Doremi Fasol Latido

Doremi may not be Hawkwind's most renowned album, but it carries the same type of prog rock spaciness as their first two releases. Even though the keyboard playing is trimmed down just a tad, the introduction of Ian Kilmister, otherwise known as Lemmy of Motorhead fame, makes up for it. With Lemmy's hard-lined guitar playing and Del Dettmar's synthesizer stabs, tracks like "Space Is Deep" and "The Watcher" are infused with elaborate instrumental meanderings in perfect Hawkwind fashion. The longer tracks, both "Brainstorm" and "Time We Left This World Today," find Lemmy settling into the band's extraordinary milieu, but it ended up being the album's strongest cuts. There's a harder feel to the songs all the way through, with the guitar and drums coming to the forefront ahead of DikMik's "generators" and "hot electronics." Doremi is the inaugural album for drummer Simon King, and with guitarist Dave Anderson and percussion man Terry Ollis now departed, Hawkwind still manages to muster up a firm intergalactic space-metal atmosphere, but with a more rugged thrust. ~ Mike DeGagne