Summary
It Is the Business of the Future to Be Dangerous is the eighteenth studio album by the English space rock group Hawkwind, released in 1993. It spent one week on the UK albums chart at #75.[3]
| It Is the Business of the Future to Be Dangerous | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 25 October 1993 | |||
| Recorded | 1993 | |||
| Studio | Barking Dog Studios, Devon | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 63:17 | |||
| Label | Essential Records | |||
| Producer | Hawkwind | |||
| Hawkwind chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [2] |
As with the previous album, Electric Tepee, the group remained a three-piece of guitarist Dave Brock, bassist Alan Davey and drummer Richard Chadwick. The album was recorded in 1993 at Brock's own Barking Dog Studios, produced with Paul Cobbold.
The title track "It Is the Business of the Future to Be Dangerous" is a quote from the mathematician/philosopher Alfred Whitehead's Science and the Modern World, which had originally been used on the sleeve notes to the Space Ritual album ("It is the business of the future to be dangerous; and it is among the merits of science that it equips the future for its duties"[4]). The Arabic-influenced "Space Is Their (Palestine)" would be worked into the middle section of the live version of "Hassan I Sabbah", retitled "Assassins of Allah". "Letting in the Past" is a re-recording of "Looking in the Future" from the 1982 album Church of Hawkwind. "The Camera That Could Lie" is a reggae-influenced piece that fused music which had previously been used in the middle section of the live version of "Damnation Alley" on the 1992 album Palace Springs with lyrics from the song "Living on a Knife Edge" from the 1981 album Sonic Attack. "Gimme Shelter" is a cover version of the Rolling Stones song that the group had recorded with Samantha Fox for the Shelter benefit single "Putting Our House in Order", although this album version removes Fox's vocal. Drummer Richard Chadwick performs vocals instead.
The cover is by Alan Arthurs (credited as Alan The Ghost) who was part of the band's crew and also worked on Brock's Devon farm, and was responsible for covers from Electric Tepee to Love in Space.[5] On-stage photographs were by John Chase. It was the group's second of two for Essential Records, a subsidiary of Castle Communications.
The group undertook a 21-date UK tour in November to promote the album.[6] This was followed by a 12 date Germany/Netherlands tour in December. Some shows were recorded and were released as The Business Trip and the mistitled Treworgey 1989 CD.
Track listing edit
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "It Is the Business of the Future to Be Dangerous" | Dave Brock, Richard Chadwick, Alan Davey | 6:23 |
| 2. | "Space Is Their (Palestine)" | Brock | 11:46 |
| 3. | "Tibet Is Not China (Part 1)" | Davey | 3:39 |
| 4. | "Tibet Is Not China (Part 2)" | Brock, Chadwick, Davey | 3:20 |
| 5. | "Let Barking Dogs Lie" | Brock, Chadwick, Davey | 9:01 |
| 6. | "Wave Upon Wave" | Davey | 3:13 |
| 7. | "Letting in the Past" (aka "Looking in the Future") | Brock | 2:53 |
| 8. | "The Camera That Could Lie" | Brock | 4:56 |
| 9. | "3 or 4 Erections in the Course of a Night" | Brock, Davey | 2:02 |
| 10. | "Techno Tropic Zone Exists" | Brock | 4:30 |
| 11. | "Gimme Shelter" (Rolling Stones cover) | Mick Jagger, Keith Richards | 5:34 |
| 12. | "Avante" | Brock, Chadwick, Davey | 6:00 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13. | "Gimme Shelter" (Single version with Samantha Fox) | Jagger, Richards | 5:56 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Spirit of the Age" (Radio Edit) | Dave Brock, Robert Calvert | 4:08 |
| 2. | "Spirit of the Age" (Full Vocal Mix) | Brock, Calvert | 9:52 |
| 3. | "Spirit of the Age" (Cyber Trance Mix) | Brock, Calvert | 9:53 |
| 4. | "Spirit of the Age" (Flesh to Phantasy Ambient Mix) | Brock, Calvert | 12:08 |
| 5. | "Right to Decide" (Original Mix) | Dave Brock, Alan Davey | 4:24 |
| 6. | "The Camera That Would Not Lie" (Original Mix) | Brock | 5:17 |
| 7. | "Right to Decide" (Alien Prophets Radio Edit Mix) | Brock, Davey | 4:09 |
| 8. | "Assassin" (Magick Carpet Mix by Swordfish / Astralasia) | Calvert | 10:21 |
Notes edit
- "The Solstice Remixes" EP: tracks 1-4
- The "Right to Decide" EP: tracks 5-8
Personnel edit
- Hawkwind
- Dave Brock – guitars, keyboards, programming, sequencing, sampling, vocals
- Alan Davey – bass guitar, vocals, keyboards, programming, sequencing, sampling
- Richard Chadwick – drums, vocals
Credits edit
- Recorded at Barking Dog Studios, Devon
- Engineered by Paul Cobbold
- Produced by Hawkwind
- Artwork by Alan The Ghost
"The Solstice Remixes" EP
- Remixes by Astralasia
- Produced by Salt Tank
The "Decide Your Future" EP
- Compiled and Arranged by Salt Tank
Charts edit
| Chart (1993) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Albums (OCC)[7] | 75 |
Release history edit
- October 1993: Essential Records, ESDLP196, UK Double LP
- October 1993: Essential Records, ESSCD196, UK CD
- October 1993: Essential Records, ESSMC196, UK Cassette
- June 1994: Griffin Music, GCDHA 161-1, USA
- July 1999: Essential Records, ESMCD 740, UK CD digipak
- January 2012: Atomhenge (Cherry Red) Records, ATOMCD21032, UK CD
References edit
- ^ a b c d e Allmusic review
- ^ Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
- ^ "Hawkwind". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 August 2009.
- ^ "Alfred North Whitehead - Wikiquote". Wikiquote. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
- ^ Alan Arthurs. "Alan Arthurs Art - About". Retrieved 25 April 2023.
- ^ Youles, Steve. "Gig and Set Lists 1993". Starfarer's hawkwind Page. self-published. Retrieved 20 August 2009.
- ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 30, 2023.