Hawkwind – X In Search of Space Deluxe Edition (Atomhenge)
LP | 2CD+Blu Ray
Out Now
Available from Sister Ray
Atomhenge give Hawkwind’s 1971 classic album a remaster and reissue along with additional remixes and bonus tracks. This will be a welcome arrival for fans old and new. Technician: Nathan Brown.
X In Search of Space, frequently referred to as simply In Search of Space – and nothing whatsoever to do with Elon Musk – was the second album by Hawkwind but was arguably when their space rock ship really took off, reaching number 18 in the UK Album charts in 1971. Atomhenge have remastered this album from the original tapes, and had the vinyl cut at Abbey Road Studios. In addition to the vinyl re-release, they have created a Collectors Box set which includes additional new mixes and extra songs inon a double CD set and Blu Ray.
Vinyl gatefold album
Hawkwind’s second album was originally housed in a fold-out sleeve designed by Barney Bubbles that formed a hawk shape when fully unleashed. This latest version captures all the original artwork, fully restored, across a gatefold sleeve and double sided fold out poster featuring the back cover blurry image of dancer Stacia in full flow. 53 years is a long time for a slab of vinyl and an intricate die-cut card cover to last so some folks may see this as an opportunity for an upgrade.
X In Search of Space starts with extra-terrestrial throbbing and beeps which gather pace as a soaring whine provides the sound of lift off as the choppy guitar and noodling bass herald the start of You Shouldn’t Do That. A chaotic saxophone joins the fray before Dave Brock hypnotically intones and chants the title of the track. Nik Turner gives voice to the counter-culture Hawkwind emanated from, pushing back against straight society telling them what to do:
“They push you round
They cut your hair
You want to be free
They just don’t care”
This song is a prime example of the “Hawkwind jam” in which rushing and diving synths and audio generators operated by Del Dettmar and Dik Mik whizz past free-form sax for over 15 minutes. The bass and guitar meander down wormholes before being pulled back to the main bearing maintained by the ever reliable Terry Ollis’s drumbeat.
You Know You’re Only Dreaming (Visions of Beyond Recall) sweeps in with archetypal psychedelic lyrics. The sonic bleeps and wah driven guitar maintain the space setting with the whooshing of solar winds providing a backing for echoey flute and simple guitar phrases that build the song’s intensity before the reappearance of the wailing sax. The rhythm section keep the momentum throughout and provide a spine off which the other instruments can hang, even with spidery wanderings from Dave Anderson’s bass.
Competing with You Shouldn’t Do That for attention is the chugging Master Of The Universe, which at the start of side B is not just the centre of the universe, but also at the centre of the record. It has been a staple of the band’s live set ever since. A rising synth builds and the sound of a rocket engine ignites as Brock’s chugging riff sets the direction. Ollis’ constant high hats and Anderson’s reliable and memorable bass line power it all along. Turner’s vocals echo while the sonic generators evoke the Clangers – on the TV at teatime in this era. Each section is marked by a rising sax and drum crescendo with a split second of silence before Brock’s guitar or Anderson’s bass starts proceedings again. While only just over 6 minutes long, there is still plenty of scope for jamming, with wah and echo effects on layered sax providing a solo in place of words in the middle section of the song.
Dave Brock’s 12 string guitar and melancholy vocal on We Took the Wrong Step Years Ago provide a mellow folky reprieve from the stellar engine roar of its predecessor. In particular the lines “Look around and see the warnings close at hand” and “Already nature’s calling, take heed of the warning” were a clear message about environmental destruction and resonate even more now. 53 years ago the hippies were ignored, not that the world’s scientists and the evidence of our own eyes is leading to enough change. As always, Hawkwind were ahead of their time – only a couple of years later they would be warning about the surveillance state.
Adjust Me could be dismissed as what happens when you let a bunch of mischief heads loose with echo machines. However, there is more to the song than gimmick. The limited lyrics speak of androids and feed into the futuristic dystopian world Hawkwind increasingly operated within – science fiction in music form. The weird noises they could conjure from their instruments created an unsettling shift of time which helped in their rumoured aim to freak people out.
Children of the Sun is another acoustic folky number, this time co-written by Dave Anderson and Nik Turner, albeit with something of a heaviness to its strumming pattern. It describes the utopia the counter-culture (the Children of the Sun) sought: “No longer chaos and confusion, but love and laughter, song and dance”. The question was whether you would be left alone to attain it if you got out of your head, or if you had to get off this planet. Inner space or outer space? As the cover art suggests, increasingly Hawkwind seemed to be searching for the latter.
Box set
The box set version is for your serious Hawkwind nuts and audiophiles, consisting of 2 CDs, a Bluray and a booklet. CD1 provides the original mix of X In Search Of Space as per the vinyl album, remastered, with 2 extra tracks: Hawkwind’s greatest hit Silver Machine from 1972, which still has enough power and excitement to sound fresh and its B-side, Seven By Seven. New member Lemmy’s trademark drone and attack can be heard on the bass on both tracks. While he provided the vocal for the exhilarating space and time journey on Silver Machine, it was the poet Bob Calvert who narrated its flip, getting somewhat over-excited and manic in his Shakespearean vocal delivery while Brock sang the actual song and Lemmy wailed like a walrus in the background.
On the Expanded CD2, the album is given a stereo remix treatment by Stephen W Tayler which adds depth and dynamic range, most noticeable in the almost 3D rendering of the audio generators, oscillators and synths with prodigious application of reverb. If there is a band whose output deserves this treatment I can think of no better candidate than the Hawks. It’s space rock, right? So, create some space! In addition to remixes of all the stuff on CD1, this second disk has another 2 extras. Based round a simple descending guitar riff, Hog Farm has the battering intensity of early Stooges when they really got going, helped by the constant roving drum pattern, layered sax and squealing lead guitar.
A take of Kiss Of The Velvet Whip from the album session – not the song from 1969 of the same title – sees a 12 minute extended jam similar to You Shouldn’t Do That which is reprised just as you think it is over. This is a true lost gem, sounding like a precursor of Warrior On The Edge of Time era Hawkwind with Dave Anderson’s groovy meandering bass playing and Terry Ollis’ motorik drums washing in waves through the atmospheric soundscape. It sets in place an approach their successors would replicate. The “chorus” has a real science fiction theme tune feel to it. In typical fashion, Dave Brock’s guitar riff maintained throughout is a sibling to the chug of Master Of The Universe. Nik Turner delivers up a proto punk vocal delivery in the early stage of the song but this is soon forgotten as the wordless jam takes on its own voice.
The Blu Ray contains a 5.1. surround sound mix by Stephen W Tayler plus the 2024 and original stereo mixes with a bonus of the Silver Machine promo film. Again, if there is a band that deserve the surround sound treatment it is Dave Brock and his crew.
The Box set also contains a repro of the Hawkwind Log that came with the 1971 release, accompanied by flyers, press cuttings, pictures of the band and original 16 track tape boxes, the various covers of the Silver Machine single and sleeve notes from Rob Godwin. This booklet stretches to 64 pages.
The vinyl repress will probably be cheaper than an OG vintage copy these days, and with remastering will doubtless sound better. A neat way to fill a gap in your collection or upgrade the battered old thing you bought way back when, found in a charity shop, or got from a record dealer for a small fortune. Meanwhile the box set is clearly for the dedicated fans, but as Hawkwind have cult status I’m sure there will be plenty of takers. This reissue will be a welcome arrival for fans old and new.
Buy it from Sister Ray
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Words by Nathan Brown. You can read more from Nathan on his Louder Than War archive over here.
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