By Belated Request, some Hawkwind

Couldn't be much more opposite of the Clash had I attempted to, other than they are both from the
continent.... been so long since I was screwing around with that Clash thing that I genuinely don't remember who asked for some Hawkwind, but I loved the band in the early 70's (in particular "Space Ritual Live", one of my favorite of all live albums).... Hawkwind sort of reveled in the fact that they were practitioners of "Space Rock", which to me is pretty much some elaborate, effects-laden early stoner metal with lots of lyrics about outer space and the like...... still some good albums, though.

They have a complex history, as both Hawkwind and as "The Hawklords", and I am not about to document all of it (Lord, I think they are still at it in one form or another, think I will pass on that), let us instead concentrate on their early-to-mid 1970's "peak" at least in my opinion, these albums are wonderfully dated documents of a sadly missed era.

In 1970 they released "Hawkwind" to little fanfare, personally I always thought it was a pretty decent psych album, with the cool "Seeing It as You Really Are".....it was later issued with some bonus material which happens to be the edition I have here. The lineup for this album was: Dave Brock on guitar, vocals, and keyboards, Nik Turner on sax, flute, and vocals; Huw Lloyd on guitar and vocals, Michael Davies on synth, bassist John Harrison,  and Terry Ollis on drums.... there is a lot going on here, some may not care for but as I said, I like it, and the added bonus cuts are fun.

The following year they released "X In Search of Space", a more mature effort with the ambitious (15+ minutes) "You Shouldn't Do That" and some other head swirlers.....also reissued with bonus tracks, which are interesting because of the first Hawkwind appearance of Lemmy Kilmister. For this LP, Dave Anderson replaced John Harrison as bassist, still a very busy, ambitious album....I like it, as stuff like this tends to go, many do hate it.

On album #3 "Doremi Fasol Latido", Lemmy became the full time bassist, and Simon King took over on drums, resulting in a heavier, maybe less psyc-proggy sound....and a good album it is, better than the first two in my book, almost as though belonging in another category, as though by a different band.... it includes the classic "Brainstorm", maybe their best known track (I happen to like the live version better, forgive me).

So, the NEXT album, "Hall of the Mountain Grill", changes direction yet again, as they added Simon House on synth, mellotron and electric violin.......people tend to be mixed on this album, personally I'm not that crazy about it, others rank it as their favorite Hawkwind effort......it does include the pretty cool "Psychedelic Warlords Disappear In Smoke"

At some point here they released "Space Ritual Live", THE definitive two-disc live experience.... find ANYONE'S original copy and open up the sleeve, I GUARANTEE you 40-year old marijuana residue and seeds come falling out, it's the ultimate "pure" stoner album of the era, along with maybe Captain Beyond's debut. It features an amazing "Brainstorm", the way cool "Orgone Accumulator", and VERY weird spoken pieces which actually WORK, "Sonic Attack", "Space Is Deep", and "Ten Seconds of Forever" which perfectly segues into "Brainstorm"....I am sure there are people that hate this album as much as I have a soft spot for it, I find it an irresistible Junior High school memory.

1975 brought us "Warrior on the Edge of Time", in which the clock, at least for me, wasticking...... it's a fair album, nothing spectacular. Lemmy left after this, and it seems like a decent place to stop for me as well...... if you are interested, or a fanatic, Pirate Bay has a GIGANTIC torrent with what has to be every note anyone whom EVER called themselves "Hawkwind" ever recorded, and I am not kidding there are likely 50 albums there (I'll put a Pirate Bay link in the comments section in case anyone is interested....I downloaded the torrent in case there was any "bonus" material for use in this post, which, of course.........

We have a live album from 1974 entitled  "The 1999 Party", featuring the Lemmy-led lineup (not as great as "Space Ritual"), a 1976 post-Lemmy live set ("Atomhenge") (compare the bass playing on this "Brainstorm" to Lemmy's legendary sloppiness on the "Space Ritual" version).... "Stasis: The UA  Years" covers some early (1971-75) stuff and might have a a track or two of interest, and "Dawn of Hawkwind" covers some ancient rarities and is quite interesting..that is going to be about as far as I go..... Hawkwind for me remain forever locked in the 1970's, a wonderful decade, but music they released in, say 1994? Or 2007? Personally I will pass, but the if for some reason you are a fan of their ever-shifting lineups and voluminous mountains of recordings, the Pirate Bay link is for you......for more casual fans, I think that the selections featured here paint a decent picture, let's be real, this is not The Clash or the Stones, it's Hawkwind, and I'm not chasing down everything that they've ever done....I will tell you though, that it is simply incredible the amount of work put out under this name though.

Although I have the first several albums on vinyl-ripped CD which is in general what I like to post if I can (I love the sound of vinyl), in this case I have opted to use the MP3's from the previously mentioned downloaded torrent due to the spate of bonus material on each album, my beloved live "Brainstorm" appears unedited (I never knew it WAS edited on "Space Ritual", evidently it was "too long"..... on this version it is restored to full length). I'm going to hang onto this torrent for a while and will probably delete most of the stuff I don't want after a while, so if there is a single album or two that I did not post and which you want, give a shout and I will hook you up...... if you want more than that please download the torrent!

