ELECTRIC TEPEE

And then there were three

Some really good and inventive stuff on this 1982 offering, incredibly their seventeenth studio album. By now Hawkwind were reduced to a mere trio, with Dave Brock joined only by Alan Davey and Richard Chadwick. Originally released as the band's first (studio) double LP, it makes for a very good single CD.

"Sadness runs deep" and "Right to decide" are the best tracks. Both have what almost amounts to a dance beat, although the former does alternate between this, and slower verses. The latter is particularly infectious, and has you singing right along on first hearing. "A Hawkwind pop song?" I hear you say!

"Secret agent" has a similar pace, and with it's amusing "he's in a tight spot" observations is as close as the band gets to parody. Complementing the many beat laden tracks are a number of slower, more ambient pieces, such as "Blue shift", "Death of war", and "Going to Hawaii".

There are also few disappointingly dull tracks, but in all, this is an impressive piece of work.

After a few albums that were in a way only half-hearted attempts (Out-and Intakes, for example), Hawkwind found back to form with a double-album that just fitted on one CD. There is evrything Hawkwind dabbles in, from full blown smashers ("LSD", "Secret Agent", "Right to Decide") over oriental pieces ("Snake Dance") to the usual synthi tracks, and it is delivered with a vengeance and hits home. True, Dave Brock is not a lead guitar virtuoso, but the album doesn't call for one; the group is a uint. And the "Electric Tepee" surely is something to find shelter under.

This "Hawkwind" album is not full of surprise. At this time of their career, it might be difficult for them to innovate but some good inspiration would have been welcome.

My preferred tracks are the quiet ones. The beautiful and ambient "Blue Shift" is fully aerial and melodic. At least, it is somewhat dreamy and transports the listener in a very pleasant world. To comfort the feeling, the next "Death Of War" can almost compete with.

In this respect "Space Dust" is respectable but sounds as an explosion of improvised sounds. Not really cohesive but OK if you appreciate their "cosmic" music.

But while you discover "LSD" as well as "The Secret Agent", the simple and hard-rockish structure has been heard tons of time already on previous albums. And this is a global feeling. No real highlights available on this work.

It was the first double studio album released by the band, and I have to say that to listen to it from start to finish is not an exalting experience. And it lasts for some seventy five minutes! Several painful tracks are spread all over it (the flat "Snake Dance" for instance or the repetitive and not inspired at all "Don't Understand" which is exactly my opinion).

The third long song "Mask Of The Morning" (almost nine minutes) is probably the best energetic song of this whole work. The beat is almost similar to a Maiden song: galloping bass, heavy sounds but mixed with some very good keyboard during a quieter middle section which brings some kind of a good interlude between two devastating parts. A good song from this "Electric Tepee".

Another one is the good old (hard) rocking "Sadness Runs Deep". An Oriental background for this upbeat song: original and somewhat captivating. At least, it is a good balanced song which keeps the album on an average track.

The traditional punkish one is also available under the form of "Right To Decide". Incredible that the band still plays this type of songs in 1992. Some synth are adding some special flavour to it and at the end of the day this is another good song. Just like the other ambient "Going To Hawai". The title and closing track is another filler and can easily be skipped.

This album ranges between the average and the good. Let's be positive and rate it with three stars.

After a disappointing decade, Hawkwind regained some of their stamina in the 90's and became a trusted source again for good studio albums and excellent live ones. Generally, all of the 90's albums vary ambient synth pieces with classic Hawkwind hard-rocking trips.

The rocking side is represented by the magnificent opener LSD. Alan Davey lays down a great bass groove that makes us finally stop to regret that Lemmy left in 1975. After the two opening minutes with typical Hawkwind chants, his heavy rolling bass takes the lead in the 6 minute improvisation that follows. More psychedelic punkrock and thumping bass can be enjoyed on The Secret Agent and Right To Decide. But there are also a number of rock songs that feel less inspired, Mask of the Morning and Sadness Runs Deep are average Hawkwind songs that need lots of sparkling effects and Arabian-tinged syrup to make them somewhat enjoyable.

Those 5 rockers make up 35 minutes of the album. The other half is filled with very strong instrumentals that go from Schulzean dreamscapes such as the lovely Blue Shift and Space Dust to mid-paced 'Gong meets Pink Floyd' excursions such as Death of War and Don't Understand. The world-beat of Going To Hawaii almost sounds like an outtake from Peter Gabriel's Passion that was buried under a thick Hawkwind synth gravy. Nice one.

