Warrior On The Edge Of Time 1975 Album

Hawkwind

This album, for some reason, is nominally regarded as one of the weaker efforts of the "classic" Hawkwind years, but I have to go against the grain here, because out of all of those albums, it's the one I have gravitated to the easiest. Of course, that does not mean it is the best album of the lot, and certainly, there are flaws to be found here - the biggest one being that they tried to fit Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion saga into the record - in the form of three really flimsy spoken-word *ahem* performances, and it's a pretty bad fit, to say the least. Since I do not read sci-fi literature as a general rule I couldn't give a rat's ass about this aspect of the record anyway. I focus mainly on the music, which by the way, is a bit of a change from classic Hawkwind that preceded it as well - more and more synths are in the mix here, burying the heavy guitars and bass grooves. The immediate reaction would be - what the hell happened to the Hawkwind we knew and dug - but wait, there's merit here in this approach. From a technical perspective the hairy horde steps up big time, creating a different, limbo-like atmosphere that is curiously part-futuristic, part-retro, and totally all-Hawkwind throughout. Every single one of these tracks is epic to the max - excepting the spoken-word passages - as they succinctly sum up the album title to a tee.