Space Ritual

“Space Ritual” by Hawkwind (1973) On top of all the weaknesses inherent in making live performance into an ‘album’, the flaws here are compounded by an almost complete lack of musical sense. Plus, it’s a dopey pulp sci-fi concept and the band’s name is mawkish (I can’t get the image of raptor flatulence out of my mind). No depth, no soul, no passion (except maybe mindlessly monotonous wonder). The lyrics on the track “Space is Deep” are shallow. I laughed out loud at the faux Shakespearean delivery of the vapid spoken “10 Seconds of Forever”. These guys take themselves way too seriously. Dave Brock’s lead vocals and guitar work are paradigmatically mediocre. No groove, no hook, no order. The engineering and mixing are terrible (Well, it was live). Bass and guitar are frequently and painfully out of tune. The creative concept seems to be “Let’s see how many weird noises we can throw against the wall—maybe some of them will stick.” Del Dettmar fribbles aimlessly away on his synthesizer, and his solos are deplorable. You’ve got to remember that by the time this album was made, Emerson, Lake and Palmer had been producing prog rock and synthesized arrangements for over three years. Hawkwind (that name!) was not only low quality, the band was outdated. This album is contemporaneous with Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. Compare the two. No, don’t bother. In my imagination, I picture the audience at the live performance all looking at their watches at the same time. I sat through this entire (double!) album so you don’t have to. 1/5

Bro this shit was out of this world. On another fuckin level when i was high lmao. I can't even explain. Must listen for under the influence hahaah

Jesse play "the 2 hour long psychedelic space rock album about accumulators and simultaneous orgasms, featuring Lemmy from Motörhead on bass with the naked woman on the cover" even if we scare the hoes. Yo Mr White that's a great idea. I love that album. My favorite song is "Brainstorm", which goes on for 14 minutes and roughly 12 minutes of that is a guitar solo.

Why are the worst albums always so long? This sounds like a garage band that formed hell-bent on becoming the next Black Sabbath but then just got way more in to the drugs part than the rock and roll.

Things I expected and got: space sounds. Synths, lots of phasers/flangers and delay, sick extended guitar jams. Things I did not expect: space flute! Space sax! Space monologues (maybe should have expected). I hear Pink Floyd, Rush, Jethro Tull in here. Plus Space. Unfortunately the bass lines can get repetitive, and there aren't too many really great melodies to hook into.

Absolutely not. Live AND psychedelic 70s crap? Nope.

Now this is music! I went to buy a suit today (very not Hawkwind, I know), and the suit guys plied me down with several glasses of scotch before lunch. I left, feeling like a million drunken bucks, popped in my headphones, and walked around Manhattan for the next two hours, enjoying a glorious autumn day, propelled by Space Ritual. Far fewer ultimate scenarios exist in this life.

This is a perfect jam album. Just have this on all day. Driving, playing Risk, whatever. Just have it on. 5 stars. 6 stars if you're smokin and jokin

It has some (glaring) flaws, such as songs overstaying their welcome and not translating as well live as they would in the studio. But that combination of proto-punk energy and space rock spookiness is so tasty that I can look past it’s shortcomings. An extra star goes to Lemmy’s energy and skill alone.

fucking long. managed most of it. I can't decide if it would have been a gig i would have enjoyed. there's some pretty good stoner music behind all the space sounds, the wibbly wobbly noises and the shitty spoken word stuff. i reckon i would have been impressed by this performance but the spoken word shit would have proper cheesed me off. not surprised sir lemmy fucked off to do his own thing, all this talk of space and hippy shit must have done his speed addled head in.

The fuck was that?

This is what the algorithm offered up on Thanksgiving. It compelled me to search out Black Friday deals (my favorites are a Google Chromecast stick for $19.99 and a subscription to The Athletic for $1 a month for a year). I'll probably jump on both offers just to spite this album. A freaking DOUBLE ALBUM no less. Look, I can appreciate the album cover as much as the next guy. I also understand one's appreciation of this improves based on the copious amounts of medicinal hallucinogens at one's dispensal. But whatever your mileage, this is on the shortlist of albums that absolutely need to come off the list. No one needs to hear this album.

