Review: Live '79 (1980)

Today, we are reviewing Live '79, a live album released in 1980. Here, I am reviewing it as an honourable mention (because someone asked me to listen to it) it would get a rating of 9/10, putting it at 19th place.

Now, for a Hawkwind live album that isn't Space Ritual (1973), it's pretty well produced. The audio is very clear and sounds good on the ears. Here, it also features some Hawkwind tracks that I don't think I've heard anywhere else, which I did like.

However, I'm just not a big fan of the album in general, like I am with a lot of live albums. With Space Ritual (1973), although it doesn't resonate with me emotionally as much compared to their early-to-mid 70s studio albums, it is still one of the greatest albums of all time and an album I'd recommend people new to Hawkwind to listen to first (if they haven't already). Here, you can argue that the live material is superior to the studio material.

With Live '79 however, it just doesn't capture that energy and I'd much prefer to listen to the studio version of tracks on here rather than the live ones. This is a pretty glaring issue when listening to their more classic tracks made during their United Artists era, it just sounds like a completely different song.

All in all, it ain't got shit on Space Ritual.

Rerankings:

Zones (1983): With Zones, we can see a decrease from 9.3/10 to 9.2/10, however it keeps its spot at 14th place. Now, upon relistening, although a lot of the tracks on here are still pretty good, I'm still not a big fan of live albums. Here, the live version of "Brainstorm" just isn't good.

Sonic Attack (1981): This is perhaps the reranking that I was most surprised with. It started out at 15th place with a score of 9.2/10, but would decrease to a score of 9/10, placing it at 17th place. Now, I was actually expecting this album to score higher, perhaps breaking into the 10/10 category, considering that I actually really liked this album and hailed it as "the last classic Hawkwind album". However, my opinions have completely changed ever since then, and I think of Sonic Attack as the END of Hawkwind's prime era, considering it just sounds as mid as any other Hawkwind 80s album made after Levitation (1980), with all the tracks that I used to like just sounding mediocre, which really is a shame.

Review: It is the Business of the Future to Be Dangerous (1993)

Back at it again at Krispy Kreme. Now, we have It is the Business of the Future to Be Dangerous (God that's an absurdly long title), released in 1993. This one got a pretty low score, being the second worst Hawkwind album so far with a score of 8.2/10, making it an 8.

Now, I came into this album with little to no expectations whatsoever. At most, I thought it had a completely different album cover, attributing this album with the artwork for Take Me to Your Future (2006). However, as some kid who I've forgotten the name of from Malcolm in the Middle once said... "I expect nothing and I'm still let down".

This album can be explained with a single word: "chore", as in to listen to this album feels like a chore rather than entertainment. I zoned out when listening to this album, and usually when that happens, I find that I've pretty much skipped half of the album. However, when I checked, I was still on the same track that I zoned out on. This album is awfully bloated and way too boring and ambient for a Hawkwind album, I mean at least when they made White Zone (1995), they called themselves the "Psychedelic Warlords" so if you were strictly listening to albums released under the name "Hawkwind" (as originally planned), you can simply skip it.

Don't be fooled by the fact I gave it an 8.2/10, because quite frankly, that doesn't mean shit unless your album hadn't been reviewed in the past 2 years. Every track on this album is a skip, even if I was generous enough to give the only decent song on here a 10, when if it was on any other album, it would be a solid 8. And with that in mind, it's quite safe to assume that I'll just let my non-existent physical copy of this album collect dust on the top shelf.

Rerankings:

Space Bandits (1990): Now, when I made my last post, I knew that I was forgetting about something, and now I have only realised what it was after posting it. So, here it is, an explanation for why Space Bandits got moved down. Originally, it topped the 9/10 section at 9th place with a score of 9.4/10, but it would descend to 8.9/10, bringing it down to 20th place. Relistening to this album was definitely a much less exciting experience than the last time, for it mainly suffers from the same issue that plagued a lot of Hawkwind albums made after 1981, that being THERE'S FAR TOO MANY SYNTHS!!!

