LPCDreissues: Looking forward to the past

3Lp Box + insert + poster + badge
Side 1:TIM BLAKE Spirit of the Age 6.54LITMUS Paradox 6.49 AMORPHIS Levitation 5.53SPACEHEAD The Right Stuff 5.41
Side 2:NORTHWINDS Images / Ejection 6.02BEDOUIN Sword of the East 5.38THE BLACK Farenheit 451 4.10ACID KING Motorhead 5.23THE MEADS OF ASPHODEL Utopia 4.21
Side 3:ST 37 Orgone Accumulator 6.10 SILVER MACHINE Silver Machine 5.18MURKINS PSI Power 5.11QUARKSPACE Quark, Strangeness and Charm 4.20OVERMARS Magnu 4.11
Side 4:BEGGARS FARM We Took the Wrong Step Years Ago 3.40 DARXTAR The Watcher 5.42ALPHA OMEGA Reefer Madness 5.58 MARSHAN Hurry on Sundown 4.11JET JAGUAR Lord of Light 6.05
Side 5:SIMON HOUSE Hall of the Mountain Grill 4.23BRAINSTORM Master of the Universe 5.06FARFLUNG Robot 5.24SPIRITS BURNING High Rise 5.56 HUW LLOYD LANGTON Moonglum 5.32
Side 6:UNIVERSAL TOTEM ORCHESTRA Alien (I am) 7.22CIRCLE Don't Understand 5.09 SIGH Psychedelic Warlords 5.39ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE You Know you're only Dreaming 7.42THE PSYCHEDELIC WARLORDSWe're the psychedelic warlordsPlaying spaced out rock and rollHang on to your heads nowBecause we were born to goWords from the seventies which still apply to Hawkwind today. Spaced out rock and roll is a good phrase to describe Hawkwind as you can use it to describe Hawkwind as you can use it to describe their laid back, jamming (free festival attitude) approach to much of their music and it also fits nicely with their extensive use of science fiction and fact lyrics.No wonder they've often been described as a bunch of hippies putting science fiction to music. Something highlighted by their highly visual, psychedelic and science fiction themed stageshows. Songs and instrumentals inspired by the likes of Moorcock, Zelazny, Ballard, Asimov, Farmer, Spinrad, Bradbury, Hesse, Vonnegut and others.It doesn't seem like the ideal way to get on Top Of The Pops (though, of course, this did happen) or to achieve longevity, yet the band has been of the go for thirty-four years now and looks set to carry on for many more. This survival is even more surprising when you consider that Hawkwind do not court the media....and the music press does not help people who don't play ball!This, I think, is one of the reasons that the band has gone on so long. Not because they are rebelious, but because they are making the music that they want to play, the sounds thy enjoy most of all. Much more satisfying to make a living with the music they love than to make a fortune following commercial fashion.In doing so, Hawkwind have carved their own niche in rock history and inadvertantly founded their own fashion. By embracing their science and science fiction so wholeheartedly, instead of just dipping in a trendy finger, as so many other artists have done, Hawkwind have become indisputed leaderes of the genre. When you think of spacerock, you think of Hawkwind and all others who make that style of music walk in their shadow.Of course, the main reason that Hawkwind have lasted so long isn't because science fiction is their theme. It's sounds created by the band. They excite us and we can't get enough of listening to them.Yet what is the Hawkwind sound?The first things that spring to mind are the driving force of Dave Brock's rythm guitar and the electronic sound effects but there is a lot more to it than that. They could, like so many bands, trade on established successfull sounds, but do not choose to do so.Never the obvious!For instance, although the heavy rock album Space Ritual Alive reached number five in the album charts, the next album, Hall Of the Mountain Grill, was quite different and it was here that we were introduced to the first of many melodic instrumentals, Wind of Change, Hall of the Mountain Grill and Goat Willow.Hawkwind did their own thing, not what the media expected of them.Having so many people joining and leaving (rejoining and guesting) the band has brought a steady flow of new sounds and new ideas which have been embraced by the existing members, so the Hawkwind sound has diversified, expanded and gained greater variety, while retaining the basis of science fiction influenced heavy rock. The poems and graceful instrumentals sit comfortably between the heavier pieces and form a fine contrast in what could otherwise be a relentless onslaught.In thirty-four years, Hawkwind have recorded a lot of songs and made many friends in other bands. No wonder then that we can be treated to this fine album offering tribute to the band. These are all good artists (and it is a bonus that some are Hawkwind musicians) in their own right, but it is a special treat to us that we can hear them offering their interpretations of Hawkwind.