Road to Utopia (album)

2018 studio album by Hawkwind

Road to Utopia

Studio album by

Hawkwind

Released| 2018
Genre| Space rock
Label| Cherry Red
Producer|

* Dave Brock
* Mike Batt

Hawkwind chronology
| Into the Woods
(2017)  | Road to Utopia
(2018)  | All Aboard the Skylark
(2020)

|
|

Professional ratingsReview scores

Source| Rating
Classic Rock| [1]
Mojo| [2]
Uncut| [3]
The Wire| [4]

Road to Utopia is the thirty-first album by space rock band Hawkwind, released in 2018. It features new acoustic versions of the band's 1970s repertoire with two new compositions.

The group's line-up had stabilised for some time with guitarist/singer Dave Brock, drummer Richard Chadwick, singer Mr Dibs and bassist Niall Hone being joined by bassist Haz Wheaton and guitarist Magnus Martin .

They had toured Britain in March through May 2017 in support of their Into the Woods album,[5] which featured an opening set performed acoustically. The Roundhouse main show from 26 May was issued as Hawkwind At The Roundhouse as a 2CD/DVD boxed-set on 8 December,[6] and the group made a promotional appearance playing an acoustic version of "Ascent" on Matthew Wright's Channel 5 daily morning television programme The Wright Stuff on 1 December.

The band started work recording this acoustic set in the studio when Brock had a chance meeting with Mike Batt at the US Embassy while both were applying for a travel visa.[7] Batt joined the project adding string and horn arrangements. Eric Clapton, who had been a teenage friend of Brock's prior to his rise to fame, contributed to the session along with their former sax player, Jez Huggett. Road to Utopia was released on 14 September 2018.[8]

A one-off concert at the London Palladium on 4 November billed as In Search of Utopia – Infinity and Beyond with Batt conducting Docklands Sinfonia was scheduled, but demand lead to an extended UK tour in October and November with a guest appearance from Arthur Brown and support from The Blackheart Orchestra.

## Track listing

[edit]

No.| Title| Writer(s)| Length

|
|
|

1.| "Quark Strangeness & Charm"|

* Dave Brock
* Robert Calvert

| 4:32
2.| "The Watcher"| Ian Kilmister| 5:05
3.| "We Took the Wrong Step Years Ago"| Brock| 4:56
4.| "Flying Doctor"|

* Brock
* Calvert

| 5:51
5.| "Psychic Power"|

* Brock
* Calvert

| 5:19
6.| "Hymn to the Sun"| Magnus Martin| 2:51
7.| "The Age of the Micro Man"|

* Brock
* Calvert

| 5:31
8.| "Intro the Night"| Martin| 2:11
9.| "Down Through the Night"| Brock| 7:11

## Personnel

[edit]

Hawkwind

* Dave Brock – vocals, guitar, keyboards, synthesiser, harmonica
* Magnus Martin – vocals, guitar, keyboards, viola
* Niall Hone – bass guitar
* Richard Chadwick – drums, percussion, vocals
* Haz Wheaton – bass guitar
* Mr Dibs (Jonathan Darbyshire) – vocals

Additional musicians

* Mike Batt – piano on "The Watcher", orchestral arrangements
* Eric Clapton – guitar on "The Watcher"
* Jez Huggett – saxophone on "The Age of the Micro Man"

## Charts

[edit]

Chart (2018)  | Peak
position

|

Scottish Albums (OCC)[9] | 24
UK Albums (OCC)[10] | 44
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[11] | 9
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[12] | 2

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Fortnam, Ian (September 2018). "Hawkwind – Road To Utopia album review". Classic Rock. p. 91.
2. ^ "Hawkwind – Road To Utopia". Mojo. October 2018. p. 93.
3. ^ "Hawkwind – Road To Utopia". Uncut. November 2018. p. 30.
4. ^ "Hawkwind – Road To Utopia". The Wire. September 2018. p. 59.
5. ^ "Into The Woods: Deluxe CD Edition". Cherry Red Records. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
6. ^ "Hawkwind At The Roundhouse: 2CD/1DVD Boxset". Cherry Red Records. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
7. ^ "Road To Utopia Press Release". Cherry Red Records. 6 July 2018. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
8. ^ "Hawkwind: Road To Utopia". Cherry Red Records. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
9. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
10. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
11. ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
12. ^ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 30, 2023.

