Doremi may not be
Hawkwind's most renowned album, but it carries the same type of prog rock spaciness as their first two releases. Even though the keyboard playing is trimmed down just a tad, the introduction of
Ian Kilmister, otherwise known as
Lemmy of
Motörhead fame, makes up for it. With
Lemmy's hard-lined guitar playing and
Del Dettmar's synthesizer stabs, tracks like "Space Is Deep" and "The Watcher" are infused with elaborate instrumental meanderings in perfect
Hawkwind fashion. The longer tracks, both "Brainstorm" and "Time We Left This World Today," find
Lemmy settling into the band's extraordinary milieu, but it ended up being the album's strongest cuts. There's a harder feel to the songs all the way through, with the guitar and drums coming to the forefront ahead of
DikMik's "generators" and "hot electronics."
Doremi is the inaugural album for drummer
Simon King, and with guitarist
Dave Anderson and percussion man
Terry Ollis now departed,
Hawkwind still manages to muster up a firm intergalactic space-metal atmosphere, but with a more rugged thrust. ~ Mike DeGagne