LOVE IN SPACE

It's hard to belive the band is down to a trio at this point with Alan Davey on bass and keyboards, Dave Brock on lots of things (haha) oh and he plays guitar, keyboards and synths, and Richard Chadwick on drums. Ron Tree was brought in because the band felt there was no focal point in the centre of the stage when they played live. He was bursting with energy and ideas and really wanted to join the band so he was hired. Ron really had this fascination with alien abductions and he had lots to say on the subject so the band decided to do a concept album of sorts on the subject. It was called "Alien 4" and this live album "Love In Space" was the tour for it. Ron dressed up as an alien and read these bits and carried on in a theatrical manner."The resulting tour was spectacular. As well as a first class set of songs and instrumentals, fans were treated to a lightshow, dancers and fire-eaters, plus a specially made, curved screen over the set, which gave the illusion of the band playing beneath a flying saucer". The music here draws heavily from "Alien4" in keeping with the concept but they do play some favourites mostly at the end of the show.

"Abducted" opens with the roar of the audience as spacey synths come in then spoken words describing the spaceship that he's just been abducted to. It's interesting to listen to the words on this album because the aliens also get in on the conversations but in a higher pitched voice that we all know aliens have. "Death Trap" kicks in right away to an uptempo rocker. It settles late and blends into "Wastelands" which is very spacey and quite beautiful.

"Are You Losing Your Mind ?" has these spoken words around a minute then they are kicking ass a minute later. "Photo Encounter" has these choir-like sounds reminding me of mellotron plus these spacey sounds that come and go. It blends into "Blue Skin" where it kicks into gear before a minute.Vocals follow.

"Sputnik Stan" is spacey to start then it kicks in before a minute followed by vocals.The bass and guitar sound great when the vocals stop as they jam. "Robot" is from the "P.X.R.5" album from 1979. Strange synth sounds here in this mid paced track.The music and vocals follow. "Alien (I Am)" is spacey early as it builds and spoken words come in around 1 1/2 minutes. It kicks in a minute later and we get some excellent guitar from Brock. More spoken words before 5 minutes. Disc two opens with "Xenomorph" which doesn't kick in until before 1 1/2 minutes.

"Vega" features these spacey waves that roll in and out throughout. I love it. "Love In Space" has some keyboards early on then guitar before a minute followed by vocals.TANGERINE DREAM-like electronicss around 4 minutes then the guitar returns before 7 1/2 minutes. "Kapal" has these different sounds that come and go. Interesting stuff. Spoken words 2 1/2 minutes in. "Elfin" is spacey with atmosphere.

The last three songs that end this album are older tunes. "Silver machine" is of course a classic then "Welcome To The Future" has these spacey waves with spoken words to end the concert.The encore is "Assassins / Space (Is Their Palestine) which is the prefect way to end it. Amazing !

A solid 4 stars for this one and really an important document for the die-hard HAWKWIND fan.