Hawkwind - Levitation

Year of Release: 1980
Label: Castle
Catalog Number: CLACD 129
Format: CD
Total Time: 37:08:00

Hawkwind is one of the most innovative bands from the category "Space Rock." They're a really progressive space rock band, unlike, for example, Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra, and the like, which are simply "Space," maybe even "Prog-Space," but structurally not "Rock" at all, as it is. Hawkwind's stylistics have changed through their long "cosmic" years, yet it always remains their own, absolutely original style. This is the case, when any direct comparisons with any other band should not be drawn, especially when we talk about the incomparable great performers (read the review on Ozric Tentacles' Strangeitudes in "O" section [in ProgressorR]).

The first, title track opens with an energetic theme of bass guitar supported by a galloping drumming from Maestro Ginger Baker, and nobody can stop him until the end! This excellent rhythm-section is supported a bit later with driving electric guitars, keyboards modulations and excellent rockish vocals. There's no changes of tempos, and open drive, and energy, and speed, to keep you in strained attention till the end of a song, but still how many beautiful and diverse arrangements waiting for you on the way, including fantastic "spacey" solo interplay between keyboards and guitar! This is not the Morass of Dreams, and very soon you will lose your bag with tangerines, if you came here with it (of course, only for the first time, otherwise you won't simply like the Tangerines). And now you have a choice, as always, since the second track.

"Motorway City" with its overdriving tempo doesn't give you breathing-space while waiting for the true space: to go back to the morass of dreams under the ruins of someone else's temple, or to ride on this a very unpredictable horse, who already stops to drink the clear spacey water from Psychosis. It won't last long. Because it's a really rockish horse, and if you've made a right choice, ride on to the next World of Tears, where still more various spirits are waiting for you on the same hard road. And here you don't have time to rest and to turn over the LP, this is CD.

"Prelude" is indeed a spacey prelude to "Who's Gonna Win the War" (one of the most popular Hawkwind's songs), which, as always, is a quite heavy composition, yet one of the most truly spacey. And you, as already an experienced rider, now have time to watch with pleasure on the last three mid-tempo tracks a delightful locality of the road.

"Space Chase" is an instrumental piece with lots of brilliant solo interplay between guitar and keyboards, as well as with some impressive spacey effects from Tim Blake. "The Fifth Second of Forever" opens and also closes with a nice acoustic guitar, whereas in the middle this is a genuine rock song with a unique work from Baker (no drummer before or after him has ever given Hawkwind's overall sonority so diverse and energetic drumming) among the other things.

"Dust of Time" is quite a long song, completing the album. Along with the title track and "Who's Gonna Win the War (now)," this is one of the most complex, energetic compositions in the album.

Summary. As for me, this is my most favourite album from Hawkwind, though I also like very much Astounding Sounds..., Quark..., Doremi... and even The Chronicle.... Despite the absence here of such usual for Hawkwind instruments as sax, flute and cello, the combination of such extraordinary musicians in that album only gives it the status of the most (exactly!) progressive album of this band. Progressivity, such a complex of compositional and technical nuances (for details see the article "Progressive Rock and its meaning in our life" [in ProgressoR]), is the main aspect to be considered in the lands of Progressive Rock.

Tracklisting:
Levitation (5:48) / Motorway City (6:45) / Psychosis (2:22) / World of Tears (3:17) / Prelude (1:41) / Who's Gonna Win The War (4:43) / Space Chase (3:06) / The Fifth Second Of Forever (3:27) / Dust Of Time (6:19)

Musicians:
Dave Brock - vocals, rhythm guitars, synthesizer
Huw Lloyd Langton - lead guitars
Harvey Bainbridge - bass
Tim Blake - keyboards
Ginger Baker - drums

