Hawkwind review

When 2010 hit, Hawkwind seemed to move into warp speed when it came to releasing new material. 2010 brought Blood of the Earth, and 2012 brought their new album Onward. Whereas Blood was focused more on the rock side of Hawkwind, interlaced with a few excellent space style tracks, Onward is a completely different silver machine. It is not 88 minutes of brain damage, it is 81 minutes of pure bliss.

On this album, Hawkwind are:

Dave Brock – guitar, synthesizer, vocals, bass
Richard Chadwick – drums, vocals
Tim Blake – keyboards, theremin, bass
Mr. Dibs – bass, vocals
Niall Hone – bass, synthesis, sequencing, guitar
Jason Stuart – keyboards 
Huw Lloyd-Langton – guitar

This line-up is exactly the same as the one from Blood of the Earth, and this version of Hawkwind work very well together, Huw Lloyd-Langton provides what would be his final Hawkwind appearance due to his tragic loss to cancer in December 2012. This means that this version of Hawkwind has had time to pull itself together, allowing each of the members to work with perfect interlocking skill.

One of the first things you notice about Onward is its length. It is a very long album, the longest LP that Hawkwind have ever attempted. But whereas in their youth, Hawkwind couldn't keep it up passed round five, now they seem to have all the stamina in the world. They are the George Foreman of music apparently as they have created an album which is good from start to finish. But this is years of experience melted down into a concentrated form. Something they manage to pull off very well.

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