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I want to like Hawkwind, but
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Cosmiclawnmower View Drop Down
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    Posted: August 18 2020 at 14:32
Hawkwind are definitely an acquired taste; back years ago mates of mine who were into Gong and Hillage, Henry cow and Hatfields didn't like Hawkwind because it was just too loud and noisy for them.. and I get that.. but like the Grateful Dead (who really have nothing in common music wise) or Van Der Graaf Generator for that matter they could be brilliant live or truly awful.. but somehow it was when that spark ignited, it just flared up.. 

The Ozrics follow a more Gong like ethic where there's a lot more depth and intricacy to whats going on musically but that's not to put Hawkwind down in any way.. as Gene Simmons (of Kiss) said about Rush.. 'What kind of music is Rush?.. Its 'Rush'!!' the same applies to Hawkwind, they are just what they are and they do what they do and if you dig it, great and if not, no worries!

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Wow, I never heard Steven Wilson called a fraud before. LOL I don't see how he's ripping anyone off or doing anything disingenuous so yeah I have to disagree with that. As for his band I'm not sure what band you are referring to. Porcupine Tree hasn't been active in ten years. ;) They are officially done. Something that I'm sure you won't lose any sleep over. LOL

As for Hawkwind I like most of what I have heard but am far from an expert. I typically just like a spacey sound sometimes so they scratch that itch when I need it. 


Originally posted by Ghost Whistler Ghost Whistler wrote:

Yeah, I don't think Hawkwind are for me. I like some of their stuff, but it's ultimately not satisfying. Like prog rock junk food :D

Could do with some new stuff to listen to

For something else to look into I recommend Ozric Tentacles. There is a Hawkwind influence but they are much closer to being virtuosos and are more musical. They are basically pure instrumental though so no vocals except for maybe a tiny bit here and there on their earlier stuff. Also, you might want to check out Eloy or Gong. 


Edited by AFlowerKingCrimson - August 18 2020 at 12:57
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flyingveepixie View Drop Down
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Originally posted by Ghost Whistler Ghost Whistler wrote:

I was listening to Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music album and there were two really standout instrumentals.

Hawkwind are a band I struggle with. The listener doesn't want for content, but so much of it is, tbf, pretty disposable. Levitation I really like, but it seems an outlier in terms of quality.

I would love to find more music like those two instrumentals: City of Lagoon, and, Chronoglide Skyway.

If Hawkwind can't cut it, who can?


As someone else already said : if you don't like something there's no need to feel guilty about it.  Personally I tried very hard to like Porcupine Tree, and Steven Wilson after that, but after much perseverance and deliberation I think both the guy and his band are just an over rated bunch of complete crap and a total fraud.  I don't feel guilty about the fact that many will undoubtedly disagree with me on that.  It's all just down to personal taste you see..  One mans bunch of ear aching crap is another mans aural delight.

I very much like 1970s Hawkwind myself but yes, they do have a lot of filler material.  I like them for the high points - like Sonic Attack on Space Ritual for example - truly soaring moments which are so often offset by the poor filler material which tends to plague most of their albums and is very much throwaway material.  Warrior on the edge of time is the best Hawkwind album IMHO but all their early albums up to and including Warrior are great if you like the psychadelic 70s kind of thing..   Just bypass the filler tracks and you might eventually come to appreciate them, but don't feel guilty if you never do !.


Edited by flyingveepixie - August 18 2020 at 11:57
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Ghost Whistler View Drop Down
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Yeah, I don't think Hawkwind are for me. I like some of their stuff, but it's ultimately not satisfying. Like prog rock junk food :D

Could do with some new stuff to listen to
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AFlowerKingCrimson View Drop Down
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Over the weekend I played astounding sounds amazing music. It's a good album with a few stand out moments. I need to hear more of their stuff though.
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I tend to associate them with being in the sixth form at school. There was always a Hawkwind album on the turntable when I went into the common room. Nowadays I will still listen to Quark, Strangeness and Charm (possibly the best album of 1977) but most of the very early stuff is tedious to my ears. I saw them headline a festival about 3 years ago and frankly it was terribly underwhelming (boring and repetitive) although the laser show was quite nice.
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Ghost Whistler View Drop Down
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Originally posted by Blacksword Blacksword wrote:

Originally posted by Psychedelic Paul Psychedelic Paul wrote:


This is my favourite Hawkwind song, featuring none other than Matthew Wright on vocals!
 
