Hawkwind - 1970 - Hawkwind

(3xCD, 1xBlu-ray; Atomhenge [2026 Edition] )






















In many ways I feel I was rather late in discovering Hawkwind, as they only came to my attention after the release of ‘Quark, Strangeness and Charm’ when I was 14, but I soon discovered their key releases up to then, and there is no doubt that ‘Roadhawks’ was one of the most played releases in my collection. However, I don’t actually remember listening to their debut, although I must have done back then, so coming to this reissue now is like hearing it for the very first time and it is absolutely fascinating. What we have is a deluxe boxed set comprising three CDs and a Blu-Ray disc featuring a new remaster of the original album, an additional CD of rare live recordings from 1970 from Dave Brock’s archives, plus seven bonus tracks taken from a 1969 demo session, both sides of the “Hurry On Sundown” single and a studio out-take and new stereo and 5.1 Surround Sound mixes of the album by Stephen W Tayler. One of the things which Hawkfans will be interested in are the demo tracks which have Mick Slattery on guitar as these are the only recordings featuring Group X/ Hawkwind Zoo. If that was not enough, there is also a very detailed booklet which contains loads of photos and a really interesting essay.

Listening to this album some 56 years on from when it was originally released it is definitely easy to say it was a product of its time, as here is a band heavily influenced by the blues scene, and there are times when they are definitely reminiscent of Blodwyn Pig. However, they were also looking to stretch their wings and the nascent space rock was starting to appear. This was due partly with the band wanting to experiment with sound, and as they could not afford a synthesiser of any type, DikMik was using a TE-22 oscillator to create electronic weirdness. Also, producer Dick Taylor (who had recently left The Pretty Things) and Andrew Lauder (Head of A&R at Liberty) had long discussions on how to best record the band, and in the end decided to record the two sides of the single “Hurry On Sundown” in a normal fashion, and then bring in the band’s PA and let them play live for the rest. Listening to this now on CD, with no track breaks or having to turn a vinyl album over, is quite a revelation as the band here are much tighter than their shambolic shows would suggest.

Also, as they were playing live, they did multiple takes, and Stephen W Tayler has used some of these to create a version which is quite different to the original in some places. Is this the definitive Hawkwind studio album? No, that accolade will always be argued between ‘Hall of the Mountain Grill’ and ‘Warrior on the Edge of Time’, but is this the definitive release of their debut album? Definitely. I found it absolutely enthralling, and listening to the 2 hours and 39 minutes (I don’t have the Blu-ray) in one sitting the first time I played it was thoroughly enjoyable. This shows a band leaving the blues and setting out on their explorations which would lead them to still touring and recording today.  

Kev Rowland, March 2026

Links:
https://www.hawkwind.com/
https://esotericrecordings.com/atomhenge.html

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