* v
* t
* e

Hawkwind

* Dave Brock
* Richard Chadwick
* Magnus Martin
* Thighpaulsandra
* Doug MacKinnon

* Nik Turner
* Dik Mik
* Terry Ollis
* Huw Lloyd-Langton
* Thomas Crimble
* Del Dettmar
* Simon King
* Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister
* Robert Calvert
* Simon House
* Alan Powell
* Paul Rudolph
* Adrian Shaw
* Harvey Bainbridge
* Steve Swindells
* Keith Hale
* Ginger Baker
* Andy Anderson
* Robert Heaton
* Alan Davey
* Clive Deamer
* Bridget Wishart
* Ron Tree
* Mr Dibs
* Tim Blake
* Niall Hone

Studio albums|

* Hawkwind
* In Search of Space
* Doremi Fasol Latido
* Hall of the Mountain Grill
* Warrior on the Edge of Time
* Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music
* Quark, Strangeness and Charm
* 25 Years On (as Hawklords)
* PXR5
* Levitation
* Sonic Attack
* Church of Hawkwind
* Choose Your Masques
* The Chronicle of the Black Sword
* The Xenon Codex
* Space Bandits
* Electric Tepee
* It Is the Business of the Future to Be Dangerous
* White Zone (as Psychedelic Warriors)
* Alien 4
* Distant Horizons
* In Your Area
* Spacebrock
* Take Me to Your Leader
* Take Me to Your Future
* Blood of the Earth
* Onward
* The Machine Stops
* Into the Woods
* Road to Utopia
* All Aboard the Skylark
* Carnivorous (as Hawkwind Light Orchestra)
* Somnia
* The Future Never Waits
* Stories from Time and Space

Live albums|

* Space Ritual
* Live Seventy Nine
* Coded Languages
* This Is Hawkwind, Do Not Panic
* Live Chronicles
* Palace Springs
* The Business Trip
* Love in Space
* Hawkwind 1997
* Yule Ritual
* Canterbury Fayre 2001
* Spaced Out in London
* Knights of Space
* Space Ritual Live
* At the Roundhouse
* 50 Live
* We Are Looking in on You

Archive albums|

* The Weird Tapes
* Hawkwind, Friends and Relations
* The Text of Festival
* Zones
* Bring Me the Head of Yuri Gagarin
* Space Ritual Volume 2
* Hawkwind Anthology
* Out & Intake
* BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert
* The Friday Rock Show Sessions
* Hawklords Live
* California Brainstorm
* Undisclosed Files Addendum
* The 1999 Party
* Glastonbury 90
* Choose Your Masques: Collectors Series Volume 2
* Complete '79: Collector Series Volume 1
* Atomhenge 76
* Live 1990

Compilation albums|

* Roadhawks
* Masters of the Universe
* Repeat Performance
* Angels of Death
* Spirit of the Age
* Stasis (The UA Years 1971–1975)
* Tales from Atom Henge
* Epocheclipse
* Future Reconstructions – Ritual of the Solstice
* Masters of Rock
* Spirit of the Age Anthology
* The Dream Goes On

Extended plays|

* Hawkwind Zoo EP
* Sonic Assassins EP
* The Earth Ritual Preview
* Quark, Strangeness and Charm

Singles|

* "Hurry On Sundown"
* "Silver Machine"
* "Urban Guerrilla"
* "Kings of Speed"
* "Kerb Crawler"
* "Back on the Streets"
* "Quark, Strangeness and Charm"
* "Psi Power"
* "25 Years"
* "Shot Down in the Night"
* "Who's Gonna Win the War?"
* "Spirit of the Age"

Associated acts|

* Sonic Assassins
* Hawklords
* Space Ritual
* Hawklords (2008)

Related articles|

* Discography
* Members
* Videography
* Liquid Len
* Barney Bubbles
* Stacia
* Hawkfest
* Michael Moorcock
* Motörhead

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz release group

|

This 2010s rock album–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

|

* v
* t
* e

*[No.]: Number
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template