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Posts tagged Robert Calvert
Amon Duul III (UK) – Fool Moon (1989) (@256)
23 Sep 2010
(Review from rateyourmusic.com, progarchives.com)
Most of Amon Duul III (UK)’s last album contains long, instrumental jams which, even if a little repetitive, have a strong psychedelic vibe to them (particularly the last track, with loads of sitar).
“Haupmotor” is the longest track in town. With its 6 minutes of introduction, just crowd noises and some birds whistling; it hints at some of Amon Duul II’s most infamous “suites”.
The relatively short jam of “The Tribe” has a very nostalgic 70s feel, augmented by a shiny and spacey 80s production and nice playing.
Line-up:
- John Weinzierl / guitar
- Dave Anderson / bass
- Guy Evans / drums
- Julie Wareing / vocals
with
- Robert Calvert / vocals
Track List:
01. Who Who – 6:55
02. The Tribe – 7:20
03. Tik Tok – 8:06
04. Haupmotor – 16:51
05. Hymn For The Hardcore – 4:15
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Amon Duul III (UK) – Die Losung (1989) (@256)
21 Sep 2010
(Review from progarchives)
“Die losung” (“The solution”) is the third album released by the Amon Duul III and arguably the most interesting. The members include Guy Evans, the drummer with the classic Van Der Graaf generator line up plus a couple of Ozric Tentacles members. Of even greater interest though is the presence of the late Robert Calvert of Hawkwind, who provides the lyrics and lead vocals.
The music here is generally more accessible that that of the other Amon Duul configurations, with strong melodies and choruses. Calvert’s vocals are slightly distorted and sometimes multi-tracked. Instrumentally, it is the guitar of John Weinzierl and the synth of Joie Hinton which dominates, with both contributing fine performances.
The opening “Big wheel” has all the ingredients of a potential single for the 1980′s, with hints of bands such as Japan, Talk Talk, the Human League and even a bit of Bowie. “Adrenalin rush” moves into Billy Idol territories, with passing similarities to “Rebel yell” and songs of that ilk. The song, which once again has single potential, includes a superb but all too brief guitar break. “Visions of fire” is reminiscent of Bowie’s “Ashes to ashes”, even down to the accented vocals, here though the guitar solo is allowed to develop far more satisfactorily.
The feature track is the 8 minute “Drawn to the flame”, where Calvert’s vocals are supported by Julie Wareing. Calvert’s slightly off key delivery suits this pulsating piece perfectly The song is allowed to develop through a more intricate structure into something of an epic. Wareing assumes the role of lead vocalist for two remaining tracks, giving those songs a different feel to the rest of the album. The 80′s atmosphere remains, but the tracks seem even more straightforward and commercial. That said, “They call it home” has some good riffs generating a fine overall sound.
The song entitled “Drawn to the flame part 2″ is in fact simply an alternative version of “Drawn to the flame”. There are significant differences in the two versions though, this rendition resisting the temptation to lift the tempo for much longer.
In all, while those seeking the difficult prog of Amon Duul/Amon Duul II’s early years will have to look elsewhere, this is something of a lost gem. Not only do we get some of Robert Calvert’s most accessible work, we also find a collection of well crafted pop progressive.
Line-up:
- John Weinzierl / guitar
- Dave Anderson / bass
- Guy Evans / drums
- Julie Wareing / vocals
with
- Robert Calvert / vocals
- Ed Wynne / guitar
- Joie Hinton / synthesizers
Track List:
01. Big Wheel – 5:09
02. Urban Indian – 5:30
03. Adrenalin Rush – 5:21
04. Visions of Fire – 5:59
05. Drawn to the Flame (part 1) – 8:07
06. They Call it Home – 4:40
07. Die Losung – 3:36
08. Drawn to the Flame (part 2) – 7:34
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Hawkwind – PXR5 (1979) (@320)
20 Feb 2008
Thanks to Mr Miyagi for his contribution.
