THE 1999 PARTY

Hawkwind

Psychedelic/Space Rock

3.67 | 46 ratings

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Bonnek
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator

Don't be fooled its misleading title, this is Hawkwind live 1974. Sometimes cited as a companion album to Space Ritual and as a worthy addition to your expanding Hawkwind universe.

A first thing I noted was that the tracklist isn't all that different from SR. At that time Hawkwind didn't have 25 albums of material to make up a set from. On top of to the known tracks from SR, there are some singles and some material from Hall of the Mountain Grill. But they fail to convey the subtle atmospheres from that record. For once, a Hawkwind live fails to live up to a studio album.

Brainbox Solution never was much of an interesting tune and nor is this live version. It is scanty rockabilly and doesn't seem to inspire the musicians very much. Maybe this type of song would work in a tight Motorhead jacket, but it doesn't in Hawkwind's elaborated tapestries. I could repeat exactly the same for It's So Easy. This groove is too pedestrian to serve as the basis of an 11 minute jam. The ending isn't bad though.

You Know You're Only Dreaming is a first highlight. This song from ISOS just screamed for some thick mellotron and that is what they added here. The instrument is a bit in the background but nevertheless and improvement over the studio album.

Brainstorm and Seven by Seven are ok but don't live up to the versions from SR. Seven By Seven has an extended closing section added to it but it's nothing special really.

It's good to hear the Watcher here. It has evolved into something that comes close to how Motorhead played it later. On the contrary, Paradox is a murky affair and so is You'd Better Believe It, which never was very great tune anyway.

I really had my hopes high up to hear Psychedelic Warlords in a live version. Unfortunately they just play the single edit and pull it off very chaotically. D-Rider suffers from the same treatment.

All in all, not much of a necessary addition. The two tracks of interest feature on later live albums in even better versions: You Know You're Only Dreaming on The Business Trip and The Watcher on Spaced Out In London.

Bonnek | 2/5 | 2009-10-10

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