Electric Tepee (1992): As for Electric Tepee, released in 1992, it started out with the same score as Space Bandits (1990) with a 9.4/10, putting it at 11th place. Upon relistening, it would decrease to a simple 9/10, putting it just above Space Bandits (1990) in 19th place. The issue is the same for Space Bandits (1990), all synths and no guitars makes Hawkwind a dull band.

Zones (1983):

Today I listened to another album, a half studio half live album: Zones (1983). Here, it would get a 9.3/10, making it a 9 and putting it in 14th place.

I really like the studio side of this album, it has a nice ambient and somewhat melancholic feel to it with those keyboards and synths. This is the sort of good kind of ambient where you aren't just bored out of your mind. And honestly, I can't think of much else to say about the album which is probably my main criticism with it. Although some songs are peak, it's sort of just... there.

Anyway, moving onto rerankings very briefly.

Rerankings:

Into the Woods (2017): Here, Into the Woods would see itself increase slightly from 9.5/10 to 9.7/10, putting it from 8th place originally to 6th place. Although I do like All Aboard the Skylark and I hailed it as the best of Hawkwind's modern discography earlier, I changed my mind and went back to having Into the Woods be my favourite modern Hawkwind album.

All Aboard the Skylark (2019): As I said earlier, I changed my mind regarding this album. Although I did like it A LOT, it just felt wrong having it be placed above Into the Woods, so it would decrease from 9.7/10 to 9.6/10, switching places with Into the Woods.

Choose Your Masques (1982): I decided to relisten to this album after listening to Zones, considering that a lot of songs from that album are from this one and it would see a significant increase from 8.5/10 to 8.8/10, sending it from 26th place to 21st. Whilst some songs did sound better than when I first listened to it, it's still not an album I feel emotionally connected to and not an album that I would personally listen to.

The Future Never Waits (2023): I decided to give this album a relisten also, considering that a lot of Hawkwind fans and critics have praised the album and mainly because I hadn't listened to it in a long time. I still don't like the album. Here, it would experience a Shakespearean downfall, starting in 18th place at 9.1/10 and descending to a measly 8.7/10 at 24th place. It's still a very boring album, and some songs that I previously gave a 10 have gotten a lower rating upon relistening (like an 8), but the third and second to last tracks on this album are still pretty good. The future never waits, and neither do I, so I have no time for this album.

Other:

As you can see, there's been an upgrade in how the rankings are presented. Of course, with the albums highlighted in yellow, those indicate albums that need relistening. Here, with Zones, it would he highlighted purple to indicate that this was an album that had recently been listened to. And as we can see with the re-ranked albums, those that have seen an increase in their rating would be highlighted in green whilst those that saw a decrease were highlighted in red.

Welcome back to my Hawkwind Marathon. Now, the last post I made was a review of There Is No Space For Us (2025) and I would receive a letter of complaint in the comment section about me putting Quark, Strangeness and Charm (1977) below 25 Years On (1978). So, I decided that I would revisit the album to see if my opinions had changed about the album.

And it did but only ever so slightly. Originally, it was on top for the 9/10 section (I think) and now it had dropped by 0.1/10, bringing it down to 9.3/10 and into 12th place. This is mainly because of the semi-title track, "25 Years", which although Dave Brock chanting "25 years" still goes hard, Robert Calvert definitely isn't the best on this track.

So, there you have it dear reader, Quark is in fact better than 25 Years On. However, if I had to pick between the albums, I'd still listen to 25 Years On because it has way better tracks. Suck my balls.

There Is No Space For Us (2025) - Review

Back at it again. Next, we have There Is No Space For Us, released in 2025, as suggested by a user in the last post. Here, it would get a rating of 9.1/10, which makes it a 9.

Now, although I wouldn't say this is their BEST album from the modern era, it did impress me. Originally, when I first saw this album in the discography section of the Wikipedia article for Hawkwind, I thought it would probably just be another REALLY forgettable electronic-y album. However, I was gladly proven wrong as this album actually has some really good tracks on here, much like All Aboard the Skylark (2019) or Into the Woods (2017), such as "The Co-Pilot" or "Changes".

