The Chronicle of the Black Sword

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The Chronicle of the Black Sword
Studio album by Hawkwind
Released	1985
Recorded	1985
Genre	Space Rock
Length	49:40
Label	Flicknife Records Griffin Records
Producer	Hawkwind
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Prog Archives link (6 ratings)
Hawkwind chronology
This Is Hawkwind, Do Not Panic (1984) The Chronicle of the Black Sword (1985) Live Chronicles (1986)
Alternate cover
Griffin release, North America 1994

The Chronicle of the Black Sword is an album by space rock band Hawkwind, released in 1985. The album is based upon the adventures of Elric of Melniboné, a recurring character in the novels of science fiction/fantasy author Michael Moorcock.

[edit] Track listing

Side 1

1. "Song of the Swords" (Brock) 3:25
2. "Shade Gate" (Bainbridge) 3:01
3. "The Sea King" (Lloyd-Langton) 3:23
4. "The Pulsing Cavern" (Bainbridge, Davey) 2:33
5. "Elric the Enchanter" (Davey) 4:51

Side 2

1. "Needle Gun" (Brock) 4:13
2. "Zarozinia" (Brock, Tait) 3:21
3. "The Demise" (Bainbridge, Brock) 1:02
4. "Sleep of a Thousand Tears" (Brock, Moorcock) 4:09
5. "Chaos Army" (Bainbridge, Brock)  :53
6. "Horn of Destiny" (Brock) 6:21

CD bonus tracks

1. "Arioch" (Davey) 3:26 - bonus on Flicknife CD
2. "Assault and Battery" [live] (Brock) - Flicknife CD
3. "Sleep of a Thousand Tears" [live] (Moorcock/Brock) - Flicknife CD
4. "The War I Survived" [live] (Brock, Davey, Neville-Neil) 4:00 - Dojo and Griffin CDs
5. "Voice Inside Your Head" [live] (Bainbridge, Brock) 4:57 - Dojo and Griffin CDs

[edit] Band Members

• Dave Brock - guitar, keyboards, vocals
• Huw Lloyd-Langton - guitar, vocals
• Harvey Bainbridge - keyboards, vocals
• Alan Davey - bass guitar, vocals
• Danny Thompson Jr. - drums
• Dave Charles - percussion

[edit] Comments

Live versions of these songs were included on the band's 1986 release Live Chronicles.

Though this album is based around Michael Moorcock's 'Elric' series, "Needle Gun" is a reference to Jerry Cornelius, another Moorcock character. In Ian Abraham's Sonic Assassins book, it is revealed that the lyrics for "Needle Gun" were ghost written by Roger Neville-Neil.

[edit] Credits

• Recorded at Rockfield Studios, August/September. Produced with Dave Charles.
• "The War I Survived" and "Voice Inside Your Head" recorded at Hammersmith Odeon, 22 Apr 1988
• Outer sleeve by John Coulthart, inner sleeve by Bob Walker

[edit] Release History

• Nov-1985: Flicknife Records, SHARP033, UK vinyl, first 10000 with inner sleeve including typed lyrics
• 1986: Flicknife Records, SHARP033D, UK CD
• Aug-1992: Dojo, DOJOCD72, UK CD
• May-1994: Griffin, GCDHA 0142-2, USA CD

[edit] External links

• HawkFanFare - Kerrang! review, November 1985

[edit] References

• Ian Abraham Sonic Assassins (Published by SAF publishing; ISBN 0-946719-69-1)