The Chronicle of the Black Sword is the fourteenth studio album by the English space rockgroupHawkwind, released in 1985. It spent two weeks on the UK Albums Chart peaking at #65.[3] The album is based upon the adventures of Elric of Melniboné, a recurring character in the novels of science fiction author Michael Moorcock, a long-standing associate of the group, who contributes lyrics to one track on the album.
Background
After two years of constant line-up changes, guitarist Dave Brock (the only member who has remained since the band's formation) settled on a line-up of himself, guitarist Huw Lloyd-Langton, keyboardist Harvey Bainbridge, bassist Alan Davey, and drummer Danny Thompson (son of Pentangle's bassist Danny Thompson).
Though the album is largely inspired by Elric, "Needle Gun" is a reference to Jerry Cornelius, another of Moorcock's fictional characters. In keeping with the album's title, the track's inclusion refers to the wider Multiverse created by Moorcock, in which the characters Elric of Melniboné and Jerry Cornelius are both incarnations of The Eternal Champion, and the Needle Gun is the form in which the Black Sword manifests itself to Cornelius. The lyrics for "Needle Gun" were ghostwritten by Roger Neville-Neil.[4]
The outer cover was designed by John Coulthart, the last work he would do for the group, and the inner by Bob Walker. The album was originally intended to be titled after the name of the sword Stormbringer, but was changed due to it having been used by both Deep Purple as well as John and Beverley Martyn.[5]
^Youles, Steve. "Gig and Set Lists 1985". Starfarer's Hawkwind Page. self-published. Archived from the original on 3 May 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2009.
