Hawkwind

I was about  to start a "where do I start with Hawkiwind?" type of thread- but I remembered to do a search...

Any recommendations?

Dave Brock's rhythm guitar playing is also very inventive from the S/T and onwards. Not to mention the '72-'75 lineup having one of my favourite rhythm sections ever in the tag team of a young Lemmy Kilmister and the criminally underrated Simon King.

Super band but dogged by poor quality control as even on their best albums they always had filler material (and on their poorest more filler than good stuff. However when they were good they were very good.

Toaster Mantis wrote: Luis and Tom, my point is that HW don't show that influence as readily or do quite the same things with it as ELP/Genesis/KC etc. (and perhaps not from the exact same sources either)

Well, they loved their droogs (often leads to sloppy work, but they often abstained whilst recording from the late-70's onward)

Luis and Tom, my point is that HW don't show that influence as readily or do quite the same things with it as ELP/Genesis/KC etc. (and perhaps not from the exact same sources either)

The.Crimson.King wrote: I bought "In Search of Space" when I was 16 and hated it so I wrote them off for many years.  Fast forward about 20 years and I became good friends with a Hawkwind fanatic and decided to give them another try.  He loaned me "Quark Strangeness and Charm" and "Warrior on the Edge of Time" as my first 2 albums as he considered those the most proggy.  I loved them both instantly and went on to build a decent sized Hawkwind discography.  I think they were at their best on stage with the "Friday Rock Show" and "California Brainstorm" albums.  I loved the way they took their early 70's classics ("Assault and Battery", "Brainstorm", "Masters of the Universe") and re-energized them for the 80's/90's.   Fantastic band but highly misunderstood by prog fans

That's uncanny since my situation was very similar. I first heard In Search in 1974 and was not really aware of them before that. I thought the music was jumbled up and the production  muddy so I never really got into them (I learned that many stoners back then were fans..) ,but many years later I met a fellow psych/prog fan and he played the later ones and it finally clicked with me.

schizoidman wrote: Padraic wrote: HolyMoly wrote: Hawkwind is an easy band to enjoy.  Then I must really be screwing something up.     I've listened to several of their albums but Hawkwind and I remain a disconnect. I just can't get into their musical trip.

 

To elaborate what I was talking about with Hawkwind coming from a completely different angle than the other British progressive rock groups of their generation: While their music definitely is progressive in the sense of thinking outside the box and expanding the musical vocabulary of rock, there's not much in the way of classical technical virtuosity on display or influence from classical music. (until Hall of the Mountain Grill that is)

It's more like they're deconstructing psychedelic rock and then re-assembling it in unusual ways, going more for an otherworldly atmosphere than an intricate forwards progressing sonata compositional format. (hence the Krautrock comparisons) Not to mention that their approach to instrument playing is really more punk than anything else.

I bought "In Search of Space" when I was 16 and hated it so I wrote them off for many years.  Fast forward about 20 years and I became good friends with a Hawkwind fanatic and decided to give them another try.  He loaned me "Quark Strangeness and Charm" and "Warrior on the Edge of Time" as my first 2 albums as he considered those the most proggy.  I loved them both instantly and went on to build a decent sized Hawkwind discography.  I think they were at their best on stage with the "Friday Rock Show" and "California Brainstorm" albums.  I loved the way they took their early 70's classics ("Assault and Battery", "Brainstorm", "Masters of the Universe") and re-energized them for the 80's/90's.  

HolyMoly wrote: Hawkwind is an easy band to enjoy.