 
Matthew Wright looks like he's in Space Rock heaven in that video. Heart



I love that he's a fan. He was interviewed in the BBC documentary. Very strange, although not as strange as Hawkwind's brief appearance on his show The Wright Stuff, which I think left his studio audience somewhat baffled..
Given his audience, anything to the left of the Daily Express will be baffling
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Ghost Whistler View Drop Down
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Originally posted by Hrychu Hrychu wrote:

If you don't like something, it's fine. Don't feel guilty about it. :)
Of course. I just want something new to listen to. I've got hillage, gong, ozrics. Not a huge fan of Can/Krautrock though. Ozrics are my favourite but there isn't much else like them. Quantum fantay aren't bad.

All these bands are just iconic so finding stuff similar is tough plus I'm incredibly fussy :D
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Originally posted by Psychedelic Paul Psychedelic Paul wrote:


This is my favourite Hawkwind song, featuring none other than Matthew Wright on vocals!
 
 
Matthew Wright looks like he's in Space Rock heaven in that video. Heart



I love that he's a fan. He was interviewed in the BBC documentary. Very strange, although not as strange as Hawkwind's brief appearance on his show The Wright Stuff, which I think left his studio audience somewhat baffled..
Ultimately bored by endless ecstasy!
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Hrychu View Drop Down
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If you don't like something, it's fine. Don't feel guilty about it. :)
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If you want to like Hawkwind I would suggest to start with Space Ritual or Warrior On The Edge Of Time. Those are their best. If you want more: In Search Of Space, Doremi Fasol Latido, Hall Of The Mountain Grill. Those were the albums I started with and made me a Hawkfan.
The album you mentioned (Astounding Sounds) is more new wave than space rock. Hawkwind is a pretty eclectic band in a way that every album was different. The first being a blend of blues rock and psychedelic. During the beginning of the 70s they released some great space rock albums while the late 70s brought a more new wave / punk vide to the band. I myself care less about the 80s albums which features some more metallic sound. Nevertheless, the Chronicle of the Black Sword is a great return to space rock!

If you're looking for more great instrumental space rock next to Hawkwind, try Gong (Angels Egg and You), Can (Tago Mago), Steve Hillage (Green), Todd Rundgren (A Wizard A True Star / Initiation)
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Blacksword View Drop Down
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I love Hawkwind, and I don't think there are any other bands like them.

I'm sure there are a plethora of 'trippy' acts out there whose members were 'influenced' by them, but Hawkwind are pretty unique. They were the dark side of the acid trip; not the blue skies and pixies dancing among the flowers. They were the psychedelic warlords, harassed by the police in an inner city tower block. They were the urban guerrilla proto punks, being visited by the bomb squad, tearing up their floorboards looking for explosives. They were the buskers, the poets, the revolutionaries.

With a few notable exceptions who passed trough their ranks over the years, they weren't the best musicians. They weren't the most disciplined of acts when it came to producing consistent albums, and half of their albums probably didn't need to be released at all. As a teenager trying to collect their albums, in the absence of the internet, it was difficult to know where to start and where to finish, but this added to their mystery, and the pleasure of my own journey of discovery. When you bought a Genesis or Rush album, you knew that even if you preferred the songs on another album by them, it would at least be a professional effort. When it came to Hawkwind, you had no idea what to expect when you bought an album. How mashed were they when they recorded it? How competent was the producer? Who was fighting who in the band at the time? etc.

