VA-Daze_of_the_Underground_A_Tribute_to_Hawkwind-2CD-2003-GRAVEWISH

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GRAVEWISH
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Date
2008-04-16

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     ▓█░    ░█▀                                                  ▀█░    ░█▓
   ░  ██    ██     Artist: VA                                     ██    ██
   ▓   █░░ ■█       Album: Daze of the Underground: A Tribute to   █■ ░░█
   ■    █▓▀ █        Year: 2003                                    █ ▀▓█   ░
         █  ▓   Rel. Date: 2008-03-01                              ▓  █
        ▒   ▒       Genre: Rock                                    ▒   ▒
         █▄ ░       Label: Godreah Records                         ░ ▄█
      ░   █▄  ░    Source: CD                                    ░  ▄█
           ▀░ ░      Type: Compilation                           ░ ░▀
      ░      █▓   Encoder: LAME v3.97 -V2 --vbr-new              ▓█        ░
      ▓       █   Quality: VBR, 44.1kHz, Joint Stereo            █   ░     ▓
      ▄       ■                                                  ■   ▓     ■
            ░█                                                    █░ ▀
            █   The question that always comes to mind with        █
            █  tribute albums - what was the motivation of each    █
            █  of the artists who appear on the album?  I suppose  █
            █  it is a given that they are in some way "fans" of   █
            █  the act to whom tribute is being paid, but there's  █
            █  more to it than that.  Do they pick a particular    █
            █  song because they feel the definitive version is    █
            █  still out there waiting to be nailed down?          █
            █  Because some completely different interpretation    █
            █  is possible?  Out of affection for the original     █
            █  band?  Or do they do it only because they can?      █
            █  This latter is important with a Hawkwind tribute    █
            █  album, as the music is, let's face it, not          █
            █  complex: most musicians would find your average     █
            █  Hawkwind cover version well within their            █
            █  capabilities.  Whether it's done with any empathy   █
            █  or just bludgeoned out garage-band style is a real  █
            █  pointer to this scenario.  On the 1995 Assassins    █
            █  of Silence / Hundred Watt Violence tribute album    █
            █  (which I've reviewed here on this site) there were  █
            █  definitely a couple of bands who I suspect          █
            █  undertook the task because here was something just  █
            █  about within their limited capabilities.  It        █
            █  doesn't necessarily make for a bad cover version,   █
            █  taken within the context of an album as a whole,    █
            █  but as individual tracks some of these can be       █
            █  decidedly ropey.                                    █
            █  Daze of the Underground differs from earlier        █
            █  tributes by dint of having some name Space Rock     █
            █  acts on it, including people who are current or     █
            █  ex-members of Hawkwind.  So the initial reaction    █
            █  is that this is a higher-budget exercise than       █
            █  Assassins of Silence / Hundred Watt Violence, for   █
            █  example.  But what it does have in common with the  █
            █  first tribute is that the acts on Daze Of The       █
            █  Underground are Space Rockers and not rave /        █
            █  trance / techno artists out to retrospectively      █
            █  claim a rock basis for their sub-genre...I'm        █
            █  thinking here of the 1996 Rituals of the Solstice   █
            █  tribute  - but then, I'm prejudiced against dance   █
            █  acts, anyway.  Godreah Records released this        █
            █  album, and while they lean in the direction of      █
            █  various forms of Death Metal (and so are unlikely   █
            █  to have brought in any techno acts!) they've done   █
            █  a good job of securing the services of a wide       █
            █  variety of artists to appear.                       █
            █  The booklet that comes with this CD is quite        █
            █  lavish.  The front and back cover of it are in      █
            █  colour (see scanned copies above) and inside,       █
            █  there are 18 monochrome pages, the first four of    █
            █  which are devoted to Hawkwind themselves (a         █
            █  three-page history and a mid-80's photo on the 4th  █
            █  page).  Each of the artists appearing on the album  █
            █  then gets a photo, a note as to their geographical  █
            █  origin, a brief description of their contribution   █
