Hawkwind - Space Bandits (1990)

Dan:

As I wrote before, I only have room for two Hawkwind albums in my collection. Hall of the Mountain Grill is their masterpiece, but I have a soft spot in my heart for Space Bandits. Keeping in mind that I have barely scratched the surface of Hawkwind's huge discography, my comments are purely expressions of my own humble opinion. 

When I was vetting the half dozen or so Hawkwind albums that Steve had loaned me, Space Bandits grabbed my attention because of its first three tracks, which are honestly the only ones I listen to very often. "Images" leads off in rocking style but suspends the driving beat after two verses for a tempo-free interlude during which the voice of Bridget Wishart enters crying the anguished lyrics:

It's gone now

It's gone now

Twist the soul

Turn flesh to stone

The fear and the anger

Of the lost and alone

The song then resumes after a brief guitar solo, coming to a riotous end after the earlier verses are repeated. It's a wild ride lasting almost ten minutes. 

Without the interlude by Wishart, I doubt that I would have paid much attention to "Images." I know she only had a brief stay with the band (1989-1991), but it made a strong positive impression on me. 

The second song, "Black Elk Speaks," is even more intriguing. Over a steady tom tom 4-beat, the muffled voice of Black Elk (spoken by John Niehardt) recites a prayer to Grandfather, the creator. Black Elk was a true historical figure in the Oglala Sioux Nation, survived wars against the Whites, and died in 1950. The prayer beseeches Grandfather to:

Teach me to walk the soft earth, a relative to all that is! Sweeten my heart

And fill me with life. Give me the strength to understand, and the eyes

To see. Help me for without you I am nothing. Hetchetu aloh!

Hetchetu aloh translates as "It is so indeed."

Midway through the prayer the rhythm intensifies as Wishart takes over the narration, speaking what appears to be Grandfather's response to the prayer: 

So go on my friend

And sing with the healing spirit

With the magic of the ground

With the magic of the earth

And you will spring to life

Through the power of the words

Through the magic of the ground

Through the magic of the earth

There is every indication that the inclusion of "Black Elk Speaks" is sincere and free of irony or cynicism. This track is inspiring and stunning.

Track 3 follows with bassist Alan Davey's "Wings," a condemnation of the devastation laid upon birds by human pollution. It is also sincere and impactful.

I remember where they once flew

Where they sang to the morning dew

Now their wings are soaked in oil

Caged wings that can't unfurl

No longer do we hear them sing

No longer do we hear the fluttering

Of wings

A percentage of the royalties for the song were donated to The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. 

Call me "woke" if you like; I'm a proud sucker for socially conscious lyrics, especially when they're woven into albums by frenzied rock bands like Hawkwind. 

Steve:

I'm thankful that Space Bandits is among the first Hawkwind albums I acquired. It showed up in a used CD store (The CD Solution in Miami) and it was a frequent spin from the get-go, and I recall Dan getting into it fairly early on too. As a 1990 release, it stands well outside the supposed "classic era" of this 70s prog/psych band, and thus if I had discovered the band purely by recommendations and reviews by prog publications, I probably wouldn't have encountered it yet. Hawkwind have dozens of releases to their credit and it's easy for the post-glory-years albums to get lost in the shuffle. But as I've found through the years, now with a Hawkwind collection in the double digits, the band always delivers entertaining albums, even if they mostly repeat themselves.  

As with Dan, the first three tracks are also my main focus, though I was surprised to learn of the context surrounding "Black Elk Speaks" from Dan's review above. Yet another reminder that if I paid attention to lyrics more, I could enjoy a lot of this music on a deeper level. From my vantage point, "Black Elk Speaks" had always been an ominous and atmospheric mood piece with prerecorded voices. "Images" was always a favorite, with its energetic tempo, gutsy guitar chords, elongated structure, and Bridget Wishart's excellent vocal. Too bad she didn't do more with the band. The lyrics were definitely not lost on me with "Wings", Alan Davey's environmental lament with a touching lyric and serene instrumental arrangement, which always gives me the visual image of a sunset on the beach.

Albums like this have taught me that virtually any studio Hawkwind album is worth a listen. However, scavengers of the used CD racks should beware of any of a hundred cheapo compilation/live releases that are in circulation, some of which are of very poor quality. Do your homework on the band, and if it's part of the band's official discography, it's hard to go wrong with Hawkwind.

Hawkwind - Hall of the Mountain Grill (1974)

Dan:

To paraphrase a common reviewer cliché, if you have room for only one Hawkwind album in your collection, make sure it's Hall of the Mountain Grill. (Maybe make room for Space Bandits too). Those are among the few Hawkwind offerings that I have spent any time with, but I'm glad to have been exposed to this band. Further exploration into their astounding discography of 96 albums between 1969 and 2023 is beyond my reach. 

I had read a bit about Hawkwind in the British jazz magazine The Wire. They covered relevant rock bands and were excited about Hawkwind. Steve, as usual, was way ahead of me and gladly loaned me some of his Hawkwind CDs. It didn't take long for me to home in on Hall of the Mountain Grill, which satisfied my need completely. I also got a lot from Space Bandits (1990), mostly from the first three tracks: "Images," "Black Elk Speaks," and "Wings."

Hall of the Mountain Grill is a coherent suite of songs that manifest hard rock sensibilities alongside more prog-like music. Violins, synthesizers, saxes, kalimbas, mellotrons and flutes all find their way into Hawkwind productions. I prefer to think of their approach as progressive rather than space-rock, which is how they're often typed, but I'm also not interested in playing the classification game. (As Duke Ellington once said, there are only two kinds of music - good and bad.) Hawkwind are unique and consistently good. Leader Dave Brock clearly knows what he wants from the band and each album succeeds on his own terms. To me, Hall of the Mountain Grill sounds like their pièce de résistance.

What I like most about Hall is the contrast between the individual songs, which flow naturally as part of a suite (another telltale prog sign). Thus, we begin with the rocking "The Psychedelic Warlords (Disappear in Smoke)" which segues into the mysterious "Winds of Change," which precedes the rocking "D. Rider," and so on to the end. Some of the instrumentals appear to be conceived as transitions, such as the title track and the lovely "Goat Willow." The rock songs are great, especially "Lost Johnny" and the closer "Paradox," but their impact is enhanced dramatically by the shorter tracks featuring wind sounds, acoustic piano, and flute. In other words, Hall of the Mountain Grill is a wonderfully conceived album, not just a set of rock songs. I'd recommend it to the faint of heart who might normally avoid noisy metal bands. Hawkwind can rock with anybody, but on Hall of the Mountain Grill, at least, they created something special for all to enjoy. 

Steve: 

Hall of the Mountain Grill was the first Hawkwind album I came across in a CD store, and thus was the first one I bought. It's a little hard to know if it's my favorite of their albums because it was my first or because it really is the best. I did learn later that this album is very highly regarded in their discography among fans, so I consider myself lucky that it happened to be the first one I saw. All these years later, I've acquired another dozen or so Hawkwind albums, and every one of them is entertaining, which is the sign of a band that knows its job and gets it done.  

"D-Rider" (track 3) is possibly my favorite Hawkwind song - it was written and sung by sax player and second vocalist Nik Turner, and I've discovered that many of my favorite moments from the original Hawkwind lineup were driven by his macabre proto-New Wave sensibilities (see also "Brainstorm" and the classic "Masters of the Universe"). Hall of the Mountain Grill works extremely well as a unified piece, as it flows organically from start to finish, making it an easy continuous listen with no dull patches.