(Review from progarchives.com)
The late ’70s were a lean time for Hawkwind, bickerings over name rights, never having really recovered from the loss of Lemmy Kilminster or the departure of Nik Turner – and despite their growing army of fans from the punk scene, they found their stock generally falling; which is a surprise, given the quality of this album.
The songs, on the whole are generally more mainstream rock than fans had been used to up to this point. The album sort of picks up where “Quark Strangeness and Charm” left off and if you liked that album you should have no problem getting into PXR5.
Lyrically, Calvert trims the fat and comes up with stunning poetry, sewn through with satire regarding everything from the space race (Uncle Sam’s on Mars) to urban decline and alienation (High Rise) – the sci-fi is still there, of course, with ‘Robot’ parodying Asimov’s 3 laws of robotics.
Overall, this is a tighter, rockier Hawkwind, and the final album to feature Robert Calvert in the driving seat.
Line-up:
- Dave Brock / vocals (4-5-8), guitar, bass, synthesizers
- Robert Calvert / vocals (1-2-3-6-7)
- Simon House / keyboards (2-3-6-7-8), backing vocals (2-7), violin (6-8)
- Simon King / drums
- Adrian Shaw / bass, backing vocals (2-3-6-7-8)
Track List:
01. Death Trap
02. Jack of Shadows
03. Uncle Sam’s on Mars
04. Infinity
05. Life Form
06. Robot
07. High Rise
08. PXR5
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Hawkwind – Space Ritual (1973) (@256)
18 Mar 2007
(Review from vintageprog.com)
Late in ’72 Hawkwind was joined by the “space-poet” Robert Calvert and went out on the road with their legendary “Space Ritual” show, which supposedly featured a light show that was very impressive for its time. The tour resulted in this double live-album that is Hawkwind’s best and most important recording from the earliest phase in their career (1970-73). And it’s not hard to understand why. For nearly 90 minutes you get a full dose of their classic, noisy and raw space-rock performed with an enormous energy and intensity. With the exception of “The Watcher”, you get all the tracks from “Doremi Fasol Latido”. From “In Search of Space” you get a real high-energy version of “Master of the Universe”. And you also get a bunch of tracks they never recorded in the studio, including Hawkwind classics such as “Born to Go”, “Orgone Accumulator” and “Seven by Seven”. All the tracks are tied together by some short interludes, usually some weird poems by Calvert where space (surprise, surprise) is the main theme. The funniest and best known of these is probably “Sonic Attack”, instructions for how to behave “in case of sonic attack!”. And the band also plays some of the tracks a little bit different from the studio recordings, like the electric versions of “Down Through the Night” and “Space is Deep”. Overall, “Space Ritual” has all the trademarks of a classic live-album: good sound quality, inspired and energetic playing that threatens to kick the ass of the studio-versions and (thank god!) NO drum-solos! Essential stuff for any space-rock fan, and the band still had their best studio-albums ahead of them.
