Review Summary: Unique even amongst Hawkwind's varied discography, Space Bandits provides some good fun for it's listener.
Hawkwind – A trip through space, Part XVI A female vocalist?
One thing Hawkwind could never be accused of is lack of variety in their sound. From album to album, Hawkwind always had something new to provide for it's listener. Even though they began to sound similar towards the end of the previous decade, Hawkwind did what they did best, they changed their sound entirely.
The biggest change comes in the form of a woman by the name of Bridget Wishart. On Space Bandits she provides the main vocals for the majority of the record. Normally a change in vocalist goes in two directions. Either it is a success and it sends the band to newer and greener pastures, or the band sounds jarringly different and the band wilts and dies. But Hawkwind manage to pull it off, and Bridget sounds like she has been in the band for years. Another change is the addition of Simon House, who had previously appeared with the band between '74 and '79. His violin adds a great deal of depth to this record.
On this album Hawkwind is:
Bridget Wishart – vocals
Dave Brock – electric guitar, keyboards, vocals
Alan Davey – bass guitar, vocals
Simon House – violin
Harvey Bainbridge – keyboards, vocals
Richard Chadwick – drums
The re-appearance of House really gives Hawkwind a musical edge that had been missing on their work from the previous decade. They jump right into the mix with the opening track 'Images', a dark and moody space rocker which sets the scene for the rest of the album. Compared to its predecessors, Space Bandits suffers from a severe case of melancholia and this style fits in perfectly with their new vocalist, who does a pretty amazing job on the record with her minimalist vocal style.
'Images' seems to have a certain energy to it, that just keeps on going and giving throughout the length of the song. However the loss of Langton is felt, and the album is missing in the excellent guitar parts that he often brought to the fold. Luckily Bainbridge and House manage to pick up some of this slack and this helps to achieve a new type of sound. A mature dark sound that matches the dark and mysterious album art that graces the front of this record.
'Black Elk Speaks' is an extract from a poem laced with throbbing drums and dark spacey noise. However, it is also a black sheep and it doesn't manage to fit in properly in the sound of the album, which is rather upsetting because it brings the whole record down a notch. But 'Wings' is as equally dark and grim as the rest of the music. With quiet vocals over the dark noise pulsing from the keyboard of Bainbridge.
But the sound alters in typical Hawkwind fashion on the song 'Out of the Shadows', which comes across as an excellent little rock piece, that wins itself my 'Song of the Album' trophy for it's excellent sound and the enjoyability that the song produces. It is an interesting, fun and spirited rocker that would go along nice with songs from the band's heyday and brings a certain feel of nostalgia to the album.
Space Bandits does have issues however, as the mostly depressing mood isn't everyone's cup of tea. Parts of the album are filled with atmospheric droning, the song 'Realms' being a good example, the song floats and drags along until 'Ship of Dreams' arrives to pull it out of the muck. This does a really good job of slowing the album down to a near halt, which isn't very good for the overall flow of the record.
Space Bandits is worth your time to listen to if you are able to get your lucky mitts on a version of the album, as it happens to be exceedingly rare. Like the majority of Hawkwind's later work, it is split into two halves, the good half comprised of 'Images', 'Out of the Shadows' and 'Ship of Dreams' and the not so good side which consists of everything else. Unlike some of their albums however, their worse side isn't actually that bad. It just happens to not quite fit in with the rest of their sound.
