6. Quark, Strangeness and Charm
The first of three albums that were, lyrically at least, dominated by Bob Calvert. This album shows a lot of science fiction imagery including the track Damnation Alley (a novel by Roger Zelazny), Iron Dream from Norman Spinrad's book of the same name, the title track is about scientists seeking love (and also shows the dry humour Calvert could weave into his words) but the album gave fans two tracks that are much played even thirty years later - Hassan-i Sabbah which is about assassins and Hashish and also petrol wars and so is forever topical. The first track, Spirit of the Age, is the stand-out track for me it being originally a Calvert poem set to music and based on the diaries of a lone captain on a spaceship drifting slowly through space. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSR5TnNGKmo