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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
witty heavy rock, 19 Jan 2000
By A Customer
This record is what they used to call a "concept album" in that it is a series of themes linked by dialogue. The subject is highly unusual and yet it all works together very nicely which is more than you can say about some other concept albums.I saw Bob Calvert when he was with Hawkwind and he was one of the unique english eccentrics in rock in terms of his lyrical ideas and performances. Too subtle for the thrashing racket that Hawkwind used to put out. Some of their best albums are those which feature RC. The later ones lack his imagination and originality not to mention his humour. Sadly Robert is no longer with us - like one of the star turns on this album, Viv Stanshall, we have been robbed of their talents by premature departure for the next world. Some people burn twice as brightly for half as long I suppose. Anyway, this LP will have you in stitches (or at least grinning) in between enjoying some well delivered, well arranged rock songs. In a way I doubt that anyone but RC and his cronies could have carried this off. It deals with the post-war Luftwaffe and how they were conned into buying a supersonic jet which really wasn't quite up to what they wanted to do with it - reassert their pride. As a result, they experienced a lot of mishaps with what could only be described as a "hot ship" - it lands at well over a hundred miles an hour. But their accident rate was not unique nor the highest, they had a lot because they bought a lot of planes. Getting to grips with such a machine taxed the best airforces of the world (because a lot of people bought them) and they lost a lot of good pilots too. So buy this album (pity there aren't some extracts to listen to) listen to it in a darkened room with the stereo up really loud. Laugh along with the mad mechanics as they discuss how to mend a broken plane (and don't) or overhear a greenhorn jet jock countdown to take-off as he pops pills to calm his nerves... I could go on and on. It's unique, It's inspired. It's brilliant - buy it, for Bob's sake!
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