This new live disc from Hawkwind was recorded on their 50th Anniversary tour. Having seen Hawkwind live several times, I can tell you that I don't think there is ever a disappointing Hawkwind show.
Given the subtitle on this, you’d expect it to be a chronological compilation with detailed liner notes. Well, if you want that you need to get Epoch Eclipse.
Hawkwind - Canterbury Fayre, 2001 Review by Bruce Stringer Hawkwind are one of those bands that fans tend to gravitate (or levitate) toward a particular era or period. My own favourite being the Levitation-era (with Ginger Baker on drums) followed closely by any of the 1980's material graced by genius guitarist Huw Lloyd-Langton. More...
Hawkwind - Choose Your Masques Review by Gary Hill I've read a lot of reviews of this CD where Hawkwind fans trash it. Personally, I have always really enjoyed this one a lot. More...
Hawkwind - Classic Rock Legends DVD Review by Bruce Stringer Another video from the Classic Rock Legends archives and this time it's the Space Bandits line-up of the mighty Hawkwind. Alan Davey (bassist) has claimed this to be one of his favourite periods and, given that it is a mixture of older as well as new talent, one can see a fresh injection of energy in the band's live sound. More...
The music contained on this new double disc vinyl set has only previously been released on one fairly rare CD set. I don't own that release, so I'm glad to have this.
Hawkwind - Distant Horizons Review by Gary Hill I never met a Hawkwind album I didn’t like. That said, this is one of the more non-descript and lackluster discs in their catalog. More...
Hawkwind - Doremi Fasol Latido Review by Gary Hill While I like every Hawkwind album a lot, and often for different reasons, of the early discs, this one might be my favorite. Don’t get me wrong; I love In Search of Space and the self-titled debut. More...
Hawkwind - Epoch Eclipse Review by Gary Hill Chronicling the entire career of the band, this box set really is a wonderful collection. It shows the diversity of Hawkwind in all their varying styles. More...
Hawkwind - Family Tree Review by Gary Hill Family Tree or Friend and Relation albums are always weird things. It seems that many times the isolated parts have no where near the style or power of the whole. More...
Hawkwind - Hall of The Mountain Grill Review by Gary Hill Hall of the Mountain Grill probably represents the apex of Hawkwind's popularity in the US, arguably being their best-known album in that country. Arguments can also be made that it is the most straight progressive rock release they have done. More...
Hawkwind’s debut album is really much different from the rest of their catalog. For one thing it’s more psychedelic and much of it shares a lot of ground with Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd.
Hawkwind - In Search of Space Review by Gary Hill In Search of Space (sometimes referred to as X – In Search of Space) was Hawkwind’s second album released in 1971. It found the band working through a lot of the same tribal chant oriented sounds as the self-titled predecessor, but also gave rise to the incorporation of some of the more progressive rock oriented textures that would become more common in their sound. More...
Hawkwind - In Your Area Review by Gary Hill One part live album, one part studio, In Your Area shows Hawkwind doing space rock as they are the experts in doing. The album includes several long time Hawk favorites, and several new cuts. More...
Hawkwind - Into the Woods Review by Gary Hill I have to make full disclosure here and say that Hawkwind is one of my favorite bands. In fact, they make my top three.
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Hawkwind - Knights of Space DVD Review by Gary Hill This DVD captures a show from Hawkwind from December 2007. The band does an annual Christmas show, and that was this show.
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Hawkwind - Levitation Review by Gary Hill Jim Lascko from Strange Trips, the US source for information on Hawkwind, describes space rock as being "characterized (by)(but certainly not limited to) spacey keyboards, driving guitar, sci-fi lyrics, repetitive chants, sound effects, long drawn out hard driving, high energy jams, along with the message that there is something wrong....something more going on in the Universe than just what is being done on this planet and our need to wake up to that fact, all played out against the backdrop of a killer lightshow!" More...
Hawkwind - Live at NEARFest, June 2007 Review by Bill Knispel Hawkwind concerts in the United States are as rare as hen’s teeth these days. Following an all too brief tour in 1997, the band attempted to perform at the 1998 incarnation of the Strange Daze space rock festival in Ohio...only to see founder Dave Brock and bassist/vocalist Ron Tree detained at the US/Canada border due to visa problems.
Hawkwind - Live In London, 2002 Review by Bruce Stringer H had originally planned to see Hawkwind play Birmingham during the December mini-tour, however - due to cancellation - I ended up heading down to London's Walthamstow Assembly Hall, in the north-east to see them play their yearly Christmas show.
When you consider that Dave Brock kind of is Hawkwind – at least he’s the one guy who’s been in Hawkwind through every lineup change – it might seem that a Dave Brock solo album would be a lot like Hawkwind.
I'm not sure when this double CD live set was recorded, but the bulk of the material comes from 1995's Alien 4, and it was released in 1996, so that narrows it down.
This compilation is really only so important. On the one hand, were it not for “It’s So Easy,” every track on the set would have been released on album previously.
Hawkwind - Out of The Shadows DVD Review by Bruce Stringer Of all the Hawkwind visual records this is the best quality and includes a classic stunning Rodney Matthews cover illustration and a slightly odd collection of songs. Performed at Newcastle's Opera House in the UK it was one of, if not the, last performance of Huw Lloyd-Langton with the group on this tour. More...
