Yeah this is the expended and remastered 2 CD version of the Space Ritual recorded in December 1972.
They made this fantastic stage show with the money they earn from their "hit single" Silver Machine
tour 1985, and Robert Calvert act both as a vocalist and poet on this live show, and the poetry had been
written both by Robert and his old friend Michael Moorcock, and Stacia was dancing nude to this music so
I put in some photos so you can see how Stacia look like both with or without clothes, so if you want you
can looking to the pictures when you listen to this fantastic performence of this space rock, but Stacia
was not alone dancing on the stage, nah both Miss Rene and Tony Carrera was dancing too, but Stacia was
really a part of the group for some years before she left to get marriage, because who really want his lady
dancing nude in front of a stoned audience every day, yeah maybe some freak do but not the normal freak.
When they released this double album in 1973 many tracks on this album had never been released in a studio
version, and after this release it wasn't meaning to do so when this versions is definitely versions of
these wonderful tracks, yeah I talking about the beauties Born To Go and Orgone Accumulator.
This version of the original double album have three bonus tracks that wasn't on any other versions of this
album, but the You Shouldn't Do That was later on the Roadhawks album, and the other two was versions of
tracks that was already on the double album, but they were so great that they really need to be on this album.
Yeah this is the legendary live with Hawkwind and they are one of the groups that both manage to make
their music in the studio and live, and even some people prefer Hawkwind live so here we go with this beauty.
Disc 1
01 - Earth Calling (1:44) (Bob Calvert)
02 - Born To Go (9:56) (Bob Calvert-Dave Brock)
03 - Down Through The Night (6:16) (Dave Brock)
04 - The Awakening (1:32) (Bob Calvert)
05 - Lord Of Light (7:21) (Dave Brock)
06 - Black Corridor (1:51) (Michael Moorcock)
07 - Space Is Deep (8:13) (Dave Brock)
08 - Electronic No. 1 (2:26) (Del Dettmar-Dik Mik)
09 - Orgone Accumulator (9:59) (Bob Calvert-Dave Brock)
10 - Upside Down (2:43) (Bob Calvert-Dave Brock)
11 - 10 Seconds Of Forever (2:05) (Bob Calvert)
12 - Brainstorm (9:20) (Nik Turner)
Disc 2
01 - 7 By 7 (6:11) (Dave Brock)
02 - Sonic Attack (2:54) (Michael Moorcock)
03 - Time We Left This World Today (5:47) (Dave Brock)
04 - Master Of the Universe (7:37) (Dave Brock-Nik Turner)
05 - Welcome To The Future (2:04) (Bob Calvert)
Bonus Tracks
06 - You Shouldn't Do That (6:58) (Dave Brock-Nik Turner)
07 - Master Of The Universe (7:23) (Dave Brock-Nik Turner)
08 - Born To Go (13:02) (Bob Calvert-Dave Brock)
Musicnauts
Robert Calvert - Poet and Swazzle
Dave Brock - Guitar and Vocals
Lemmy - Bass and Vocals
Nik Turner - Sax, Flute and Vocals
Dik Mik - Audio Generator and Electronics
Del Dettmar - Synthesizer
Simon King - Drums
Review by Wilson Neate
Recorded live in December 1972 and released the following year, Space Ritual is an excellent document of Hawkwind's classic lineup, underscoring the group's status as space rock pioneers. As the quintessential "people's band," Hawkwind carried '60s countercultural idealism into the '70s, gigging constantly, playing wherever there was an audience, and even playing for free on five consecutive days outside the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival. The band's multimedia performances were the perfect accompaniment for exploring inner space and imagining outer space. While not concerned with rock's material trappings, Hawkwind were, ironically, among the hardest-working groups in Britain, averaging one show every three days during the year preceding these recordings. Given all that practice, it's not surprising that the performances collected here are incredibly tight (although, reportedly, a couple of tracks were edited). Incorporating most of Doremi Fasol Latido, the show for the Space Ritual tour was conceived as a space rock opera, its blend of sci-fi electronics, mesmerizing psy-fi grooves, and heavy, earthbound jamming punctuated with spoken word interludes from astral poet Bob Calvert. Although his intergalactic musings date the album, coming across now as camp futurism, they still provide fitting atmospheric preambles to Hawkwind's astounding, mind-warping sounds. Calvert's manic recital of Michael Moorcock's "Sonic Attack," for instance, is an exercise in tension that subsequently explodes on the stomping "Time We Left This World Today"; with Nik Turner's otherworldly sax, Dave Brock's guitar distortion, and the earth-moving rhythm section of Simon King and Lemmy, this track offers a blueprint for the album's most potent material. Another standout is "Orgone Accumulator," ten minutes of hypnotic (Wilhelm) Reich & roll that could be the missing link between Booker T. and Stereolab. A 1973 advertisement described Space Ritual as "88 minutes of brain damage"; that characterization still holds true.
