Liverpool Empire 1985 - Black Sword Tour

part 1 : http://punishyourself.free.fr/hawkwind/hawkwind_-_1985_-%20liverpool_empire%2014.11.85-part1.rar

part 2 : http://punishyourself.free.fr/hawkwind/hawkwind_-_1985_-%20liverpool_empire%2014.11.85-part2.rar

Sound : I would give a 6 out of 10. Not that bad, not that good...

remastering info : using "original" flac files converted to wav, (there was no lineage included in the package I got, so I hope there was no mp3 conversion somewhere along the way...) I mainly added level, tried to reduce the tape hiss, and did a bit of stereo imaging. Then reconverted the whole thing to flac.
Don't expect no miracles, tho.

artwork : included, but to be honest, it's not the best piece of bootleg artwork I ever saw. I slightly re-edited the tracklist (joining choose your masks and battle sequence, and having the whole encore as one track), so the one featured on the artwork isn't really accurate..

The trouble with 1985 bootlegs is the way you can't avoid comparing these with the Live Chronicles official record. Most songs are played quite exactly the same, but with a better sound on the official one (which is no surprise indeed) ; so there's only a little intereste to be found on most of these records. This one falls into that kind, with most of the stuff being just ear-bleeding
versions of absolute live classics... But there are some highlights nonetheless : different narrations and intros (moonglum, for instance, has a nice synth intro, almost standing as a track of its own), sometimes different sounds used (on Choose Your Masks/Fight sequence, for instance, the analog synths sound a bit different, and you can also note a "Hall of the mountain king" theme inclusion on guitar) ; a full version of Brainstorm ; and, most interestingly, the encore is here included as a full, with a nice medley of classic Hawkwind songs (I chose to have it appear here as one track instead of cutting it into little bits, which made no sens IMO, but I'll understand if you're not happy with that - any audio editor can be used to re-edit following your own tastes !).
In the end, if you're a hardcore Hawkwind completist, this is worth a listen. If you're not, get yourself the Live Chronicles record !

Lewisham 1976 - "The Garden Of Delights" - remastered

Disc 1 (.flac)
Disc 2 (.flac)

Nice 76 bootleg, with a rather good sound ; contains an early version of Spirit Of The Age (with different lyrics) and Damnation Alley (with different
structure and a quite different drumming). Also to be noted are :
- the inclusion of "the right stuff" lyrics on Brainstorm
- a beautiful synth intro to "back on the streets"
- a fantastic jam at the end of Magnu

I re-edited the tracklist as follows (slightly different from artwork, and different from the original .flac files) :

01.Reefer Madness
02.Spirit of the Age
03.Hassan I Sabha
04.Chronoglide Skyway
05.Brainstorm
06.Wind of Change
07.Steppenwolf
08.Uncle Sam's on Mars
09.Damnation Alley

01.Urban Guerilla
02. synth instrumental
03.Back on the Streets
04.Magnu - Paranoia - Jam
05.Master of the Universe
06.Welcome

Not to be forgotten is the beautiful artwork using Hanes Bok illustrations from US sci-fi pulps - infinite thanks to the guy who designed it. I'm fed up with the post-hippie photoshoped flashy colors nonsense that is coined "artwork" for many live HW recordings...

remastering notes :
I converted the original .flac files to .wav, then applied :
- a bit of stereo image enhancing
- hi-pass filter (cut frequencies under 80hz)
- normalization
- 6 db maximizing

The original files were surprisingly clean (no tape hiss), so the remastering only really adds some loudness. But 70's Hawkwind stuff must be LOUD, as far as I'm concerned !

Two tracks from Doncaster - Rotters Club - 1980

Dangerous Visions
Instrumental Jam

Why two tracks only from this gig ?
Well, here's my review of the recording, that may explain why :

overall sound quality : 5 out of 10, rather muddy with sometimes saturated low-end. You don't hear much the high end, especially cymbals and hi-hats... which is in my opinion a good thing, I hate Ginger Baker's drumming.
01 - The 5th Second Of Forever - nothing worth mentioning
02 - Dust Of Time - nothing worth mentioning
03 - World Of Tiers - nothing worth mentioning
04 - Instrumental Jam - maybe the only interesting track from this gig, a cool jam reminding of the late 70's HW stuff.
05 - Urban Guerilla - nothing worth mentioning
06 - Dangerous Vision - one of the very few versions of this rare song. "Rare" doesn't mean "good", to be honest.
07 - Space Chase - nothing worth mentioning
08 - Who's Gonna Win The War - nothing worth mentioning
09 - Psi Power - nothing worth mentioning
10 - Brainstorm - nothing worth mentioning except for the HORRENDOUS drum solo
In the end, a bootleg that should stay in the vaults, IMO.

If you still want to hear the full show... Well, it's quite easy to find on soulseek, user hawk69.

