Warrior On The Edge Of Time

As Hawkwind's longstanding contract with United Artists was ending, their next album was licensed back to United Artists (explaining why future reissues would be so difficult), and saw release in the US on Atco Records. The band added a second drummer, Alan Powell, during their European tour, but didn't replace the departing Del Dettmar. Warrior On The Edge Of Time drew on Michael Moorcock's concept of the "eternal champion" figure, first presented in his 1961 work Elric of Melniboné. The album—the band's first to be recorded at Rockfield Studios in Wales—enjoyed even better production than previous efforts, though it's still replete with Hawkwind's murky underground haze (a good thing). The opener "Assault and Battery - Part 1" and the ensuing "The Golden Void - Part 2" also retain that patented Hawkwind rhythm, though the combination of Nik Turner's flute and sax and House's keyboards add a new texture to the band's sound. Moving forward, the Neu!-ish "Opa-Loka" displays more of the band's new progression; while the atmosphere of Dave Brock's "The Demented Man" contains rich detail never before displayed on a Hawkwind record. The second side's "Magnu" and "Spiral Galaxy 28948," interspersed with Michael Moorcock's spoken-word soliloquies, further prove the band's musical evolution. Though the proto-punk single "Kings of Speed" b/w "Motorhead" didn't chart, the album reached No. 13 in the UK. Lemmy was subsequently fired from the band after a drug bust at the Canadian border; regardless, he would later drive his Motörhead to major international success. Paul Rudolph, ex-Pink Fairies, replaced Lemmy on bass; but after headlining both the Reading Festival and Watchfield Free Festival in August and completing tour commitments through the end of the year, Hawkwind would end ties with manager Doug Smith (for the first of many times), with a new era for the band just on the horizon.