The 1976 release of `Astounding Sounds' saw Hawkwind embark on an eclectic journey of musical discovery, for the first time going beyond the single-minded focus on swirling chugga chugga space rock that was perfected on the previous year's release of `Warrior On the Edge of Time'. This was the start of their `Charisma period', where elements of punk, new wave, funk and even jazz were woven into the Hawkwind sound.
The eccentric rock poet Robert Calvert helped to give the band a whole new direction with his original lyrical style and quirky song-writing contributions. Highlights on this album include `Steppenwolf' and `Reefer Madness', though my personal favourite is the atmospheric Turner-penned number `Kadu Flyer'.
Hot on the heels of the defiantly transitory Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music album, Quark Strangeness and Charm was the first full flowering of Hawkwind's newly-honed drive towards brittle pop, sharp wit, and crystal-clear intent — attributes that, if they'd ever existed in the past, had been entirely overwhelmed by the sheer grandeur of the space rock rocket blast.
Now it was the propulsive riffs and deep space echoes that were held in abeyance, and Quark opened as it meant to go on, with "Spirit of the Age"'s tight keyboards, unobtrusive washes, and the utterly captivating — if totally skewed — story of love across the light years. It is hard to visualise just how shocking the change must have been to loyal fans of the era; how they must have trembled before the electrifying jolt of concise lyricism and accessible melodies.
Robert Calvert wore an aviator's helmet and carried a stuffed falcon on one hand, odd apparel indeed for an ode to Albert Einstein's lack of luck with the ladies. Or maybe not so odd, after all.A handful of songs fed back into the traditional Hawkwind mythos — the post-apocalyptic "Damnation Alley," the near-industrial instrumental "Forge of Vulcan," and the dream-is-over nostalgia of "Days of the Underground." "Hassan I Sabha," is an epic Middle Eastern terrorist rhetoric with haunting Arabic refrain and instrumentation. Hawkwind's most unexpected album to date and, today, one of their most endearingly enduring; charming, strange, and, if not quark, then certainly quirky. 
Hawkwind - Astounding Sounds Amazing Music/ Quark Strangeness and Charm
Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music
1. Reefer Madness
2. Steppenwolf
3. City of Lagoons
4. The Aubergine That Ate Rangoon
5. Kerb Crawler
6. Kadu Flyer
7. Chronoglide Skyway
Quark, Strangeness and Charm
8. Spirit of the Age
9. Damnation Alley
10. Fable of a Failed Race
11. Quark, Strangeness and Charm
12. Hassan I Sabah
13. The Forge of Vulcan
14. Days of the Underground
15. Iron Dreamastounding sounds on head heritage
Bob Calvert websiteBob Calvert bio-Working Down A Diamond Mine
Bob Calvert myspace
hawklords - 25 years 12" here
Captain lockheed & the starfighters -ejection 7'' here
Robert Calvert - Test-Tube Conceived lp here
Inner City Unit website
Inner City Unit - solitary ashtray/so T Ry As I D 7'' here
Inner City Unit - pass out lp here
Inner City Unit - The President's Tapes & Kubano Kickasso here
Nik Turner's Fabulous All Stars - live recording here
2 comments:
Re: Astounding Sounds, haven't heard this for 25 years or so, but can't find the link for that one/just getting 404 error!
Regards/
hiya mate... just fixed the link.
i think these albums still stand well & include some canny fine pop songs too,because of the turner/calvert input.
enjoy.big hugs.xx
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