(Review from vintageprog.com)

Hawkwind went through a series of personnel-changes in the last half of the 70′s. Nik Turner was unfortunately one of those who left, stripping the band’s sound for his distinctive sax/flute-playing. But the first album without him was a return to form after the slightly disappointing “Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music”. “Quark Strangeness and Charm” was stuffed with strong tunes; several of them are classic Hawkwind. “Spirit of the Age” and the superb post-nuclear war tale “Damnation Alley” were both great examples of Hawkwind’s energetic, yet atmospheric space rock. The title-track is a simple but irresistible catchy rocker, while the ballad “Fable of a Failed Race” is Hawkwind from their most beautiful, melodic and atmospheric side. House’s violin on the opening of the eastern-influenced “Hassan I Sahba” reminds me a bit of early East of Eden, and that’s not a bad thing at all. “The Forge of Vulcan” is a hypnotic instrumental number that was far more creative and original than any of the three instrumentals from the previous album. “Days of the Underground” is a typical mid-tempo Hawkwind track, with a quirky melody and lots of spacey synths. This one glides right into the short and heavy instrumental “Iron Dream” that closes the album in a nice way. “Quark Strangeness and Charm” proved that Hawkwind could deliver good albums even without Lemmy and Turner.

Line-up:
- Dave Brock / vocals, synthesizer, guitar, sound F/X
- Robert Calvert / voices, percussion
- Simon House / keyboards, violin, anvil, backing vocals
- Simon King / drums, percussion
- Adrian Shaw / bass guitar, backing vocals

Track List:
01. Spirit of the age
02. Damnation alley
03. Fable of a failed race
04. Quark strangeness and charm
05. Hassan I Sahba
06. The forge of Vulcan
07. Days of the underground
08. Iron dream

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