Oscillations ahoy! Classic Hawkwind from 1971. Set the controls for who knows where…
Release Date: 30th August 2024
Label: Cherry Red Records
Format: 2CD+Bluray / vinyl / DL
set the controls
The year is 1971. The controls are about to be set, not so much for the heart of the sun, but a place far beyond. The album that paved the way of the iconic Space Ritual gigs. The “proto planetary disc” that earned superlatives at the time and not just in rose tinted hindsight.
In Search Of Space (and its unusual ‘X’ monikor) has possibly earned even an even greater legendary status over the years. The album now has its place in the annals and is honoured with a reboot in various forms. The original mix is given a 2024 remaster, there’s a new 2024 stereo mix and a Bluray disc packs in everything including Stephen W Tayler’s stunning new 5.1 Surround Sound mixes of the album. His work on the similarly iconic Space Ritual live set and the associated recordings was terrific. While Steven Wilson may be the general 5.1 remix man about town, Mr Taylor is deservedly the go-to man for anything Hawkwind. Bonus tracks include Silver Machine and Seven By Seven, both of which have undergone an almost endless series of revisions and remasterings to arrive where we are today with what could/should be the definitive(s).
fog lifted – all clear!
The new release offers the sort of clarity that feels like having the fog lifted or playing the album through a smart new piece of kit. Never a band who were candidates for testing the qualities of the latest hi-fi systems, the Hawkwind sonic muddiness was almost a trademark. A challenge even. For anyone whose ears have become trained to the original recordings and the fifty year old package, the new set might sound rather strange!
Fifteen minutes of You Shouldn’t Do That set the scene and the tone and a marker for anyone who might like to try their hand at Space Rocking in the future. Even now it sounds ‘out there’. Oscillations and free form riffing appear to be rampant. A philosophy that serves the Hawks well, Adjust Me and You Know You’re Only Dreaming with it’s flutey effects cut from similar cloth. The bonus of having a 5.1 option to hear the mix literally swirling around in space some fifty years later – who’d have thought it?
And there are the songs that stick close to the acoustic beginnings. A return to earth and something a little more organic comes with the two acoustic based diversions. We Took The Wrongs Step Years Ago gets supplemented by what could be seagulls or sonics. Children Of The Sun is a pastoral and hypnotic piece where the flute dances over the riff in another Tull-like fashion. Best served with some lava lamp visuals – as is most of the record to be fair.
a genuine legacy
The set is completed with a 68-page illustrated book with new essay and a reproduction of the rare Hawkwind Log Book. The box set becomes the definitive release of this legendary album. The label is certainly doing the Hawkwind legacy proud and guaranteeing that they remain on course for another few years to come.
Here’s a song that deservedly holds a certain fondness and not without a hint of achy nostalgia:
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