Hawkwind thread.

[Stephen]

Sadly this means the really bad 1973 Wembley Empire Poole bootleg (aka Bring me the head of Uri Gagarin) .

Yes I was one of those who fell for that. I saw it in a shop in a box set of 4 discs along with Masters of the Universe; Space Ritual Volume 2 and The Text of Festival for about £3 thinking they might be good ,they weren't and if anyone else sees it avoid it.

[2066]

The legal wranglings regarding Hawkwind's back catalog is amazing. I guess a bunch of squatting hippies in a shed never worried too much exactly who they were signed to, or how much was expected of them. Sadly this means the really bad 1973 Wembley Empire Poole bootleg (aka Bring me the head of Uri Gagarin) is frequently sold, whilst Levitation is hard to find.

I used to have Levitation on blue vinyl. Sadly, it's disappeared

[my breakfast.]

Sadly this means the really bad 1973 Wembley Empire Poole bootleg (aka Bring me the head of Uri Gagarin) .

Yes I was one of those who fell for that. I saw it in a shop in a box set of 4 discs along with Masters of the Universe; Space Ritual Volume 2 and The Text of Festival for about £3 thinking they might be good ,they weren't and if anyone else sees it avoid it.

Space Ritual 2 is actually a good album, the rest I can take or leave.

[Sonic Destruction]

They are all for the most desperate of collectors only (I am one such). If they were the first Hawkwind albums you ever heard, you would not be in a hurry to check out any more, and thus they are only good for dragging the name of HW through the mud.

"Space Ritual II" is okay and at least the sound quality is good, but you don't really need it if you have got the genuine "Space Ritual" (the ideal starting point for those keen to discover the Hawks).

[my breakfast.]

"Space Ritual II" is okay and at least the sound quality is good, but you don't really need it if you have got the genuine "Space Ritual" (the ideal starting point for those keen to discover the Hawks).

OhIdontknowaboutthat.

Perhaps we should agree to disagree, but Space Ritual II has no overdubbing. It is a rawer sound. Listen to the Time We Left-Paranoia-Time we Left jam, its longer than the Space Ritual Alive version, but seems shorter and more original.

[Sonic Destruction]

"Space Ritual II" is okay and at least the sound quality is good, but you don't really need it if you have got the genuine "Space Ritual" (the ideal starting point for those keen to discover the Hawks).

OhIdontknowaboutthat.

Perhaps we should agree to disagree, but Space Ritual II has no overdubbing. It is a rawer sound. Listen to the Time We Left-Paranoia-Time we Left jam, its longer than the Space Ritual Alive version, but seems shorter and more original.

You are correct that "Time We Left" is indeed better on "Space Ritual II", and I guess we can agree to differ about the rest.

I think the "SRII" version of "Orgone Accumulator", while great, is less great than the "Space Ritual" version, and most of the other tracks sound very similar to my ears.

If only they would rerelease "Live '79" ...

[J Ed]

I have a version of that Text of Festival album, which I understand is mostly BBC appearances
its mighty crappy sound quality and doesnt get many spins, but it has a really good version of Hurry On Sundown
whats the story with those other three must avoid albums? I might just have to get them

so you HawkConnosewers recommend Levitation hey?
what other post Lemmy albums do folks like?
its easy to remember to look for those 1st six albums, but the next 30 years worth of releases are a lot more intimidating

[Sonic Destruction]

Okay, here are a few post-Lemmy highlights, in no particular order. Many are currently deleted , but we live in hope ...

"Live '79" - an awesome post-Calvert comeback, as HW join the NWOBHM, and longtime drm-machine Simon King prepares to check out, while ex-Gong synthman Tim Blake steps in;

"PXR5" - not even released at the time, now a certified classic, as the Hawks take on post-punk, and win hands down;

"Live Chronicles" - a live version of their Moorcock/Elric-themed "Chronicle Of the Black Sword" album, this live double was possibly their last truly great album;

"Stonehenge This Is Hawkwind; Do Not Panic" - live in 1980 (and 1984), with Ginger Baker still on drums, and Huw Lloyd-Langton making his mark on guitar, this is a definitive live document from their "Levitation" era;

"Palace Springs" - Simon House returns on space violin, Alan Davey pounds out Lemmy-style bass, and Hawkwind gains a female vocalist, in this pristine live outing;

"Quark, Strangeness And Charm" - a triumphant 1977 return to space after the hit-and-miss "Astounding Sounds" experiement;

"Electric Tepee" - now down to a compact three-piece, Brock, Chadwick and Davey get the tired old bird roaring back into life, with techno-beats and banks of synths;

"Zones" - even though it was just an offcuts collection, "Zones" contained more than its fair share of excellent tunes, as Ginger exits halfway through and Nik returns on bonkers sax;

"Alien 4" - although not an unqualified success, this at least showed that Brock and co were not content to just live on past glories, but actually had a few ideas left in their control room;

"Choose Your Masques" - some of the hardest-hitting Brock guitar riffs to emerge for years, just prior to Harvey's slow exit from the band, and the beginning of an unfortunate trend in recycling old song and ideas

Most of these are deleted now, so good luck to all who want to follow Hawkwind's rocky path through the '80's, '90's and beyond

[Beowulf]

Okay, here are a few post-Lemmy highlights, in no particular order. Many are currently deleted , but we live in hope ...

