Alien 4 [CD]

Generally speaking, Hawkwind's post-seventies albums don't get such a favourable response from fans as their earlier work. I'm never really sure why this is: if we take this album, "Alien 4", as an example, then we can hear that it has all of the sonic elements of the earlier work: mantric jamming rhythms, spacey synthesizers, science-fiction themes and a good mix of sung and instrumental music. What is different, inevitably, is that the instruments used are "digital", as opposed to the more "organic" ones the band had to use in the early days, and a lot of fans prefer the sounds of those earlier instruments.

Set that issue aside and "Alien 4" is a fine Hawkwind album, with plenty of verve and imagination: songs such as "Alien (I Am)", "Xenomorph" and "Death Trap" hold their own with the best that the band has to offer. Throughout, "Alien 4" is a strong album with no weak moments, despite its length.

The sound in this remastered version is first class, as you would expect from this excellent series of Atomhenge reissues, as is the overall package.

There is only the one bonus track on this disc: unlike the seventies albums 1995's "Alien 4" was already a full-length CD so there is not much scope for Atomhenge to expand.

However, if you missed this album the first time out then it is a definite "must-buy": the music here is up to top-notch Hawkwind!

You may think that awarding this album five stars is excessive, when there are other, better, Hawkwind albums out there - "Hall of the Mountain Grill" from their golden seventies period is my particular favourite - but when the rating system consists of only five stars then this kind of apparent discrepancy can arise. You have to think about what other music there is out there by other bands, and how much enjoyment this particular album gives compared against much of that - and then it's easy to see why it gets five stars.

This is one of Hawkwind's best nineties releases, in my opinion. Some really interesting touches to it. For a long time, this album was very expensive to get your hands on, but it's been re-released, so get it, definitely! From the beginning of the album, which is so atmospheric, right the way through to classic space rock tracks like Blue Skin and Xenomorph.

Definitely get this Hawkwind album!

1995, The X-Files, UFO abductions, conspiracy theories....a good time for Hawkwind to make this album as it seems to fit in well with the Zeitgeist. The mighty 3-piece line-up of Dave Brock (Guitar/Synth/Vocals) Alan Davey(Bass/Synth/Vocals) and Richard Chadwick (Drums) which had been together as a unit for 3/4 years, are here augmented by new vocalist Ron Tree.

The album starts with 'Abducted' which is a short narration by Ron which is very Calvert-esque in it's delivery; it manages to convey the feeling of paranoia and fear of someone supposedly undergoing an alien abduction (if you believe in it). This is followed by the excellent 'Alien I Am', a Dave Brock composition. His guitar and vocals are really good on this track. The track then segues into 'Reject Your Human Touch', which is a very atmospheric coda, and works well. This is starting to feel like a concept album.
'Blue Skin' is next, and the band ramp up the paranoia even more: a great driving riff, spooky sound effects and disturbing vocals from Ron, really impressive stuff !! Next up is Ron's track 'Beam Me up' which I love. It's very toungue in cheek and has a nice ambient middle section, in fact the whole track is very 'cold war' in feel and I like it (a lot!!) Alan Davey's spacey 'instrumental 'Vega' is next, and it's very impressive. Majestic keyboard sweeps and spacey fx create the perfect soundtrack for a journey into space. Alan was always good at creating this type of music. 'Next track 'Xenomorph' has Ron singing again over a good rocky backing before the track briefly lulls into some quiet piano sounds before really exploding into life: again, excellent stuff. A Brock instrumental 'Journey' follows. It has an unusual quirky riff and feel to it, but again it's top drawer stuff from the Hawks. Alan Davey's 'Sputnik Stan' shows there is no let-up in the quality. A nice grungy rocker with a fantastic spacey middle section, featuring some great bass work from the ever reliable Davey. Next we have 'Kapal' which is a stunning track. It includes a voice sample of Laurence Olivier (I think) quoting the soliloquoy from Shakespeare's Hamlet over a trancey backing track which is very menacing and clostrophobic; a highlight of the album.

It wouldn't be a Hawkwind album without at least one duff track, trouble is, I can't really find one on here. The nearest we get is the next track 'Festivals'. It's a decent enough rocker with good words, and a nice vocal delivery from Brock, trouble is, it doesn't really fit in with the 'feel' of the rest of the album. What would normally be an ok album track doesn't quite cut the mustard here; but it's better than a lot of 'good' tracks on other hawkwind albums.

The recent (dodgy) trend of Hawkwind re-recording one of their old tracks carries on here as they cover 'Death Trap' from 1978's P.X.R.5 album. It's ok and Ron does his best, but he's no match here for Robert Calvert (or 'Raving Rupert', as Lemmy used to call him !!) Though they did play this track better on the subsequent 'Alien' tour. Brock's pleasant synth instrumental 'Wastelands' follows, which then drifts into the closing track 'Are You Losing Your Mind'. This is basically the track 'Iron Dream' which closed the 'Quark' album, with words added. This actually works really well: Ron is losing his mind and he wants to tell you all about it !! It's a great way to finish what I consider to be the last decent studio album they recorded.
Well worth buying Hawkfans, you won't be disappointed.