View source for In Search of Space

{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Infobox album
| name       = In Search of Space
| type       = album
| artist     = [[Hawkwind]]
| cover      = In Search of Space - Hawkwind.jpg
| alt        =
| released   = 8 October 1971
| recorded   = 1971
| venue      =
| studio     = [[Olympic Studios]]
| genre      = {{Flatlist|
*[[Space rock]]
*[[hard rock]]
*[[psychedelic rock]]
*[[progressive rock]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/in-search-of-space-mw0000205119|title=Hawkwind – In Search of Space|publisher=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=24 December 2014}}</ref>
*[[proto-punk]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/rediscover-in-search-of-space/|title='In Search of Space': Hawkwind Take Off with a Stratospheric Classic|work=Udiscovermusic|access-date=8 October 2021}}</ref>
}}
| length     = 42:22 (LP): 57:27 (CD reissue)
| label      = [[United Artists Records|United Artists]] <small>(most of the world)</small><br>[[Liberty Records|Liberty]] <small>(Japan & South Africa)</small>
| producer   = [[George Chkiantz]] and Hawkwind
| prev_title = [[Hawkwind (album)|Hawkwind]]
| prev_year  = 1970
| next_title = [[Doremi Fasol Latido]]
| next_year  = 1972
}}
{{Album ratings
| rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1Score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}<ref>{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r40138}}</ref>
| rev2 = ''[[The Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]''
| rev2Score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Larkin|first=Colin|author-link=Colin Larkin|title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music|year=2007|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|edition=4th|isbn=978-0195313734|title-link=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music}}</ref>
| rev3 = [[Head Heritage]]
| rev3Score = (positive)<ref>[http://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/thebookofseth/hawkwind-x-in-search-of-space Head Heritage review]</ref>
| rev4      = ''[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]''
| rev4Score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Cowan |first=Andy |date=October 2024 |title=Reissues Extra |magazine=[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]] |page=101 |issue=371}}</ref>
}}
'''''In Search of Space''''' (also known as ''X in Search of Space'' or ''Xin Search of Space'') is the second studio album from [[Hawkwind]], released in 1971.<ref>{{discogs master|28030}}</ref> It reached No. 18 on the [[UK Albums Chart]].

==Background==
Bass player John A Harrison left just after recording the first album, replaced by [[Thomas Crimble (musician)|Thomas Crimble]] who in turn was replaced by [[Dave Anderson (musician)|Dave Anderson]] from [[Amon Düül II]] for this album, and who in turn would be gone before its release. Electronics player [[Dik Mik|Dik Mik Davies]] had also temporarily left<ref>Del Dettmar left his position at the mixing desk and joined the line-up on stage, initially to cover the departure of Dik Mik, who kept leaving and rejoining. Dik Mik played on in Search of Space (United Artists UAG 29202) which was recorded in the Summer of 1971 and released in October, and then left before the cover was made. He came back again after the cover was done which is why his picture appears on the sleeve as part of the background instead of in a 'frame' like the others. – Brian Tawn, May 1986, Approved History of Hawkwind</ref> so the band's live sound engineer [[Del Dettmar]] was pulled in as a replacement, whilst [[Huw Lloyd-Langton]] had departed after a bad [[LSD]] experience at the [[Isle of Wight Festival 1970|Isle of Wight Festival]].<ref>The Saga of Hawkwind – Carol Clerk (pp 44)</ref>

==Songs==
"You Shouldn't Do That" is an extended piece they had been playing live from Crimble's time in the band and he asserts he should have received a writer's credit for the central bass line on which this is based.<ref name="SAGA">The Saga of Hawkwind – Carol Clerk (pp 85)</ref> It was recorded for a [[BBC]] Maida Vale session on 19 May 1971 for the ''[[Sounds of the 70s]]'' show, a bootleg version of the session can be found on ''[[The Text of Festival]]''. It was the encore for the ''[[Space Ritual]]'' show but omitted from that album, later appearing in 1976 on the compilation album ''[[Roadhawks]]''. It has been part of the live set at various times throughout their career, versions of which can be found on ''[[The Business Trip]]'' (1994) and ''[[Spaced Out in London]]'' (2004).