You ever been to space? Like really went to space? This is what it sounds like. The almighty Hawkwind. The basslines are driving on this record. It would be an incredible show to witness. This record has space rock, psych rock, hard rock, blues rock, proto-punk and a whole bunch of stuff. This is one to come back to and always find something new. Favorite track: Orgone Accumulator Least favorite track: honestly can’t choose one

If you are under some very, VERY, heavy drugs you might get something out of this? But as someone who does not do drugs, this feels like a waste of 2 hours of my life.

"Space Ritual as a whole is loud, messy, simultaneously pretentious, and gloriously dumb." -user p_q on RateYourMusic.com, 3/11/2019 This is like trucker music from space. Like Deep Purple ate way too much acid. Lemmy's bass drives this shit straight to the moon. Simultaneously cheesy and kick ass. Like combining LSD and speed. Brainstorm might be the highlight for me, but there were a lot of good moments if not songs. 7.5/10.

Come on now, I love me some good psychedelic space-prog as much as the next one, but this is just way too much. Would I have loved to see this live? You bet! But as a purely listening experience, it's stretched way too long with a lot of filler. Lemmy's bass lines are sick though.

Brilliant, breathtaking, beautiful. A truly life affirming, life changing journey of music. One for the ages. I've just been to get a Hawkwind tattoo on my chest...and neck...and penis. Just incredible.

I was going to say that’s this is one of the all time greatest live albums, but really it kind of transcends that and is easily one of the all time greatest albums, period. This is heavy duty, man.

Psychedelic rock, not massively my genre but can appreciate it. Prob inspired Black Sabbath to a degree. And bits of Chemical Brothers. Was also surprised to hear that the riff on Down Through The Night was clearly ripped of by the Dead Kennedys for Holiday in Cambodia. The lyrics in The Awakening obv inspired The Matrix films 😂. Orgone Accumulator was used in an Earthed film, decent. So much has been influenced by this, hard to give it a bad rating, even though its not my bag. 4/5.

True Psychedelic Space Rock in a proper way. Also great for a live album.

Ever song is 100 years long but the instrumentals are very cool.

Another band I hadn't heard of! I was going to ding this album because of the production value and the fact that, as a 1973 album, it wasn't quite in the first wave of proto-metal bands like Deep Purple, Sabbath, and Iron Butterfly (probably missing a ton of crucial bands with those examples, sorry about that). But then I looked it up and this is actually a live album, which explained the production quality, and being a live album it was a collection of previously recorded songs, meaning that this band was more innovative and "first wave" than I realized. As for my enjoyment, it wasn't my favorite early 70's proto-metal. The songs tended to go on way too long and not go anywhere. The sci-fi spoken word segments between some songs were interesting, but I'd rather just hear those sci-fi references of the lyrics of the songs. My personal enjoyment: 3/5 Did it belong on this list: 4/5

I've heard the phrase "Orgone Accumulator" before. To be precise, I've heard the phrase "I've built an orgone accumulator and it's now my waifu". More context is required but I won't give it Considered giving it a 3, but those drug-induced monologues outweighed the pretty good instrumentals. When they weren't singing, I mostly enjoyed it

It's odd how the writer of the 1001 didn't seem to get that live albums, especially double lives albums, are ONLY enjoyed by fans of the band. There isn't room for this sort of thing. Or MAYBE 1001 albums is too many? I think there are more records that would deserve this spot, though I will not sink as low as to try and name them here. Bottom line, this sucks. Because I don't like free form rock jams and I don't like this band. So listening to a lot of it is annoying.

Nr. 30/1001 Earth Calling NR Born to Go 2/5 Down Through the Night 3/5 The Awakening NR Lord of Light 3/5 The Black Corridor NR Space is Deep 3/5 Electronic No 1 1/5 Orgone Accumulator 3/5 Upside Down 1/5 10 Seconds of Forever NR Brainstorm 2/5 Seven by Seven 3/5 Sonic Attack NR Time We Left This World Today 2/5 Master of the Universe 2/5 Welcome to the Future NR You Shouldn't Do That 2/5 Average: 2,25 That was just too weird for me

Some of the music was good But overall I absolutely hated this. It is genuinely one of the worst listening experiences on this list so far and I have reviewed nearly 500 albums. 1/5 doesn't do justice to how unejoyable this was. Utter pish

at one point I had forgotten every song except the one that I was currently listening to and thought, maybe I'll give this one a 2. Then I realized I had 45 minutes left and it went back to being awful every song thereafter