Electric Tepee is a slightly uneven but fine album to extend your Hawkwind experience. Live albums not included, I would place this one a league behind my favourite trio of Warrior, Quark & Levitation. But it's still worth a good 3.5 stars.

This album certainly seemed like a re-birth for the band back in 1992. They were down to a trio at this point and they knew that each member of the band had to make more noise when they played live so did it by using MIDI. "Dave had a MIDI guitar and was triggering massive amounts of sound modules and keyboard settings in his equipment rack. MIDI gave us the ability to maintain that wall of sound, which is the trademark of the band." They also recorded this at Dave Brock's Earth Studio in Devon instead of the usual studio, so everthing about this recording was new and fresh. And it shows ! I really like how they contrast the two styles of heavy and spacey on here. For me it all works to near perfection.

"LSD" sounds so good with that heavy rhythm and vocals. Sounds like a classic HAWKWIND track. "Blue Shift" on the other hand is an atmospheric beauty. Simply heavenly spacey sounds wash in and out of the soundscape. "Death Of War" is spacey as guns fire away with manic laughter then spoken poetry. A beat comes in at 1 1/2 minutes. "The Secret Agent" is a spoof of Spy movies. It kicks in hard and it's uptempo with fast paced vocals. Check out the drumming after 3 1/2 minutes.

"Garden Pests" has these strange sounds to open then it kicks into a great sounding rhythm. "Space Dust" is spacey throughout and it blends into "Snake Dance" where a beat joins in quickly as it continues to be spacey. A Middle Eastern vibe on this one as well. "Mask Of The Morning" has a lyrical re-working from "Mirror Of Illusion" from HAWKWIND's debut. What a great sounding vocal track this is. It settles back 2 1/2 minutes in as it turns spacey with a beat. It kicks back in with vocals after 4 1/2 minutes.

"Rites Of Netherworld" is a short,dark and dramatic piece. "Don't Understand" has an electronica flavour with some samples. It's excellent. "Sadness Runs Deep" is powerful with almost spoken vocals at first. It does pick up. It's more intense with gutiar before 3 minutes.Nice. "Right To Decide" is uptempo and fun. "Going To Hawaii" is an ambient instrumental with spacey waves. A beat 1 1/2 minutes in. Amazing sound ! "Electric Tepee" is very spacey as well with some native chanting.

A very solid 4 stars and another classic from these masters of the universe.

Hawkwind were reduced to a trio for this album, prompting them to make more use of sequencers and random sound samples, but rather than sabotaging the album this did in fact prompt the band to reinvigorate their sound a little. The opening LSD is an enjoyable track which shows a fair amount of influence from Hawkwind's successors as kings of hippie festival space rock, the Ozric Tentacles, but with enough of a harder, heavier edge that we don't forget we're listening to a Hawkwind track. Then it melts into the calm Blue Shift, a somewhat New Agey instrumental with enough twinkling synthesiser noodling in the background to keep things interesting, before more chaotic, dissonant noises disturb the tranquility to announce Death of War.

Much of the album continues in this sort of vein - a continuous musical trip with a heavier reliance on synthesisers than any preceding Hawkwind album (with the possible exception of the Church of Hawkwind side project). On the whole, the album is a pretty decent example of the sort of material that was then-current on the UK free festival scene that Hawkwind had played not a small part in creating. It's certainly not representative of their classic sound, but it's certainly worth it if you fancy the idea of Hawkwind giving Ozric Tentacles a run for their money.

The 17th studio album for the band "Electric Tepee" turned out to be quite an excellent album featuring some of their most endearing material since the masterful "Chronicle of the Black Sword". Since then the material has been very touch and go with many tracks just instrumentals with voice overs but on this album the songs are terrific and although the spaceship had crash landed in the past, the sound on this release is certainly a return to form. Ironically there were only 3 Hawkwind survivors after the crash landing, that being Dave Brock, guitarist, synth player and all round awesome vocalist, Alan Davey on bass and keys and Richard Chadwick on drums.

Brock is terrific on this album on such killer tracks as 'Right to Decide'; "you can't do this, you can't do that, you can't go forward and you can't go back". This track is certainly a wonderful song with trademark Hawkwind sound, chugging guitars, infectious melodies and chorus with loads of spaciness. This was a double vinyl album and fits nicely onto a CD to produce a lengthy and highly satisfying Hawkwind journey.

