ELECTRIC TEPEE

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.