Search - Hawkwind :: Doremi Fasol #4

Lovingly re-packaged space-rock masterpiece

Gavin Wilson | 02/23/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Hawkwind have recorded so many albums in their 30-or-so yearhistory -- and 23 have charted -- that it's difficult for the casualbuyer to decide which to get.Although recorded in the same era,this album does not contain the 'Silver Machine' single, but it hasthe same epic qualities. The packaging has been wonderfully assembled-- looking back, I now see the enormous influence that this album hadon the designers of the 'Warhammer' games. Personally, I would havepreferred not to have the inclusion of the last four extra tracks,however rare they might be. The first seven tracks made up anintegrated whole, and the extra tracks aren't in the same vein.Butthis is marvellous space-rock.... I don't find the recording qualitypoor, but it is 28 years since I first bought the LP....It's great to have the album on CD now. I doubt whether Hawkwind everintended this stuff to be played on car stereos, but it's superbmotorway driving material."

Hawkwind on the rise

Robert Cossaboon | The happy land of Walworth, NY | 09/24/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Doremi Fasol Latido is one of the earlier Hawkwind albums. It came out just before the mindblowing Space Ritual and shows the band in very fine form on most of the tracks. Unlike the brilliant Mountain Grill, the sci-fi theme is more protrusive (and intrusive) here. The opener, Brainstorm, is very propulsive. The distorted guitar work highlights the corporeal release of the lyrics. The logical successor, Space Is Deep, is as good as any rock song gets. It begins accoustically (with the obligatory synthesizers effects in the background) and then takes off like the spaceship song it wanted to be. The subtle shift from accoustic to electric is breathtaking. One Change and the intro to Lord of Light reflect very strong Sun-Ra influences with the dissonant piano and spacy bass and cymbal sounds. Lord of Light is another fine rocker with a freak-out guitar solo in the middle-lot's of instrumental phazing on this song. Down Through The Night is an evokative, accoustic, come-down piece along the lines of Jimi Hendrix's 1983 . . . (from Electric Ladyland)with the gentle guitar/synthesizer wails in the background. Once again, the sci-fi is there whether you want it to be or not--this one is about a deep space slumber until a certain time when the sleeper will awaken in the future.
Just when you are about to enter your own slumber, Hawkwind socks it to you with their heaviest and most experimental number, Time We Left This World Today. If there are comparisons to Amon Duul to be made, it would be made on this song. It alternates between emulating a machine-like rhythm and free-form jamming. It's a very unusual song. The last song is the bummer of the album. It consists of Dave Brock and his accoustic guitar singing in that cockney accent of his. If it serves a purpose, it is to cement the theme of fatalism that is woven throughout. It's a song about betrayal and failure and a heck of a way to close an album. As for the bonus tracks, I loved them. They definitely improved on the original release. Urban Guerilla wouldn't have been out of place on the second MC5 album. Brainbox Pollution features a sax player. There is also an edited version of Lord of Light here. The last song, Ejection, is refreshing for the different vocals and the addition of the saxophone. Will Doremi Fasol Latido blow you away? Eventually it probably will, but this is an album that must grown on you from at least two or three listenings, otherwise you won't get everything that's going on in the songs."

THE BEST HAWKWIND ALBUM EVER

bfry54 | JUPITER, FLORIDA United States | 07/06/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When i heard DOREMI FASOL LATIDO IN 72 IT BLEW ME AWAY.There was nothing else like it.The beginning was like a freight train at 100 mies an hour headed for your head.The keyboards, guitars, vocals were vissionary.As each song lead into the next it was space rock at its absolute best.Truly a must have for every space rock lover."