X IN SEARCH OF SPACE

Leaving no indication of what lane the band should take in their previous and debut album, HAWKWIND's "In Search Of Space", their second official release, clearly sets the band's course in the direction of the so-called space-rock - a genre where HAWKWIND would soon become the lords, the masters, the kings. The search ended and it took only 2 albums and less than 2 years.

The starting point, 'You shouldn't do that', leaves no doubt that we are departing to the stars. What a trip (apparently in all senses)! A miscellanea of sounds, strong guitar and bass, weird sound effects, haunting voices and much more - all done exactly to catch the hearer.

'You know you're only dreaming' while still a space-rock is frankly connected to band's roots related to psychedelics (and psychotropics, no?). Initial vocals are fine but song's middle section is a bit dull and fatiguing. The following track, 'Masters of the Universe', takes us again to the galaxies. Surely one the most known HAWKWIND songs: a classic in its genre. Music tunes are basic, simple and plain but the result is agreeable.

'We took the wrong step years ago' brings some folk touches which reminds us their debut album. A certain smell of 'Hurry on sundown', their first hit is felt here. The song however goes more frantic and crude only to finish in the same folk way it started. 'Adjust me' is only a flushing of madness looking like a filler but very characteristic of the band. The rock part is interesting. 'Children of the Sun' mixes folk & rock and once again psychedelia. Recorded probably to be a radio-friendly track, something went wrong here and the song didn't happen.

CD bonus tracks are noticeable: the quaint 'Seven by seven' together with two HAWKWIND standards, the easy 'Silver machine' and the live version of the impacting 'Born to go'.

Evaluating album original tracks plus the bonus tracks, we may hear at least 4 band's classics here and the rating increases consequently. Total: 4.