Bochum 10-08-1991 ("Kings Of Speed, Lords Of Light" / "Detroit Latin Quarter" / " A flight of steel eagles")

http://punishyourself.free.fr/hawkwind/hawkwind_-_1991_-_kings_of_speed,lords_of_light_Bochum_10-08_remastered.rar

This one exists under many forms : as commercial bootleg cd ("Kings of speed, lords of light"), as part of a two gigs set known as "A flight of steel eagles", and as many mp3 sets - some of them still claiming this is a Detroit gig ; it is not.

Anyway, most versions to be found on the internet (excerpt for an excellent .flac version you can get on Pirate Bay) are VERY bad mp3 conversions, so here's a slightly remastered, hi-quality conversion version of this cool gig, with some notes added and several versions of the artwork.

(By the way, the instrumental introduction to Levitation, which is not identified generally, appears to be "A Day", originally by Dave Brock & The Agents Of Chaos.)

Hammersmith Odeon 22st Oct 1981

http://punishyourself.free.fr/hawkwind/Hammersmith_Odeon_22st_Oct_1981_remastered.rar

Second set for this 1981 Hammersmith pair ; see http://morelivehawkwindstuff.blogspot.com/2010/10/hammersmith-odeon-21st-oct-1981.html , as there are only minor differences between the two gigs

Hammersmith Odeon 21st Oct 1981

http://punishyourself.free.fr/hawkwind/Hammersmith_Odeon_21st_Oct_1981_remastered.rar



This is a slight remastering of the mp3 files originally downloaded from http://hawkstuff.ratsauce.co.uk/hawklive.asp , with some notes of mine added and artwork from http://covers.hawklord.com/1980-1989/1981/1981-10-21%20Hammersmith%20Odeon,%20London (pretty awful as far as I'm concerned, but I wouldn't do better !)

Date: 21/10/1981
Musicians: Dave Brock Huw Lloyd Langton Harvey Bainbridge Bob Calvert Martin Griffin
Town: London
Venue: Hammersmith Odeon

Set: Angel Voice; Motorway City; Angels Of Death; Psi Power; Coded Languages; Golden Void; Magnu; Dust Of Time; Instrumental; Psychedelic Warlords; Rocky Paths; Psychosonia; Shot Down In The Night; Sonic Attack; Brainstorm; Silver Machine; Master Of The Universe; Urban Guerilla



This is an audience recording, with some real stereo if you listen to the applauses ; deserves a 6 out of ten. The vocals, drums and lead guitar are prominent ; an extra dose of rythm guitar would have been a plus. The synths are mainly present on introductions, especially because there was no one specifically in charge of these, which gives a rather "rock band" feeling, as opposite to the studio album the band was promoting, Sonic Attack, which is quite heavy on bleeps and swooshes. Actually, removing the lead guitar and adding some Calvert, this could be an Hawklords era concert recorded... Particularly when you listen to Martin Griffin's drumming, which is definitely, on this gig, lacking of the blanga blanga power he later displayed as a live HW drummer ; I'm not saying it is bad, but it has a rather 70's feel - probably because of the drum sound, with very little bass drum, a dry snare and LOADS of hi-hats (played quite "tightly").
So, what about the songs and the performance ?
On this gig, we get a rather "minimalistic" Hawkwind, with the band playing, I would say, "dry and fast" ; not so far from the Live 79 era, but without - and it makes quite a difference - the synth extravaganza Tim Blake used to add over the "rocking parts". Which is not bad ; with a bit more energy and a bit less lead guitar noodling, this could have all sounded like early Killing Joke, in some way. New-wave, anyone ? The synths and sequences, when they appear, have a rather particular feeling, at the same time quite primitive (there's not a lot of sound layers interacting, just one or two keyboards) and completely 80's, fairly cold new-wavish stuff, again. Some will hate that, I won't !

(the analysis goes on in the .txt document included in the archive)

Technicians of spaceship Hawkwind, welcome aboard !

This blog will be dedicated to the free diffusion of unofficial live Hawkwind (and related) records. I've been collecting Hawkwind bootlegs for years now, like most Hawkheads ; but I really feel this material should be made easier to get, with some additionnal documentation if needed/possible, and, most important, REMASTERED ! Most Hawkwind ROIO's have a dreadful sound that can significantly be improved, and that's my aim. I'll also add some kind of "review" to each of the publicized items ; if you want to contribute, with a review, some notes, artwork or anything, feel absolutely free to contact me. I won't eat your heart, promised.

By the way : a lot of the stuff I'm going to post will be remastered from mp3 files, because I didn't get original CD, wav or .flac versions. This will be stated, so you audiophiles can look at me in horror ; but if you have in your possession a better source, share it !

vx

PS : this has mostly nothing to do with Hawkwind, but please consider checking my own musical projects at some point. You might like these...

Punish Yourself (glow-in-the-dark space industrial zombi cyberpunk)
1969 Was Fine (psychedelic/garage/wave)
Cheerleader 69 (ambient/industrial/soundtrack)