            █  (no I didn't consult these in putting this review   █
            █  together) and a listing of the Dramatis Personae    █
            █  (line-up of the band in question).  Of the 27       █
            █  bands on this CD, twelve are billed as being from   █
            █  England, six from the USA, two from each of         █
            █  Finland, Japan and Australia, one from Italy and    █
            █  one from Sweden.  Tim Blake is from "Europe".       █
            █  The notes also point out that a number of tracks    █
            █  included on this CD have actually been knocking     █
            █  around for some time - quite a few were recorded    █
            █  in 1997-99 - and one or two are live.  The          █
            █  uniformly decent sound quality leads me to think    █
            █  that some post-production work has been done by     █
            █  Godreah Records (not that it's mentioned in the     █
            █  notes) - the patchiness that you would expect just  █
            █  isn't there....the overall impression that I get    █
            █  is that this is a relatively well-funded            █
            █  undertaking: if any of these numbers were laid      █
            █  down on a four-track in someone's bedroom, I'd be   █
            █  very surprised.                                     █
            █  The first pleasant surprise is Tim Blake's          █
            █  rendition of Spirit of the Age.  Only after         █
            █  hearing it did I realise I was expecting it to be   █
            █  weak - it has sometimes been a bit thin when Tim    █
            █  has performed this live with Hawkwind.  Here he     █
            █  achieves the feat of bringing the song into the     █
            █  21st century but without distancing it too far      █
            █  from its' classic Hawkwind roots.  The              █
            █  instrumentation stops short of being "lush",        █
            █  having just enough minimalism to give it a modern   █
            █  edge.  The crisp drums are close enough to a live   █
            █  sound to nicely counteract the keyboard dominated   █
            █  vibe.  Nice one Timmy...                            █
            █  Litmus follow with Paradox.  And this illustrates   █
            █  something else about tribute albums - Litmus don't  █
            █  fall into the trap of showing excessive respect     █
            █  for the original.  Any time you hear a cover        █
            █  version where the timing and phrasing have not      █
            █  slavishly followed the original, it usually speaks  █
            █  of innovation.  They start off fairly faithfully    █
            █  with a swooping bassline, delayed onset of the      █
            █  percussion and some very Brocklike vocals, but      █
            █  when the song goes into the blanga refrain          █
            █  section, Litmus stretch out a bit by subtly         █
            █  altering the vibe.  As the track progresses, this   █
            █  tendency becomes more marked.  Again, there is a    █
            █  good balance between striking some familiar notes   █
            █  (the keyboard voices are very authentic) and        █
            █  innovating something new (check out the guitar      █
            █  solo).                                              █
            █  The version of Levitation that Amorphis offer       █
            █  takes the percussive, syncopated opening of the     █
            █  original studio version of the song and uses this   █
            █  to characterise the entire track.  It's a guitar    █
            █  dominated enjoyable thrash which loses its'         █
            █  distinctiveness in a relatively lacklustre middle   █
            █  section - perhaps they fall into the trap of        █
            █  paying too much respect, since you can also hear    █
            █  puffs of breath in one place, exactly like the      █
            █  live version on HawkwindÆs Do Not Panic album...    █
            █  Spacehead tackle 'The Right Stuff', and for the     █
            █  first time ever I really understand what Mr.Dibs    █
            █  is doing on the bass.  This is the perfect number   █
            █  for his upfront, pumping style.  Calvertesque       █
            █  vocals hark back to the original version on         █
            █  Captain Lockheed & the Starfighters, with Messrs.   █
            █  Needham and Barton supplying some good-to-middling  █
            █  guitar soloing over the riff without deflecting     █
            █  the driving power that Spacehead succeed in         █
            █  delivering..  Going back to Mr.Dibs, though, I see  █
            █  him now as looking to cover the same sort of        █
            █  territory as Alan Davey did on "Images" from the    █
