Great album of live material!
BENJAMIN MILER | Veneta, Oregon | 05/08/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I won't forget the day I found a cassette of Palace Springs. It was on the RoadRacer label, a label that general dealt with speed/thrash/death metal. I already had a few of Hawkwind's releases from the 1970s. I was curious how Hawkwind sounded in the 1990s and once I heard Palace Springs, I was amazed. This same album was released in the UK on GWR, one of the last released on that label. The band did not sell out, and did not turn to speedmetal (thank goodness) despite them being on the same label as Sepultura. As it actually turns out, Palace Springs was a collection of live material from 1989 with the new lineup of Dave Brock, Bridget Wishart, Harvey Bainbridge, Simon House, Alan Davey, and Richard Chadwick. Wishart and Chadwick were new to Hawkwind at that time, with drummer Danny Thompson Jr. and Huw-Lloyd Langton departing. Simon House was the returning memember, having previously left Hawkwind back in 1978. There are two brand new cuts here, "Back in the Box" and "Treadmill" and these are probably some of the finest recent-ish Hawkwind songs I have ever heard! "Back in the Box" features Bridget Wishart's vocals, and I really love Simon House's violin playing. "Treadmill" is simply classic Hawkwind all the way, with Dave Brock's vocals, plus what sounds Moog-like solos. I can't be sure what it is, as it's a bit early for analog modeling synths. I do know that Bainbridge was using a Korg M1 at this point, which you can hear on this version of "The Golden Void" called "The Void of Golden Light". I can't believe music like this was being made in 1989 (although, aside from those attending those concerts, the rest of the world had to wait until 1991 when Palace Springs got released). Much of the stuff is live versions of songs you already know, but what fantastic versions!. I already mentioned "The Golden Void", originally from Warrior on the Edge of Time, but it needs mentioning this version is just as great. They prove they can do a fantastic version of "Time We Left (This World Today)" and it shows, and it segues into a wonderful version of "Heads". "Acid Trip" is basically a techno version of "Dream Worker" from Choose Your Masques. In fact, they borrowed that same recording from that 1982 album and added techno rhythms to it. Then there's a version of "Damnation Alley", very recognizable, but for some strange reason they decided to flirt with reggae which they never did on the original. I guess they wanted to flirt with reggae because a (then) up and coming space rock group Ozric Tentacles was doing that on occasions.
Although released in 1991, technically Palace Springs represents Hawkwind as they were at the end of the '80s, but they really closed the decade off with a bang that way. This is certainly one of the better live Hawkwind albums I have ever heard!"
Track Listings (8) - Disc #1