www.411mania.com
Home About Us Movies/TV Music Wrestling Politics Sports Games MMA Forums The 411
|  News |  Album Reviews |  Columns |  Concerts |  News Report |  Hall Of Fame | Search
SPOTLIGHTS  SPOTLIGHTS
MOVIES/TV
// [Gossip] Scarlett Johansson is Red Hot in Bazaar Magazine
MUSIC
// Paris Hilton Has Only "done it with a couple people"
WRESTLING
// The 2008 411 Year End Wrestling Awards (Part 5)
POLITICS
// Midnight Cowboy
MMA
// UFC News: Liddell's Return, TUF 9, UFC in New York, More
SPORTS
// Hash Marks: Florida is National Champion Again and the Season in Review
GAMES
// The 10th Hour: The Top 10 Things I Want to See in 2009




CD REVIEWS  CD REVIEWS
//  Edguy- Tinnitus Sanctus Review
//  Swingin' Utters - Hatest Grits: B-Sides & Bullshit Review
//  Fiftywatthead - Fogcutter Review
//  Early Man - Beware The Circling Fin Review
//  Plies - Da REAList Review
//  Jamie Foxx - Intuition Review
 HOT ARTISTS
//  Britney Spears
//  Amy Winehouse
//  Kanye West
//  Mariah Carey
//  Ashlee Simpson
//  Usher
//  Lil Wayne
//  Weezer
SYNDICATE  SYNDICATE



411mania RSS Feeds
 





  
 411mania » Music » Columns
Advertisement
Thrifty Tunes 11.22.08: Hawkwind
Posted by Paul Hollingsworth on 11.22.2008

An epic war rages between some bad dudes and some good dudes. Lemmy's on your side, though, so you should be safe, right? Join the eternal struggle between good and evil in this week's edition of Thrifty Tunes.


First, a slight backtrack. For the two of you who care, I forgot to award my Pickett Stars for Belafonte's album last week, so let me get that out of the way.
Pickett Stars: Four out of Five
Also, I received fan mail from France for last week's column, which pretty much made my week. I guess that makes me international now, baby. This week I take a look at Hawkwind's "Warrior On The Edge Of Time."

Assault & Battery - Hawkwind
Back in the early 70's, rock music splintered into a kaleidoscope of different sub genres. There was glam rock personified by David Bowie and the New York Dolls; shock rock by bands like Alice Cooper; arena rock which was lead by Led Zepplin; prog. rock by bands like Jethro Tull and King Crimson; and space rock which was most closely identified with Pink Floyd and Hawkwind.

Today, Hawkwind is probably best known for its bass player, Lemmy Kilmeister, who went on to form a little band called Motorhead. "Warrior On The Edge of Time," Hawkwind's fifth official release, was to be the last featuring Lemmy, as he was kicked out of the band after being stopped at the U.S./Canada border carrying some sort of 'illegal substance.' I'm fairly certain it wasn't a box of duty free maple syrup bottles, but as I wasn't there, I can't deny it might not have been what you think.

The album begins with a very Floyd-like song called Assault & Battery Part 1. The sound is big, wide and full, which is yet another point in favor of vinyl. Mp3's, which require lots of compression, lose a great deal of their sound quality and on songs such as this, which have lots of tracks in the mix, it's easy to tell the difference between the two. There also appears to be a flute of some kind playing, which may or may not be a keyboard, but which really sounds strange in a rock song. The electric guitar, until near the end of the song, seems like a mere afterthought, buried deep into the mix. It's an interesting idea for a rock song, and it certainly adds to the cinematic quality of the track which suggests the beginning of a movie involving a guy with a sword, a bunch of scantily clad ladies, and lots of bloodletting and probably beheadings.

The third track, The Wizard Blew His Horn , is a sort of spoken word piece, written by the fantasy writer Michael Moorcock. (Moorcock is perhaps best known for his hero, Elric of Melnibone, who has appeared in novels, comics and fantasy games for decades.) It sounds like a fantasy novel brought to life, and I believe the ultimate point of this album is to create a soundtrack for a typical fantasy novel, to create an atmospheric mood for an (always) ultimate battle between good guys and bad guys.

