Quark Strangeness & Charm (Reis) [Import, Original recording remastered]

Hawkwind | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 28, 2009)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Import, Original recording remastered
• Label: Atomhenge
• ASIN: B001QIRSAA
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #77,280 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Digitally remastered and expanded two CD edition of the veteran Space rockers' 1977 album including a bonus CD. . The album was Dave Brock and Robert Calvert's masterpiece that perfectly embraced the influence of the musical New Wave to deliver one of the most effective albums released during Calvert's tenure with Hawkwind. This expanded edition features a bonus CD featuring studio session alternate takes and live recordings by The Sonic Assassins from 1977. Includes such classic tracks as 'Spirit Of the Age', 'Hassan I Sabbah' and 'Damnation Alley'. Atomhenge.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Great Album, December 16, 2009

By 

Ellis Swearangin - See all my reviews

This review is from: Quark Strangeness & Charm (Reis) (Audio CD)

************Personnel:
* Robert Calvert - vocals, percussion, morse and strangeness
* Dave Brock - guitar, synthesisers, sound FX, vocals and quark
* Simon House - keyboards, violin, anvil, vocals and charm
* Adrian Shaw - bass guitar, vocals and hand-claps
* Simon King - drums, percussion

The 7 piece untit from the Astounding Sounds era has been trimmed to 5 for this album. Nik Turner (sax) and Allan Powell (2nd drummer) were dropped for this record and Paul Rudolph (bass) is replaced by Adrian Shaw. Turner, Powell, and Rudolph were all sacked because they sought to overthrow Brock's leadership.

***********Technical Stuff:
I only have the 2009 remaster so I cannot compare editions for this one. The 2009 remaster is not as good as the other Atomhenge releases, but it is still a decent mastering. Some of the songs suffer from a bit of mastering induced distortion and clipping; but compared to most post 2000 rock remasters it is still very good.

***********The Music

Calvert remains lyricist and vocalist for this record, and continues to have a lot of fun with his work. The focused professionalism of the previous album continues in this one, with the playing remaining very sharp. It can be classified as a punk-prog-pop-new wave album. There are some great melodies and great lyrics on this one.

"Spirit of the Age" is a 3-chord romp about space travel, android lovers, and clones...great stuff from Calvert.

The next song "Damnation Alley" takes its inspiration from a Zelazny, and is about driving through a city after a nuclear war. It features a punk-like guitar, some good violin work from House, and of course spacy electronics.

"Fable of a Failed Race" is as close to soft rock as Hawkwind comes. It is a nice song but probably the weakest on the album.

"Quark, Strangeness and Charm" is another of Calvert's fun songs about Einstein and his lack of luck with the ladies.

"Hassan-i Sabbah" predicts the conflicts in the middle east to secure oil. It has an Arabic hard rock feel.

Simon House's "The Forge of Vulcan" is cycling synths overtop of an anvil being struck. It is the only spacey track on the album.

"The Days of the Underground" is a basic Hawkwind song. Nothing special.

"The Iron Dream" ends the album with a great instrumental jam.

There is an hour of bonus tracks with the remaster. They feature some live tracks, alternate versions, and a demo. Nice, but like most bonus tracks not essential.

**************Summary
This is another of the great Hawkwind albums, but like each release it has its own sound. Calvert's sensibilities dominate the album and provide alot of humor and fun. The sound is more basic and simplistic than their previous efforts, but it still features great playing and great melodies. I'd say this is Hawkwind's punk-prog-pop-new wave record.

The 2009 remaster sounds good (not great though), and features over an hour of bonus material, so I highly recommend getting it.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fantastic collection, September 6, 2009

By 

John Pack - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Quark Strangeness & Charm (Reis) (Audio CD)

It is a pleasure to hear this collection. Quark is one of Hawkwinds most creative efforts. It also harkens to a time when Hawkwind was more interested in making fine music than fussing amongst themselves. All the tracks receives a digital remastering that is truly amazing. Unreleased versions and remixes also add to the magic. Great stuff good for Hawkwind die hards and casuals alike.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cassic, June 22, 2010

By 

Bill Your 'Free Form FM Handi Cyber Print DJ ... (Mahwah, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Quark Strangeness & Charm (Reis) (Audio CD)

There was a sizable shift in Hawkwind's sound around the time of Quark, Strangeness and charm. Form about 1970, the band had made some of the world's most trippy space rock, Space Ritual one of rock's magnum opuses to acid star travel. Most of this was layered with effects swirling around Hawkwind's dark sonic towers.

Quark Strangeness and Charm trims Hawkwind's sound down. Both the propulsive rhythms, their trademark, and the space effects are still present, but the emphasis is more on clean vocals and slicing guitars. Listen to "Spirit Of The Age," "Damnation Ally," or any of the tracks which bring this fourth full force.

This music is not exactly New Wave, just landing when Quark did in 1977, but it does lean a long way into this sound. When young rockers were rebelling against stadium space like Pink Floyd, Hawkwind was both able to maintain their travel and find a modernized rocket to travel in.