ATOMHENGE 76

As a lover of the 'Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music' album this really ought to be a piece of magic. I was not a gig goer at the time that ASAM was released so the chance to hear the band at that time should be priceless. However, while there are some good things about this release there is also considerable bad.

The Good 1. Yes they play a lot of ASAM 2. There are some curiosities such as an early version of Uncle Sam's On Mars (not recorded in the studio until the PXR5 album), Hassan I Sahba (not recorded until the Quark, Strangeness and Charm album), Time for Sale (never included on a studio album) and Back On The Streets (only a single at the time in support of ASAM) 3. I understand that it represents the full set (unlike the album Thrilling Hawkwind Adventures which only contains a selection of the tracks).

The Bad 1. The mix - this is truly terrible. At its best the mix is simply wrong with some instruments mixed so low they are hardly audible and others too high. Then there are the missed cues, where instruments should be at the front of the mix and they are not, at least until part way through their starring role. There are also times when there is clear distortion from the louder instruments. 2. The "live" feel - for me part of the appeal of a live album is the feeling that you are there. You don't want the audience too high in the mix but equally you don't want is missing. Here the audience is almost inaudible. Added to there being no "chat" between songs gives a somewhat cold feel to the atmosphere. 3. Lack of stereo separation - it is not a mono recording but the lack of stereo separation does not help make it sound like a quality recording. 4. Recording quality - at times the quality just deteriorates with the worst being in Kerb Crawler. 5. Bob Calvert even forgets his (own) lyrics at times with "la la la" inserted. Now we can all make mistakes, but added to the above just gives the whole recording a bit of an amateurish feel.

Summary Everything about this recording says it is a badly mixed soundboard recording. It provides an insight into Hawkwind at the time, but, like many bootlegs, you just wouldn't want to listen to it very often. This is almost the definition of a two star rating - truly for fans only.