QUARK, STRANGENESS AND CHARM

"Quark, Strangeness and Charm" is the 7th full-length studio album by UK psychadelic/space rock act Hawkwind. The album was released through Charisma Records (Europe)/Sire Records (US) in June 1977. Following the tour for "Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music (1976)" Nik Turner (Saxophone, Flute) and Alan Powell (drums) left the group and shortly into the recording sessions for "Quark, Strangeness and Charm" bassist Paul Rudolph was asked to leave and new bassist Adrian Shaw was brought in to replace him.

The music on the album is psychadelic/space rock in the trademark repetitive and driving Hawkwind style. Their rock´n´roll influences shine through on tracks like "Damnation Alley" (which even hints at punk) and the title track while a track like "Hassan I Sahba" incorporates some additional middle eastern influences. "Days of the underground" sounds like a psychadelic Gong track to my ears. The quality of the tracks is relatively high but compared to the band´s best output the tracks on "Quark, Strangeness and Charm" are generally a bit sub par.

The sound production is warm and organic, but not as powerful and raw as on earlier releases. Upon conclusion "Quark, Strangeness and Charm" is a good quality album by Hawkwind although not exactly reaching the heights of the earlier releases by the band and a 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.