(Review by Steve Gett, info from wikipedia)

Hawklords is a 1978 studio by Hawkwind released under the name Hawklords for legal reasons as there was a dispute over ownership of the name “Hawkwind”. It was originally titled 25 Years On and the first 25000 were pressed as this until the band decided to simply call it Hawklords. Subsequent re-releases have reverted the the name “25 Years On” and the band also now use this name on their web site.

Hawkwind had self imploded on a USA tour earlier in the year leaving only Robert Calvert, Dave Brock and Simon King to embark on this project. They were joined by Harvey Bainbridge who had played bass in Devon group Ark who in turn had performed with Calvert and Brock as the Sonic Assassins, and by keyboardist Steve Swindells who had been in Pilot (band). During the Devon recording session King returned home to London and was replaced by Martin Griffin (also from Ark), but King subsequently returned giving the band two drummers. Simon House had left the earlier band to join David Bowie but contributed violin to the sessions, as did noted British jazz trumpeter Henry Lowther. Road manager Les McClure also sneaked a performance in.

The music on the new Hawklords’ album is less bizarre than the cover suggests, and at times veers towards commercialism with a capital “C”. ‘Psi Power’ opens the first side, with an acoustic start and Bob Calvert coming on like an amalgam of Peter Hammill and Bowie. Soon it becomes electric, filled by harmony vocals and is so catchy that it’s good – a potentially successful single. After a distorted vocal ending comes ‘Free Fall’, commencing with synthesizer from Dave Brock. ‘Automaton’ is weird but unfortunately not wonderful and the voices breaking through a synthesized frenzy of sound is just so much noise. However before it finishes, ’25 Years’ drives in.

If you hadn’t heard of Hawkwind, it could easily be imagined that Hawklords are a new wave band. Throughout, this album has a very fresh and vital approach. ‘Flying Doctor’ mustn’t be taken too seriously, with those Aussie vocals and distant noises from the ‘bush’. It also features the only real guitar solo from Dave Brock and terminates with the buzz of an aircraft flying over the outback.

The final three numbers, which mark the appearances of Simon King and Simon House on each, are the high-spots. First of all there is ‘The Only Ones’, with its poppy overtones and then ‘(Only) The Dreams Of The Cold War Kid’. This is a Calvert composition and is undoubtedly the finest on the whole album. Finally, ‘The Age Of The Micro Man’ heralds further synthesizer work, on a slow-paced song of very full sound.

Line-up:
* Robert Calvert – vocals
* Dave Brock – guitar, keyboards, vocals
* Harvey Bainbridge – bass guitar, vocals
* Steve Swindells – keyboards
* Simon King – drums (tracks 4,7,8), Congas (track 6)
* Martin Griffin – drums (tracks 1,2,5,6)
with
* Simon House – violin (tracks 6,7,8)
* Henry Lowther – trumpet (track 1)
* Les McClure – whisper voice (track 4)

Track List:
01. Psi Power (Calvert/Brock) 6:06
02. Free Fall (Calvert/Bainbridge) 5:13
03. Automoton (Calvert/Brock) 1:13
04. 25 Years (Brock) 4:31
05. Flying Doctor (Calvert/Brock) 5:38
06. The Only Ones (Calvert/Brock) 4:14
07. (Only) The Dead Dreams Of The Cold War Kid (Calvert) 3:55
08. The Age Of The Micro Man (Calvert/Brock) 3:31

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