Hawkwind's fifth studio album found the band enjoying a rare oasis of stability after the multitudinous personnel shifts of the past five years. Only the recruitment of a second drummer, Alan Powell, disturbed the equanimity of the lineup that created the previous year's Hall of the Mountain Grill, although it would soon be time to change again. By the end of the year, bassist Lemmy had departed, vocalist Robert Calvert had rejoined, and the group's career-long relationship with United Artists would be over. In the meantime, Warrior on the Edge of Time ensured that it was brainstorming business as usual. Decorated with a magnificent sleeve that unfolded into the shape of a shield, Warrior on the Edge of Time delivered some of Hawkwind's best-loved future showstoppers -- Simon House's far-reaching "Spiral Galaxy 28948," the frenetic "Assault and Battery," and the monstrous "Magnu" all made their bow here, while the accompanying "Kings of Speed" single was certainly a big hit in the youth clubs of the day, even if it did steadfastly avoid the chart. Remarkable, too, is "The Golden Void," a stately bolero set, indeed, on the edge of time and buffeted by one of the band's most impressive ever instrumental performances. A handful of tracks do betray their age. Michael Moorcock's echo- and effects-laden recitation of "The Wizard Blew His Horn" is impossibly overwrought, although it's worth sitting through simply for the segue into the throbbing "Opa-Loka"; in fact, the entire album is presented with minimal breaks between tracks, to deliver a seamless treat that -- in the light of Hawkwind's next musical moves -- has since seen Warrior on the Edge of Time described as the band's last true "classic." It isn't, but you can easily see why people think it might be. [The CD reissue includes one bonus track, Lemmy's valedictory "Motorhead," recorded during the album sessions but released only as the B-side to "Kings of Speed."]

(by Dave Thompson, AMG)

The last album by the band's "stable" lineup, it closes an epoch, and closes it just like you'd expect from a Hawkwind album. And that is? Why, sounding like a true Hawkwind album, of course! Epics? Got 'em! Mr Moorcock? Got 'im! Astral trips? In billions. Potheads of the world, rejoice.
Well, actually, it's far from "great", but you gotta understand this: Hawkwind don't make "great" or "poor" albums. Hawkwind make "trips". If you accept the idea of a "trip" (and I certainly accept the idea of a 'trip' if it's done well), you won't speak poorly of any Hawkwind album, at least, not of the 'golden era'. If you don't accept the idea of a "trip", nothing in the world will make me understand how you actually got this far into my Hawkwind reviews. Frankly speaking, have I written a Hawkwind review that hadn't been ripped off the previous Hawkwind review? These reviews should be like "trips", too. (Well, actually, I think the Space Ritual review did resemble a "trip"). So get out your hemp ropes and off we go!
The problem with Warrior is that there's too little guitar on the album. For instance, 'Assault & Battery' which opens the album would feature a super guitar riff had it been recorded two years ago; as of now, though, it is exclusively synth-based, and not only that, but they also borrowed the synth pattern off Roxy Music's 'Out Of The Blue'. WHY????? Okay, okay, I get it, 'coincidences will happen'. It's nice and moody, but nowhere near as ass-kicking as in the good old days of yore. Actually, only two songs really kick mighty ass: 'Magnu', the ode to the cosmic horse of the golden mane, which is the album's eight-minute epic, and the closing 'Kings Of Speed'. These have the energy and punch of old... the funniest thing, though, is that while 'Kings Of Speed' was credited to Brock and Moorcock, it sounds just like a Motorhead song! Fast, gritty and not all that astral, if you ask me. Okay, so the song does deal with sci-fi thematics, but with just a wee bit of lyrical invention, it could have been about bikes, you know? And as if by chance, on the re-issued CD version this closing number rests next to... 'Motorhead', the Motorhead anthem, written and sung by Lemmy, which was first recorded by Hawkwind. And the two sound very close to each other - and by the way, I far prefer this version of 'Motorhead' to the Motorhead versions. It has neat saxes and violins! My kingdom for a violin!
The rest of this album is very patchy. First, it is overloaded with short little poetry extracts, a thing that was previously limited to live albums but now seems to have taken on a studio life of its own as Calvert does his usual tricks. 'The Wizard Blew His Horn', 'Warriors', 'Standing At The Edge'... all these things were probably impressive live, but in the middle of a studio album, I - do - not - want - that crap. I want ass-kicking and headbanging, astral grooves and cosmic jams. This is just a bunch of rubbish. Ah well... then again, I suppose that if it's all a "trip", we have to be tolerant. It's not crap, it's just boring.
The actual musical pieces are okay. Slower mood pieces like 'The Golden Void' and moderate shake-ups like the instrumental 'Opa-Loka' alternate nicely with a few formulaic acoustic ballads like Brock's 'Demented Man', and as usual, I have no problems with assimilating any of them even if it's all been already done many times before. I suppose I could go on and try analyzing this stuff... but the album is hardly worth analyzing. Detailed analysis of every particular song, in fact, will probably kill the overall effect, and the overall effect is what matters.
Trip out, dude. No, you don't need any drugs to trip out, but I'm perfectly serious indeed: it's difficult to headbang to Warrior, because there's so little guitar, but it's perfectly easy to relax to it. The synths and organs are played very effectively (the band actually got better at finetuning their special effects through the years), and as usual, there's just so much going on that you won't be bored. Should I be ashamed of myself? Nah.

(George Starostin, Rating: * * * 1/2)