"You Know You're Only Dreaming" uses the riff and feel from [[Steve Miller Band]]'s "Jackson-Kent Blues" from ''[[Number 5 (Steve Miller Band album)|Number 5]]'', an artist Brock has acknowledged being influenced by.<ref>[http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/_hwpress/hw19720805nme.html NME, 5 August 1972] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050105004108/http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/_hwpress/hw19720805nme.html |date=5 January 2005 }} – Whatever turned me on</ref> This too was recorded for the BBC ''Sounds of the Seventies'' session and has appeared in the live set at various times throughout their career, including ''[[The 1999 Party]]'' (1974) and ''[[The Business Trip]]'' (1994).
{{Listen
|filename=Hawkwind_MasterOfTheUniverse.ogg
|title=Hawkwind – "Master of the Universe"
|description=30 seconds of 6.17
|format=[[Ogg]]}}

"Master of the Universe" was written by Brock and Turner (who sings the lead vocal), although Anderson contends he should also have received a writer's credit for writing the main riff.<ref name ="SAGA" /> It is the only track on the album that could be interpreted as lyrically having a space theme, but may also be viewed as being [[Anthropocentrism|anthropocentric]]. This was also part of the ''Sounds of the Seventies'' session and quickly became a live favourite and almost ever present in the set, appearing on numerous live albums. The track was used by the Ford Motor company to advertise the [[Ford B-Max]] on television in 2012.

"We Took the Wrong Step Years Ago" is a [[twelve string guitar]] number with a band jam in the middle section and its lyrics bemoan the direction of society. A new acoustic version of "We Took The Wrong Step Years Ago" was included on ''[[The Road to Utopia]]'' (2018), produced and arranged by [[Mike Batt]] with additional orchestrations.<ref name="RoadToUtopiaCD">{{cite web | url=https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/hawkwind-road-to-utopia/ | title=Hawkwind: Road To Utopia | publisher=[[Cherry Red Records]] | access-date=11 July 2018}}</ref>

"Adjust Me" is a band improvisation.

"Children of the Sun" is an acoustic guitar number, although after the vocal passage the repeated heavy riff is augmented by electric guitars and bass.

The bonus track "Seven by Seven", originally the b-side to "Silver Machine", uses the riff from late 1960s English psychedelic band [[Mike Stuart Span#Leviathan|Leviathan]]'s "Flames". The lyrics concern the [[seven rays]].

==Recording==
The band originally started to record the album at [[George Martin]]'s [[AIR Studios]], but after a week with little to show for their effort, and the studio engineers reported to be reluctant to work with the band after friends of the band broke "into George Martin's drinks cabinet, pinched all his booze and spiked the engineers with acid", the record company moved them to [[Olympic Studios]] to work with [[George Chkiantz]] to finish the recording quickly.<ref>The Saga of Hawkwind – Carol Clerk (pp 74)</ref>

==Sleeve==
The band had started working with a wider range of artists, a number of whom were contributing to the underground press. Graphic artist [[Barney Bubbles]] titled the album and designed the cover and with space-age poet [[Robert Calvert]] produced the accompanying 24-page ''The Hawkwind Log'' with photos by Phil Franks.<ref>[http://www.ibiblio.org/mal/MO/philm/hawkwind/ Phil Franks] – Philm Freax Digital Archive</ref><ref>[http://www.collectable-records.ru/groups/hawkwind/search.htm Collectable Records] – Original foldout cover and booklet</ref>

The front cover is a die-cut interlocking foldout. The back cover has a shot of a naked [[Stacia]] on stage under strobe lights and the phrase "TECHNICIÄNS ÖF SPÅCE SHIP EÅRTH THIS IS YÖÜR CÄPTÅIN SPEÄKING YÖÜR ØÅPTÅIN IS DEA̋D" which some people{{Who|date=April 2010}} assert is a demonstration of the [[heavy metal umlaut]]. The inside panel features individual portraits of the band, however as Dik Mik had left the band his portrait was not taken, so on rejoining just before the album's release a hastily added image was included. Inside the foldout sleeve are various pictures of Hawkwind and the [[Pink Fairies]] playing together underneath the [[Westway (London)|Westway]] in London.