So not much to say about Hawkwind’s “Space Ritual”, except that I have NO early idea (i.e. see what I did there… : ) why this is on the 1,001 list… This was a very demoralizing listen to say the least… All I kept thinking was, this is a considerably less-talented version of Spinal Tap, as this album just keep droning on, and on – with no discernible change in sound, or vocals… Sure, they may have sped some sections up, and slowed some down – but it was like the sonic version of dirty bathwater… In addition, the audio quality was extremely sub-par – but I guess that could have been related to when it was recorded, but another variable that didn’t help the cause… And lyrically – forget it – “…In case of Sonic Attack on your district Follow these rules If you are making love, it is imperative to bring all bodies to orgasm simultaneously Do not waste time blocking your ears Do not waste time seeking a soundproof shelter…” The really sad part for me, was later that day after listening to this crap, my wife and I were enjoying drinks outside on the back deck as it was a lovely summer evening, and we put the album “Avalon” from Roxy Music on over the Bose speakers… Such an amazing album, and the best from Roxy as far as I am concerned… So my wife asks me about the album that I listened to for the 1,001 earlier in the day, and I told her about my dreadful Spinal Tap experience with Hawkwind, and she asks if it’s that bad – why is it on the list? Good question, to which I respond – “…Have no idea, but apparently it’s #276 out 1,001 on the list…”. She then asks another great question – “…What is “Avalon” rated on the list…”, and much to my dismay – it seems that the seminal album from Roxy didn’t even merit a mention on the list… Listen – I’m a rock guy, and love me some progressive concept albums – but first and foremost, they have to be good, so listing an album JUST because it was ambitious, makes absolutely NO sense to me… About 150 albums or so in, and really beginning to question why I am even spending time this exercise after an album like this… 1 hour & 43 minutes of my life that I won't get back... Ugh...

I cannot describe how terribly difficult this listen was. When I started this list, I made a goal for myself to TRULY listen to every single second of every record on this list. How can I give anything a true shake if I don't digest the whole thing? This is record #226 for me and I almost had to break my rule. I really, honestly, don't believe anything will come close to this record in it's unenjoyment. There will be songs I hate more. Artists I hate more. But albums? WHY IS THIS ALBUM OVER TWO HOURS LONG? Seriously I would LOVE to have an honest debate with the list makers on their rationale for including live records, and most specific of all, this record on this list. What an absolute DOG SHIT listen that was. My fucking algorithm on Spotify is going to be boned for MONTHS thinking I love Hawkwind now because I just put it through 2+ hours of this endless jamming wankery. Literally the EXACT same music you'd expect to hear in the garage of some highschoolers for two hours after school. Get this piece of shit off this list. Fuck this band, fuck this album, fuck live albums, and fuck you 1001 Albums.

Made an interesting contrast with dark side of the moon, which I had right after. The contrast being that one is shit and the other isn't.

How many drugs does someone need to consume to enjoy this?! And where was this recorded live? Turdfest '73? And speaking of turds, Hawkwind has to be one of the most turd band names I've ever heard. It sounds like the name of a crappy, unimaginative high school garage band that will play anywhere for free because they couldn't even summon up a pity pay gig from their own family members. In keeping with the theme of this review I'd call this release a post-buffet two-flusher because it's one of the longest turds I've had to endure. It's unpleasant while it's happening and it really stinks but you feel so much better and relieved when it's finally over.

Fucking awful.

“A live double album recorded in 1972” is probably all you need to know about this one. I skimmed through this and whatever they were taking clearly took it’s toll on their creative faculties. Repetitive and indulgent.

Worst thing I have ever heard in all my life. Would rather listen to a baby cry for two hours, that would be more tuneful.

Holy shit - This is great stuff. Such a great dirty driving hard rock sound, this is an outstanding album. Note: listen to this under the influence of something for maximum effect. Remember, everyone was high AF in the 70s. 5/5

I'm a Hawkwind fan - seen em live a couple of times and everything - and this still seems like an odd choice to add to the list. Pick a studio album, damn it! Still, the amount of outraged 1 star reviews is pretty amusing - I guess I appreciate the bit. 😏 Fave tracks - "Born To Go", "Orgone Accumulator", Brainstorm", "Sonic Attack"

Great background rumble!

