Hall of the Mountain Grill

by Hawkwind

Overview

The band's best studio album, coming off of the success of Space Ritual. The group's rock roots are juxtaposed effectively with the swelling synthesizer flourishes and pretentious song ideas, creating the quintessential guitar-oriented space rock record -- the highlight was the live recording of "You'd Better Believe It," with its crunchy guitars, but nobody minded keyboardman Simon House's languid, synthesizer-laden "Hall of the Mountain Grill" (especially as it was followed by the Lemmy-sung "Lost Johnny," a great all-out rocker). The sound, especially the mix of ballsy high-volume guitar playing and soaring electronic keyboards ("The Psychedelic Warlords," "D-Rider"), would later get co-opted by outfits such as Blue Oeyster Cult ("Don't Fear the Reaper") and Kansas. Overall, this is the sound and imagery that the punkier kids and druggies who went to shows like Laserium were looking for, and if the producers of Laserium had devised something hooked around this record, it could have run 20 years or better. [The 2001 British reissue includes several bonus tracks: "Paradox," the "Single Version Edit" of "You'd Better Believe It," the "Single Version" of "Pyschedelic Warlords (Disappear in Smoke)," the "Remix Single Edit" of "Paradox," and "It's So Easy."] ~ Bruce Eder

Product Details

Release Date:	12/11/2001
Label:	Emi Music Distribution
UPC:	0724353003524
Rank:	29969

Tracks

1. The Psychedelic Warlords (Disappear in Smoke)
2. Wind of Change
3. D-Rider
4. Web Weavers
5. You'd Better Believe It
6. Hall of the Mountain Grill
7. Lost Johnny
8. Goat Willow
9. Paradox
10. You'd Better Believe It
11. The Pyschedelic Warlords (Disappear in Smoke)
12. Paradox
13. It's So Easy

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Hawkwind   Primary Artist,Vocals
Simon King   Drums,Percussion
Dave Brock   Harmonica,Keyboards,Synthesizer,Guitar (12 String),Organ,Guitar,Vocals
Simon House   Violin,Vocals,Keyboards,Mellotron,Synthesizer
Del Dettmar   Kalimba,Keyboards,Synthesizer
Lemmy   Bass,Guitar,Rhythm,Vocals,Guitar (Rhythm)
Nik Turner   Oboe,Flute,Vocals,Saxophone

Technical Credits

Dave Brock   Composer
David Hamilton   Assistant Engineer
Mick Farren   Composer
David Brock   Composer
Andy Morris   Assistant Engineer,Engineer
Ian Kilmister   Composer
Simon House   Composer
Doug Bennett   Producer
Lemmy Kilmister   Composer
David Hamilton-Smith   Engineer
Del Dettmar   Composer
Peter Mew   Engineer,Digital Remastering
Nik Turner   Composer
Roy Baker   Producer
Roy Thomas Baker   Producer
Hawkwind   Producer
Paul Cobbold   Engineer,Digital Remastering