There is no overall concept or theme to the songs on the album; the ideas that would culminate in the ''[[Space Ritual]]'' show are merely contained within the album package, principally ''The Hawkwind Log''. It opens with:

{{quote|The spacecraft Hawkwind was found by Captain RN Calvert of the Société Astronomæ (an international guild of creative artists dedicated in eternity to the discovery and demonstration of extra-terrestrial intelligence) on 8 July 1971 in the vicinity of Mare Librium near the South Pole. The discovery of the Hawkwind has led to more wild speculation than any of the mysteries of space that we have so far encountered. The facts surrounding the discovery of this drifting two-dimensional spaceship have been so distorted by guesswork and rumour that any further attempts at assessment would only increase the density of the fog.}}

Within, the journal entries are from various times and places, including a return to a burnt out Earth in November 1987. Themes explored include astrology and astronomy, ecology, science, occultism and mysticism, religion and philosophy. Some pieces would later be reused, such as the entries "0207 hrs 15 April 1572, Praesepe cluster" and "Countdown to Lift Off" which appeared on ''[[Space Ritual]]'' as "The Awakening" and "Ten Seconds of Forever" respectively, and [[Black Elk]]'s "Offering of the Pipe" ''Hetchetu Aloh'' chant was later used on "Black Elk Speaks" from ''[[Space Bandits]]''. One of the last entries, ''1027 hrs. 5 May 1971, Ladbroke Grove'', explains:

{{quote|Space/time supply indicators near to zero. Our thoughts are losing depth, soon they will fold into each other, into flatness, into nothing but surface. Our ship will fold like a cardboard file and the noises of our minds compress into a disc of shining black, spinning in eternity...}}

==Critical reaction==
''[[Melody Maker]]'' reviewed the album in the context of [[Krautrock|contemporary German acts]], feeling that "their instrumental playing" did not reach the same heights but that "they yield precedence to no-one in their creative use of electronics."<ref>[http://www.kadu.demon.co.uk/pages/hawkinspace.html Melody Maker] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061003015822/http://www.kadu.demon.co.uk/pages/hawkinspace.html |date=3 October 2006 }} – album review, 23 October 1971</ref> ''[[Beat Instrumental]]'' assessed the album as "excellent", saying that the "music alternates between spaced out imagery and hard rock" as well as commenting that this is the start of the space trip leading to the "[[Space Ritual|Space Opera]]".<ref>[http://www.starfarer.net/clippings8.html Beat Instrumental issue 104, December 1971] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120315235649/http://www.starfarer.net/clippings8.html |date=15 March 2012 }} – "In Search of Space" album review</ref>

In the US, [[Lester Bangs]] in ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' favourably appraised the album in the context of other musical works concerned with space, going on to describe the music as "monotone jammings with hypnotic rhythms and solos unravelling off into... well, space. The synthesizers warble, woof and scream and gurgle like barfing computers, the drums pound, and the singers chant Unknown Tongue rebops."<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20071002011956/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/hawkwind/albums/album/156638/review/5942439/in_search_of_space Rolling Stone 111] – 22 June 1972</ref> ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' described the music as "forcefully compelling, electronic and repetitive" and the band "nearly brings to fruition its claim of being a truly 'mind-expanding' rock group."<ref>[http://www.starfarer.net/clippings8.html Billboard, 1972] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120315235649/http://www.starfarer.net/clippings8.html |date=15 March 2012 }} – "In Search of Space" album review</ref>

In April 2006 it made No. 83 in ''[[Classic Rock (magazine)|Classic Rock]]''{{'}}s "The 100 Greatest British Rock Albums", noting that "drummer Terry Ollis and bassist Dave Anderson could hit an awesome groove, allowing the rest of the band to cut loose on their acid-fuelled sonic adventures without fear of losing themselves or their listeners."<ref>[http://www.starfarer.net/clippings15.html Classic Rock, April 2006] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314101532/http://www.starfarer.net/clippings15.html |date=14 March 2012 }} – The 100 Greatest British Rock Albums</ref> In the same issue, [[Porcupine Tree]]'s Steven Wilson placed it at No. 2 in his top 5, adding "it's an extraordinary whirlpool of cosmic sound, the definitive space-rock statement. I love the album's repetitive, almost pagan feel. It dispensed with the idea of soloists and has a real sense of 'otherness'."<ref>[http://www.starfarer.net/quotation.html Classic Rock, April 2006] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314102111/http://www.starfarer.net/quotation.html |date=14 March 2012 }} – The 100 Greatest British Rock Albums</ref>