'LSD' has a familiar Hawkwind sound, electronic spaceytronics and a chugging riff. The vocals are echoed and forced as only Brock can to great effect. I like the way the track gets heavier and relies on distortion on guitar rather than synths. The band are breaking away from the synth domination of the 80s and getting into a heavier sound at this stage and it is a welcome change. 'The Secret Agent', 'Mask of the Morning' and 'Sadness Runs Deep' are all Hawkwind songs with heavier guitars and lengthy jamming improvised sections.

The more poppier songs are strange but a nice diversion though 'Mask of the Morning' wears out its welcome at over 9 minutes in length. Sure that works for the incredible 'Orgone Accumulator' from "Space Ritual" or 'Born to Go', but this track is not quite as good as these tracks to to fill out that much time. 'Sadness Runs Deep' is a delightful track with a wonderful Oriental flavour sounding a bit like the Arabesque music on Blancmange's excellent 'Living on the Ceiling'. It works here just as well, and for me is a highlight on the album, with some wah wah lead work and an odd time sig.

It is great to hear Hawkwind cranking out some hard rock especially 'The Secret Agent'. Brock enjoys a fast rapidfire delivery and tons of echo, as a spacey guitar riff cranks out, reminding me of 'Needle Gun'; "I'm a secret agent, What's your name, what's your game." The improvised jamming on this could have been trimed but it is enduring in its own way, at least the guys were rocking out.

Having said that Hawkwind still tend to meander in New Age ambient instrumentation with tracks such as 'Blue Shift'. This is very spacey and heavily permeated by mellotron sequences and sustained pads. Not all that inspiring but nice after the crunching opener. Next is 'Death of War', more narrated voices, and synths that the band wallowed in during the 80s. Others in a similar vein, instrumentals with odd effects, are 'Garden Pests' (a hypnotic phone ringing over some sequenced synths), 'Space Dust' (Pink Floyd influences), 'Snake Dance' (spacey electronica and Arabian style guitar melodies, like a futuristic snake charmer), 'Rites Of Netherworld', 'Don't Understand' (a hypno trance piece with spacey noodling and effects such as sound bytes from "Blade Runner"), 'Going To Hawaii' (lengthy ambient atmospheres and organic dreamy waves of synths and electronics) and 'Electric Tepee' (tribal chants and synths).

Being that this is a long Hawkwind album there is enough on offer to satisfy any Hawkwind fanatic. The instrumentals are okay as transitions to the songs but this is the first double studio release for the Hawkwind starship so no complaints from me. Overall it is one of the better Hawkwind 90s albums and a welcome return to form for the band.

Hawkwind - Electric Tepee (1992)

The first halve of the seventies gave birth to the most famous albums of Hawkwind. One could easily be forgiven for believing the rest of their career is dispensable when looking at the mediocre scores of most of their eighties and nineties albums. I myself found some great studio albums and live albums in their later career. Most notably Levitation (1980), Electric Tepee (1992) and the fine Alien 4 (1996) are more then worthwhile. Live records like Live Chronicles (1986), Palace Springs (1991), The Business Trip (1994), Love in Space (1996) stand out and I expect to find some more.

Electric Tepee stands out as a milestone in their career for forming the perfect bland between the spacey punk rock and their modern electronic explorations. Well produced for a change. With extended simple and effective songs as vehicles for sonic exploration the band creates a great train of though that seems to progressive without stopping at any stations. The continuity of the music makes this a particularly interesting experience in the progressive rock world, which can be quite fragmentary. In the mean while the Hawkwind beat is pumping and electric guitars thrive in the abstract environments. The electronic moments without drums, bas en guitars are like mediations between the songs. It is natural to drift away with your attention when you listen to music and Hawkwind seems to anticipate. Just when you forgot you were listening music ? which can be pleasant ? they fire up the space rock engine and lift of with a catchy tune. The last ten minutes of the record sees the band slowly drifting away from the listener with the electronic Going to Hawaii and Electric Teep (the title track), an interesting ending.

For me this is a perfect studio album, especially for when traveling. Time just flows by - as does the music. On their next album 'It is the Business of the Future being Dangerous' the band would change the formula in favor of much more electronic exploration and little rock galore, but still an interesting mix. Some songs of Electric Tepee can also be found on The Business Trip live album, but for me the essence of this record isn't covered anywhere else then on this studio album. In contrast, the core material of Alien 4 was indeed played on the Love in Space recording - and some would argue improved upon.

I tried to explain away nineties Hawkwind in this review and I hope I can excite some more listeners in this great Hawkwind line-up of Brock, Chadwick and Davey. For this release I will give the full score because of its enjoyability, interesting vision and production.