            █  Space Bandits album; the bass playing               █
            █  uncomplicated riffs but taking the spotlight by     █
            █  dint of playing right on or even slightly ahead of  █
            █  the beat, and being high in the mix.  This number   █
            █  ends nicely with a bit of guitar wig out which is   █
            █  not allowed to outstay its' welcome.  A very        █
            █  creditable effort.                                  █
            █  Arrival In Utopia from Meads of Asphodel is next    █
            █  up.  I was expecting an unintelligible thrash, and  █
            █  it isn't anything of the kind..  The guitar is      █
            █  very close to the original Brock and Langton        █
            █  parts, and this would be a terrific success were    █
            █  it not for the abysmal vocals, which are an         █
            █  attempt at a death metal snarl, but merely sound    █
            █  oafish.  The Meads turn in a brand new midsection   █
            █  which enhances the song and shows off some          █
            █  sympathetic guitar soloing... The notes in the CD   █
            █  booklet confirm that Alan Davey played bass on      █
            █  this track and Huw Lloyd Langton supplied (some of  █
            █  the) guitar, so that explains the authenticity,     █
            █  perhaps.                                            █
            █  It's only when you hear Song Of The Swords, as      █
            █  murdered by the next band (The Enchanted) that you  █
            █  realise quite how good Meads of Asphodel were.      █
            █  This is a 1980's style thrash with divebombing      █
            █  lead guitar and sub-Slipknot vocals.  The           █
            █  Enchanted fall into the category of doing it        █
            █  because they can just about manage it, for my       █
            █  money....                                           █
            █  Bedouin chase this drag-on with Sword Of The East,  █
            █  which Alan Davey of course penned himself, so it    █
            █  almost isn't a cover version.  For me, the problem  █
            █  with this is that Glenn Povey is a quintessential   █
            █  Strat player, more suited to the Fast Eddie Clarke  █
            █  school of heavy rock than the Dave Brock - which    █
            █  is almost an unfair criticism, as if Bedouin were   █
            █  only an originals version of Ace Of Spades.         █
            █  Glenn's rendition of the guitar solos does beat     █
            █  HLL's into a cocked hat, though.  He's a real       █
            █  *rock* player who bends the strings as far as       █
            █  they'll go.  Alan Davey and Danny Thompson are      █
            █  familiar enough to Hawkwind fans to really require  █
            █  nothing further to be said about them in            █
            █  particular.  This live track is typical Bedouin,    █
            █  balls to the wall and taking no prisoners.          █
            █  Silver Machine the band take on Silver Machine the  █
            █  song, and they pull a very smart move here by       █
            █  going for the feel of the original single version   █
            █  of the song.  It is if anything slightly slower     █
            █  than the original, with the guitar riffing around   █
            █  the basic chords, and synth effects not too         █
            █  dissimilar from the VCS3 and audio generator that   █
            █  adorned HawkwindÆs one and only proper hit.  Which  █
            █  was itself a live recording, and this sounds        █
            █  positively lush by dint of having been laid down    █
            █  in a studio rather than a former engine shed!       █
            █  I've never heard of The Murkins before, and I       █
            █  wonder if I will again.  They perhaps don't         █
            █  deserve the obscurity that is probably beckoning,   █
            █  here turning in a cover of Psi Power which is too   █
            █  faithful to the original album version on           █
            █  Hawklords / 25 Years On.  The synth solo            █
            █  originally laid down by Steve Swindells in the      █
            █  middle section is faithfully replicated on guitar   █
            █  and then we get the quiet verse, same as on the     █
            █  original... The single note guitar motif at the     █
            █  end of each chorus is here, note-for-note, and the  █
            █  multitracked breathy vocals pay homage to what was  █
            █  on the original too.  It's only with the coda,      █
            █  where we hear a guitar solo that there is any       █
            █  departure.  The spoken                              █
            █  'Square...Triangle...Circle" outro is there too,    █