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There are live albums, and then there are live experiences captured on disc!
Hawkwind's Space Ritual (financed by a fluke hit single "Silver Machine") tour roared through Britain and the US (circa 1973) in all its psychedelic glory. It's an experience captured on disc to deliriously grand effect! With a sound finding itself in a netherworld between early Pink Floyd and Black Sabbath, Hawkwind blew minds everywhere it went with a lavish extravaganza of lights, chattering electronics, sci-fi poetry, Stacia's exotic dancing, sci-fi and fantasy tales with charmingly goofy lyrics (see "Orgone Accumulator" for example, with such lines as "It's no social integrator, it's a one-man isolator" and "Turns eyeballs into craters") relentlessly rocking and crunchy riffing, disembodied woodwinds bleating and blatting happily away and certifiable sci-fi nutcase Robert Calvert lending his poetic talents to the proceedings.
The Highlights: A gloriously over-the-top "7 X 7" segueing into "Sonic Attack/Time We Left This World Today" where Calvert really pours on the campy sci-fi charm, then the band roars into a relentlessly hypnotic and heavy groove, with good 'ol Lemmy doing a bone-rattling bass solo just before the tune winds down. All throughout, the Lemster lays down ferociously melodic and cutting lead-bass as it were. He also gets off a few good ideas on the incurably goofy "Orgone Accumulator" (part of what made Hawkwind so fun). "Master of the Universe" gets the thrashing of its life here, easily putting the studio version to complete shame. This was darn near punk before it was callled such. For sheer rocking out, "Brainstorm" is a manic delight (with a rare searing Brock guitar solo) as is "Lord of Light" with Lemmy giving it all he's got while Nik Turner happily bleats and blats away on his sax!
The Black Holes: Only a couple, "Electronic #1" is a mercifully short noise freakout, and the plodding (until the end) "Space is Deep".
And for real rabid Hawk fans, there are now 3 bonus tracks which include different versions of "Master of the Universe" and "Born To Go", and a previously unheard live version of "You Shouldn't Do That".
Although a recording can never get the full extent of the experience, this is a trip worth taking with our space-farers! Hop aboard for some seriously crunchy, trippy, goofy spacey psychedelic fun!!
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Strap yourself into the ejection seat fo this one from these true rock prophets of space. Chirping saxes, overdriven guitars and mindblowing lyrical warnings. From the onset the plea, "This is earth calling, this is earth calling.....this is earth calling.........earth calling.............." gives us the ominous impression that this trip is not going to be a fun one. And it is not. Space Ritual is not a fun album nor is it's theme. Space. It is a dark and forbidding place and many obstacles lay in wait for the ususpecting listener in the form of sonic attacks, dark corridors and a barrage of electronic effects which describe space as a lonely and misunderstood place. Embark on this sonic voyage at your own risk, maintain your composure and remember: Do not panic! Literary contributions from Sci-Fi/fantasy writer Michael Moorcock and Bob Calvert provide some of the freakiest rock poetry ever penned. This is Hawkwind at it's penultimate. The CD release features extra material which originally could not fit on the the original vinyl edition. Space rock doesn't get any more mindblowing than this release from our original intergalactic hippies.
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Space Ritual is classic Hawkwind at their eccentric best, a multi-layered sonic attack of relentless power rock, improvisation and poetry. It is the ultimate stoner trip into musical deep space, led by Dettmar's synth noises, Calvert's droll vocal delivery and Turner's typically bizarre saxophone squawking, all underpinned by a barrage of trance inducing riffs from Brock, Lemmy and King. From the opening salvo of Born To Go it just keeps getting better and better, through Lord Of Light to Orgone Accumulator, before finally unleashing definitive versions of Brainstorm and Master Of The Universe, even now always guaranteed to get an involuntary head-banging reaction.
It clearly polarises opinion - you either feel its magic or you don't, and it probably helps to have been there. Clearly, Hawkwind were no virtuosos, but collectively they surpassed all individual limitations, creating music that touches the subconscious like no other. Close your eyes, don your headphones and let Hawkwind transport you on a mind-warping journey into another dimension, a cosmic experience of the imagination transcending mere earthly things. It still has that power to thrill if you can tune in to the force.
Production is typically primitive for an early live album. It is littered with sound problems: drop-outs and bleed, poor clarity and definition, variable mix, unintelligible vocals in places despite later overdubs, and is dynamically compressed. If you like your music to be sonically pristine then you may prefer to investigate Hawkwind's studio recordings. But for all its many faults, Space Ritual remains a timeless and essential masterpiece.
Bob [Easy Livin] summed it up best with "If you can remember it, you weren’t actually there", but if you were there you were treated to a mind-blowing audio-visual experience the like of which doesn't happen very often. And it's true - my memories of that gig in 1972 are seen through a haze! The dancers are a blur and the music would be merely a wall of sound but for this album which serves as a record of that tour and a monument to a bygone age.
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