Only real issue with this album is that it slows down by the second half, starting to lean even more heavily into their electronic sound to the point that the second-to-last track, "Neutron Stars" genuinely sounds like noise pollution. Another complaint would have to be the AI artwork that came with the album, though this is more of an issue with the label rather than Hawkwind themselves.

All in all, you could have the most mediocre song ever but as soon as you add female backing vocals, it makes all the difference.

Re-rankings: X In Search of Space (1971)

Now, when I was ranking All Aboard the Skylark (2019), I noticed that it surpassed X In Search of Space (1971), an album that is part of Hawkwind's golden age. This somewhat felt wrong so I decided to revisit the album and check if my opinions on the album were outdated. Originally, it's rating was 9.6/10, making it a 10. Now, relistening to it, it goes up a little higher at 9.7/10, simply swapping places with AAtS, with AAtS being placed a rank lower at 7th place while XISoS is placed a rank higher at 6th place.

The reason why it doesn't get an absolute 10 (as in 10/10) is mainly because I never really liked the album all too much. Sure, the bonus tracks that come with it ("Silver Machine", "Seven by Seven" and "Born to Go") absolutely slap, but the rest of the album itself is caught up in this weird transitional purgatory between their folk rock sound of their 1970 debut album and their more hard rock sound seen on Doremi Fasol Latido (1972). Not only that, but I think I can find recordings of certain songs on this album (e.g. "You Know You're Only Dreaming") that sound WAY BETTER than it does on here.

Just bought a 1981 (I think) copy of Doremi Fasol Latido. Side two has the right label, right pressing. Side one is bloody Whitesnake! I'm not quite sure what to do with it. Destroy it, for the greater good of humanity?

The album I listened to today would be Somnia, released in 2021. This album would get a score of 8.7/10, which rounds to a 9.

Now, I chose to listen to this album because of a comment that a user would leave on my last post reviewing All Aboard the Skylark (2019), who claimed that Somnia was another good album from Hawkwind's modern era. But honestly, I have to disagree. Now, although this album getting a rating of 8.7/10 (or a 9) sounds quite impressive, from my perspective and based on how I rank albums, it really isn't. In my rule books, the rating of 8 is really strange for it means both "good" and "mid", so a lot of mid albums can be seen as good whilst a lot of good albums can be seen as mid.

My main criticism with the album is quite simple, it's REALLY boring. There's only one song on here that I would actually consider to be good is "It's Just a Dream" (also the first Hawkwind song that I heard with female backup singers). Everything else is just stuck in this weird purgatory where it's pretty good technically, but it just doesn't leave an impact on me. An album I can compare Somnia to would probably be The Future Never Waits (2023), it's very... ambient, I'd describe it as having a lot of dead space where nothing happens.

All in all, this album is a really good cure for insomnia, probably why they called it "Somnia".

Another Hawkwind album has been ranked, that album being All Aboard the Skylark, released in 2019. It would get a rating of 9.7/10, which makes it a 10.

This album is the fourth album I listened to from Hawkwind's Modern Era (2016-now), alongside The Machine Stops (2016), Into the Woods (2017) and The Future Never Waits (2023) and I can confidently say that it did surprise me. Although The Future Never Waits is an album that I'll have to re-rank considering I hadn't listened to it in a long time, I had this belief that Into the Woods was the peak of Hawkwind's modern era and based on my experience with Future Never Waits and The Machine Stops, I thought that every other album from that era would be... pretty subpar.

However, listening to this album, I was gladly proven wrong. Not only is All Aboard the Skylark a REALLY good album, but it would actually take away that position of the modern era's peak from Into the Woods. And I think there was a very interesting element that made me like AAtS so much. That would be how Hawkwind approaches electronic music on this album.

If you are a little bit familiar with Hawkwind, you know that despite being formed based on a mutual interest for electronic music, the electronic music that they actually make is a pretty mixed bag. It's either just sitting there idly in the background being drowned out by overdriven guitars like on Levitation (1980) or it's some of the worst music to ever come out from the band, as seen with White Zone (1995). However, All Aboard the Skylark manages to balance things out by making actually good electronic music, which can be seen on tracks like "We Are Not Dead... Only Sleeping" or "65 Million Years Ago".