Fascinating band.
Ultimately bored by endless ecstasy!
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Originally posted by Ghost Whistler Ghost Whistler wrote:

...
Hawkwind are an odd band. They aren't the strongest musicians, but they do write some good tunes. Levitation is a fantastic album, I like Chronicles, but there's so much stuff out there the signal to noise ratio is pretty high. Plus they are a bit repetitive and simplistic (don't hate me!).
...

Hi,

I am not sure that they are not the strongest musicians ... in general ... you won't last this long without having some strength in what you do ... and do well.

Repetitive ... there was a bit with Jaki (CAN) that was talking to one of the professor/composer in the Berlin School ... and he was asking for more "repetition" ... and not to stop ... which in many ways CAN did anyway. HAWKWIND, did have the "repetition", but it was at a time when the sound effects were totally new, and the maintaining of the repetition, to allow for the complete turning of the sound effect on the music, makes for something rather nice to listen to ... unless one is counting beats and thinking that it is the only listening that you can do to music! The "change" on the effects, from beginning to end, and sometimes for more than several minutes, adds a lot to the music ... that is really easy to not understand, and then think that it is boring ... it isn't boring to me!  

This is, probably, something that is important for HAWKWIND to have done in those earlier days ... but I'm not sure that most fans, TODAY, are allowing for the experimentation that was being done at a time when so much of these electronics were NEW ... which today they aren't ... and sometimes, totally over used, which is what some folks will say about HAWKWIND, but that is a statement "out of time" ... and a slight lack of understanding of what the music equipment had to offer in those days, as opposed to today ... this is major and the reason why so many reviews done today, disrespect some of that older stuff by many bands, because it does not sound clear, or complete, or as I like to say ... cheesy and short ... so you get the feeling the musician knows what they are doing!

And this is a part of the "progressive music" history ... that we tend to ignore ... people really experimented with the equipment, as opposed to today, where you have a hard time finding folks that actually experiment with their music ... perfect example is easy ... always the same format! And none of the "effects" made any difference whatsoever!
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Catcher10 View Drop Down
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They have way cool album covers........
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Originally posted by Ghost Whistler Ghost Whistler wrote:

I do like Tangerine Dream, but really only their period with Johannes Schmoelling, criminalally underrated on here. Force Majeure is really good. Cyclone is ok, the vocals are annoying. Further back than that, and I can't get into it at all.

If you've not already heard it, the soundtrack Miracle Mile is a must. It sounds like a FFS/FFH hybrid.

Also, a Tangerine Dream album called Kyoto exists that features only Edgar and Johannes.

I also recommend Peter Baumann's first two solo records, Romance '76 and Transharmonic Nights, but I'm sure you have them...
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Ghost Whistler View Drop Down
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It may be unfair to say but if their stuff was cheaper I'd be tempted. Levitation, which I have on lp, is ridiculously and stubbornly expensive on Amazon. I would definitely like to own that and Black Sword (for sentimental reasons if nothing else, plus I like Elric). 
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^ Matthew Wright also featured on the title track of the Blood of the Earth album in 2010, and he also co-wrote the song with Dave Brock too! Thumbs Up
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Originally posted by Psychedelic Paul Psychedelic Paul wrote:

This is my favourite Hawkwind song, featuring none other than Matthew Wright on vocals!
 
Matthew Wright looks like he's in Space Rock heaven in that video. Heart

I love that track too and the whole album is my favourite Hawkwind one - I prefer the Bob Calvert era. I do prefer the original version to Matthew Wright's. But imagine the buzz of singing with one of your favourite bands. Cool.

The album this version is from: 'Take me to Your Leader' also features Arthur Brown and Lena Lovitch. Not a bad album either.
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This is my favourite Hawkwind song, featuring none other than Matthew Wright on vocals!
 
 
Matthew Wright looks like he's in Space Rock heaven in that video. Heart


Edited by Psychedelic Paul - August 16 2020 at 06:32
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I've heard a lot of filler with the Hawkwinds. But when their music hits, it's highly enjoyable, to say the least. And what a great history they have.
"It just has none of the qualities of your work that I find interesting. Abandon [?] it." - Eno
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