HAWKWIND - QUARK STRANGENESS AND CHARM - @ 45

 

Marking 45 years in orbit, Hawkwind’s seventh studio album, Quark Strangeness and Charm, was released on June 17th, 1977. Coming in at a time when the UK was besieged by the punk revolution, it saw the group tightening its sound into a more concise attack while struggling to keep the cohesion of the group following a number of upheavals in personnel.

In terms of the group’s lineup, the biggest change was that this was their first album without co-founder Nik Turner. His departure was followed by drummer Allan Powell, while bassist Paul Rudolph was dumped from the band in the middle of recording the album. All these changes put the focus on Robert Calvert as the groups primary front-man, who stepped up to the plate in fine style, offering a distinctive voice for the group backed by inventive lyrics with a deft sense of humor. In fact, according to some critics, he upstaged the band with the quality of his work. But that’s a bit unfair as guitarist Dave Brock kept his riffs tight and economical in a manner that was appropriate for the times and Simon House offered up some fine violin parts. The rhythm section may have been a little disjointed as the replacement bass player had to overdub his parts, replacing the recordings Rudolph had laid down for the bed tracks with the new drummer. As such, the linking between the drums and bass may not have been as aligned as it could have been if they’d been able to record together.

Despite all the upheaval, the album was well received both critically and commercially and still holds up as a notable entry in the group’s canon. I find it sticks to its melodic hooks with a firm grip while steering clear of the jam band meandering which defined some of their previous works. For “space rock”, the "trips" feel to the point and solidly conceived. As an updated and slightly stripped down version of the band’s sound, I think it works exceptionally well and has stood the test of time, musically.