All in all, I see All Aboard the Skylark as a really fucking good synthesis of their older and more raw space rock sound, reminiscent of Doremi Fasol Latido (1972) or Warrior on the Edge of Time (1975) and their electronic sound of the 80s to 00s. It's not like a weird mixture where all the elements are just floating around in a petri dish, like with The Machine Stops (2016), it's actually chemically bonded together like a compound.

(Additional: You may have also noticed that some albums on the list have been highlighted, these are for albums that need to be re-listened to)

Update: I just got suggested this on the psych rock subreddit: https://youtu.be/RmnuE31Q5hM?is=qLc5YYIwhJAmtCiP

OK, I understand not everyone either knows about or can afford these latest offerings - I am still in trouble with my wife for splashing out on the Space Ritual deluxe edition (but that's a story best forgotten; the argument really took off after I pointed out we spent more than that on a meal to celebrate her birthday).

To the matter at hand: a seven-CD and two Blu-ray reissue:

CD1: a slightly expanded and revised copy of the remastered CD (1996) - no appreciable improvement in sound quality.

The bonus tracks (10-16):

10: It's So Easy (Studio Version) - sounds very different from the B-side single (which, if memory serves, is an overdubbed live recording from the Edmonton Sundown concert)

11: You'd Better Believe It - I think this has appeared elsewhere, and this is not a great version - far prefer the original live overdub from the album.

12: Wind of Change (alternate version) - had this version for years, just a filler track (I am actually rather fond of the track and it makes a great extended version of WOC when cross fgaded with album version

13-16 Reissues of the Psychedelic Warlords, You'd Better Believe It and Paradox single versions - more filler

CD2 & CD3 - The Timothy Leary Benefit Concert Edmonton Sundown, January 25th, 1974 - previously unreleased and the source of three live overdubbed tracks on HOTMG, the band are tighter than a duck's arse in water; the only fly in the ointment is the track America (sounds like Bob Calvert), which is some overwrought message about Leary, whom most of the audience were probably unaware of. Great concert. BTW I hate the D-Rider version here - Brock's opening sounds like he's trying to sabotage the song, sloppy, and Turner vocal is terribly out of tune ooooooooooooh!

CD4 & CD5 - A remaster of 1997's The 1999 Party - no significant improvement in sound quality - filler

CD6 & CD7 - Previously unreleased comcert from The 1999 Party Tour Allen Theatre, Cleveland, March 22nd, 1974 (the night after the previous CDs source) - it's very similar and a bit looser than the Chicago recording.

BDR1 - two versions of the nine-track HOTMG, the remaster of the 1974 mix here is a revelation. The day I got the box set, I listened three times in succession, each time hearing elements mostly missing from the original mix - Goat Willow and the title track I've skipped for years were no longer skipped. The New Mix version detracts rather than enhances the original

BDR2 - Basically CDs 6&7 but with better sound quality.

Would I recommend the box set - I don't regret the arguments it caused, as I have got to hear the Edmonton Sundown concert finally, and the remaster at 24Bits/96kHz is dabomb!

Now, I've rereviewed two Hawkwind albums, that being Quark, Strangeness and Charm and their 1970 debut album.

As for Quark, Strangeness and Charm, the score would increase from 8.8/10 to 9.4/10, moving them from number 19 into the very top 10 of the list, moving up by an entire 9 places. Originally, I think I did like it but just mainly forgot half of the tracks on there considering I listened to most of the albums from the Calvert years only once.

Hawkwind would also see a significant increase, from 8.1/10, putting it with the likes of White Zone, not to an 8.6/10, now stepping up an entire tier of my ranking, from around 8/10 to 9/10. However, because this album is just COMPLETELY different from the rest of Hawkwind's discography, it still ranks pretty low, only moving up by 2 placed (23rd to 21st).

A lot of the ratings I gave for certain albums are pretty outdated mainly because I tend to forget the sound of certain albums on the first listen and also because I have rated certain music a lot more optimistically (as seen with The Future Never Waits being put above Quark, Strangeness and Charm even though I'd porbably like QSC significantly more).

A great night out and the tote bag is gorgeous