This album arrived a good while ago and I was really excited when it did as I was a bit of a fan of the Hippy Slags back in the festival days and as readers will know a huge fan of Hawkwind with who Bridget Wishart performed on Space Bandits, Palace Springs, California Brainstorm and Take Me To Your Future.

Look at the line up on Make Believe It Real and it reads like a who’s who in space rock: Daevid Allen of Gong (wishing you a speedy recovery!!!), Harvey Bainbridge, Richard Chadwick, Alan Davey, Simon House, Keith The Bass, Nick May, Twink…the list goes on and on and on.

There are two CDs in this pack and it’s unmistakably most definitely a space rock album, but there are other elements of a more gentle and less obvious nature in there and it’s really a rather excellent album indeed, though on initially hearing it I was a bit sceptical to say the least…most certainly a record that needs a few runs through to really get a grip on.

All the tunes on Make Believe are penned by the folk involved other than the Pink Floyd track Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk and all are original to this record I believe, but I had a moment of déjà vu with one of the verses in Eternal Energy which I think is lifted from a Hippy Slags’ tune…Cat’s Mother if I recall.

Given the number of folk involved in this album it should sound all over the place but it doesn’t…it’s coherent and really rather beautiful. The final track on the first CD, Reflections, is a bit of a masterpiece to my mind and is made up of seven distinct parts and takes a bit of a departure from the space rock formula, adopting a much more progressive and pastoral feel to it and is in the main made up of acoustic instruments…it’s also fourteen minutes long.

Needless to say I was always going to love this record and without letting my personal preferences get in the way I’d suggest that it’s a bit of a must for anyone with a slight interest in space rock and associated genres.