BROCK SOLID
As a long time Hawkwind fan (1980)
I’d like to say how amazing I find their new album, Road To Utopia, with its orchestration of old Hawkwind songs.
I’ve already listened to it over 10 times, which is a rarity in this day and time with so much music to listen to (thanks, Prog mag). It shows me how great these songs are when they can be redone so well. I am not expecting Hawkwind to do this again but with close to 100 releases of studio, live and anthologies, there is plenty of material from which to listen so they can afford a variation. Road To Utopia is not the first change in their sound. Warrior On The Edge Of Time was a departure from their earlier sound and each line-up change leads to a change in their sound.
This leads me to a review of the new Hawklords album, Brave New World, in Prog mag issue 93. In it, the reviewer says, “Dave Brock’s actual Hawks have just delivered a disappointingly pedestrian, Mike Batt-orchestrated set of reimagined former glories…” Road To Utopia is far from a “disappointingly pedestrian” release. Prog mag issue 90’s review was okay but not glowing. I have read some Amazon.com reviews. One in particular claimed it was “Awful.” Hawkwind
continue to defy expectations. A friend recently commented that “Hawkwind is not prog.” It is also not metal although both groups sometimes claim them. Hawkwind fit into their own category.
Much like Peter Gabriel’s New Blood, featuring orchestrated versions of his music, I believe it is a tremendous way of experiencing their music in different and exciting ways. In issue 96 of Prog you have an article about Hawklords, which I enjoyed. In it Jerry Richards says,“Dave [Brock] was always gracious to me. He’s hard-working, very talented and has a fantastic voice – he is the most underrated British rock vocalist I can think of.” I am grateful that Dave Brock is continuing to put out highquality music and I hope we continue to hear from him. However as Freddie Mercury said when commenting on Queen’s Hot Space release,“It’s just one F***ing album.”
Give Road To Utopia another listen. You will hear the amazing Dave Brock. And, even greater, the Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music of Hawkwind.
Jeffrey Hoffman