"Live '79" - an awesome post-Calvert comeback, as HW join the NWOBHM, and longtime drm-machine Simon King prepares to check out, while ex-Gong synthman Tim Blake steps in;

"PXR5" - not even released at the time, now a certified classic, as the Hawks take on post-punk, and win hands down;

"Live Chronicles" - a live version of their Moorcock/Elric-themed "Chronicle Of the Black Sword" album, this live double was possibly their last truly great album;

"Stonehenge This Is Hawkwind; Do Not Panic" - live in 1980 (and 1984), with Ginger Baker still on drums, and Huw Lloyd-Langton making his mark on guitar, this is a definitive live document from their "Levitation" era;

"Palace Springs" - Simon House returns on space violin, Alan Davey pounds out Lemmy-style bass, and Hawkwind gains a female vocalist, in this pristine live outing;

"Quark, Strangeness And Charm" - a triumphant 1977 return to space after the hit-and-miss "Astounding Sounds" experiement;

"Electric Tepee" - now down to a compact three-piece, Brock, Chadwick and Davey get the tired old bird roaring back into life, with techno-beats and banks of synths;

"Zones" - even though it was just an offcuts collection, "Zones" contained more than its fair share of excellent tunes, as Ginger exits halfway through and Nik returns on bonkers sax;

"Alien 4" - although not an unqualified success, this at least showed that Brock and co were not content to just live on past glories, but actually had a few ideas left in their control room;

"Choose Your Masques" - some of the hardest-hitting Brock guitar riffs to emerge for years, just prior to Harvey's slow exit from the band, and the beginning of an unfortunate trend in recycling old song and ideas

Most of these are deleted now, so good luck to all who want to follow Hawkwind's rocky path through the '80's, '90's and beyond

Good selection Pat

[my breakfast.]

The 1999 Live Party is a good document of the Lemmy era live Hawkwind from America, 1974 (?) with a nice change of songs from Space Ritual album, although the sound quality is not so good, it is still better than soundboard.

[2066]

I have a version of that Text of Festival album, which I understand is mostly BBC appearances
its mighty crappy sound quality and doesnt get many spins, but it has a really good version of Hurry On Sundown
whats the story with those other three must avoid albums? I might just have to get them

so you HawkConnosewers recommend Levitation hey?
what other post Lemmy albums do folks like?
its easy to remember to look for those 1st six albums, but the next 30 years worth of releases are a lot more intimidating

I really liked that Text Of Festival record for some reason. As far as the sound quality being "mighty crappy", I don't think I'd go quite that far. It's bootleg quality, but I've heard much worse. The performances were great on that record so I didn't pay all that much attention to the muddy recording. Levitation I never completely warmed up to (and it's recorded digitally!). It's very polished. I prefer Hawkwind's more anarchic material.

[Stephen]

I'm going to have to revise what I said earlier having listened to half that boxset again. "Text of Festival" is actually half decent quality ( the one I have anyway) and as Terry says, I too have heard much worse. I'm listening to "Yuri Gagarin" now and that one is definitely a lot worse than "Text" in sound quality although I have a number of Floyd bootlegs where you'd be hard pressed to know it was them and this isn't that bad. I'll listen to the others later.

[my breakfast.]

Text of a Festival is liberated BBC recordings, and also features some tracks recorded at Colchester Technical College, and given unhelpful and vague names such as "Revision" or something.

That bbc cut of Hurry on Sundown dates to when Huw Lloyd Langdon was in the band the first time, and is an amazing mix of jugband guitar strumming, etheral electronic effects (whistling!) and stinging lead guitar from Langdon. If it existed in better quality (come on BBC, dig it up!) it would surpass any other release of that track.

[2066]

"Yuri Gagarin"

Yeah, that one stinks! It keeps rearing its ugly head!

[J Ed]

perhaps I exagerated when I said "mighty crappy"
I too happily enjoy many Floyd boots that sound much worse
its more material from early Hawkwind so thats a good thing, right?
I have a true boot called London 1972 that I also enjoy, though its more tolerable on my computer than on my stereo or walkman,

so what is the story with Yuri Gagarin, Space Ritual 2 and Masters of the Universe? are they all live recordings? soundboards? good points/bad points?


Pat Albertson thanks for that detailed list
I'll have to try some of those, and from what folks say, itll just be a matter of chance which ones I find