            █  but is at least compressed down from the            █
            █  Hawklords' version.                                 █
            █  Now, imagine the Kinks performing Quark             █
            █  Strangeness and Charm, and you have an idea of how  █
            █  Quarkspace tackle it.  Jangling acoustic guitars,   █
            █  a bright barroom piano and a taut, nasally snare    █
            █  drum propel this along at a pace faster than the    █
            █  original.  There is a guitar solo which wanders     █
            █  away from this template midsong, but still manages  █
            █  to fit with the overall vibe for the most part.     █
            █  The vocal interjections are very reminiscent of     █
            █  Bob Calvert.  Well, this works.  I like it!         █
            █  Overmars offer us "Magnu" which is going to be      █
            █  tough to do as it's one of Dave Brock's finest      █
            █  moments.  That riff is there, all right, but it's   █
            █  maybe just a little too staccato, giving this       █
            █  number the feeling of having unintended holes in    █
            █  every bar - which the vocalist tries to cover by    █
            █  smoothing out his delivery rather than phrasing     █
            █  his lines within the guitar riffs.  Overmars lift   █
            █  their game in the middle section though, which is   █
            █  great to hear as Hawkwind themselves never played   █
            █  it with any conviction after the original studio    █
            █  version on Warrior On The Edge of Time.  The coda   █
            █  of the original is where Hawkwind really shine as   █
            █  a band, and I was waiting to see what Overmars      █
            █  would do with it - the answer is "not very much",   █
            █  though it's perfectly adequate by almost any other  █
            █  standards.                                          █
            █  Alpha Omega induce a bout of Reefer Madness which   █
            █  has some of the same problems as the preceding      █
            █  Overmars track.  Brock is a mighty impressive       █
            █  rhythm guitarist, but his choppy style needs a      █
            █  very fluid band behind it...I like the chorus       █
            █  effect that appears on the guitar in the second     █
            █  verse, but then we get the spoken interlude         █
            █  ("stole my stash") which I think just doesn't work  █
            █  at all - this bit would have been better intoned    █
            █  over a continuing groove.  Alpha Omega segue this   █
            █  straight into a freeform jam, which again I think   █
            █  misses the mark. A wah guitar solo doesn't really   █
            █  rescue them from this - c'mon lads, I want you to   █
            █  do well (Reefer Madness is a very underrated        █
            █  track) and you're floundering here - a final        █
            █  chorus brings us back onto the mark, and it's a     █
            █  pity Alpha Omega don't stretch it out a bit         █
            █  farther from that..                                 █
            █  Texan space rockers ST37 are alleged to have a      █
            █  more amphetamine-like vibe rather than the LSD      █
            █  overtones of most practitioners within this genre.  █
            █  They show it off with Orgone Accumulator, which     █
            █  probably strives to pay homage to the classic       █
            █  version on Space Ritual - but it ends up reminding  █
            █  me more of the "Undisclosed Files Addendum"         █
            █  version from 1984, with Nik Turner on vocals.       █
            █  What is nice about this is the cloud of synth and   █
            █  audio generator-like tones surrounding the          █
            █  drums-guitar-bass blanga...but I feel this would    █
            █  have had slightly more power if it had been slowed  █
            █  down a trifle.                                      █
            █  History of Guns are another new name and they too   █
            █  cover Magnu.  To give credit, this makes no         █
            █  attempt to be faithful to the original, with a      █
            █  totally different arrangement.  Dense, opaque       █
            █  keyboards lay down a carpet of fuzz in the          █
            █  background with a punkish vocal sounding isolated   █
            █  from all the other instruments.  There is a nice    █
            █  drumloop at the beginning of the middle section,    █
            █  but then it all falls apart as we wander            █
            █  perilously close to techno territory with wailing   █
            █  lead guitar clashing horribly with the percussive   █
            █  beats.  This is awful.  It ends abruptly right      █
