Published on May 28, 1998
My first discovery of the band Hawkwind was when I was in a
record store. I was with a friend of mine and we were talking about
this band when we noticed a guy looking through the Hawkwind
section, as he was commenting on how “great” Hawkwind was/is. With
obvious curiosity, I started collecting their work, with mixed
results.
For starters, this band’s early years is easily compared to the
very early Pink Floyd days with Syd Barrett. Hawkwind first formed
in 1969. Their 1992 release,
Out & Intake, has 13 songs that were “Intakes and
Outtakes” that didn’t make make it on their original albums. And
after listening to this album, I can easily see why.
“Turner Point” is a disgrace, where all it is, is just a lot of
noise. “Waiting For Tomorrow” has some potential – it’s progressive
rock with a slight psychedlic taste, and it also has a touch of
today’s alternative, in a darker sense. “Cajun Jinx” is an
instrumental. The beginning of it is almost like U2’s “Where The
Streets Have No Name,” so right away, you would think this would be
another song with potential. But, the song changes its beat, and
quite frankly, it throws you off. And after awhile, the song does
get a bit boring. I think the song would of been a lot better if it
had kept the “U2” effect.
“Solitary Mind Games” is very eerie. It catches your attention
in the beginning. It could pass as a good song, except for the
vocals. The vocals here are mediocre. I think this song could of
been better off as an eerie instrumental.
The beginning of “Starflight” is similar to material found in
Pink Floyd’s
Wish You Were Here or
Meddle. It’s spacey, it’s psychedelic, it has spoken words
as if you were watching a space-type movie. It also makes you keep
listening. But then, it takes a 180 turn into a rocking song called
“Ejection”. The vocals are faint. I kind of wished that
“Starflight” had a better ending, instead of merging into the next
available song. The space/psychedelic effects in “Starflight” were
interesting.
“Assassins of Allah” is more of a hardcore rock song, as in
Motorhead/Metallica. This song can be appreciated by the die-hard
fans of hardcore rock. (Note that the material on this album does
NOT feature former Hawkwind member Lemmy, who would quit Hawkwind
to form Motorhead.)
“Flight To Maputo” is another unusual tune, where this song has
an African beat, as it mixes in with rock music. It’s an
instrumental, and this song has to be the only one worth listening
to. This song could be used as part of a soundtrack for a movie.
(Somehow the movie
Congo comes to mind, or some other movie with a jungle-type
atmosphere…) “Confrontation” has music (hardcore) and spoken
words throughout, and it is another song you would like to
forget.
“5/4” starts out eerie like “Solitary Mind Games,” but then it
merges into another hardcore rock song, as in “Assassins of Allah”
and “Confrontation.” It is mostly instrumental, with very little
vocals.
“Ghost Dance” is for those musicians who are drummers. That’s
all it is, pretty much continuous drumming with sound effects and
weird vocals. This is a song that you wouldn’t want to keep the
“repeat” button on. It is pretty bad, no, I take that back: It’s
real bad. And again, we have another hardcore song, “Coded
Languages.” It’s hardcore rock with a punk rock touch. It’s Weird.
It’s Strange. It’s Bad.
And lastly, “Warrior On The Edge Of Time” must of been an
outtake from the original album of the same name. (I don’t know
where the rest of these songs came from which time period.) The
vocals (actually it’s spoken words) are shouts and screams
regarding “The Warrior.” Again, the music here is eerie, and should
of been an instrumental instead of including vocals.
After listening to this album, you can see why these songs are
outtakes. As different and unique Hawkwind was with their albums,
they recorded these songs and realized that they couldn’t fit for
an upcoming album. Yet for the Hawkwind fan, or anyone, it’s
curiosity in hearing material that was left on the shelves, and
that there could be a possibility that this material could of been
included. (The Beatles’
Anthology albums come to mind here.) Another good “outtake”
album was The Who’s
Odds And Sods, in which all of the songs on that album could
of easily been included on any Who album that was currently in the
works. Why they weren’t, I’ll never know. But in Hawkwind’s case,
the songs on
Out & Intake can easily be revealed that this material
should of been kept on the shelf where it belongs.
Hawkwind’s work is progressive rock, and is solely for those who
enjoy progressive rock. It’s different music as compared to your
standard rock talent favorites.
Out & Intake are outtakes, and most outtake albums are
just a bunch of songs slapped together that were leftovers that
didn’t appear on original releases.
Hawkwind’s music can be easily liked or disliked, depending on
your tastes in this area of music. But for those who are curious in
which albums that would be worth listening to (or at least try to),
I suggest their debut album
Hawkwind,
Warrior On The Edge Of Time, and/or
Hall Of The Mountain Grill.
Even some of their original albums may have mixed reviews, but
Hawkwind is an experience. An Experience that is very different
compared to other types of music.