Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music [Import]

Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music [Import]

Track Listings

1. Reefer Madness

2. Steppenwolf

3. City of Lagoons

4. Aubergine That Ate Rangoon

5. Kerb Crawler

6. Kadu Flyer

7. Chronoglide Skyway

Tracks:

Reefer Madness
Steppenwolf
City of Lagoons
Aubergine That Ate Rangoon
Kerb Crawler
Kadu Flyer
Chronoglide Skyway

Customer Reviews:

one of their best albums!!!.......2007-04-25

a most entertaining and consistantly delightful album. immaginative songs with impressive instrumentals. generally a more mellow hawkwind with calverts debut at the helm. great stereo effects and a solid production sound. l have heard over 20 hawkwind albums and in my opinion this masterpeice of space rock stands out as one of their best ever

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Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music
Hawkwind
Manufacturer: Import [Generic]
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Hard Rock | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Psychedelic Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Rock | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B0000AEKCH
Release Date: 2004-05-25

Tracks:

Reefer Madness
Steppenwolf
City of Lagoons
Aubergine That Ate Rangoon
Kerb Crawler
Kadu Flyer
Chronoglide Skyway

Average customer rating:

Too many hawks spoil the brew.
Hawkwind - 'Astounding Sounds Amazing Music' (Griffin)
Not their best but hardly their worst
Eclectic Hawkwind
Astounding? Amazing?

Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music
Hawkwind
Manufacturer: Griffin Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Hard Rock | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Box Sets | Stores | Music

Hard Rock & Heavy Metal | Rock | Box Sets | Stores | Music
ASIN: B000001LGW
Release Date: 1999-11-01

Tracks:

Reefer Madness
Steppenwolf
City Of Lagoons
The Aubergine That Ate Rangoon
Kerb Crawler
Kadu Flyer
Chronoglide Skyway
Dream Of Isis
Back On The Street
Honky Dorky

Customer Reviews:

Too many hawks spoil the brew........2005-06-03

This is a good, but not great Hawkwind album. It's not their best album, but I have always had a soft spot for it. I think it is a very good sounding album....the production is very clear, not overly polished and not one instrument ever really dominates the mix. In terms of songs, I think it was probably Hawkwind's weakest album since their first.

Part of the problem with the material is the variety of it, which can sometimes be a very good thing, but in this case, showed that the band was not focused as a group on the musical direction. The songs written by guitarist Dave Brock and vocalist/poet Robert Calvert..."Reefer Madness", the nearly ten minute long "Steppenwolf" and "Kerb Crawler" (which was mixed by David Gilmour!)....are more or less straight forward hard rockers, though "Steppenwolf " outstays its welcome around the six minute mark. Keyboardist/violinist Simon House contributes the slightly jazzy keyboard dominated instrumental "City Of Lagoons" (love that title!), new bassist Paul Rudolph wrote the very weird instrumental "The Augergine That Ate Rangoon" (another great song title!) which some say sounds a bit funky but I don't hear it, and drummer Alan Powell weighs in with the very soothing and somewhat beautiful "Chronoglide Skyway ". The song title really sums up what the song sounds like.

Nik Turner makes his only lead vocal performance on the album on "Kadu Flyer", though he didn't help write the song. I must say that his saxophone sounds more like a saxophone on this album than it does on the other Hawkwind albums he was on.

The bonus tracks include the slightly dangerous sounding "The Dream Of Isis", which starts out promising enough with just keyboards, drums and a very cool bass line, but ends up turning into somewhat of a strange, mindless chant. The Calvert/ Rudolph collaboration "Back On The Street " is a straight forward hard rock tune, along the lines of " Kerb Crawler ", with yet another simple and catchy guitar riff from Dave Brock. " Honky Dory " is just a live recording of the instrumental section for " Reefer Madness "....completely unnecessary, in my opinion.

The inner sleeve for the original LP version came with a mock classified ads page, with each Hawkwind member advertising something different....Simon House has a 'school of music', Dave Brock has an advert for 'atomic pile preparations', etc..... I'm glad to see that this was reproduced for this CD version, for it is quite funny and showed that the band still had a sense of humour about them.

