proper space rock trip with dreamy synth waves, fragile piano passages and Brock at his most psychedelic vocally. The title track, an instrumental that really does conjure up the feel of space travel, mostly thanks to its many effects and eclectic keyboard work, includes some pentatonic scales that Brock was already fond of more than four decades ago. The atmosphere is outstanding and recalls quite a bit some of the most revered work from the first half of the seventies, i.e. the Lemmy era.
“65 Million Years Ago,” about the time when scientists believe the greatest mass extinction of animal species, led by the dinosaurs, took place, is another full-blooded, apocalyptically tinted Hawkwind classic with a dramatic atmosphere. The short, ethereal instrumental “In The Beginning” is marked by melancholic, nostalgic synth waves and electronic effects. The excellent instrumental “The Road To…” slowly builds a mysterious mood with branching rhythms, colorful guitar passages, eclectic symphonic arrangements and all sorts of effects.
The epic closer “The Fantasy of Faldum,” which can be declared the highlight of the album, opens with a cheerful, acoustic-flavored intro and plenty of ‘laser’ effects before moving into a more complex section with lots of tempo changes, Brock’s trademark guitar passages, Martin’s melodic singing and synth waves. All of it adds up to a truly futuristic vibe, while the final stretch of this composition is some of the best stuff Hawkwind have made in the last four decades.
Since “All Aboard the Skylark” marks the band’s fiftieth anniversary, the album comes with a rather interesting bonus disc called “Acoustic Daze,” featuring freshly recorded acoustic versions of eleven Hawkwind standards.
It seems that with “All Aboard the Skylark,” Hawkwind have almost completely restored the winning sonic formula of their ‘golden era,’ which ended roughly four decades ago, and may have offered an answer to the question of which still-active progressive rock pioneers made the best album of 2019 among comparable bands. Most longtime fans will surely think, while listening to “All Aboard the Skylark,” that the best creative days of these English space rock legends are back. So Brock wasn’t exaggerating one bit when he talked up the sound of this album, and the end result is a new space rock masterpiece.
Review by: Peter Podbrežnik
Tracklist:
1. Flesh Fondue
2. Nets of Space
3. Last Man on Earth
4. We are Not Dead… Only Sleeping
5. All Aboard the Skylark
6. 65 Million Years Ago
7. In the Beginning
8. The Road to…
9. The Fantasy of Faldum
Bonus CD “Acoustic Daze”
1. Psy Power
2. Hymne to the Sun
3. The Watcher
4. Generator Door
5. Micro Man
6. Into the Night
7. Down Through the Night
8. Flying Doctor
9. Get You Act Together
10. Ascent of Man
11. We Took the Wrong Step Years Ago
Hawkwind:
Dave Brock – guitar, vocals, keyboards
Richard Chadwick – drums
Niall Hone – bass guitar, keyboards
Magnus Martin – keyboards, guitar, vocals