            █  after the middle section, and not a moment too      █
            █  soon IMHO.                                          █
            █  CD2 gets under way with a band called Brainstorm    █
            █  covering Master Of The Universe. This is            █
            █  immediately gripping, with the beautifully sparse   █
            █  qualities of the ISOS original studio version       █
            █  coming across despite the very different            █
            █  arrangement, mellotron-like keyboard and flute to   █
            █  the fore.  The vocals start disastrously with the   █
            █  singer sounding as though he has his chin pressed   █
            █  down on his Adam's apple, but they come right       █
            █  within a line or two.  And then the band pick the   █
            █  pace up, distorted guitars kicking in, with a       █
            █  sitar-ish sounding solo (which is actually played   █
            █  on the guitar) disinterring a previously  unknown   █
            █  eastern vibe.  There are a couple of instrumental   █
            █  passages like this before the vocals come back in,  █
            █  and do the same thing all over again - for gawd's   █
            █  sake, man, SING, don't yodel! But as before, the    █
            █  strangled quality of the vocals eases, and itÆs     █
            █  all brought to a very satisfying conclusion.        █
            █  Another great sounding opening heralds Sigh's       █
            █  version of Psychedelic Warlords.  A fluid           █
            █  funk-driven guitar rides over layers of             █
            █  atmospheric synth.  Unfortunately the vocals on     █
            █  the verses let the side down terribly, sounding     █
            █  like a lame white boy version of Sly and the        █
            █  Family Stone.  On the chorus, the vocals are        █
            █  vocoder'd which helps, but you keep thinking        █
            █  "where's the beef?"  A soulful guitar solo in the   █
            █  middle passage is really very skillfully done, and  █
            █  provides one of the best bits of musicianship on    █
            █  the album so far, but by this time Sigh have lost   █
            █  their way.  This track is sinking into a morass of  █
            █  muzak-tinged disco, and I am really very sorry to   █
            █  have to say this, because I think they had a great  █
            █  idea in trying to bring out the funk qualities of   █
            █  Psychedelic Warlords - but it needs to be sweaty,   █
            █  70's driving funk, not George Benson inspired       █
            █  niceties like this.  Sorry.                         █
            █  Farflung are another famous name (well, in space    █
            █  rock circles - obscure as hell to the world at      █
            █  large!) and Robot is their brief.  It's very        █
            █  competently done, no misjudgments here, and not     █
            █  too much inspiration either.  This could be a live  █
            █  tape of Hawkwind themselves doing this song in      █
            █  1978 or so.  There is some lead guitar yowling      █
            █  away in the middle of the mix that sounds exactly   █
            █  like one of the keyboard parts in of the live       █
            █  versions already out there.  Vocals very similar    █
            █  to the original, familiar arrangement...and when    █
            █  you recall that all Hawkwind versions of this are   █
            █  live, it seems like a missed opportunity not to     █
            █  have seen what could be done with this song in the  █
            █  studio.                                             █
            █  Spirits Burning, who I think are some sort of Bay   █
            █  Area collective, do a bit better than Farflung      █
            █  with their version of High Rise.  The vocals are    █
            █  again a little too derivative of Calvert's          █
            █  trademarks, but the keyboard-dominated arrangement  █
            █  does a great job of emphasising the minor chords    █
            █  in the chord progression, really bringing out the   █
            █  mournful qualities of this number,  There are       █
            █  also, for perhaps the first time on this CD, some   █
            █  trademarked Dave Brock synth patterns which do not  █
            █  merely echo what was on the original, but convey    █
            █  the Hawkwind feel by providing familiar sounds in   █
            █  new settings.  A great demented guitar solo wisely  █
            █  avoids trying to emulate BrockÆs superbly           █
            █  plaintive version on the original - this one        █
            █  swoops all over the place without trying to stuff   █
            █  too many notes into too short a time.  This is a    █