Line-up:
- Dave Brock / vocals, guitars
- Robert Calvert / poetry (poetry by Michael Moorcock)
- Del Dettmar / synthesizers
- Dik Mik / audio generator, electronics
- Lemmy Killmister / bass, vocals
- Simon King / drums
- Nik Turner / vocals, sax, flute
Track List:
CD 1:
01. Earth Calling (Live) (1:46)
02. Born To Go (Live) (9:56)
03. Down Through The Night (Live) (6:16)
04. The Awakening (Live) (1:32)
05. Lord Of The Light (Live) (7:21)
06. Black Corridor (Live) (1:51)
07. Space Is Deep (Live) (8:13)
08. Electronic No 1 (Live) (2:26)
09. Orgone Accumulator (Live) (9:59)
10. Upside Down (Live) (2:43)
11. 10 Seconds Of Forever (Live) (2:05)
12. Brainstorm (Live) (9:20)
CD 2:
01. 7 By 7 (Live) (6:13)
02. Sonic Attack (Live) (2:54)
03. Time We Left This World Today (Live) (5:47)
04. Master Of The Universe (Live) (7:37)
05. Welcome To The Future (Live) (2:03)
06. You Shouldn’t Do That (Live) (Bonus) (6:55)
07. Master Of The Universe (Bonus) (7:26)
08. Born To Go (Live) (Bonus) (5:04)
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Hawkwind – Doremi Fasol Latido (1972) (@256)
17 Mar 2007
(Review from progarchives.com)
On their 3rd album, Hawkwind was joined by a new bass-player in Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister who further solidified the band’s powerful sound. The album boasted two new Hawkwind-classics in the incredible intense and energetic “Brainstorm” and the more acoustic “Space is Deep”. These two tracks demonstrated both sides of the band’s sound in an incredible way. And in the case of “Brainstorm” it’s really fascinating of how such a rough and noisy piece of music still can be so atmospheric and dreamy. But the album had much more to offer too. “Lord of Light” is a superb rocker with a great vocal melody and “Down Through the Night” is, despite its simplicity, one of their best acoustic tracks. “Time We Left This World Today” consists of repetitive riffs and aggressive jams where Lemmy’s bass-playing really takes off. The only track on the album that I don’t care much for is Lemmy’s own “The Watcher”. It’s probably not a coincidence that they placed it last on the album, as it’s a weak and forgettable track. Still, most of the album is space-rock at its best and most energetic.
Line-up:
- Baron Brock / vocals, acoustic & electric guitars
- Captain Nik / vocals, sax & flute
- Lemmy the Lurch / vocals, bass, acoustic guitar
- Up Stepped Dik and Mik / generators, electronics
- The Dwarf Leader Del / synthesizers
- The Hound Master Simon / drums
Track List:
01. Brainstorm (11:33)
02. Space is deep (5:10)
03. One change (0:49)
04. Lord of light (6:59)
05. Down through the night (3:04)
06. Time we left this world today (8:43)
07. The watcher (4:00)
08. Silver machine
08. Urban guerilla
09. Brainbox pollution
10. Lord of light (single edit)
11. Ejection (unreleased)
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Hawkwind (as Hawklords) – 25 Years On (1978) (@256)
15 Mar 2007
(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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Hawkwind – Quark Strangeness and Charm (1977) (@256)
14 Mar 2007
(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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Hawkwind – Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music (1976) (@256)
13 Mar 2007
(Review from vintageprog.com)
Lemmy had been fired from the band on their US-tour in 1975 after being jailed for possessing drugs, and Paul Rudolph replaced him. The band would from then have a rather unstable line-up with many personnel-changes over the years. Robert Calvert had also joined the band on a permanent basis and he took over most of the vocals on “Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music” that also was their first album for Charisma. But despite the promising title, the album wasn’t on the same level as “Hall of the Mountain Grill” and “Warrior on the Edge of Time” and was probably their weakest release since the debut-album. The three instrumentals on the record go nowhere, and sounds all like some unfinished leftovers. “City of Lagoons” sounds even like a Gong-clone. The choice for a single was yet again a simple and rocking tune, this time called “Kerb Crawler”. One of the most interesting tracks here is “Kadu Flyer”. It starts as a tasty and melodic tune that gradually becomes more and more eastern-influenced. The opener “Refer Madness” and “Steppenwolf” are both decent tunes, but nothing special or outstanding. “Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music” can unfortunately not be counted among with Hawkwind’s best albums.
Line-up:
- Dave Brock / lead vocals, guitars, synthesizers
- Robert Calvert / vocals
- Simon House / keyboards, violin
- Alan Powell / drums
- Paul Rudolph / bass
- Nik Turner / sax, flute, vocals
Track List:
01. Reefer madness (6:03)
02. Steppenwolf (9:46)
03. City of lagoons (5:08)
04. The aubergine that ate Rangoon (3:33)
05. Kerb crawler (3:45)
06. Katmandu flyer (5:29)
07. Chronoglide skyway (4:40)
08. Dream Of Isis
09. Back On The Street
10. Honky Dorky
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