Hawkwindforum

Next up from Atomhenge Reissue Campaign.
An album that divides fans.
Personally I think it's very good indeed. I like the experimental side of the band. Thoughts?

Hmmm, yes there's already a thread on this... Not quite as many as there are on William Shatner's Silver Machine though...

Otherwise, I like this album, especially the first two tracks, it has a great dense electronic feel which felt like you were in a video game if you were in the right, er, mood. The second side seemed a little bit of a compromise as it seemed to get a little bitty with a slew of remakes:

Letting in the Past being a reworking of Looking in the Future which in turn is a partial rework of Assault and Battery, which in itself is derived from (the first verse of) a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

The Camera That Could Lie being a remake of Living on a Knife Edge

And Gimme Shelter coming out in another version without Sam Fox.

Other than that it's great.

It also spawned a great tour, I remember seeing them live in Porthcawl that time around and being mightily surprised by the piano version of Quark, not to mention the early version of Sputnik Stan.

I think I'll give it a miss. The title track would work as techno middle to another. Space is their Palestine works great as a middle to Hassan I Sahba but as an 11 minute track certainly not. Tibet is Not China Pt 1 would be an excellent Davey wave synth track but not in this context. Let Barking Dogs Lie is almost OK. Letting in the Past is a poor reworking suggesting song ideas were thin on the ground. The Camera the Could Lie might be better than Living on a Knife Edge but the lyrics seem very forced into the tune. Gimmie Shelter is a bit flat.

Seems like an album out takes from Electric Teepee while White Zone seems like out takes from this one.

I like this album and I've never understood the techno comments, especially as there's no real dance beats anywhere on it. It is dark experimental and heavily electronic though... not for everyone.

not a fan but I like about 20-25 minutes of it. If the reissue is a big improvement sound-wise and/or there's unreleased stuff I might consider it but at present it's not on the list.

Nothing new, just a selection of other stuff released as singles at the time:

it-is-the-business-of-the-future-to-be-dangerous-t4153.html

Actually, thinking about it, not only should they have really included the bonus stuff from Church Of Hawkwind, and I Am The Eye That Looks Within from the 25 Years On Boxed Set, but also perhaps that fantastic instrumental Black Sun from the Quark single that came with the Business Trip album.

Maybe there'll be some kind of rarities mop up album at some point instead. I'm in two minds about this one.

I like the term, "rarities mop up album" !

Never heard of "Black Sun."

There does seem to be quite a lot of individual tracks left over from various releases, though some of it may be attributed to Dave in a solo capacity (Atomhenge do have a DB rarities album listed on their licensing page)

Black Sun seems like a one off experiment as they've done nothing like it before or since (the nearest to it is possibly Opa Loka, and even that's not much like it). It's very sparse, essentially just Richard drumming for about 8 minutes with some electronic effects to it if I remember. To me the great part of it is that it is subtly split into two; the change being signified by a slight skip in beats by Richard at the halfway point.

There was lots of talk about Hawkwind being dancey or trancey in the early 90s, but this to me is the only proper non-remix trance track, but with live drums (they sound live anyway, no cheesy pounding beats). Whereas the It's The Business tracks were very dense in their electronic sounds, this one is very sparse. If you like your Hawkwind with guitars, I wouldn't go near this one.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Quark-Strangene ... 027&sr=1-4

Ignore the reviews, they're about the Quark album. Not heard this in ages actually, I will have to dig it out again. The single/EP has two very Marmite like and slightly OTT remixes of Uncle Sam by Astralasia. The version of Quark is I think the same as the one from the Business Trip, but minus the artificial crowd noises.

I think it is an innovative album and it brought the band new fans
I consider it 'space' without the 'rock' if you know what I mean.

Absolutely agree Dell about 'Black Sun' - what a corker!!

Looking forward to the double album

There's quite a few tracks in the Atomhenge roster that haven't surfaced 0 wondering what they'll do with Zones and Do Not Panic - a full Stonehenge set would be cool!!

Black Sun was on the Quark (song) EP 4-track that came out around 1994, which I'm lucky to have still.
I always did like Electric Tepee and IITBOTFTBD, despite seemingly conventional opinion, but I wouldn't call Business Trip experimental...

Dell1972 wrote:...If you like your Hawkwind with guitars, I wouldn't go near this one.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Quark-Strangene ... 027&sr=1-4

I must admit, I usually do like my HW to have a smidgeon of guitar! Thanx for the info and link. £26 new??? I've ordered a used one for £6, so cheers for the description and url.

I am lucky enough to have kept that one. It's probably not worth 26.00 but is not bad for a curiosity. That Richard III sample appears at some point.

I really need to listen to this one again; really didn't like it at the time of release, I thought it was such a disappointment after 'Electric Tepee', which I thought was a really strong album. I find it hard to listen to all the way through but I admit it has been a while since I tried so perhaps I will have a different take on it now!