            █  great track.  Special mention goes to the           █
            █  violinist!                                          █
            █  Moonglum is such an awesome track, probably the     █
            █  crowning achievement of Huw Lloyd Langton's         █
            █  career.  But that was the version on Live           █
            █  Chronicles, and what he does with it here is        █
            █  frankly poor, or so I thought at first.  But as     █
            █  the track progresses, you get used to the idea of   █
            █  Moonglum as a guitar player's track, not a          █
            █  storming rock classic... And it works on this       █
            █  level.  This would do well if put on the CD's       █
            █  included with magazines like Guitarist...Huw's      █
            █  playing is understated, elegant, even.  On the      █
            █  other hand, most of the lead guitar doesn't seem    █
            █  to have enough sustain on it and could do with      █
            █  being higher in the mix, but yes, I could get used  █
            █  to this.                                            █
            █  Hurry On Sundown was a standout track on the        █
            █  Assassins of Silence / Hundred Watt Violence        █
            █  tribute album, where it was given a Byrds-y         █
            █  flavour by The Petals.  Here, Marshan approach it   █
            █  from a subtly different  angle, with a folky feel   █
            █  and what I first took to be mixed male / female     █
            █  vocals reminding me of the Mamas and Papas - the    █
            █  band have since emailed me to say there are no      █
            █  female vocals, the effect was attained with the     █
            █  use of surgical clamps :-)  The harmonica solo is   █
            █  beautifully done and fits superbly with the         █
            █  overall vibe - like the best tracks on this CD, it  █
            █  pays its' respects to the original but has enough   █
            █  innovation about it to steer clear of being         █
            █  derivative.                                         █
            █  Circle's treatment of Don't Understand is so        █
            █  innovative that I had no idea what it was and had   █
            █  to look down at the CD booklet to find out.         █
            █  Repetitive rhythms played by humans, not machines,  █
            █  and Circle's trademark atonality and wordless       █
            █  vocals just below the threshold of audibility are   █
            █  here. I can't really see this as anything other     █
            █  than a piece of original music by Circle, and       █
            █  while it is head and shoulders above many of the    █
            █  other cuts here, does it really belong on a CD      █
            █  with such relatively low ambitions as a Hawkwind    █
            █  tribute?                                            █
            █  DarXtar opt for a recreation of the acoustic        █
            █  "Watcher" which first appeared on the Doremi Fasol  █
            █  Latido album.  Doubled vocals, too, with just a     █
            █  drone guitar in the background to do much in the    █
            █  way of differentiation.  While Hawkwind are         █
            █  currently playing a muscular rendition of this in   █
            █  their live set, to be honest I thought Motorhead    █
            █  had really nailed it on their first album with      █
            █  their all-out rock version.   But this one is a     █
            █  very credible performance of the song as it was     █
            █  first envisaged, and probably one done out of       █
            █  affection rather than anything else.  It ends with  █
            █  snoring too, or was that me I wonder.               █
            █  Another Lemmy number, Motorhead, gets the           █
            █  treatment next, this time from Acid King.  Slowed   █
            █  down to a crawl with fuzzed out droning rhythm      █
            █  guitar which sits oddly with the                    █
            █  clearly-articulated high-pitched vocals.  Full      █
            █  marks for originality - this sounds like a          █
            █  different song altogether, and kind of works in a   █
            █  twisted way.  Like the Circle track, it's better    █
            █  if you think of it as an original piece - it        █
            █  doesn't really work at all as part of a Hawkwind    █
            █  tribute album.                                      █
            █  Beggars Farm take on We Took The Wrong Step Years   █
            █  Ago, and while I'd like to say the results beggar   █
            █  belief, this isn't the case.  They take the song    █
            █  and strip the psychedelic mushiness away from it,   █
