STARFIELD 
286829
CDR
RETURN TO EARTH (CDR-ESSENTIAL FOR HAWKWIND FANS)

CLASSIC SPACE-ROCK (PSYCH)

The duo of Captain Black (a musician who has performed on stage with Hawkwind) and current Bedouin vocalist Danny Faulkner team up for this 11 track space-rock project. Right from the opening salvo of synths, guitars, electric bass and drums that take up the main riff from ‘Brainstorm’, you feel that you might just be on to a winner - but, as the track drives on in a mesmerising hail of samples and spiralling synth space whooshes, you’re certain of the fact! - This is top class semi-instrumental space-rock of the highest calibre! Faulkner’s voice is also tailor-made for the space-rock genre - all lightly echoed and soaring in the grand traditions of early and classic Hawkwind. Throughout all of this steaming cauldron of epic space-rock, the sound quality and production are top notch, but the arrangements, playing, layers, riffs, rhythms and solos are pure class and obviously heavily Hawkwind-influenced, but with the band’s own sense of originality firmly in place. This is a class act, with an album that has been as well received by our psych customers as any we can think of in recent times - A mind-blowing gem if ever there was one!

You just know you’re dealing with one superb album when the opening sequence of keyboards, synths, electric bass, guitars and drums echoes the main riff from ‘Brainstorm’. They drive along to the four minute point, where the rhythms die away in a hail of samples and synth space whooshes, and that leads directly onto track 2, with another corking Hawkwind-esque riff, and a perfect space-rock vocal from Faulkner, sung in the grand traditions of classic Hawkwind. Especially when you consider that it’s joined to the tracks before and after, this near nine-minutes cut forms part of some of the best flowing space-rock music I’ve heard since the Krel album, and that’s for sure. This band also have their own sense of originality stamped on the album - Just witness the African drum-style intro to ‘In The Trees’ for proof of this, as the synths and echoed distant vocals soar and swoop above the rolling drum rhythms to absolutely mesmerising effect. This is a track that I can imagine even the mighty Hawks would have been proud to call their own, and there’s a certain degree of comparison to ‘Opa Loka’ if anything, but this sounds totally fresh and dynamic. Following this it’s straight on to track 5 where the sound of thunder and rain herald the arrival of Danny’s vocals as they fly high above a slow synth backdrop. There’s an almost middle-eastern feel and sound to this passage, but it only lasts just short of three minutes, then it’s straight into a scorching guitar, synth, drums and bass driven riff of almighty proportions, with Danny’s vocal completing the picture on another slice of quality space-rock that’s guaranteed to bring a smile to the face of most Hawkwind fans. This track makes great use of dynamics, and it’s a fantastic mix of surging, deep bass and keyboard undercurrents. A lead synth figure flies above, while the guitars, bass and space synths gather strength below, then rise up and break out into a steaming cauldron of epic space-rock proportions. Bearing in mind that at this point, we’ve only reached track 6 of 11, and the fact that every track to follow is of equally excellent quality, you can see why this has been one of the best-received CD’s by any space-rock band outside of Hawkwind in recent times.

Weight: 150.00 g