I'm not too crazy about Calvert's singing on this, though his lyrics are as brilliant as usual....I liked his singing on the next Hawkwind album " Quark, Strangeness and Charm " much better. And the less said about Nik Turner's vocal performance on " Kadu Flyer ", the better. Dave Brock has always been Hawkwind's best vocalist ( well, I THINK he has) and his singing is missed on this album, so the recruitment of Calvert is a mystery.

In summing up , I would say my favorite songs on this are " Back On The Street ", " Kerb Crawler ", "Reefer Madness " and "Chronoglide Skyway ", while my two least favorites are the bonus track " Honky Dory " and possibly "City Of Lagoons ". This is a very interesting album, to say the least. I'm giving it three stars, though it's probably more like 3 and a half stars...or 3 and 3/4 stars...which would bring awfully dang close to 4 stars, would not it?

Hawkwind - 'Astounding Sounds Amazing Music' (Griffin).......2004-07-31

Originally released on lp in 1976,as this was Nik Turner's LAST record before being sacked.'Astounding...' is more space pop than any other HW release.That's probably because resident poet Robert Calvert(R.I.P.) had prominently taken over as the band's lead vocalist.A feat that would last through four albums.Also the ONLY Hawkwind lp that had Pink Fairies bassist Paul Rudolph on board.When I first obtained a copy of this disc on an import label,it sounded pretty lame.However,when I got a copy of the Griffin reissue,it was like a WORLD of difference in improvement.It honestly sounded almost like another record.Griffin's reissue is great!!I liked "City Of Lagoons" and "Chronoglide Skyway" the best.Plus the three bonus tracks that Griffin tag on is PERHAPS better than the actual album.A trio of cool Calvert cuts that may be tough to find elsewhere.Both sides of an old single "Dream Of Isis" and "Back On The Streets" along with "Honky Dorky" make 'Astounding...' a should-have.

Not their best but hardly their worst.......2003-07-25

The only thing astounding about this album is that some hawkfans really believe it's a great work--a fact I simply chalk up to the Hawkwind mythos itself. Folks, it's really not that great; on the other hand, it beats just about anything the Hawks themselves have done since the mid eighties. "Kerb Krawler" IS a terrific, if horribly dated, song; "Kadu Flyer" is a classic Nik Turner freakout, and as always Calvert's lyrics and dazed space cadet delivery are appreciated. Great? Hardly. Worth hearing? Absolutely.

Eclectic Hawkwind.......1999-10-02

A big change of style after the glory of Warrior on the Edge album this album I initially hated. I have grown to love its variety .. Reefer Madness is a great intro... Steppenwolf.. taken a fraction too fast outperforms Roxy Music at their own game.. City of Lagoons.. non-descript instrumental....The Aubergine that Ate Rangoon.. eclectic funk.. wonderful... Kerb Crawler.. deserved to be a hit single...Kadu Flyer (similar to D Rider), a typical Nik Turner melodic drone... Chronoglide Skyway.. a beautiful instrumental..

Wonderful stuff guys!

Astounding? Amazing?.......1998-10-24

The most astounding and amazing thing about this release is that it is ostensibly from the same band that released "Doremi Fasol Latido," "The Hall Of The Mountain Grill" and "Warrior On The Edge Of Time." Gone is the thundering, overdrive bass of Lemmy; gone the grungy rifferamas; gone the mellotron and the rag-tag vocals which made the earlier material so visceral and charming. The full-time addition of lyricist/vocalist Robert Calvert and the tame, if competent, bassing of Paul Rudolph make for a more mundane, polished and commercial sound. Significantly, the best tracks are also the greatest departures--and instrumentals (and on the original vinyl release each was a side-closer). "City Of Lagoons," is a piece of dark, pretty, moody and appropriately murky mood music; "Chronoglide Skyway" by contrast is as light and airy as its title suggests, with distant sax by Nik Turner and pretty lead by Dave Brock over synth strings and a throbbing bassline. Nice, indeed. "The Aubergine That Ate Rangoon" (yet another instrumental) is about as funky as these guys are ever likely to get; the remaining tracks range from the concise ("Kerb Krawler," a single a la "Kings Of Speed") to the redundant ("Reefer Madness," "Steppenwolf"). Not a definitive Hawkwind release by any means, but a showcase for what is both best and worst in them.

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