Hawkwind - Live Chronicles 1986 Double 2 LP GWR Records Black Sword Tour EX+/EX+

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27

Hawkwind - Live Chronicles.  1986 GWR Records PAL-1237.  Double Album.  1st pressing.  Made in the USA.  Side one is in EX+ condition, side two is in NM-, side three is in NM condition, side four is in NM condition.  Cover is in EX+ condition.  Cover has no cuts/slits/holes/tears/stains/writing.  Spine is square and well centered. 

Side One:  Song Of The Swords, Dragons And Fables, Narration, The Sea King, Angels Of Death.

Side Two:  Shade Gate, Rocky Paths, Narration, The Pulsing Cavern, Master Of The Universe, Dreaming City.

Side Three:  Choose Your Masques, Needle Gun, Zarozinia, Lords Of Chaos, The Dark Lords, Wizards Of Pan Tang.

Side Four:  Moonglum, Elric The Enchanter, Conjuration Of Magnu, Magnu, Dust Of Time, Horn Of Fate.

Review:  Recorded live during Hawkwind's 1985 The Chronicle of the Black Sword tour, Live Chronicles is a remarkable retelling of that album's own storyline, spread out over four full sides of vinyl and littered with Hawkwind oldies that really could have been written with Chronicle in mind -- and new material that, apparently, was.

Following in the footsteps of 1972's Space Ritual with its combination of music and narration (from original Chronicle author Michael Moorcock), the show more or less follows the studio set's running order, opening with the mood-melding "Song of the Swords" and then pursuing hero Elric through a complex tale that is only strengthened by the sheer cohesion of its re-creation -- Moorcock himself later described the live show as "the pure version," although it must be confessed that vinyl alone loses a great deal of the magic.

To truly appreciate Live Chronicles, one needs the accompanying video as well (and how often is that said about Hawkwind?). Necessarily lacking some of the studio album's atmosphere, Live Chronicles nevertheless compensates with energy and immediacy -- the version of "Needle Gun" is positively awesome, while "Master of the Universe" clatters with such metallic mayhem that even its rearrangement as a virtual speed anthem cannot dispel its power, an attribute that is only amplified by the song's positioning between the lower-key "The Pulsing Cavern" and "Dreaming City."

Complaints, at the time, that the actual sound of the album is a little on the reedy side do still hold true, although that is as likely a mastering problem as anything else. Certainly, with the volume and bass control cranked up to "full," Live Chronicles echoes with all the passion of the concerts themselves -- and all the imagination of Hawkwind at full throttle.- The All Music Guide.

We are happy to combine shipping and can ship up to five more LPs in the same box for no additional shipping cost in the USA.