Discography:
Hawkwind (1970)
In Search Of Space (1971)
Doremi Fasol Latido (1972)
Space Ritual (1973)
The Space Ritual Alive (1973)
Hall Of The Mountain Grill (1974)
Warrior On The Edge Of Time (1975)
Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music (1976)
Roadhawks (1976)
Quark, Strangeness And Charm (1977)
Masters Of The Universe (1977)
Hawklords: 25 Years On (1978)
PXR5 (1978)
Live Seventy-Nine (1980)
Repeat Performance (1980)
Levitation (1980)
The Weird Tapes Volumes 1 (1980/2000)
The Weird Tapes Volumes 2 (1980/2000)
The Weird Tapes Volumes 3 (1981/2000)
The Weird Tapes Volumes 4 (1981/2000)
Sonic Attack (1981)
Church Of Hawkwind (1982)
Friends And Relations (1982)
The Weird Tapes Volumes 5 (1982/2000)
The Weird Tapes Volumes 6 (1982)
Choose Your Masques (1983)
The Text Of Festival: Hawkwind Live 1970-72 (1983)
Zones (1983)
Friends & Relations... Twice Upon A Time (1983)
The Weird Tapes Volumes 7 (1983)
The Weird Tapes Volumes 8 (1983)
The Text Of Festival (1983)
Zones (1983)
This Is Hawkwind, Do Not Panic (1984)
Stonehenge/Do Not Panic (1984)
Space Ritual Volume 2 (1984)
Chronicle Of The Black Sword (1985)
Hawkwind Anthology (1985)
Bring Me The Head Of Yuri Gagarin (1985)
Hawkwind Live '70/'73 (1985)
Space Ritual Vol. 2 (1985)
Utopia 1984 (1985)
Friends & Relations Vol. 3 (1985)
In The Beginning... (1985)
Ridicule (1985)
Live Chronicles (1986)
Angels of Death (1986)
Out & Intake (1987)
Early Daze (1987)
The Xenon Codex (1988)
Spirit Of The Age (1988)
Space Bandits (1990)
Acid Daze The History Of Hawkwind (1990)
Stasis - The UA Years 1971-1975 (1990)
Palace Springs (1991)
The Best Of & The Rest Of Hawkwind (1990)
BBC Radio 1 Live In Concert (1991)
Anthology (1991)
Masters Of The Universe (1991)
Electric Tepee (1992)
The Friday Rock Show Sessions Live At Reading '86 (1992)
Hawklords Live (1992)
California Brainstorm (1992)
Tales From Atom Henge (1992)
Psychedelic Warlords (1992)
The Hawklords Live (1992)
Mighty Hawkwind Classics 1980-1985 (1992)
It Is The Business Of The Future To Be Dangerous (1993)
Live - St. Albans U.K. Winter Tour 1979 (1993)
Lord Of Light (1993)
The Business Trip (1994)
The Best Of Hawkwind (1994)
Silver Machine (1994)
25 Years On 1970-1973 (1994)
25 Years On 1973-1977 (1994)
Alien 4 (1995)
Undisclosed Files - Addendum (1995)
Independent Days Volume 1 & Volume 2 (1995)
Silver Machine (1995)*
Space Is Deep (1995)
Love In Space (1996)
The 1999 Party (1997)
Distant Horizons (1997)
Live & Rare: Onward Flies The Bird (1997)
Welcome To The Future (1997)
The Ambient Anarchists (1997)
Various - The Elf And The Hawk (1998)
Sonic Boom Killers - Best Of Singles As and Bs From 1970-1980 (1998)
Anthology 1967-1982 (1998)
The Master (1998)
In Your Area (1999) (US only)
Epocheclipse - 30 Year Anthology (3CD box) (1999)
Epocheclipse - The Ultimate Best Of (1CD) (1999)
Family Box Set (1999)
Hawkwind 1997 (1999)
Glastonbury 90 (1999)
Choose Your Masques: Collectors Series Volume 2 (1999)
Complete '79: Collectors Series Volume 1 (1999)
Golden Void 1969-1979 (1999)
Year 2000: Codename Hawkwind Volume One (1999)
Live - 1970-72 (1999)
The Stonehenge Collection (2000)
Spacebrock (2000)
Atomhenge '76 (2000)
Live From The Darkside (2000)
Yule Ritual (2001)
The Hawkwind Collection - The Legends Collection (2001)
Masters Of The Universe (2001)
Family Tree (2001)
Canterbury Fayre 2001 (2002)
Live 1990 (2002)
Masters Of Rock (2002)
Live In Nottingham (2002)
Cosmic Overdrive (2002)
Welcome To The Future (2003)
Oscillations (2003)
Spaced Out In London (2004)
Take Me To Your Leader (2005)
Take Me To Your Future (2006)
The Collection (2006)
Live '74 The Chicago Auditorium 21 March 1974 (2006)
Space Ritual (2CD+DVD) (2007)
Knights Of Space (2008)
Spirit Of The Age - 1976-1984 - An Anthology (2008)
The Dream Goes On - An Anthology 1985-1987 (2008)
Minneapolis, 4th October 1989> (2008)
Reading University, 19th May 1992 (2009)
Live '78 (2009)
Winter Solstice 2005 (2009)
Minneapolis 1989 (2009)
Shot Down In The Night (2009)
Blood Of The Earth (2010)
Treworgey Tree Fayre 1989 (2010)
At The BBC - 1972 (2010)
Leave No Star Unturned (2011)
Parallel Universe: A Liberty/U.A. Years Anthology 1970-1974 (2011)
Onward (2012)
5 Album Set [Boxset: Hawkwind/ISOS/DFL/HOTMG/MOTU] (2013)
Spacehawks (2013)
Space Ritual Live (2015)
At The Roundhouse (2017)
The Machine Stops (2016)
Into The Woods (2017)
The Emergency Broadcast Years: 1994-1997 (2018)
Hawkwind Light Orchestra: Carnivorous (2020)
50 Live (2020)
Somnia (2021)
Dust Of Time: 1969-2021 (2CD ed.) (2021)
Dust Of Time: 1969-2021 (6CD ed.) (2021)
Knights In Space Live (2022)
We Are Looking In On You (2022)
Dreamworkers Of Time (The BBC Recordings 1985-1995) (2022)
The Future Never Waits (2023)
Black Corridor (2023)
Days Of The Underground: The Studio & Live Recordings 1977-1979 (2023)
Stories From Time And Space (2024) Live At The Royal Albert Hall (2024)

Chaos (DVD) (1996)
Classic Rock Legends (DVD) (2001)
Out Of The Shadows (DVD) (2004)
Knights of Space (DVD) (2008)
Winter Solstice - Live At The Astoria 2005 (DVD) (2009)
USA Tour 1989-1990 (DVD) (2009)
Live 1984-1995 (DVD) (2009)
Treworgey 29th July 1989 (DVD) (2009)

*appears to be a different album than the 1994 edition...

[Note: it is possible many of the comps and live releases are not authorized releases... -ed.]

Genre: Psychedelic/Space Rock

Origin UK

Added: January 1st 2000
Reviewer: Vitaly Menshikov

Artist website: www.hawkwind.com
Hits: 4795
Language: english