Hawkwind- In Search of Space

It’s been a while since we did a space rock album, so today I’ll review In Search of Space, the second album by Hawkwind, one of the big names in the subgenre. The group formed in 1969 in London. The only permanent member, Dave Brock (guitar/vocals) is obviously here, along with Nik Turner (sax) Terry Olis (drums), Del Detmar (Keyboards), Dik Mik (yes, that is his name)(keyboards), and Dave Anderson (bass). This album, released in 1971, is their second. The lineup went through constant changes soon after its release, and the song “Silver Machine” got the band some recognition (it appears as a bonus track). For now, however, they had yet to emerge as Space Rock giants.

In Search of Space opens with the 15:42 “You Shouldn’t do that”, one of the most epic psychedelic trips you will ever encounter. After some synthesizer wahs leading into the main body of the song, the guitar chords begin to play and the bass starts a melody. From there, we have a textbook psychedelic jam, with 4/4 timed drums, random, distorted sax, nonsensical lyrics, strange electronic noises, and an overall disoriented feeling. It meanders along, on one hand quite minimalisticly, but on the other, absolutely filled with massive bass feedback and eeriness. Definitely the tour de force of early Hawkwind. Since it last so long, the only other song on side A is “You Know You’re Only Dreaming”. This song fades in and also relies heavily on the bass riff. The vocals are a lot clearer on this track. This song has much less psychedelic overload, but meanders on in a much spacier way. With a little stretch, this song sounds a bit like something Hendrix would do.

Next up is “Master of the Universe”, a song heavily resembling “You Shouldn’t do that”. Even the riffs and melody are highly similar. However, it’s less than half the length and includes some cool distant vocals and stop/starts. “We Took the Wrong Step Years Ago” follows, and boy does this seem out of place on In Search of Space. It’s an acoustic ballad right in the middle of a Space Rock album. Not too often do we find such a sweet little piece of work n a place like this, but it has got the most intelligible lyrics on the album, and honestly is my favorite track here (although not by much). After this weird shift, we return to the psychedelics on “Adjust Me”. Here we have lots of wah-wah guitar, sped up and slowed down vocals, and sparse parts held down with just sound effects and the cowbell. This one defiantly doesn’t live up to the massive psychedelic bonanzas earlier on the album. The album closes out with “Children of the Sun”, another acoustic piece. At 3:22, it is the album’s shortest, and it truly is an afterthought and forgettable.

The weirdness of this album is even more extreme with the original vinyl. It included a 24 page booklet called “The Hawkwind Log”. The first page featured a nude with "TECHNICIÄNS ÖF SPÅCE SHIP EÅRTH THIS IS YÖÜR CÄPTÅIN SPEÄKING YÖÜR ØÅPTÅIN IS DEA̋D" plastered in massive in massive print on top of it. I wasn’t able to uncover the full text online (I only own this album digitally), but you can find the images of the book here and you can read some exscripts here. After this album, Hawkwind would go on to many more highs and lows, and included amongst its members Lemmy Kilmister, later of Motörhead, and Ginger Baker, formerly of Cream. With the releases of many official bootlegs, they also have discography that is absolutely impossible to follow, perhaps the biggest in prog!

In Search of Space is a weeeeeeird little album. The psychedelic jamming might not be to everyone’s taste, but if it’s your cup of tea it’s done very well here and I’d highly recommend it to you. Grade: B-