PXR5

PXR5
Studio album by Hawkwind
Released 15 June 1979
Recorded Leicester, De Montfort Hall, 29 September 1977 (tracks 6, 7)
Hammersmith Odeon, London, 5 October 1977 (track 3)
Rockfield Studios, January 1978 (tracks 1, 2, 8)
Week Park Farm, Devon, June 1978 (tracks 4, 5)
Genre Space rock
Length 37:33
Label Charisma Records
Producer Hawkwind
Hawkwind chronology

25 Years On
(1978)		 PXR5
(1979)		 Live Seventy Nine
(1980)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]

PXR5 is the ninth studio album by Hawkwind, released in 1979. It reached No. 59 on the UK album charts.

Overview

The album was recorded and mixed at Rockfield Studios in January and February 1978. "Uncle Sam's on Mars", "Robot" and "High Rise" were originally recorded on the preceding UK tour but were overdubbed in the studio, significantly Robert Calvert's double tracked vocals. "Infinity" and "Life Form" were originally to have been part of a solo album Dave Brock was working on.

After the album was recorded and mixed, the band fell apart during a US tour in March when Simon House left to join the David Bowie band and Robert Calvert suffered a bout of clinical depression. With the band in temporary hiatus and no pending promotional tour, the album's release was shelved.

The band re-emerged in mid-1978 as the Hawklords to record the 25 Years On album with two single releases "Psi Power" and "25 Years", which featured "Death Trap" and "PXR5" on the B-sides respectively. The PXR5 album was eventually released on 15 June 1979, and the cryptic message on the cover "This is the last but one" refers to the fact it was recorded prior to the previous release.

Lyrical References

CD Versions

The Virgin CD issue was mastered from different tapes from the original vinyl version. The most notable difference is that "High Rise" is the live version without studio overdubs, so starts with a clunk rather than the smooth bass intro and has a coarser vocal from Calvert. Also "PXR5" gains an introduction that's missing from the original.

The Atomhenge CD issue restores the original album, and includes the different versions of "High Rise" and "PXR5" as bonus tracks 14 and 15 respectively.

Track listing

Side 1

  1. "Death Trap" (Robert Calvert, Dave Brock) – 3:51
  2. "Jack of Shadows" (Calvert, Simon House, Adrian Shaw) – 3:28
  3. "Uncle Sam's on Mars" (Calvert, Brock, House, Simon King) – 5:44
  4. "Infinity" (Calvert, Brock) – 4:17
  5. "Life Form" (Brock) – 1:44

Side 2

  1. "Robot" (Calvert, Brock) – 8:14
  2. "High Rise" (Calvert, House) – 4:36
  3. "PXR5" (Brock) – 5:39

Atomhenge CD bonus tracks

  1. "Jack of Shadows" [live studio version] – 3:40
  2. "We Like to Be Frightened" – 2:46
  3. "High Rise" [live studio version] – 4:43
  4. "Robot" [first studio version] – 9:24
  5. "Jack of Shadows" [Adrian Shaw vocal version] – 3:54
  6. "High Rise" [alternate vocal mix] – 4:37
  7. "PXR5" [alternate intro mix] – 5:40
  8. "Quark, Strangeness and Charm" [live 1978] – 2:38

Personnel

Credits

Release history

References

  1. ↑ PXR5 at AllMusic

External links