HW: The REAL Hawks

[Max Wilcox]

There's so much to keep up with in this discussion now, that I'll just
try to pop a few of my own opinions in from memory, rather than
answering any specific questions that have been raised.
        One of the better ways that I have for judging the creative input of an
individual member of a band is to look at their solo albums. Brock's
one, for example, just spals new names of two old songs, and, aside from
that doesn't (for me, ofcourse) have that much to recommend it (with
perhaps the exception of "Bosnia" and "It's never too Late"). Alan's
solo album seems much "fresher" on the other hand, having quite a few
very nice tracks on it. In the absence of a Nik solo album, we can look
at each of his side projects, Anubian Lights, ICU, Past or Future?, etc.
But then again, as has been said, we don't realy know how much creative
input Nik has on these projects, and there are many other people
involved in them, too.
        The upshot of this, I suppose is that, in the words of (I think) Nick
Mason, you need all the members of the band to be working together to
iron out all the shit that each individual can put out.
        Oh, and while I remember, I quite liked Nik's performance on the
Stonehenge concert. Steve Pond has said to me something like "Nik's a
middle of the road saxophonist, an ok singer (but not the best) but a
great performer". Which I would agree with. I don't realy mind his
singing - exccept when it gets -realy- bad, but it's his overall
presence and his er....insainity(?) on stage that I find the most
impresses me.
        I think it's interesting that the topic of Calvert hasn't come up that
much in this discussion - I guess it's probably because everyone assumes
that he's too good to make any similar comments about perhaps? Well,
that's my opinion. He's certainly contributed my favorite HW era, even
though his singing can get get a bit wobbly at times, too.
        All in all, I like almost every era of HW - though I can see why one
wouldn't like Black Sword - it seems to me to be a very "teen" kind of
era, though I don't think that Xenon Codex is any kind of improvement (I
got that CD for Crissie, and haven't listened to it a great deal, so my
opinoins may change, though...). I think the most recent recovery for HW
has come with Alien4.
        On a slightly different topic - do people think HW'll still be touring
with Love in Space next year? They've got a bit of time to get something
new together between now and the tour, but I guess it's not realy long
enough. I seem to remember hearing something about new material, but I
can't remember that clearly...
        Anyway, well, aw...I like everything anyone in the band's done - be it
a lot, or just a little - it's all ok to me.

-Max Wilcox