I was never a big Hawkwind fan, but this 1977 album is sheer genius - the pinnacle of the Bob Calvert era. Psychedelic yes, but with lashings of wit and humour. The album harks back to '50s sci-fi in places and the sleeve art is apparently based on the interior of Battersea Power station. In a sense then, this could be seen as a companion to Pink Floyd's "Animals" album - although I would say the Hawkwind album is the better of the two. The ploddy Dave Brock guitar sound is buried here in a swathe of Simon House's synths and violin. This album has always sounded fantastic and this is my third copy. I still have the original Charisma LP and had a rather shoddy Virgin CD. The original album had 8 tracks - this splendid re-issue on the Atomhenge label has 21. In truth the original album was rather short at 37 minutes. This version is well over three times that length. Indeed, there was a CD re-issue a while back which squeezed the album and its rather good predecessor "Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music" onto one CD. That version is long deleted though. But to prove it existed here is a picture:
Initially I was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of extra material on this new 2CD version. There are 3 live tracks from 1977 and various demos and alternative takes. Don't let unpromising titles like "A Minor Jam Session" and "Hash Cake Cut" put you off because these are slabs of prime Hawkwind.
This album has been in and out of print over the years, so if you want a copy now is the time to get one - in expanded glory! Remember what has happened with the Soft Boys classic "Underwater Moonlight" album here - the 2CD version is out of print and only crappy mp3s of the extra material are available. Don't miss out on this Hawkwind twinset. Here are some pictures I took of the 2CD version:
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