==Track listing==
{{Tracklist
| headline = Side one
| title1 = You Shouldn't Do That
| writer1 = [[Nik Turner]], [[Dave Brock]]
| length1 = 15:41
| title2 = You Know You're Only Dreaming
| writer2 = Brock
| length2 = 6:36
}}
{{Tracklist
| headline = Side two
| title3 = Master of the Universe
| writer3 = Turner, Brock
| length3 = 6:17
| title4 = We Took the Wrong Step Years Ago
| writer4 = Brock
| length4 = 4:48
| title5 = Adjust Me
| writer5 = Hawkwind
| length5 = 5:46
| title6 = Children of the Sun
| writer6 = Turner, Dave Anderson
| length6 = 3:14
}}
{{Tracklist
| headline = 1996 remastered CD bonus tracks
| title7 = Seven By Seven
| note7 = original single version
| writer7 = Brock
| length7 = 5:21
| title8 = [[Silver Machine]]
| note8 = original single version
| writer8 = [[Robert Calvert]], Brock
| length8 = 4:39
| title9 = Born to Go
| note9 = live single version edit; live at the Roundhouse
| writer9 = Calvert, Brock
| length9 = 5:05
}}


==Personnel==
;Hawkwind
*[[Dave Brock]] – vocals, electric guitar, 6- and 12-string acoustic guitars, harmonica, audio generator
*[[Nik Turner]] – alto saxophone, [[flute]], vocals, audio generator
*[[Del Dettmar]] – synthesizer
*Dik Mik (Michael Davies) – audio generator
*[[Dave Anderson (musician)|Dave Anderson]] – bass guitar, electric and acoustic guitars (original album)
*[[Terry Ollis]] – drums, percussion (original album)

'''Musicians on 1996 Remasters CD bonus tracks'''
*[[Robert Calvert]] – vocals
*[[Lemmy]] (Ian Kilmister) – bass guitar, vocals on "Silver Machine"
*[[Simon King (musician)|Simon King]] – drums

===Production===
*Produced By Hawkwind & George Chkiantz
*Recorded & Engineered By George Chkiantz at [[AIR Studios|AIR]], The Roundhouse, Morgan & [[Rockfield Studio]]s.
*Sleeve and The Hawkwind Log by [[Barney Bubbles]] (art), Bob Calvert (words) and Phil Franks (photography).

== Charts ==
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|-
! Chart (1971–1972)
! Peak<br />position
|-
! scope="row"|Australian Albums ([[Kent Music Report]])<ref name=aus>{{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6|page=135}}</ref>
| align="center"| 34
|-
{{album chart|UK2|18|date=19720903|rowheader=true|accessdate=30 October 2023}}
|}

== Certifications ==
{{certification Table Top}}
{{certification Table Entry|type=album|region=United Kingdom|artist=Hawkwind|title=In Search of Space|award=Gold|relyear=1981|certyear=1982|id=3285-1769-2|note= 1981 release}}
{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true}}

==Release history==
*October-1971: [[United Artists Records]], UAG29202, UK vinyl – came in fold out sleeve and 24-page The Hawkwind Log
*January-1981: Liberty LBG29202, UK vinyl
*October-1987: EMI Fame, FA3192, UK vinyl
*May-1989: EMI Fame, CDFA3192, UK CD
*July-1991: [[One Way Records]], CDLL57474, USA CD (mistitled ''In Search of Space''<ref>{{discogs release|557516|Mistitled reissue by One Way Records}}</ref>)
*March-1996: EMI Remasters, HAWKS2, UK CD – initial copies came in digipak with a fold out sleeve and 24-page The Hawkwind Log
*March-2003: EMI Records, 3823682, UK 2CD – with ''[[Doremi Fasol Latido]]''
*11 October 2010: Rock Classics (mistitled ''In Search of Space''),<ref>[http://www.plastichead.com/catalogue.asp?ex=fitem&verb=F&target=RCV011LP Plastic Head Website (UK): Rock Classics reissue]</ref> UK, 2x12" vinyl 1000 copies

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{hawkwind}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Hawkwind albums]]
[[Category:1971 albums]]
[[Category:United Artists Records albums]]
[[Category:Liberty Records albums]]
[[Category:EMI Records albums]]
[[Category:Albums produced by George Chkiantz]]
[[Category:One Way Records albums]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Dave Anderson (musician)]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Dave Brock]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Nik Turner]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Del Dettmar]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Dik Mik]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Terry Ollis]]