On the lyric sheet notes, Dave Brock wrote “We decided not to get a keyboard player as Harvey and me could do it”.

It was popular enough to make the Top 20 album charts on its original release and it should be remembered that this was the heyday of NWOBHM. It often floats above the songs and would have appealed to fans of NWOBHM. Overall the sound is keyboard heavy with a rocky approach in evidence, partly down to the crisp guitar style of Huw Lloyd Langton. The Sonic Attack album saw something of a move for the eternal space rockers towards fantasy while still maintaining an umbilical connection to Hawkwind’s space obsession and concern for terrestrial human concerns. The vinyl they have pressed it on is a lovely bright blue – I’d hazard to call it azure – and it works as an extension of the cloudscape artwork on the front cover. Planned as 40th anniversary reissue of a 1981 album, pressing plant delays affecting the whole record industry have nudged this just into 2022. Other than this tweak to the sound and restoration of the original artwork and lyric insert it is a faithful reproduction. This 1981 RCA album – Hawkwind’s eleventh – has been remastered and was cut at Abbey Road Studios. Nathan Brown jumps in the time machine to 1981 and hears scarily prescient warnings. They are working their way through the Hawkwind back catalogue and giving classic albums the reissue treatment. The Sonic Attack album and bonus 7 inch is the latest release from Atomhenge, which is the home of new material and represses for Hawkwind and their off shoot projects. Hawkwind – Sonic Attack 40 Anniversary Edition (Atomhenge)

Sonic synth 40