Definitely too long. Definitely fucking ruled.

They had me at “…the jeweled forests of Venus…”

Hawkwind and this album were about during peak Prog rock so I was naturally attracted to them. As such I’d bought a previous album to this one, In Search Of Space and later bought another yet to be recorded Quark Strangeness and Charm. I struggled to like Hawkwind as much as their Prog contemporaries so never followed them closely. So largely unfamiliar with this album. A lot of fellow reviewers question why live albums are on this list. But this is a good example of an album which answers that question. When comparing the studio versions the live ones on this album have a lot more energy and power. To have been present must have been a great experience. So listening to this album today was better than I thought. Perhaps a bit longer than necessary as after a while my attention began to waver. Would never buy the album but OK to put on a streamer shuffle with other similar artists. I thought at first the album was a 3 rating but on listening it is a very good 4. Then I saw the low global rating which reflects the Prog haters out there who obviously outnumber the Hippity Hoppity Rap crap haters like me. So fuck it, it’s Prog so it can have a five. 3(5)/5 28/8/24

By happy coincidence we saw these live just a week ago at Rock City. That show was great, and this album in its exuberance and energy is great also.

If my older siblings had listened to this instead of The Carpenters I’d have been a much nicer teenager.

A Perfect album

Listened to this on 2 gummies on the flight to Vegas. Good stuff.

An album that needs no introduction, or an excuse to listen. This has been a part of my music life for over 40 years now. One of the greatest live albums ever released and a thrilling sonic adventure from start to finish

I'm going with 5 stars here, but it's a slightly tactical vote. Hawkwind have put out a lot of albums over the years, we're talking over thirty studio albums alone, with many times that number in live albums, compilations, spin-offs, etc. I stopped buying physical albums in the mid 1990s, but I still managed to acquire around fifty Hawkwind albums, mainly on vinyl. The last album I bought was Electric Tepee, which I think of as one of their more recent albums, but it's actually in the first half of their discography now. The one thing that I think every Hawkwind albums has in common is that they're all imperfect in some way. The generally accepted contenders for the "best" album include Warrior on the Edge of Time, Hall of the Mountain Grill, Levitation, PXR5, and Space Ritual (this album). But none of these are perfect, with the odd dud track showing up here and there. With a band that's been around so very long, it's obvious that there's going to be a lot of shifts in style over the years. Space Ritual was recorded during the promotion of Doremi Fasol Latido, and it's typical space rock fare, so lots of long tracks with meandering saxophone, bass, and drums, with strange electronic ambient noises. It doesn't feel like a live album, as there's not much crowd noise and the quality is on par with the studio albums recorded around this era. The album ticks a lot of "classic Hawkwind" boxes, we have Lemmy on guitar, Dave Brock is obviously here as always, Robert Calvert offers some poetic interludes, and Nik Turner still hadn't fallen out with Mr Brock at this point. It would have been nice if we had some electric violin from Simon House, but he didn't join until 1974. Stacia is dancing, but that doesn't really come over that well on an audio-based medium. Of the twenty-one tracks on this album, I already had eight of them favourited. The good tracks carry the score for me here, as they're just so good that they make up for the slightly duller moments. There's nothing truly awful here, but some of the spoken word tracks get a bit boring after hearing them over and over again. This is great background music, perfect for a long drive, or sitting in the sun, enjoying a beer or two.

Excellent!

I love that thing Stephen Morris of Joy Division and New Order said about how punk in UK took off all over the country because Hawkwind had toured so extensively all over the place in the years before and that they had seeded a few weirdos in every normally ignored town.

This album is definitely a mood and probably isn’t as universally popular or timeless as the other albums that have been 5 for me so far. But IF you are in the mood for this space journey it will be a perfect 5/5.

Took me on a space trip

Loved certain bits of this, sure it would be amazing experience to space out to live, but for a novice Hawkwind listener it’s a hell of a lot to get through

Holy shit, the first side is my jam!

Futuristic spacey sound.

now this is what i’m talking about. right up my alley. jammy and cool and weird. like king gizzard mixed with yes and king crimson. so good

Love this album, and no Silver Machine in sight. Apparently I like space rock - "There will be bleeding from orifices" Nice!