The final song on side one, The Demented Man , finds our hero in a sad state. There's obviously been an initial battle which went poorly and the good guys are forced to regroup while also trying to pick up the pieces of a shattered army and demoralized populace. The musicians in the band are very adept at creating an atmosphere and mood, and it's quite easy to imagine the scene our poor hero is facing: burning huts, crows picking on the bones of the dead and the dying, and the promise of victory even further away than when the story began. The lyrics, written by Hawkwind lead singer and guitarist Dave Brock, excel at bringing the listener into this world. For instance: the tales told the path you tread/does it lead into your head/or back to a world of emptiness/smiling faces watching me/helping hands just wait and see/which way I'll go. It's hardly Dylan, but it serves its purpose well.

Side two opens with Magnu , which clocks in at an epic eight minutes and fifteen seconds. Our hero has moved past his self-pity and helplessness, thanks to the arrival of the magical horse Magnu, who will, as in most fantasy adventures, be the tireless and selfless companion of the hero until the very end. It's not a bad song, but there's a lot of playing with synthesizers which makes it sound more like an early 80's video game than a proper song. At the time, synthesizers were relatively an unknown instrument, and it's easy to forgive a bit of excess, especially when the journey appears ready to really take off.

The record continues on at a frantic pace, eager for the final showdown between our hero and the bad guys. There are a few rest stops along the way, particularly on Standing At The Edge , where the band obviously found the reverb switch on their mixboard and played around with it for a while. Again, though, it helps in setting the mood, and I can only imagine what this sounds like if you were to take one of those funny little pills which I'm sure where readily available at Hawkwind concerts everywhere.
The highlight of the album for me is the penultimate track, Dying Seas which evokes a magisterial mood without relying overmuch on synthesizers and studio effects. The final track, Kings of Speed like any good fantasy movie, offers the possibility of a sequel. Our hero has won the day, but there's always another evil for another day.

I wrote briefly last week about cover art, and this album is another example of a dying art form. The cover draws you in, and along with the inner sleeve, sets the stage well for what is to come. Original U.K. presses of the album came with an inner sleeve which folded out into a shield. Try to get that with your next iTunes download. There's also the possibility that the cover means something entirely different, but if you're interested, you can Google it and decide for yourself.

Hawkwind also had a stripper/model/dancer at their shows who helped to, ahem, flesh out their songs, I suppose. Her name was Stacia, and she left the band shortly after the tour ended for this record. Stacia is now an artist living in Ireland with a husband and children and proof, I suppose, that fantasies usually end happily, if slightly bittersweet.

Here is the complete track listing for the U.S. Release. The later CD releases include a track called Motorhead , which was Lemmy's only credited contribution to the sessions for the record.
Side One:
1. Assault & Battery Part 1
2. The Golden Void Part 2
3. The Wizard Blew His Horn
4, Opa-Loka
5. The Demented Man
Side Two:
1, Magnu
2. Standing At The Edge
3. Spiral Galaxy 28948
4. Warriors
5, Dying Seas
6. Kings of Speed
I've not found any other Hawkwind yet, and from what I've read online, this is not considered the band's masterpiece. That honor seems to go to the earlier release, "Hall Of The Mountain Grill." However, it's interesting enough in its own right, and if I find more Hawkwind, I'll be glad to give it a listen. If you need a soundtrack to play D&D. . . er. . . World Of Warcraft, you probably couldn't find better than Hawkwind. If you're into fantasy and sci-fi novels, this is definitely a band worth checking out.

Pickett Stars: Four out of five

Next Week: Pavlov's Dog's "Pampered Menial"




Post Comment  |  Email Paul Hollingsworth  |  View Paul Hollingsworth's 411 Profile

  Send To Friend  |    Stumble It!  |    Digg It!  | 



Please add your comment below.
If you are registered, you can login and post under your registered name. If not, you can post as a guest or register.

* Please note that 411 moderates all comments. Your comment will show up on the site after it has been approved by an editor.
 
Name : 
Comment : 
Remaining Characters : 
2800
 




www.41mania.com
Copyright © 2005 411mania.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
Click here for our privacy policy. Please help us serve you better, fill out our survey.
Use of this site signifies your agreement to our terms of use.