            █  back to its' folk roots, and then add an            █
            █  Eastern-sounding sitar or summat.  The vocals are   █
            █  a bit weak, and I get the feeling that this number  █
            █  is pitched just a little too low for this singer -  █
            █  transposing the whole thing upwards by a step or    █
            █  two would probably have fixed this.                 █
            █  Another big name enters the fray, with Sloterdijk   █
            █  taking us into the Golden Void.  This starts out    █
            █  as a sludgy dirge, quite unlike what I'd expected   █
            █  after seeing main man Mike Burro perform a skiffle  █
            █  set as part of the One-Eyed Bishops.  I don't know  █
            █  what he is thinking here - true, this is nothing    █
            █  like any other version of this song that you've     █
            █  ever heard, and we are giving points for            █
            █  originality...but... A decent guitar solo starts    █
            █  at about 4:15 and I was hoping this would be the    █
            █  springboard for the song to take on some kind of    █
            █  life at a higher biological level than the          █
            █  amoebic, but without the vocals, things get worse   █
            █  rather than better.  The song disintegrates into a  █
            █  random selection of strange noises before           █
            █  mercifully coming to an end after about 6 minutes.  █
            █  Harvey Bainbridge provides a track called "Acid     █
            █  House of Dreams", which is actually the vocal       █
            █  samples from "Dreamworker" on Choose Your Masques,  █
            █  grafted onto a revisitation of the Acid Test track  █
            █  from the Palace Springs album.  I'm not             █
            █  particularly a fan of Harvey's dystopial            █
            █  soundscapes, and this one is a more                 █
            █  modern-sounding remake of past glories.  If you     █
            █  like HarveyÆs solo stuff, this is a particularly    █
            █  well executed example.                              █
            █  Acid Mothers Temple, who are reputedly completely   █
            █  mad in musical terms, bring things to a close with  █
            █  You Know You're Only Dreaming.  The original wah'd  █
            █  guitar chord progression is still there, shrouded   █
            █  in layers of synth, sound effects, and general      █
            █  weirdness, each element of which can be picked out  █
            █  and identified as having a genuine Hawkwind         █
            █  pedigree.  Until, that is, you hear the guitar      █
            █  solo which is playing either no tune at all or a    █
            █  hundred different ones. With the drums falling      █
            █  around all over the place, it's like hearing one    █
            █  of those chaotic Hendrix jams at the end of a       █
            █  song, heralding imminent disintegration.  Some      █
            █  early Pink Floyd Mad Scientist type vibes are       █
            █  thrown in there too, although the drums then pick   █
            █  up and restore some rhythm to this insane soup.  I  █
            █  dare say only the Japanese could come up with       █
            █  something like this....some graffiti in San         █
            █  Francisco that I saw once started off with          █
            █  "Remember Pearl Harbour", to which a second hand    █
            █  had appended "Remember Hiroshima".  Succeeding      █
            █  entries were "Remember Toyota" and then             █
            █  "...Sushi".  I think Acid Mother's Temple could be  █
            █  added to that list - but what an entertaining       █
            █  racket they make!  It's got nothing at all to do    █
            █  with Hawkwind in my opinion, but it's been a long   █
            █  two-and-a-half hours...                             █
            █  Overall then, a damn good album, and I have         █
            █  written this entirely at the first hearing -        █
            █  believing initial impressions to be best when one   █
            █  is familiar with the material, as is the case       █
            █  here.  Tempting as it is to draw further            █
            █  comparisons with the Assassins Of Silence /         █
            █  Hundred Watt Violence tribute album, I don't think  █
            █  this is the same kind of thing at all.  The         █
            █  earlier album sought to present a nascent scene     █
            █  (American space rock bands of the mid-90's) and     █
            █  this album, I think, is much closer to being what   █
            █  it says: a tribute CD.  I said at the beginning of  █
            █  this review that there are several potential        █
            █  motivations for bands to be involved in this kind   █
