Uncut July 2007
If anything could ever satisfactorily record the work of a drug fuelled, commune-dwelling jam band with a large breasted dancer, then Space Ritual was the Hawkwind album that did so. Trance-inducing occasionally nightmarish, and filled with some inspirational moments, the album was a turbulent ride through psychedlic experience. Impressively it still is. Fashion has undoubtedly come and gone around this music - but like a footprint on the moon, this remains as strongly defined as it did when it was first made. ****
Record Collector July 2007
There can never be another album quite like Space Ritual. Captured live, for many, it's Hawkwind's very apex - the sound of your brain being fried. Originally edited into four glorious sides, it now spills across two extended discs with bonus tracks. From hereon in, Hawkwind were permanently cast as sonic overlords with wit and intelligence just as strong as the substances coursing through their veins. There was always something of the whiff of Campari about poet and sometime frontman Robert Calvert among the heavy sweating hairies, as if he was puffing a cigarette through a holder, observing, detailing. The doom metal of Time We Left This World Today slamming in after Calvert's Richard III-isms on Sonic Attack still thrills. Space Ritual is as central to the 70s as The Dark Side of the Moon of the three-day week. *****
Album Description
Pioneering space rock for stoners.
Released in 1973 this live album is an excellent record of the classic
Hawkwind line up.
This Collector's Edition features the original album with some extended
tracks (they were originally edited due to the time restrictions of vinyl)
and 3 bonus tracks.
The DVD is more a DVD album; it allows the listener to enjoy the album as
it was originally recorded - as one long continuous piece of live music -
this is the first time it's been available this way.
There is a brand new 5.1 mix as well as the standard stereo mix.
The DVD also features 2 videos which are previously unavailable - Silver
Machine & Urban Guerilla.
About the Artist
The classic Hawkwind line up; the band's one constant member since the 60's Dave Brock on guitar, founding member Nik Turner on saxophone & flute, the genius lyrics of the deeply troubled schizophrenic poet Bob Calvert, the personification of heavy metal, Lemmy on bass/vocals and the earth-moving rhythm section of Simon King.
Hawkwind were renowned for their countercultural ideals and famously played for free outside the perimeter of the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival for 5 consecutive days. In fact the band gigged almost constantly in 1972 so it's perhaps unsurprising that the performance on `Space Ritual' is so tight.
The show for the `Space Ritual' tour was conceived as a space rock opera, the band were heavily influenced by the space race and the sci fi and fantasy of author Micheal Moorcock who even colloborated with the band on numerous occasions.
