1992's Electric Tepee saw the space rock legends Hawkwind chopped down to the trio of Dave Brock (vocals, guitars, keyboards), Alan Davey (bass, vocals, keyboards), and Richard Chadwick (drums), but seeing as how dense and rich the music is here, you'd be hard pressed to tell that this wasn't a normal expanded line-up that we've usually seen from the group. Slightly more electronic in nature, Electric Tepee contains a fare share of ambient, synth driven instrumentals to go along with some exciting space rock/metal numbers, and it's all well produced and quite enjoyable.
Of the more upbeat, space rock styled numbers, the highlights here are definitely the driving "LSD", complete with haunting synth drones (that sound almost like the intro to the Rush classic "Tom Sawyer") and commanding guitar riffs, the catchy "Right to Decide", and the bombastic space metal that is "Secret Agent". "Space Dust", "Blue Shift", and "Death of War" features some incredible synth textures and colors...seriously, if you love lush, spacey synth sounds, there are so many of them here on this album. They flutter, buzz, and beep on the adventurous, ambient jazz of "Snake Dance", and provide just enough atmosphere on the manic rocker "Mask of the Morning". Heavy riffs and haunting keyboards swirls about the mix on "Don't Understand" for a completely creepy ride, and the epic sounding "Sadness Runs Deep" sees Hawkwind coming as close to majestic progressive metal as they ever have. Brock's very English sounding vocals soar over symphonic keys and metallic guitar riffs on this tasty number. The near 8-minute instrumental "Going to Hawaii" is another well crafted synth dominated piece, which gives the listener a feeling of floating in the ocean as they approach that magical set of islands, while the title track takes you in the opposite direction into deep, dark space.
Overall, Electric Tepee is a really lovely album that contains some great upbeat space rock songs, but more importantly it's those atmospheric, ambient instrumentals that make it extra special. The folks over at Atomhenge/Cherry Red have done an amazing job with the remastering of this album (it really does sound fantastic) and the booklet contains a wealth of information, vintage photos, and artwork. Well done.
Track Listing
1) LSD
2) Blue Shift
3) Death of War
4) The Secret Agent
5) Garden Pests
6) Space Dust
7) Snake Dance
8) Mask of Morning
9) Rites of Netherworld
10) Don't Understand
11) Sadness Runs Deep
12) Right to Decide
13) Going to Hawaii
14) Electric Tepee
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