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)
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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)
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