Hawkwind: Every Album, Every Song

by Duncan Harris

Always enigmatic and outside of the mainstream, most people associate Hawkwind with 'whoosh' noises, ‘Silver Machine’, Lemmy and 'Space Rock' music. From the beginning, Hawkwind have been trailblazers, even when they have explored blind alleys and cul-de-sac’s, and have never been afraid to innovate and mutate into strikingly different musical arenas. The band have a unique history in the world of rock music and have inspired not just other bands but also an entire sub-genre of Stoner Rock. Hawkwind's stated aim was to be a substitute for mind-expanding drugs. Instead, they used music, poetry, lights, projections, theatre and dance in an assault on the senses. Albums such as X In Search Of Space and Warrior At The Edge Of Time as well as classic live album Space Ritual set a template for their astonishing take on rock music. This book is a track-by-track analysis of every studio album and major live release to date. Beginning with the highly-regarded early albums of the 1970s, it continues through the hard rock hardships of the 1980s and the sometimes awkward musical dalliances of the 1990s,  finishing on the unexpectedly triumphant return of the band in the 2010s. It presents an illuminating companion to the extraordinary recorded works of a band no-one thought would achieve any longevity. Duncan Harris started as a music journalist and interviewer in the 1980s, writing for fanzines and magazines. He contributed to the Rough Guides to Music series and, until recently, maintained a long series of reviews for the website The Dreaded Press . One of his proudest achievements is to have interviewed graphic novel guru Alan Moore in the late 1980s, just after the rise of Watchmen . Amongst other subjects, Alan and Duncan had a long talk about Hawkwind. Duncan lives in Wiltshire with his adorable wife, dog Willow and two cats named Loki and Lilith.

Genres: Music

160 pages, Paperback

Published February 28, 2020

Reviews

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

A look at every album by Hawkwind, it's a pretty good overview of everything. It does it's job perfectly.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant examination of all the major Hawkwind albums, this includes a description and critique of each track, as well as details of the artists involved, the personnel changes through the years, and other information about the band. There is also a selection of colour photos in the centre pages, some of the band in concert and others of the various album covers through the years. You would expect it to get very repetitive, but the author manages to keep the text fresh and informative. Excellent.