Dave Brock -
Strange Trips & Pipe Dreams


(CD 1995/2011, 56:35, Atomhenge ATOMCD 1030)

The tracks:
  1- Hearing Aid Test(3:21)
  2- White Zone(7:30)
  3- UFO Line(1:24)
  4- Space(4:20)
  5- Pipe Dream(3:31)
  6- Self(1:47)
  7- Something's Going On(4:25)
  8- Bosnia(5:23)
  9- Parasites Are Here On Earth(5:16)
10- Gateway(2:08)
11- It's Never Too Late(6:32)
12- La Forge(3:07)
13- Encounters(3:11)

Dave Brock Website        Cherry Red Records


Strange Trips & Pipe Dreams, originally released in 1995, is in the true sense of the word a solo record of Hawkwind's leader Dave Brock, as he plays all the instruments himself and of course he's the singer as well. The only instrument he doesn't play is the drum computer, but as he proudly states: “I have programmed that thing myself!” Strange Trips & Pipe Dreams is considered to be Brock's best solo album which in itself isn't a feat that difficult to achieve as he hasn't made much more than three of these. However, I agree with the evaluation because Dave Brock experiments a lot less on this CD than on his previous solo records. He creates more of a unity in sound and compositions that make this album feel as a concept album though Dave neither denies nor agrees with that. There's a strong electronic space feel behind this record containing several tracks that could have been easily recorded for a Hawkwind-album, that is, in a full-band delivery. Best tracks are Space, having a strong Hawkwind resemblance, Bosnia, about the war that was going on there at the time, and Parasites Are Here On Earth, if only because of the title.

***André de Waal (edited by Peter Willemsen)

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