CHRONICLE OF THE BLACK SWORD (1985)

When the dust settled, Brock, Langton, and Bainbridge were afore still another rhythm section (Danny Thompson on drums and Alan Davey on bass).

Thompson was a corn-fed lad who could lean on his sticks and thud with the best of them, giving Hawkwind the solid studio bottom it had been lacking for five years.

Unfortunately, the first album the Thompson-fortified band set themselves to was Chronicle,which is a full-length telling of a puerile Moorcock fantasy series.

As soon as you remove the shrink-wrap, the cringing starts as the picture lyric book is positively laughable -- a junior high art student nude re-casting of some Brothers Hildebrant dreck festoons "Zarozinia," and that's just ONE page.

You simply have to shudder repeatedly as you wade through the thing. BUT (and herein lies the rub) if you finally succeed in getting the record onto the turn-table, it is actually a decent listen and has a few moments of adequate BLANGA, even though you'll hate yourself every time you put it on.

Just be thankful that Brock and company had enough self-control to not actually let Moorcock himself perform on the record.

BLANGA SCORE: 4.