Track Listing

1. Reefer Madness
2. Steppenwolf
3. City Of Lagoons
4. The Aubergine That Ate Rangoon
5. Kerb Crawler
6. Kadu Flyer
7. Chronoglide Skyway
8. Honky Dorky [Bonus Track]
9. Kerb Crawler (Single Mix)[Bonus Track]
10. Back On The Streets (Unreleased Mix)[Bonus Track]
11. The Dream Of Isis (Unreleased Mix)[Bonus Track]

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6390 in Music
• Released on: 2009-01-26
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .24 pounds

Customer Reviews

Astounding change of direction, but still amazin'
The 1976 release of `Astounding Sounds' saw Hawkwind embark on an eclectic journey of musical discovery, for the first time going beyond the single-minded focus on swirling chugga chugga space rock that was perfected on the previous year's release of `Warrior On the Edge of Time'. This was the start of their `Charisma period', where elements of punk, new wave, funk and even jazz were woven into the Hawkwind sound. The eccentric rock poet Robert Calvert helped to give the band a whole new direction with his original lyrical style and quirky song-writing contributions. Highlights on this album include `Steppenwolf' and `Reefer Madness', though my personal favourite is the atmospheric Turner-penned number `Kadu Flyer'.

Although Hawkwind's reputation largely rests on the back of their space-rock glory days of the early to mid-70s, this new phase of the band also produced a handful of albums that, though a departure from the signature Hawkwind sound, deserve a special place in the affection of both Hawkwind fans and the wider rock community. The other late 70s Charisma albums are `Quark, Strangeness and Charm', '25 Years On' and `PXR5', which are all being re-released this year.

More than any other band I can think of, Hawkwind have been plagued over the years by a plethora of often expensive, substandard and illegal releases of both live performances and studio albums. So the new Esoteric/Atomhenge label is a boon to rock fans, allowing definitive CD releases of most of the band's post-EMI catalogue. Falling into the gap between the EMI albums and those now in the Atomhenge fold is the aforementioned `Warrior', the music rights to which I believe are owned by the individual members of the band that played on it. So there'll have to be a lot of grown-up cooperating to bring a worthy release of this gem to the world. We're waiting! In the meantime we have much to enjoy with the simultaneous release of `Astounding Sounds' and '25 Years', and the rest of the catalogue coming on a rolling release schedule throughout 2009 and beyond.

Great Remastered Sound Quality!
I would like to echo Mr. Blackwell's review of this album. I've always loved these Charisma-period Hawkwind / Hawklords albums. In addition though, I would also like to praise the remastering work on this. This album always sounded good (the original vinyl sounds great). This remastering job is superb! A really full, dynamic and detailed sound. No 'loudness wars' here.

Great packaging too (I would very much like a Japanese 'mini LP CD' format version but I can't see that happening soon...!)

A brilliant album properly done for the digital age. About time too!

The 'hmm, where shall we go from here?' album
I appreciate fully the previous reviewer's (Jim) eloquence in his even-handed review of 'ASAM', but sadly I cannot share his enthusiasm - I have been desperately trying to like this album ever since I bought it in the late 70's but, unlike virtually all of their 70's output, it still refuses to endear itself to me! For me, the reason I feel that this was 'wind's only Achilles heel between '70 and '78 is that it has a Janus-like feel to it which sounds as if it's trying too hard to be streamlined and contemporary (for the day) while simultaneously being unable to convincingly shake off the shackles of their established scuzzy space-biker sonic attack - whether this is down to a conflict in musical direction between Dave Brock and Bob Calvert in one corner or Alan Powell/Paul Rudolph/Nik Turner in the other I don't know (all I know is that the last three were fired before their next album). Anyway, this results in a rather uncertain collection that ultimately doesn't really know what it wants to be. Nevertheless, if it's ultimate purpose for posterity was to serve as a precursor for the peerless 'Quark' album that followed the year after then this album was worth being hamstrung with the reputation of being the lame duck in Hawkwind's '70's canon.