Produced by former
Pretty Things guitarist
Dick Taylor,
Hawkwind's first album was rightfully compared to
Pink Floyd's early sound: an appealing conglomeration of hippie
rock grooves and interplanetary guitar trips set to the phosphorescent wandering of
Dik Mik's electronics and
Nik Turner's cool sax playing.
Hawkwind may not have been their most lucrative album, but it's where it all began.
Hawkwind's initial galactic
blues-rock sound is based on
Dave Brock's guitar playing, rising smoke-like through the haze of lyrical space
funk. The two opening tracks set the tone, with
"The Reason Is" sinking in nicely to the mood of both
Dave Brock's and
John Harrison's guitar viscosity. After this, the real
Hawkwind begins to emerge, as the eight-minute
"Be Yourself" is delightfully plastered with echoed vocals and comic book ominousness, putting drummer
Terry Ollis in the spotlight this time.
"Seeing It as You Really Are" moves hauntingly forward through the blackness of space as a constant jam, with the keyboards, saxophone, and guitar set adrift on a nonstop instrumental voyage. What begins to materialize throughout this debut album is the band's trademarked sound as a whole, with each player making their instrument effectual and authoritative from the get-go.
Hawkwind's sound indeed solidified as their career moved upward through the '70s, but their first album magnificently introduces the starting point of what was going to be a long and peculiar journey. ~ Mike DeGagne
