X IN SEARCH OF SPACE

Some reviewers wonder how to call it progressive... well: if progressive is classical contamination and the good job of some "virtuoso", this is not the case. But if your regard "progressive rock" as equivalent to "forward looking" and "mind opening" music, this album is fully prog. "In Search of Space" is a real trip: Hawkwind used to experiment with drugs, which we wouldn't recommend. But listening to this album is the same as setting on a long mind trip through space and time. The opening track really tread this way: "You shouldn't do that" is one of my favourite tunes. It opens with that weird moog cadence, then grows like a giant whirl, leading to the vocalsl, allucinating, rich in free-form improvisation which, despite reminding free jazz, still remains pure rock. Live electronics flash here and there like crazy comas and even in the apparent chaos, there is a clear form and a strong coherence. The trip is just over that you start another adventure with "You know you're only dreaming", one of my favourite riff by Hawkwind and a lysergic experience, spacey (great job by Nick Turner here, with his filtered flute) and involving. "Master of the Universe" may be taken as not that interesting because of its semplicity: a straight forward heavy riff, 4/4 time signature (or 2/4? I'll never tell them apart)... but the heavy riff is really claustrophobic, as well as the iterative, minimalistic structure of the song. Spacey and obsessive in the same time: this is not a bad result! "We took the wrong...", at this point, is a "cosmic relief", a pastoral, folky tune with a beautiful fingerpicking guitar and a good vocal melody. "Adjust me" is again improvisation, not so far from what in the same period was happening in Germany - the bass player then was David Anderson, coming from Amon Duul II - and most critics think that German "krautrock" and "kosmische musik" changed things a lot in the rock scene. Finally, the ballad "Children of the sun" is simple and not so interesting as the rest of the album, but it's a good way to put an end to it. So, if you want to hear the most intricated arpeggio on earth, of to have exeptional musicians, stay away. But if you really want to travel far...