Sure this is something you put on all the time but neither is taking a trip to the moon. Yeah it's repetitive, a little long and there some cheesy spoken word however it's still great. I'd give this a 4 but given all the dipshits that rated it a 1 I'm going 5.

Disclaimer one: I've grown up with Space Ritual, as my dad has this on vinyl. Definitely stood out in the collection. If the album art looks trippy on Spotify, you need to check out the gatefold sleeve, maaaan. Disclaimer two: I am a confirmed Hawkwind fan. How much of a fan? Well, I did once attend a two-day festival called HawkFest, where the headliners for both nights were Hawkwind. I can't even pretend to be objective when confronted with the mighty Space Ritual. Thr music - space rock of a chugging, doomstoner variety with the metronomic insistence of Krautrock - isn't uniformly brilliant. That said, 'Lord of Light', 'Orgone Accumulator', 'Down Through the Night', 'Master of the Universe' - they're all here and spectacular. More to the point, Space Ritual is a moment in time and space that feels strange, peculiar and exciting. Nothing in rock is sui generis, but nothing really sounded like Hawkwind before, a marriage of pounding simplicity, gusty, questing synths and Age of Aquarius pscyhobabble. And didn't Hawkwind invent space rock as we know it? Albeit of a very particular flavour. The spaceships in this universe are not sleek, ergonomic wonders of science - no, what we have is a kind of spacepunk, clanky, ratchety handmades piloted by lysergically-charged psychonauts, with controls set for Sirius, the sun, the Crab Nebula or sweet oblivion. Glorious, magical, magnificent stuff. Tell your children.

amazing

Classic prog rock..also Lemey's old band

An amazing aural experience. Mind and body expanded to fill the cosmos. I'm moving in with this album.

One of the best live albums

This one's a classic for me. Psychedelic space rock rates very highly in my book. The people at these shows got their money's worth. Hawkwind is one of my most listened to bands this year. They have an immense catalog to dive into with lots of great tunes. The Lemmy albums are where it's at for me.

Transcendent guitar playing interspersed with poetry about the multitudinousness of the universe. All of that with an unbelievably tight band for a live album. Great listen.

doom metally psychedelia? i’m in no questions asked. this has some really amazing instrumentals and really strange lyrics, the fact that it’s a live performance is pretty incredible

The ultimate Hawkwind album and one of the best live albums ever.

When I saw this one pop up on the list, I was pretty excited because I had been meaning to check Hawkwind out since a while. Then I saw that this is a live album and my enthusiasm instantly dropped. But in this case, even though I consider live recordings strictly worse versions of the tracks (unless you're actually there and enjoying the atmosphere and energy of the live concert) the music was so good that it's still fantastic as a live recording. And there's nothing stopping me from listening to more - studio recorded - Hawkwind.

The pinnacle of space rock. I will never get tired of listening to this album.

Long, trippy, highly weird and disturbing at times. Whether I would have enjoyed it even more had I been under the influence of something is up for debate, but to me there's something about psychedelic rock that meshes really well with long bus and train rides, and I happened to listen to most of this on the bus. While the psychedelic rock albums on the list have been a little hit and miss to me, I thought this one was a banger with some amazing songs and excellent riffs. I must say that some of the songs (And perhaps the album itself) overstayed their welcome a little bit, but I don't think I ever got totally bored by it. The little interlude pieces were quite strange, but it certainly suits the whole "Space Ritual" aesthetic. Excellent early 70s rock for sure. Favourite: Brainstorm

Absolutely phenomenal record - grandiose, theatrical, absurd but propelled by a commitment to the music and the concept which makes for an incredible sounding experience. The whole thing teeters on the edge of absurdity but manages to pull through. The highlight is a perfectly delivered, Michael Moorcock authored Sonic Attack, a spoken word piece that sums up this sci fi fantasy rock opera.

