Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Hawkwind
Label: Eastworld Recordings
Release: 2013
Rating: 3.5/5
Unbelievable, but true: »Spacehawks« is yet another one of the ‘countless’ Hawkwind compilations, the kind that even the most fanatical fans of these unique legends of British space rock have long since stopped counting. Still, this one is a somewhat more inventive release, because it’s not just the typical collection of best-of or best-known past works. »Spacehawks« features alternative versions of tracks from their last two studio efforts, namely »Blood of the Earth« (2010) and »Onward« (2012), some re-recorded old favorites produced by the current Hawkwind lineup, and even a few completely new songs. All of that makes »Spacehawks« an interesting enough investment even for those who aren’t exactly Hawkwind fanatics, but who like to spin some primal space rock from the days when progressive rock was still young.
Even though, since the days when Hawkwind put out their best albums, i.e. in the seventies and the first half of the eighties, only the legendary boss and founder of the band, guitarist and singer Dave Brock, is left, he’s been joined for years by a cult keyboardist, Tim Blake (Gong, Crystal Machine), one of the legendary names. Drummer Richard Chadwick, who has been in the band since 1988, is another long-serving member who’s stuck around, and it has to be said that the current Hawkwind lineup, with Mr Dibs as lead vocalist, is on par with some of their best incarnations, and over more than four decades there were quite a few of those.
Hawkwind, one of the key names of the progressive rock movement in the early seventies and a bridge between the psychedelic hippie scene and the punk scene with their fusion of hard rock, acid rock, electronics and proto-punk, still sound just as ‘disconnected’ as ever, even with modern production. The stylistic differences between the new stuff and the creations from the last two studio albums, compared to the classic material, are obvious, but the sonic philosophy is still similar, if not the same as in the days when former bassist and singer, the legendary Ian ‘Lemmy’ Kilmister (Motorhead), played with them. So it’s no surprise that the track »Seasons«, with its mix of ambient electronics, acid rock, hard rock and punk, plus long instrumental freak-outs, strongly recalls their ‘glory days’. The anniversary of the cult album »Warrior On the Edge of Time« (1975), their last record with Lemmy, is getting closer, so it’s only fitting that most of the re-recorded songs were picked from it.
The new versions of classics from that studio masterpiece, like »Assault & Battery«, »Golden Void« and Demented Man«, mostly come off very well in their modern guise, though some longtime fans will miss the chaotic charm and proto-punk griminess of the original production. Not every version works equally well in its modern form. The re-recorded »Master of the Universe« from »X in Search of Space« (1970), now retitled, perhaps for more commercial reasons, as »Masters of the Universe« (all that’s missing is He-Man and Skeletor), doesn’t have the untamed rebellious energy that marked the original version, although the signature hard rock guitar riff that makes this unforgettable evergreen great still sounds fantastic.
The completely new tracks, especially the melodic »Where Are They Now«, are on the other hand excellent, and you can hope they’ll sooner or later find their way onto some future Hawkwind studio album. The re-recorded »Sonic Attack«, an evergreen from the album of the same name released in 1981, with lyrics contributed by the legendary British sci-fi writer Michael Morcock, is once again the spitting image of electronically fueled post-apocalyptic chaos, the kind only the eternal ‘space bandits’ can remember. New tracks like »We Two Are One« and the almost trance experiment »Sacrosant« sound like they were made somewhere in the mid-seventies, while the re-recorded version of »We Took The Wrong Step«, which originally appeared on Brock’s solo album »Looking For Love in the Lost Land of Dreams« (2012), turns out wonderfully in Hawkwind’s hands, if not better than the original. Tracks like »It’s All Lies«, originally released on the album »Stellar Variations« (2012) by Brock’s side project Hawkwind Light Orchestra, clearly demonstrate how successfully Hawkwind have merged their traditional sound and approach with modern ambient production ideas, which let them sound no less innovative and relevant today than they did four decades ago. For a band that has weathered a series of creative crises and lineup changes over its career, that’s a truly magnificent achievement.
»Spacehawks« offers a lovely, vivid sonic look at the past, present and future of the Hawkwind spaceship, while the new tracks are a really good sendoff for further studio adventures. The future has never looked as bright for these space rock legends, who have always been obsessed with sci-fi themes, time travel included, and whose captain Brock is already a respectable 72 years old.
Lineup
Dave Brock – vocals and guitar
Richard Chadwick – drums and backing vocals
Tim Blake – keyboards, bass guitar
Niall Hone – bass guitar
Mr Dibs – vocals and bass guitar
Dead Fred – keyboards
Laura and Stef – backing vocals
Production
Hawkwind
Track list
1. Seasons – (remix from Onward)
2. Assault & Battery- New studio recording ( Original from Warrior On The Edge Of Time)
3. Golden Void – New studio recording (from Warrior On The Edge Of Time)
4. Where Are They Now
5. Sonic Attack – New Studio Recording
6. Demented Man – New studio recording (from WarriorOn The Edge Of Time )
7. We two are one – New Track
8. We Took the Wrong Step – (From Dave Brock solo album Looking for Love in the lost land of dreams)
9. Masters of the Universe – New studio recording with Huw.
10. Sacrosanct – New
11. Sentinel – (remix from Blood Of The Earth)
12. Its all Lies – (from Stellar Variations – Hawkwind Light Orchestra)
13. Touch – New Studio Recording
14. The Chumps are Jumping – New Studio Recording
15. Lonely Moon – New Studio Recording
16. Sunship – BOTE (remix from Blood Of The Earth)