            █  of exercise, and in most cases this seems to be     █
            █  driven by wanting to acknowledge a debt to          █
            █  Hawkwind and their music.  I can't say that any of  █
            █  the bands here have risen to the heights of         █
            █  producing the definitive version of any of the      █
            █  numbers on the CD, but any Hawkwind fan will enjoy  █
            █  this, and it's a very good deal, two and a half     █
            █  hours for the (full) price of a single CD album.    █
            █  A special thanks to the person or persons who put   █
            █  the sleeve notes together, and included             █
            █  starfarer.net in the list of Hawkwind websites.     █
            █  Thanks too to CDS Services for getting my copy to   █
            █  me as soon as release problems were overcome - and  █
            █  now that youÆve read this, you might want to read   █
            █  another opinion of this same album, over at Review  █
            █  Of A Review, right here on my site, and brought to  █
            █  you by the fantastically kind indulgence of Andy    █
            █  G. :-)  Read it and you'll see what I mean!         █
            ▓                                                      ▓
            ▒                                                      ▒
            ░  CD 1/2 :                                            ░
            ░  1.  Tim Blake - Spirit of the Age             6:53  ░
            ░  2.  Litmus - Paradox                          6:49  ░
            ░  3.  Amorphis - Levitation                     5:53  ░
            ░  4.  Spacehead - The Right Stuff               5:47  ░
            ░  5.  The Meads of Asphodel - Utopia            4:20  ░
            ░  6.  The Enchanted - Song of the Sword         2:39  ░
            ░  7.  Bedouin - Sword of the East               5:37  ░
            ░  8.  Silver Machine - Silver Machine           5:18  ░
            ░  9.  Murkins - Psi Power                       5:16  ░
            ░  10. Quarkspace - Quark Strangers and Charm    4:19  ░
            ░  11. OverMars - Magnu                          4:46  ░
            ░  12. Alpha Omega - Reefer Madness              5:57  ░
            ░  13. ST37 - Orgone Accumulator                 6:09  ░
            ░  14. History of Guns - Angels/Magnu            2:31  ░
            ░  CD 2/2 :                                            ░
            ░  1.  Brainstorm - Masters of the Universe      5:05  ░
            ░  2.  Sigh - Psychedelic Warlords               5:39  ░
            ░  3.  Farflung - Robot                          5:24  ░
            ░  4.  Spirits Burning - High Rise               5:56  ░
            ░  5.  Huw Lloyd Langton Band - Moonglum         5:31  ░
            ░  6.  Marshan - Hurry on Sundown                4:11  ░
            ░  7.  Circle - DonÆt Understand                 5:09  ░
            ░  8.  Darxtar - The Watcher                     5:42  ░
            ░  9.  Acid King - Motorhead                     5:22  ░
            ░  10. Beggars Farm - We Took the Wrong Step     3:40  ░
            ░      Years Ago                                       ░
            ░  11. Sloterdijk - Golden Void                  7:29  ░
            ░  12. Harvey Bainbridge - Acid House of Dreams  5:52  ░
            ░  13. Acid Mothers Temple - You Know Your Only  7:42  ░
            ░      Dreaming                                        ░
            ░                                               144:56 ░
         ░  ▒                                                      ▒
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Files

PathSize
101-tim_blake-spirit_of_the_age-gw.mp39,07 MB
102-litmus-paradox-gw.mp38,32 MB
103-amorphis-levitation-gw.mp39,14 MB
104-spacehead-the_right_stuff-gw.mp38,20 MB
105-the_meads_of_asphodel-utopia-gw.mp36,05 MB
106-the_enchanted-song_of_the_sword-gw.mp33,90 MB
107-bedouin-sword_of_the_east-gw.mp37,63 MB
108-silver_machine-silver_machine-gw.mp37,32 MB
109-murkins-psi_power-gw.mp38,23 MB
110-quarkspace-quark_strangers_and_charm-gw.mp34,22 MB
111-overmars-magnu-gw.mp37,77 MB
112-alpha_omega-reefer_madness-gw.mp310,22 MB
113-st37-orgone_accumulator-gw.mp39,56 MB
114-history_of_guns-angels-magnu-gw.mp33,89 MB
201-brainstorm-masters_of_the_universe-gw.mp36,90 MB
202-sigh-psychedelic_warlords-gw.mp37,51 MB
203-farflung-robot-gw.mp37,56 MB
204-spirits_burning-high_rise-gw.mp39,05 MB
205-huw_lloyd_langton_band-moonglum-gw.mp37,18 MB
206-marshan-hurry_on_sundown-gw.mp35,89 MB
207-circle-donaet_understand-gw.mp37,71 MB
208-darxtar-the_watcher-gw.mp37,75 MB
209-acid_king-motorhead-gw.mp36,52 MB
210-beggars_farm-we_took_the_wrong_step_years_ago-gw.mp35,14 MB
211-sloterdijk-golden_void-gw.mp312,90 MB
212-harvey_bainbridge-acid_house_of_dreams-gw.mp38,03 MB
213-acid_mothers_temple-you_know_your_only_dreaming-gw.mp310,31 MB