Search - Hawkwind :: Warrior on the Edge of Time

Synthesizer heavy and adventurous space rock with a hard edg

Jeffrey J.Park | Massachusetts, USA | 07/16/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I did notice that there is a bit of a proggier feel to Warriors on the Edge of Time (1975), especially in contrast to earlier efforts such as In Search of Space (1971), and musically appears to continue the format of Hall of the Mountain Grill (1974). The lineup on this album is similar to that on Hall of the Mountain Drill, with the exception of the subtraction of keyboardist Del Dettmar, and the addition of drummer/percussionist Allen Powell along with vocalist/sci-fi author Michael Moorcock. Busted for possession of drugs while on tour, Lemmy was arrested and subsequently fired by the band. As such, this was Lemmy's last album with Hawkwind before he went on to form Motorhead.



This great album of space rock opens with the approximately 10'30" minute Assault and Battery>The Golden Void, which is ushered in with the pounding, chugging, Rickenbacker bass work of Lemmy, while keyboardist/violinist Simon House establishes swirling clouds of spacey mellotron pads. The rest of the band then joins in with the heavy, straight and double drumming of Simon King/Allan Powell "cutting through the clouds", along with the "rough around the edges" vocal style of guitarist Dave Brock and great flute work by Nik Turner. This combination of spacey synthesizer textures (at times it reminds me of Tim Blake's work with Gong), tons of mellotron, sometimes distorted electric guitar, and a thunderous rhythm section pretty much characterizes most of the album.



The odd pieces Standing at the Edge, Warriors, and The Wizard Blows his Horn each feature a heavily echoed and electronically altered spoken word passage and present a stark contrast to the rest of the material. The Wizard Blows his Horn describes hissing "snow snakes" and other strange imagery, which segues into my favorite track, Opa-Loka. This piece is hypnotic, trance-like, and features a repeated phrase on the bass, which is doubled by the snare and bass drum. On top of this pulsating rhythm section are odd electronic effects generated with the moog, heavily echoed guitars parts, and scattered bits played on various woodwind and reed instruments by Nik Turner. Haunting melodies and spacey mellotron/synth work are featured on the Demented Man in addition to a wonderful acoustic guitar part, making this another favorite track along with the propulsive and synth heavy Spiral Galaxy 28948.



The only straight ahead and rocking tune on the CD is the reckless and comparatively "garage-rock-like" sounding track Kings of Speed, which features a great violin solo by Simon King.



The bonus track includes Motorhead, which spotlights the bludgeoning bass playing of Lemmy along with some ear splitting guitar work by Dave Brock. I should note that the remastered version of the album by the German Rock Fever label features the bonus track Motorhead along with an explosive live version of Kings of Speed, although the CD does not appear to be available on AMAZON anymore.



This is a fantastic album of space rock that presents a nice blend of spacey synth textures, electronic experimentation, electric/acoustic guitar work, and a bone-crunching rhythm section. Highly recommended along with Hawkwind (1970), In Search of Space (1971), and Hall of the Mountain Grill (1974)."

Space Warriors Getting Edgy!

P. McKenna | Atlanta GA | 03/17/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Musicnauts:



Dave Brock: Guitars, Synth, Vocals

Lemmy: Bass, Vocals

Simon King and Allan Powell: Drums and Percussion

Nik Turner: Saxes and Flutes

Robert Calvert: Vocals, Recitation

Simon House: Keyboards, Mellotron, Violin

Del Detmar: Synths

Michael Moorcock: Words



Climb aboard folks, the good ship Hawkwind blasts off on yet it's most overtly proggy voyage, continuing the direction it started on the previous "Hall of the Mountain Grill".



All the things that have made Hawkwind so endearing are contained here, the echo-laden over-the-top sci-fi poetry, disembodied flutes and saxes, slashing rhythm guitar, fuzzy insistent bass, chattering electronics, sweeping synths and swirling mellotron with a touch of violin.



The Highpoints: The killer opening cut "Assault and Battery/Golden Void with its insistent double drumming, fuzzy bass and swirling maelstrom of mellotrons and synths, organized chaos at its finest! "The Demented King" is a fine change of pace, similar in tone to Hawkwind's first more acoustic-folky album. The over-the-top sci-fi poetry of "The Wizard Blew His Horn" and "Warriors" complete with pounding kettle drums, cymbals and more of those "chattering electronics". "Spiral Galaxy NGC-28948" is a cool little instrumental romp in 6/8, very untypical of Hawkwind. There is also a very entertaining rocker "Kings of Speed", peppered with, of all things, Simon House doing some mean COUNTRY FIDDLING!!!?????



The Space Debris: "Opa-Loca" is a jam that really doesn't go anywhere. My only other pet peeves come on the production and mixing end. A little less echo would've been good on the poems, too much echo makes words unintelligible. The other thing being that Baron Brock got buried in the mix, that metallic slashing rhythm guitar, so much a part of the Hawk's sound is only sporadically audible in spots.



But pet peeves aside, I found this to be one very fun ride through space with our veteran Hawksters! This would also be the last album for bassist Lemmy (busted at the Canadian border for drugs and then fired from the band to boot). To this day, some folks blast Hawkwind albums when crossing the Canadian border in honor of the Lemster!



Climb aboard folks, space is the place!!!!

"