5.0 out of 5 stars
A little different thing from Hawkwind, October 26, 2007
This review is from: Dave Brock & the Agents of Chaos (Audio CD)
OK, Dave Brock could call his band Hawkwind regardless who he hired as musicians. But in the 1980s he formed a little side project called The Agents of Chaos. In 1984 came Earthed to the Ground, and in 1988 came The Agents of Chaos (released on Flicknife, which Hawkwind was no longer recording for by this point, they were recording for GWR). which is the album I'm focusing on. Yes, you can tell it's not Hawkwind, synthesizers are more dominant, although a bunch of material was reused and often rearranged for Hawkwind. For example, "In the Office" became "Treadmill" and "Hades Deep" became "Back in the Box", both with the same lyrics but completely different arrangements. There's also versions of "Heads" and "Wastelands of Sleep" which you all know from The Xenon Codex which was released the same time as this album. This version of "Heads" has more demented vocals and more of a dance beat, but you can't mistake this song. "Words of a Song" can most easily fit on any given Hawkwind album, those unmistakable guitar riffs and the rock sound overall is quite normal for Hawkwind, but not for Dave Brock & the Agents of Chaos. Of course he can't help but having that Hawkwind sound occasionally surface. "Hi-Tech Cities" is a great piece with many of those same social issues Brock himself would address on many Hawkwind songs, in this case criticizing the sterile urban environment ("Hi-tech cities / what a pity / life is sterile, never pretty"). Really this is a great little album that often covers ground that Brock might not often cover in Hawkwind, but still very highly recommended for every Hawkwind fan.
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