Hawkwindforum

looks like it's been repressed in blue vinyl so now you can really get the blues....

I think Dave Brock summed BOTE up perfectly when asked what he thought of the album shortly after it's release, Dave stated "Well, it's alright.......I suppose" - not exactly a ringing endorsement !!

I'm really glad Hawkwind are still gigging in 2010, that's amazing when you think about, and to be fair, you can't expect Dave & Co to come up with another 'Quark' or 'Levitation' in the studio. Most bands of their era aren't releasing new albums any more, there isn't much point when all your best work is long behind you, and let's not forget how great their 70's albums were. The live experience is what Hawkwind are all about, and as long as the boys can still cut it live then good luck to them. Having said that, I saw them at Leamington Assembly in May and that was the worst Hawkwind performance I've seen in over 30 years, but it could just have been an off night (they did seem to have some sound problems from the start)

BOTE isn't their worst album (Distant Horizons is IMHO) and a couple of tracks on BOTE are quite good ('Green Machine'/'Comfy Chair'/'Sentinel'): just don't mention 'Sweet Obsession' !! I suspect BOTE was a rush job, and it shows: oh well.......
Onwards & Upwards Hawkwind !!!!

Individually I'm really enjoying the tracks, there are some real polished gems on there. Ultimately I think it turned out to be one of Hawkwinds 'bits and pieces' albums. Although the band are playing really tight and together now, it seems like they are isolated creatively. Each piece feels like a solo work with the rest of the band supporting. All Hawkwind albums feel a bit like that, but sometimes it goes too far and the albums lose cohesion. 'Astounding Sounds' is another good example of this.

The other aspect that I am disappointed with is the production. It's a good modern production, but that's the problem. I don't like modern production values at all. It's like looking at a magic-eye picture, I have to concentrate, in just the right way, for the image to resolve. I could go on moaning about modern production all day when the weather is like this, but it's not really Hawkwind's fault. It's just a sign of the (sonic) times.

Overall though, no, I'm not disappointed with "Blood of the Sun". I thought for a couple of years there that the journey might be coming to an end, so it feels good now that things are ship-shape again. Thanks again Hawkwind..

Im not totally disappointed either but found it hard to agree with some whop thought it was better than "Take Me To Your Leader". The different versions with an extra track here and extra track there did annoy me. The sequencing wasnt the best and the sound on the rockier numbers just seemed bitflat to my ears.

I think get the Atomhenge guy to do the final mastering for all releases, I think he has been amazing with the rereleases.

Sean In Oz

I've got to chime in-
I normally stay out of this stuff, but I can't resist
First, for me, Take Me To Your Leader is the lowest Hawkwind point. That said, I must admit that it came out while I was on a 5 year hiatus from music while my life fell apart, and maybe that has something to do with it. I totally agree about the production quality mentioned above, and I have had this complaint for ages- I miss the days of bands going into a major studio, with (I guess) producers, and less computer and digital tech in use, for lack of a better way to put it. I have NEVER, and I mean NEVER, understood a complaint about Distant Horizons. When I was letting my reign of fiery rebelllion out the window just the other night, this CD was used as it has been before as the capstone....to me "Wheels" makes it worth it weight alone, not to mention Ron's brilliant contributions, etc
It becomes clear to me that opinions about Hawkwind are so diverse, as well as music in general, that giving them seems almost rediculous, other than to just say "Wow that is the the ultimate Space Rock band"
ps-I mentioned this in anither thread, but in case Jephraim missed it, the "Brainstorm Here We Go" panel of Space Ritual is a "magic eye". It's hard to do, you have to hold it close to your face, but once you see it......

