HAWKWIND - X IN SEARCH OF SPACE @ 50

 

Marking a half century since its release on October 8th, 1971 is the sophomore album by space rock legends, Hawkwind, with their first full blown excursion into the depths of the void, X In Search of Space.

While the album is not a concept album in the strict sense of offering a coherent narrative or theme for all the songs, the album’s elaborate die-cut fold out cover and accompanying “log” booklet ultimately imparted a lot of its conceptual weight. These were developed by cover artist, Barney Bubbles & poet Bob Calvert with input from sci-fi author, Michael Moorcock. Collectively, they go a long way in establishing a mythology around the group. Where their debut had hinted at these inclinations, their second album made their otherworldly predilections explicit. The use of fictional accounts of space missions and tales of lost civilizations added a sense of wonder and mystery to the group.

Recording of the album initially began at George Martin’s Air Studios, but that only lasted a week. The sessions were terminated after the band failed to get much done in terms of recording and the studio techs complained that friends of the band had broken into George’s liquor cabinet and pinched all his booze. There were also reports that the engineers found they’d been spiked with LSD, so things ended abruptly at that facility. From there, they were bundled off to Olympic Studios to do the rest of the album under a rather hurried schedule, no doubt with the hopes that a fast pace would keep them out of trouble.

The pace of production didn’t seem to hurt the material, however as the band managed to produce a solid album that would firmly set their course for their progress throughout the next few years. The sound became rooted in their driving rhythm section, which enabled the other players to spin off into the far reaches of improvisational acrobatics while being able to anchor themselves to the band’s relentless grooves. Taking a cue from “Krautrock” and its development of the “motorik” beat, the band were moving much closer to these new structures than traditional blues based rock.

Critical reception for the album was widely positive with Melody Maker comparing them to some of their German contemporaries saying that, while the Germans were more advanced on some musical fronts, Hawkwind’s use of electronics was without precedent. Gonzo reviewer, Lester Bangs, called it "monotone jammings with hypnotic rhythms and solos unraveling off into... well, space. The synthesizers warble, woof and scream and gurgle like barfing computers, the drums pound, and the singers chant Unknown Tongue rebops." Its legacy has placed it onto the platform of offering a definitive space rock statement, making it a foundation stone for the stoned who would trip out to its far-flung, far-out excursions.

Later CD & digital reissues added the seminal Silver Machine single featuring Lemmy Kilmister to the album to round out its greatness!