Hawkwind

Hawkwinds career seems to have gone through stages. This was the pinnacle of their first incarnation as the earliest ‘space-rock’ outfit. This was recorded before Robert Calvert joined so the lineup was Dave Brock on vocals and guitars, Nik Turner on sax & flute, Lemmy on bass, Del Dettmar on synth, Dik Mik on ‘audio generator’ and Simon King on drums.
The songs were mainly written by Dave Brock with one from Del, one from Lemmy & one from Nik Turner and told the story of the Hawk Lords and their eternal battle against the Bad Vibes Squad (later written into a novella by Michael Moorcock & Peter Butterworth).

It really is Hawkwind at their very best. Brock’s guitar – riff after riff – is the driving force, while Simon King is a massive and speedy drummer. Lemmy’s throbbing bass lies at the heart of the music while Nik Turner flies above the music with ethereal flute and occasional honks from his sax.
But what really makes it ‘Space-Rock’ is the electronic element – Del Dettmar and Dik Mik. They create heady electronic swoops and tweets and all sorts of other effects – no organ or Mellotron, this is pure electronica. You could take the electronic elements out and they would be up there with the best Kraut-rock bands, leaving the rest as very good rock but just that.

The package is excellent. A 5CD set featuring a remastered original version (and a fine job they have done of it too – clean and with a great soundstage), with two additional A & B sides as a bonus. You also get new stereo mixes by Steven W. Tayler and a third CD of new mixes of their set from the Greasy Truckers Party at the Roundhouse on 13/02/1972 – the band as before plus Robert Calvert on vocals and Stacia dancing. – it even features the first recording of ‘Silver Machine’. CD4 & 5 are hi-res 5.1 and surround versions of the mixes of the remixed album and the Greasy Truckers set.
As usual, the booklet is informative and you even get the original poster.

Top notch reissue and well worth checking out for any Hawkwind fans.