Customer Reviews

Live at Canterbury Festival 1

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There are stacks of live Hawkwind albums out there. Some are the greatest of all time (Space Ritual, 1999 Party)and some are just really good (none are bad, despite dodgy recording quality). This one falls in the really good group. It is a recording of a complete concert from 2001 and the band is ON. The music is in the forefront, with the odd poetry secondary. A bit of improvisation here and there, lots of good and old songs. A perfect blend. The closest album to this is 'Palace Springs' from 1991, which was quite underrated. Highly recommended. These guys are not Dead. Good thing!

************************Personnel
* Dave Brock - guitar, keyboards, vocals
* Simon House - violin
* Keith Kniveton - synthesisers
* Alan Davey - bass guitar, vocals
* Richard Chadwick - drums
* Huw Lloyd-Langton - guitar, vocals
* Arthur Brown - vocals (Silver Machine and Arthur's Poem)'

************************Technical Stuff
The sound quality is acceptable. There are no loudness war issues, however the recording and mixing has produced a muddy sound that smears the instruments together and sometimes the bass overwhelms the rest.

************************The Music
This is a decent concert. The playing is pretty strait forward, with out too much in the way of jamming. Langton is still a bit showy, but he holds his heavy metal sound in check for most of the concert. The song selection is pretty variety, having quite a few fan favorites.

If you are looking for a 2000/2001 era Hawks live album, I'd recommend getting "Yule Ritual" instead. The music and the sound quality are better.Yule Ritual

************************Summary
A decent disc, but not essential. Get "Yule Ritual" instead.