‘Warrior On The Edge Of
Time’ is Hawkwind’s sixth album, and fifth
to consecutively hit the British charts,
following ‘In Search Of Space’ (no. 18
1971), ‘Doremi Fasol Latido’ (no. 14 1972),
the double live album ‘Space Ritual Alive’
(no. 9 1973) and ‘Hall Of The Mountain
Grill’ (no. 16 1974). Add to this the
incredible and unexpected success of the
single ‘Silver Machine’ (no. 3 1972).
It was O.K. for underground/cult bands
to have albums in the charts, but a hit
single was quite extraordinary. I mean,
a video of Hawkwind being played alongside
performances by David Essex and The Bay
City Rollers on ‘Top of the Pops’ - unbelievable!
You will understand they were one of Britain’s
top road bands with a fanatical following,
who crammed their nationwide concerts
and talked knowledgeably about the contents
of each album. By this time they had all
but guaranteed their places in the annals
of Rock ‘n’ Roll history. Along the way
creating space/rock, which was to become
the cornerstone of later genres such as
ambient music and house music. (Ah, Kiddies,
got your interest now?)
To many this seventies lineup of Hawkwind
will always be the classic lineup and,
having been together for almost 5 years,
one of the most stable, too. True, Poets,
Dancers, Dik Miks, and Del Dettmars came
and went, but the nucleus of the band
was for Hawkwind very stable. Of course,
Simon House joined as well, but nobody
was fired, left behind, or spontaneously
combusted.
Due to this remarkably uniformed period,
and having spent most of the time on the
road, including two ground breaking tours
of the United States of America and three
of Europe, with ‘Warrior On The Edge Of
Time’ Hawkwind managed to lay down their
magnum opus…..if you like Space Rock’s
‘Dark Side Of The Moon’. Everything felt
right. The title alone left you in no
mind what to expect. The artwork was simply
stunning, standing out in all its glory
amongst the other vinyl recordings in
your local record store, featuring a single
futuristic warrior on horseback gazing
into the mists of time. Stirring stuff
indeed.
The album roared into the British charts
reaching No. 13 and remained in the charts
for 3 months with all the songs being
incorporated into the live show. Some
of them cropping up now and again in Hawkwind’s
ever changing stage show today.
Bandleader Dave Brock was at the very
height of his creative abilities. The
album starts off with a two part epic
recently voted Hawkwind’s most popular
song ever by the band’s fanzines readers
of Hawkfan.
The music starts off with a memorable
bass line from Lemmy before the rest of
the band break in with both drummers laying
down a complex drum pattern. Dave Brock’s
chugging riff, Nik Turner’s flute fluttering
over the top, and Simon House holding
the sound together with a wall of keyboard
sound. Instead of it being a weakness
by not having a lead vocalist, they turn
it into a strength by using to good effect
harmony vocals that add to the spacey
effect and, of course, behind it all is
the wonderful Hawkwind giving it lots
of atmosphere.
After this opening volley lasting over
ten minutes, (a wonderful live version
of this song can be heard on the 1991
live album ‘California Brainstorming’),
the famous American Sc-fi writer, Michael
Moorcock, makes his first appearance,
narrating the words to his own poem, very
echoey with sonic keyboard and drum backing.
Next up is a very unusual feat as the
two drummers in the band take sole song
writing credit for the hard driving instrumental
‘Opa-Loka’, which leads us nicely into
another pair of Dave Brock songs. Of the
two ‘Magnu’ really stands out, which was
to be one of the mainstays of the Hawkwind
live set for many years, featuring an
upbeat tempo that swirls and swirls round
your speakers until Simon House comes
in with one of the most exhilarating electric
violin solo’s ever laid down in an earth
bound recording studio, ‘The Demented
Man’ reminds you of Dave Brock’s early
days bunking with his acoustic guitar
on the streets of London. Even Spacenauts
have humble beginnings.
Leading us into the second half of the
Warrior adventure is Nik Turner’s nicely
over the top reading of Michael Moorcock’s
poem ‘Standing at the Edge’.. Next, is
the most amazing piece of music on the
album: ‘Spiral Galaxy 28949’, written
by Simon House, simply years ahead of
its time. It is no wonder that three years
later David Bowie head-hunted Simon to
play keyboards and violin and be musical
director of his road band for several
years. After another Moorcock spoken poem,
the album comes to a conclusion with Nik
Turner’s only composition on the album,
a typical Hawkwind jaunt through ‘Dying
Seas’.
Tagged onto the C.D release is the A &
B sides of the current single ‘Kings of
Speed’. Not much more than a sub Status
Quo 12 bar bash at the charts, but the
interesting thing here is the version
of the last song Lemmy ever wrote for
Hawkwind, ‘Motorhead’. By the time of
the album’s release, Lemmy had been kicked
out of Hawkwind, going on to form his
own band and taking the name for the band
from this song; as is well documented
and becoming the leading band in Heavy
Metal. Far more famous then Hawkwind would
ever aspire to.
As for Hawkwind themselves, although they
were never really reviled by the new wave
of punk rock that hit in mid 77, they
never did recover. Within three years
David Brock was the only remaining member.
Although still going today in one form
or another (there are actually two bands,
Hawkwind with Dave Brock, and The Hawkwind
Experience led by Nik Turner), they have
never troubled the top twenty in the charts
again.
But, to hear Hawkwind at their finest,
sweep back the mists of time, put ‘Warrior
On The Edge of Time’ in your player, and
enjoy the journey.
Pawed by Mott The Dog
Remastered by Ella Crew
E-mail: review@mott-the-dog.com