I’ve found my go-to album for my ‘70s drug montages. Perfect for fast zoom-in/zoom-outs, blurry close-ups of go-go dancing and multicolored double exposure lights circling over fast cuts of smiling and screaming faces. This album overflows with psychedelic energy. Today I was not tripping and feared this might be tedious. I needn’t have worried - it was quite the opposite! The housecleaning I did as I listened became wildly more interesting. I lost track of how long I had been listening or whether the song had ever changed. The 2+ hour run time flew by. Several songs into a second listen of disc one I realized I had repeat turned on and the music had started over. My cats went wild and started running all over like crazy midway through the album. I’m pretty sure this has psychoactive effects. I love how seriously Space Ritual takes itself. I love the weird cats on the cover. I love the use of flute and sax. I love the analog synthesizers. I love the serious spoken word parts (“vermilion deserts of Mars, the jeweled forests of Venus”, and instructions provided in case of Sonic Attack). I love the noodly bass lines. I love gyrating wildly to Lord of the Light. I love the cosmic grandeur. “In the fourth second of forever I could remember nothing that I did not love.” Totally groovy!

Fantastic, ahead of its time Space Rock album. Phenomenal

I've been always obsessed with all things related to space. Space travel? Cool. Space operas? Awesome. Space ROCK??? Hell yeah!!! I actually started getting into this weird, almost forgotten subgenre shortly before discovering this page, and I listened to Doremi Fasol Latido (many of the songs of that album are also present here). So I was really excited when another Hawkwind album popped up here! Now, Space Ritual is definitely not an album for anyone. A lot of people are going to hate it, and that's fair. It's basically a bizarre voyage on drugs across the black corridor of space. It is crude, it is trippy and it's long... Really long. But if you make it to the end, you'll be rewarded with a weird sense of catharsis. At least that's what I felt when listening to the final track. 5/5, I would listen to it again.

What a cool and weird album, a whole experience. I'm very into psychedelic rock at the moment and I think I just discovered a new band to listen to all of the albums!! Fav tracks: Brainstorm, Lord of Light, Down Through the Night

If you had a drink every time someone says the word "space" on this album, you'd basically end up evaporating. It's great, though, surely an inspiration on Star Wars and Flash Gordon and other sci-fi of the era.

WOW! Amazing! Like Black Sabbath but heavier and more tripped out! And they were around during Sabbaths early years! How have I never heard this before!

I needed this today. This was fantastic. Fully titled "The Space Ritual Alive in London and Liverpool" is a double live and the fourth album from Hawkwind recorded on the studio album "Doremi Fasol Latido" tour. The album intersperses the core songs with electronic and spoken word pieces to create essentially one continuous piece. The concert was meant to be an audio-visual experience including naked dancers and "entwinning the fantasy of seafarers in suspended animation traveling through time and space with the concept of music of the spheres (movement of celestial bodies as a form of music)." You betcha, I'm on board. And, the music and band are/were classified as "Space Rock." OK. All I know is that this fuckin' rocked. It sounded like punk met heavy metal met jam band (and other stuff). I heard so many future influences - Monster Magnet, Sleep, Mastodon. The band was killer too with none other than Lemmy on bass. The are a lot of songs worth highlighting. It seemed that each of the band members stepped up at different times throughout the album. Most the big songs are between 7 to 13 minutes long. The first song with lyrics "Born to Go" sets the pace with driving music. Drummer Simon King shines and there is a killer guitar solo by Dave Brock. This song has aspects of both punk and heavy metal. "Lord of Light" continues the driving music with Lemmy standing out and interesting sax towards the middle to end which gives it almost a Roxy Music feel. And how can you not mention "Brainstorm" which is just a jam. I'd classified it as like Stoner punk. It defintely starts out like a Motörhead song and continues on for over 13 minutes. Epic! I had listen to Hawkwind before and was expecting a lot having not listened specifically to this album. I got a lot. It is a lot. A big enthusiastic recommendation for anyone who likes Rock.

Fkn hell yeah this is what I'm talking about. A 2hr space prog odyssey with fat riffs and spoken word always has the potential to go very bad but this is perfect. Love the whovian drama in Sonic Attack that flows into the big foot-on-fold-back Time We Left This World Today. Excellent live recording too. Will need to spenore time with this, might put it on my ski trip playlist.

What a magic journey

my kind of album. psychedelia of the jazz rock type. intense yet meditative. definitely hear the influence on bands like the black keys and black rebel motorcycle club. i like this album, a lot.

For me this was first time hearing this artist and what a absolutely fantastic trip this album is. Especially love the long and spacey guitar plays. Psychedelic rock might be something I want to listen more.

SPACE ROCK

A brilliant eyeopener. I didn't know this one.

First time listening to this band that heavily influenced KGATLW. The album starts off a little slow but builds into an absolutely wonderful experience.