Roll one, fire it up and crank out "Doremi Fasol Latido" or "Space Ritual" and remember how great the 1970's could be......back in a day or so with something else, hope ya enjoy the Hawkwind for now. (Note to whomever requested it, if you are REALLY into this band, the Pirate Bay link to the torrent will be like winning the lottery for you, I am not kidding, it's one of the biggest discographies I've seen)

HAWKWIND-01 Hurry On Sundown/02 The Reason Is?/03 Be Yourself/04 Paranoia Part 1/05 Paranoia Part 2/06 Seeing It as You Really Are/07 Mirror of Illusion/ BONUS TRACKS 08 Bring It On Home/09 Hurry On Sundown (Hawkwind Zoo Demo)/10 Kiss of the Velvet Whip (aka "Sweet Mistress of Pain")/11 Cymbaline

X IN SEARCH OF SPACE-01 You Shouldn't Do That/02 You Know You're Only Dreaming/03 Master of the Universe/04 We Took the Wrong Step Years Ago/05 Adjust Me/06 Children of the Sun/BONUS TRACKS 07 Seven By Seven (Original Single Version)/08 Silver Machine (Original Single Version, Live at the Roundhouse)/09 Born To Go (Live Single Version Edit)

DOREMI FASOL LATIDO-01 Brainstorm/02 Space Is Deep/03 One Change/04 Lord of Light/05
Down Through the Night/06 Time We Left This World Today/07 The Watcher/BONUS TRACKS 08 Urban Guerilla/09 Brainbox Pollution/10 Lord of Light (Single Version Edit)/11 Ejection

HALL THE MOUNTAIN GRILL-01 The Psychedelic Warlords (Disappear In Smoke)/02 Wind of Change/03 D-Rider/04 Web Weaver/05 You'd Better Believe It/06 Hall of the Mountain Grill/07 Lost Johnny/08 Goat Willow/09 Paradox BONUS TRACKS 10 You'd Better Believe It (Single Edit Version)/11 The Psychedelic Warlords (Disappear In Smoke) (Single Edit Version)/12 Paradox (remix Single Edit)/13 It's So Easy

SPACE RITUAL DISC 1-01 Earth Calling/02 Born To Go/03 Down Through the Night/04 The Awakening/05 Lord of Light/06 The Black Corridor/07 Space Is Deep/08 Electronic No. 1/09 Orgone Accumulator/10 Upside Down/11 Ten Seconds of Forever/12 Brainstorm

SPACE RITUAL DISC 2-01 Seven By Seven/02 Sonic Attack/03 Time We Left This World Today/04 Master of the Universe/05 Welcome to the Future/06 You Shouldn't Do That/07 Orgone Accumulator (alternate nights performance)/08 Time We Left This World Today (alternate night's performance)/09 You Shouldn't Do That (alternate nights performance from the "Roadhawks" compilation album)

WARRIOR ON THE EDGE OF TIME-01 Assault and Battery (Part 1)/02 The Golden Void (Part 2)/03 The Wizard Blew His Horn/04 Opa-Loka/05 The Demented Man/06 Magnu/07 Standing on the Edge/08 Spiral Galaxy 28948/09 Warriors/10 Dying Seas/11 Kings of Speed/12 Motorhead (Bonus Track)

THE 1999 PARTY DISC 1-01 Intro/Standing on the Edge/02 Brainbox Pollution/03 It's So Easy/04
You Know You're Only Dreaming/05 Veterans of A Thousand Psychic Wars/06 Brainstorm/07 Seven By Seven

THE 1999 PARTY DISC 2-01 The Watcher/02 The Awakening/03 Paradox/04 You'd Better Believe It/05 Psychedelic Warlords (Disappear In Smoke)/06 D-Rider/07 Sonic Attack/08 Master of the Universe/09 Welcome to the Future

ATOMHENGE DISC 1-01 Intro/02 Reefer Madness/03 Paradox/04 Chronoglide Skyway/05 Hassan-i-Sabbah (aka Assassins of Allah)/06 Brainstorm/07 Wind of Change

ATOMHENGE DISC 2-01 Instrumental/02 Steppenwolf/03 Uncle Sam's On Mars/04 Time For Sale/05 Back On the Streets/06 Sonic Attack/07 Kerb Crawler

STASIS THE UA YEARS-01 Urban Guerilla/02 The Psychedelic Warlords (Disappear Into Smoke)(Single Version Edit)/03 Branbox Pollution/04 Seven By Seven (Remixed Version)/05 Paradox (remixed single edit)/06 Silver Machine (original single mix)/07 You'd Better Believe It (Single Version Edit)/08 Lord of Light /09 Black Corridor (live)/10 Space Is Deep (live)/11 Earth Calling (live)/12 Born to Go (live)/13 Down Through the Night (live)/14 The Awakening/15 You Shouldn't Do That (live)/16 Motorhead/17 Master of the Universe/18 Kings of Speed

DAWN OF HAWKWIND-01 Come On/02 My Baby's Gone/03 Dealing With the Devil/04 Roll Em
Pete/05 Bring It On Home/06 Illusions/07 Get Yourself Together/08 What's the Matter/09 Bottle Up/10 Diamond Ring/11 Hurry on Sundown/12 Cymbaline/13 Master of the Universe


That's quite a bit of stuff, really, not relative to the stuff that is available, but to m, THIS is Hawkwind..... been a while since I've listened to much of their stuff, I've enjoyed doing this post and remembering those wonderful years of youth and laughing at the delightfully dated music going on here......thanks to whomever requested it, I'd have likely thought of it eventually, and I hope I did them justice! Let me know your opinion of this post, if feel like it!