I liked this album when it was first released but after a while I found myself cooling on it. After coming back to it after a break from it of a couple of months I find I love it more than I initially did. I believe the album flows well, but understand when others don't like the sequencing. I never liked Comfy Chair or Sweet obssession on first listen, and could have done without them, but recently I have warmed to them and am glad of their inclusion.
Even You Better Believe, which I was sceptical of, sounds great. I love the ambient instrumental break which differentiates it from it's live predecessor and gives the track it's own identity.
I too prefer it to Take Me To Your Leader, an album I have never taken too. The only track I would listen to on that is Out Here We Are. To my ears TMTYL was a dissapointment not BOTE.
And I am also in agreement with Mike Coleman, Distant Horizons is a great little album, albeit one which took me a while to warm too, and I look forward to what Atomhenge will do to it.
One last thought, on the album opener there is the phrase 'I will become master of the universe', is this an idea left over from when the album was going to be 'X In Search Of Space' 2?

gavinwhitehawk wrote:..the phrase 'I will become master of the universe'

I think it's a sample from Forbidden Planet (1956), Mr.Dibs' favourite and probably the most hawkwindish movie ever..

mike coleman wrote:in case Jephraim missed it, the "Brainstorm Here We Go" panel of Space Ritual is a "magic eye"

Wow! How the heck did Barney Bubbles do that without a computer, he must have been on the good stuff that day. I guess we can do anything if we put our minds to it. Next you'll be telling me that Liquid Len invented the volumetric display.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fViB73482tY

Ozhawk wrote:...I think get the Atomhenge guy to do the final mastering for all releases, I think he has been amazing with the rereleases...

IMHO I think it's not just a mastering but also a mixing issue with BOTE. Maybe they should bring back Paul Cobbold!

Yes, the mix definitely sounded wrong to me in a few places. I remember the drums being all wrong on one track, for example, though if I remember rightly it wasn't all the way through, just at one section.

From things said earlier in this discussion by different people I wondered if at least part of the problem may have been that it sounded ok on the studio monitors, but they didn't try enough comparisons with different speaker types. Some people seemed to find the mix ok while others didn't.

But a couple of things lately have made me wonder if someone with sharper hearing might be a benefit at the mixing stage. After forty years in the business and with age creeping up fast, these things get more difficult. It's a fact. Even my hearing isn't as sharp in the higher frequencies as it used to be, and I only found out when I tested it, and that's just with age, not gigging at high volumes.

^good point, I find myself boosting the treble a lot more these days....unless I cup my hands behind my ears

Don't forget those ingenius little earwax-douche-kits sold in pharmacies.
After about 60 days of gradually increasing the stereo's amplification in order to hear the background sounds...it's flush time once again.
This ear cleansing procedure provides one with the ability to hear others talking behind their back for about a week until all sounds start to submerge/filter-out once again.
It certainly keeps things interesting.

voilodian ghagnasdiak wrote:Don't forget those ingenius little earwax-douche-kits sold in pharmacies.

Not too sure they're available in UK.....never mind, Holmfirth on Friday will blast all the wax out

Sweep wrote:Yes, the mix definitely sounded wrong to me in a few places.

Blood of the Earth was created in Ableton Live. My opinion is that excessive tweaking is to blame. The quest for perfection leads musicians to overload the available space until the music can't breathe properly. But like I said, it's not Hawkwind's fault, it's the just sonic signature of our time. The 21st century wall-of-sound. As Bob Dylan said, "these modern records, they're atrocious, they have sound all over them". I hope that, in time, sound production will change again with the best of both worlds, the old and the new. But with all these new toys to play with, it could take some time..

To me all fault lies upon complaining.
I thank the stars for having more current Hawkwind releases (Blood of the Earth).
What options are left if Dave ever say's f*ck it due to the lack of fan interest and our Hawkwind solidarity?
Man the turret's.

..on the contrary, I think one reason that Dave has kept going is that he has never been 100% satisfied with an album. In Britain we moan about everything all the time, it's how we get things done here. Not the best philosophy I know, but there we go. And the UK underground scene in particular has always promoted cynicism as a healthy thing. Just look at the lyrics, such as perhaps.. "the wolf in me would eat the man"