Hawkwind - Palace Springs Review by Gary Hill Coming from a band with seemingly a million albums under their belt, this is really one of their best live discs. It captures a great, if quite short, period of the band and does so with a style and texture that really is incredible. More...
I previously reviewed the two United Artists compilations from Hawkwind. I figured since those were the first two comps from the band, I should do the third, this one on Charisma.
This is arguably one of the most divisive releases in Hawkwind's catalog. Let me lead off by saying that I land in the group of people really won over by it.
Hawkwind - Sonic Assassins Review by Gary Hill This fine CD, another of the year 2000 releases of previously unavailable Hawkwind music, is a great compilation. The recordings presented here are from several different sources. More...
Hawkwind - Sonic Attack Review by Gary Hill Many probably think this disc is another Hawkwind compilation. It’s not, though.
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Hawkwind - Space Bandits Review by Gary Hill The only studio album to feature this lineup, this one leaves me wishing they had done more. It is difficult with the incredible amount of material this band have released to really pick out one or two best albums, but this one would definitely be in the running. More...
Hawkwind - Space Ritual Collectors Edition CD / DVD Review by Bruce Stringer EMI has released a series of special edition CDs for collectors, which include many rare recordings and some with video material. This edition of Hawkwind’s live psychedelic freak-out, Space Ritual, comes with the complete show of full-length versions of tracks (as some were previously issued in edited form to fit the vinyl format).
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Hawkwind - Space Ritual Volume II Review by Gary Hill Originally when this was released on vinyl, Space Ritual Volume I and II didn't exist, only one multi disc set "Space Ritual". When released on CD it was culled into two separate albums. More...
Hawkwind - Spirit of the Age Solstice Remixes Review by Gary Hill Here we have an EP from Hawkwind that includes four different mixes of the same piece, that being “Spirit of the Age” which originated on Quark Strangeness and Charm. More...
Hawkwind - Spirit of the Age Solstice Remixes Review by Gary Hill Here we have an EP from Hawkwind that includes four different mixes of the same piece, that being “Spirit of the Age” which originated on Quark Strangeness and Charm. More...
Star Nation - Star Nation EP Review by Bruce Stringer The first thing to get my attention to this EP was the card CD sleeve design: didn't I see this in Chariots of the Gods? Dressed up as an independent CD single with lyric card inserts, this is a very interesting disc and a pity that it will probably never get the release it deserves. More...
This is kind of a cool set. While Hawkwind fans might well have these songs on various albums they already own, they will probably find a few things here they don’t have – at least not these exact versions.
Hawkwind - Take Me To Your Leader Review by Gary Hill It's got to be hard to be Hawkwind. With a massive catalog that last time I checked (including compilations and live albums) boasted well over a hundred official releases, it must be very difficult to try to please your fans with each new release. More...
Hawkwind - The Chronicle of the Black Sword Review by Gary Hill Hawkwind had a friendship with the science fiction author Michael Moorcock – he actually joined the band at one point. It should seem no surprise, then that they would do a concept album based on his Elric series. More...
When it comes to a band that has been around since the 1960s and released somewhere in the neighborhood of three dozen studio albums, it seems natural that a trademark sound would emerge.
This new three CD set assembles three Hawkwind albums released from 1981-1982. I'm a huge fan of the third of those discs, Choose Your Masques, but I actually like all three.
Star Nation - The Silver Age Review by Bruce Stringer Hawkwind drummer Richard Chadwick and ex-Hawkwind guitarist Jerry Richards play alongside musicians Steve Hayes, Alex Hart, Steve Taylor and scribe Sophie Knight on this album of industrial, post-punk, space-rock. The Silver Age is a thematic CD with many a surprise in stall for the listener and many interesting lyrics to puzzle over. More...
Hawkwind - The Weird Tapes Number 4-Live ‘78 Review by Gary Hill This disc, just released in 2000, is a great testament to the live presence of this legendary, if obscure, band. The CD features some of the finest live recordings of Hawkwind that I have ever heard. More...
Hawkwind - The Xenon Codex Review by Gary Hill I’ve seen some less than stellar reviews of this disc, but for my money it’s a great album and well in the upper percentile of Hawkwind releases. More...
Hawkwind - This Is Hawkwind, Do Not Panic Review by Bruce Stringer One step on from the classic, yet volatile, Levitation line-up this release is a collection of tracks highlighting their performance of 1981's Stonehenge festival, re-sequenced and sounding at their most energetic since the days of Lemmy. Ginger Baker, who was to leave shortly after this, added an element of jazz fusion to the chemistry in stark contrast to Simon King's staccato straight-four drumming and it's as if the set list was constructed to feature the mastery of British guitar legend Huw Lloyd-Langton. More...
Hawkwind - Weird Tapes 2 - Hawkwind Live and Hawklords Studio Review by Gary Hill In terms of number of albums released, Hawkwind is arguably the most prolific rock band in history. I once read a listing of all Hawkwind releases from several years ago and the number was somewhere in the 80’s. More...