Untypical Hawkwind- doesn't mean it is not great

A major change in direction, this is a more lightweight affair with dreamy instrumentals, clear vocals mostly, an early Roxy Music influence and even a funk influence! "Reefer Madness" mixes old style Hawkwind with the Roxy influence successfully. "Steppenwolf" has been described as the best Roxy Music number they never recorded with a wonderfully haunting Calvert vocal. "City" a boring instrumental. "Aubergine" is a crazy wonderful piece tripped out funk. "Kerb" is Status Quo meets Hawkwind. "Kadu flyer" sounds like "D Rider Pt 2" a trippy Turner number, the original vocal was buried in the mix, the remaster improves that. "Chronoglide" is an absolutely majestically beautiful Simon House instrumental. Bonus tracks , Honky" a pointless extract from "Reefer"; "Kerb" I really don't hear much difference in this single version to the album. "Streets" is another Status Quo meets Hawkwind number. "Isis" is a boring clanking instrumental. Overall a great album but not to everyone's taste

Some Good Stuff for Hawkheads

Some of the instrumentals on this set are a bit like "Hawkwind auto-pilot," where you wait for something to happen that never quite does. The songs, though, are first-rate, especially due to Robert Calvert's impressive word-play. "Reefer Madness" and the terrific "Steppenwolf" are the tracks to grab.

Hawkwind was at a difficult transitional point in 1976 when the band recorded Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music. Bassist Lemmy Kilmister had been fired after a drug bust the year before, and the band had been forced to scramble for a replacement, eventually hiring ex-Pink Fairies member Paul Rudolph. What’s more, the band had just released a series of successful, landmark proto-heavy metal albums with Kilmister, and the pressure to follow them up was sizable. It was fairly predictable, then, that Astounding Sounds was significantly lighter and less focused than previous records. Unfortunately, that also meant it was less interesting as well. Most of the album consists of moderately forceful hard rock, dense by most standards but nowhere near as corrosive as earlier Hawkwind albums. “Kerb Crawler,” frontman Dave Brock’s ode to his car, is a rollicking party tune, and the closing instrumental, “Chronoglide Skyway,” is a lush, beautiful epic, but these are the only standouts. The remaining tracks are pleasant enough, but tend to blend into one another. Lyrically, the album is far quirkier, thanks to wordsmith Bob Calvert’s idiosyncrasies. Whether saluting a certain cash crop in “Reefer Madness” or claiming to be a werewolf in “Steppenwolf,” Calvert tries hard to keep the album alive. Unfortunately, the music lacks the necessary punch to make these songs more than mildly amusing. Astounding Sounds is a nice complement to the early, groundbreaking Hawkwind oeuvre, but it’s not essential. [The album was reissued in 2009 with the addition of four tracks, including the single mix of "Kerb Crawler" and B-side "Hunky Dorky".] – Victor W. Valdivia