The Chronicle of the Black Sword is the fourteenth album by the English space rock band Hawkwind. It was released in 1985 and appeared on the UK Albums Chart for two weeks, reaching a peak position of #65. The album is inspired by the adventures of Elric of Melniboné, a character from science fiction novels written by Michael Moorcock. Moorcock, who has worked with Hawkwind for many years, contributed lyrics to one song on the album.
Background
After two years of many changes in band members, guitarist Dave Brock (the only person who has been with the band since it started) chose a final lineup that included himself, guitarist Huw Lloyd-Langton, keyboardist Harvey Bainbridge, bassist Alan Davey, and drummer Danny Thompson (the son of Pentangle's bassist Danny Thompson).
The album is mostly inspired by the character Elric, but the song "Needle Gun" refers to another character named Jerry Cornelius from the same author's stories. The song's name connects to the larger idea of the Multiverse, which includes both Elric of Melniboné and Jerry Cornelius as different forms of a character called The Eternal Champion. In this story, the Needle Gun is the weapon that appears to Jerry Cornelius. The lyrics for "Needle Gun" were written by someone else named Roger Neville-Neil.
The album cover was designed by John Coulthart, who did this last work for the band. The inside cover was designed by Bob Walker. The album was first planned to be named after a sword called Stormbringer, but the name was changed because it had already been used by other artists, including Deep Purple and John and Beverley Martyn.
Before recording the album, the band performed on Channel 4's ECT on April 26 and recorded a radio session for BBC Radio 1 on July 19. They also played at an anti-heroin festival in Crystal Palace on August 24, where Lemmy appeared, and the group sang "We'll Meet Again" with Vera Lynn leading the performance.
To promote the album, the band went on a 29-show tour in the UK in November and December, with support from Dumpy's Rusty Nuts. The concerts at Hammersmith Odeon on December 3 and 4 were filmed and released as a video called The Chronicle of the Black Sword and as a live album called Live Chronicles. The event also included a guest appearance by the author Michael Moorcock.
The album has been released on CD many times, each version including different bonus tracks. The most recent version from 2009 added the 1984 EP The Earth Ritual Preview.