In Search Of Space

Don't take drugs. Let Hawkwind take them for you. This was definitely the turning point. Riffs, chants, sounds, Space lyrics and in the middle of it all is the madness of 'Adjust Me'. Including the fan fave 'Master of the Universe' plus bonus single 'Silver Machine' and B-side '7 by 7' this could be all you need to begin your Hawkwind journey. Originally released in 1971, the Hawkwind had risen from the underground and were claiming ground on the surface. Fantastic!

A classic acid / space rock adventure courtesy of the prime exponents of the genre. Opener "You Shouldn't Do That" sets the scene perfectly - an elongated, psychedelic experience laced with electronic pulses and manic chants. The album contains pernennial favourite "Master of the Universe". The opening swoosh of the sound generator leads into guitar, drums, bass and then bursts into full flow. One of the band's hardest rockers, "Master of the Universe" remains a personal favourite. The rest of the original album is made up of some good songs, particularly "You Know You're Only Dreaming", although none hit the heights of the two song previously mentioned. Extras include the band's biggest ever chart hit. "Silver Machine", a favourite of 'Greatest Ever .....' compilers everywhere. The versions of "7x7" and "Born to Go" are OK but not a touch on those on Space Ritual.

Overall, this is a great example of early Hawkwind and 70's Space Rock. If you are new to the genre, it is an album I would recommend. If you are an old afficianado, you probably already have this!

for years i wasn`t sure about this album, being a fan of space ritual onwards hawkwind. but this is a different, pre-lemmy hawkwind who were still ladbroke grove freaks, still gave free shows almost anywhere and still indulged in long freakout jams wherever and whenever the mood took them. this is exemplified on the opening cut "you shouldn`t do that" which is a laid back groove for 17 minutes (their longest ever album track), powered by dave brocks insistent fuzz-box power riffing, delicate percussion and nik turner`s avant-garde jazzy sax playing. "you know you`re only dreaming" is a real psychedelic freakout of a track, the revelation being dave anderson`s funky bass playing. this extends to the next track, "master of the universe", quite different and very funky compared to later versions. (this laid back groove disappeared with the arrival of lemmy and resurfaced briefly with the paul rudolph/allan powell rhythm section on "astounding sounds, amazing music" before dave brock put it to rest once and for all). "we took the wrong step years ago" is basically an acoustic dave brock busking tune, but very effective. "adjust me" is the wierdest track on an album full of weird tracks. basically it seems to be coming from the point of view of someone who is going insane and leads to an excellent jam with dave brock delivering some superb psychedelic guitar (he is the most underrated psychedelic guitarist on the planet!). this end abruptly and nik turner`s lovely "children of the sun" ends the album. his flute solo is superb. bonus tracks include "silver machine" (released in 1972), "seven by seven" (slightly different to the "b" side of "silver machine", the guitar solo on that version faded in rather than the abrupt, clanky start to the solo on this one).still a top hawkwind track, though. " born to go " is here in an edited version of the "greasy trucker`s party" recording and is superb , as always. "(x?)in search of space should not be compared to other hawkwind albums. it is a one - off, all on it`s own. they were at their most freaky and experimental on this album and with the departure of dave anderson on bass and terry ollis on drums would never sound the same again (interestingly, nik turner`s space ritual captures some of the feel of this album, in particular, their excellent "satiricon" live dvd recorded in 2004.). i grew to love this album perhaps more than any other hawkwind album ,with the exception of "the space ritual", it has such a laid-back power and rhythm to it that sets it apart. highly recommended.