A little strange, noisy at times. Would have been fun to be there - probably a party! Lots of great ideas heard throughout. Amazing how tight they groove for a love album. Tremendous musicianship - can see predictors for hard prog-rock groups. Drugs. Lots and lots of drugs.

This is as good as it gets for old music.

Psychedelic rock. What else needs to be said?

The only comparison that springs easily to mind is Sun Ra. There are important differences, of course. Sun Ra has both better instrumentation, more varied rhythm, and a mythology that seems less hokey. But this is a great, sprawling project, clearly inspired by space, and with at least two levels of a heartbeat. There's the rock-and-roll pulse of course, but that's shared by even bad doom or stoner metal. There's a second rise and fall happening underneath, within and between the songs, of words, textures, electronics. The wind instruments greatly contribute to creating the sense of anticipation which is so needed to sit through a couple hours of largely similar music.

Overall: 7/10 I think I appreciate this a lot more than I enjoy it and I think that has a lot to do with Hawkwind's visual presentation rather than the music. Their live performances were basically performance art for people on shrooms, and they even credit poets and dancers as band members because of it. The music itself is very trippy and spacey. I think I would have rather watched a performance than listen to this but it's still a great piece of music worth checking out. Also, Lemmy from Motörhead played bass in this band! Fav Song: Brainstorm Least Fav Song: Lord of Light

It’s good but not really my taste

a pretty cool album when all's said and done. a fun iteration of early 70s psych rock, a bit harder edged at times and bordering on prog. when it really goes, it's a blast. the poetic interludes are a bit generic, of the time, and dated, but i think that adds to the charm of this one. i enjoyed it a lot, and it's one i think i could come back to in the future.

This was an odd and interesting listen to say the least. When everything clicked in the music, there were some truly killer songs and moments that I'd argue would rival any other contemporary prog performance. The space stuff was a little goofy, a little too goofy at times, and does take away from what is otherwise a stellar album. Also could definitely use a remaster since the recording is less than optimal

I'm not familiar with Hawkwind's music, and while I'm not sure I'd particularly want to listen to this album again, and I certainly won't add it to my Tidal library, it is good enough to make me want to explore more of this band's material. I like the music, but the album just seems a bit corny these days, what with the over-dramatic spoken-word interludes and seventies "space noises".

I play this "game" by listening to these records only once before rating them. In 2024, it isn't easy to listen to a 90-minute album, so I probably missed all the details. That said, I enjoyed a lot of moments of this album. I wanted to give it 5 stars. But my millennial attention span has its limitations, unfortunately. So I'll rate it with a 4 and setting a mental reminder for myself "listen to this in the car".

Bit of a messy live record, but love the spacy psychedelic yet straight to the point rock from a band I had never heard of before.

Fesselndes Live-Album, das Rock, Wave, Psycho, Avantgarde und Rap Stile verbindet .. und das Anfang der 70er. Das Album - zum Wiederhören - war seiner Zeit weit voraus. Respekt

On the one hand, "you had to be there" and "you had to be on drugs." Lots of truly weird moments and waaay too long. On the other hand, this album rocks. Surprisingly heavy, driving tracks throughout. Can't help but bang your head along to the beat. Not an album I'd focus on for two hours again, but would probably put on just to get a good heavy groove going. Favorite tracks: Born to Go, Lord of Light (particularly the part with the bass groove and sax interplay), Upside Down, Time We Left this World Today.

I feel like, given the dates on this album, that this is what everyone copies. I expected to not like it, but I found that it was rather well put together.

This is pretty awesome. Never listened to this before really. Cool to hear early Lemmy bass. I like a lot of the drawn out jam parts.

The Space Ritual Alive in Liverpool and London (commonly known as Space Ritual) is a live double album by Hawkwind, originally released in 1973. I've always hears Hawkwind being discussed in psych rock circles, but never gave them a fair listen. This is the first time I'm diving into their music. This is a double live record and man do they jam on here. A lot of these songs are very drawn out and delve into ambient territory at times. They were pretty ahead of their time sonically. I hear their influence in modern bands like Slift. The lyrics can be a bit corny at times but the instrumentation makes up for it imo. I also really dig their spacey vibe.

great album, want to listen more! probably a 4.5 out of 5.