Space Ritual
Hawkwind
1973
Album Summary
The Space Ritual Alive in Liverpool and London (commonly known as Space Ritual) is a 1973 live double album recorded in 1972 by UK rock band Hawkwind. It is their fourth album, reached #9 in the UK album charts and briefly dented the Billboard Top 200, peaking at #179.
WikipediaBro 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
“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 was not only low quality, the band was outdated.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
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.
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
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
True Psychedelic Space Rock in a proper way. Also great for a live album.
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.
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.
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.
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.
"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.
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
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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
First time listening to this band that heavily influenced KGATLW. The album starts off a little slow but builds into an absolutely wonderful experience.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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
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.
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!
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.
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
The pinnacle of space rock. I will never get tired of listening to this album.
Sure the poetry is cheesy, but they know it's cheesy (there would have been a naked woman on stage if you were actually present at this show), and instrumentally it's fun extremely competent grunge-y space rock. And we have Lemmy from Motorhead! Playing a style of music where I personally have a much easier time appreciating his bass prowess.
I really liked the Earth Calling intro. Born To Go was a little boring to me. The Awakening- 10 seconds of forever was amazing. That's for the first half listed on Spotify. Second half or whatever is also pretty amazing. Seven by Seven words are really thought provoking. Sonic Attack hit me hard and I can bravely say it's the highlight of the record for me. I am definitely not the biggest fan of this kind of music, so I tried to be very objective. It is pretty damn great, different, unique and thought provoking. However, some tracks were not able to have my attention for too long. 4/5 stars for me.
I'm a sucker for media about space and how it makes us think about our place in the universe, so this album works for me, despite the layers and layers of pompousness and corniness (and spoken word bullshit). If Space Oddity and Rocket Man are about astronomy, then Space Ritual is about astrology or maybe astral projection. I have a lot of room in my heart for psychedelic space rock, so while I acknowledge this isn't for everybody, I dug it. Best track: Brainstorm
Far out man. Meed to give it more of a listen. A bit long for the time I had for it.
I really enjoyed this, even though I don't really know anything about this band. It reminded me of more tuneful Krautrock.
Can't believe I've never heard any Hawkwind before. I Enjoyed it quite a bit. It was long, but I think that's one of the things about space rock that I actually enjoy, long jam sessions.
Pura drogaaa... Pues me gustó, tiene sus momentos pesadones, me gustó sobre todo seven by seven y Brainstorm, están remolinescas, mareadoras. Mood: dando vueltas descalzo en un campo de flores
Vraiment weird, mais quand même un show qui a pas de sens. J'aime moins les albums live. Un écouter un show quand tu n'es pas dans le moment, sans image etc. c'est plus difficile d'apprécier toutes les nuances. Cependant l'album est vraiment éclater et certaines tounes sonnent vraiment comme un tonne de brique et j'adore ca. Quelque moments explosif entouré de plein de trucs bizarre. La réécoute est peu probable mais j'ai bien apprécié. 4
There were moments when my ears perked up and I was like 'damn this is some fun music' and then other times where it just felt weird. Solid and fun listen from a way out there band/album.
One of the greatest Hawkwind albums. Therefore, one of the greatest albums ever.
Wow, methamphetamine and hallucinogens actually get along quite well. A fantastic live show (7/10) FT: Born To Go, The Awakening
It's a lot of album, but damn is it a good live album. I couldn't imagine seeing Hawkwind in their hey day. Would be mind blowing, for sure. Hawkwind's catalog is so huge, that I've never really took a deep dive. Just seems so daunting a task, but I'm familiar enough with what they do to know what to expect from them. Everything is so seemless on this album and just keeps flowing with interesting interludes and all. And those Lemmy baselines drive their music so incredibly well. What a ride.
Another of those bands that I am aware of but haven't really listened to. With its sludgy cosmic soundscapes I have definitely become a new fan. That said, the album is a bit hit and miss, going a bit too hippy and a bit too jam band for my tastes at times. Maybe I was on the wrong acid or it was a case of you had to be there and that whole era
Simultaneously avant- grade yet accessible. This album sounds both old and new with its driving repetitive rhythms and virtuosity. This album runs a bit long, but it is interesting enough to be worth sitting through. I can hear the influence of this band in other artists that followed up through the present day.
O takie picki listowe nic nie robilem, nowosc zarowno jako banda, brzmieniowo taka progresja, ze ciezko stawiac ja wokol innych rokujacych zespolow lat 70, a przede wszystkim orginalnosc brzmienia, bo to najbardziej urzeklo mnie na Space Ritual od Hawkwinda z 73, ktory jest poteznym livowym podwojnym albumem, nagrywanym w 72 w londynie i liverpoolu, stad az tyle materialu zeby zrobic dwie epickie strony, ktore objetosciowo to w orginalne 86 minut, a rozszerzona wersja z 2k07 to az dwie godziny dwanascie minut, wiec jest czego posluchac, 21 mocno psychodelicznych kompozycji z motywem przewodnim przestrzeni, wiec space rock z definicji, pomimo tego, ze jest to nagranie koncertowe, to jednak calosc jest tak spojna, wiec banda w calej swojej dyskografii musi kierowac sie tym motywem, bo gdyby nie typowe koncertowe brzmienie tego albumu, to moglbym zakceptowac taka trakliste jako zwykly album, co do samego brzmienia livowego, to jest ono najbardziej zblizone do tego co slyszalem na deep purplowym made in japan, czy budokanowym albumie od cheap tricks, wiec potezny koncert na ktorym scena jest odpowiednio wielka dla szerokiej publicznosci, przez co wokale lubia sie czasami gubic gdzies z tylu, zwlaszcza ze czesto pojawia sie chorkowanie, gdzie ciezko zrozumiec chorek lub glowny wokal, co do samego zespolu to jak na rokowy sklad jest dosc spory, bo az siedmiu czlonkow, a wsrod reszty nazwisk znajomo pojawia sie pan Lemmy, dla ktorego hawkwind byl pierwszym zespolem przed motorowyheadem, podczas odsluchu wlasnie bas wydawal sie wyjatkowo hardy, ale nie sadzilem, ze az taka persona za nim stoi, kolejnym wartym uwagi instrumentem sa drumy grane przez Simona Kinga, nie bede zaglebial sie w kto byl wokalem lirykiem danych trakow, bo sluchalo sie tego dobrze, ale jest to livowy album, wiec tez mialo to cos do rzeczy, zostawie to sobie do zglebienia podczas odsluchu studyjnej dyskografii bandy, bo ten epicko kosmiczny material zachecia do dania mu szansy, bo az dziwne, ze nie slyszalem wczesniej o hawkach biorac pod uwage, ze to przeciez wyspiarski prog z lat 70, no chociaz strasznie mocno zestakowana scena w tamtym okresie byla, wiec nawet cos co brzmi tak dobrze bylo gdzies na drugim planie i nie przebilo sie do mainstreamu, nie dodaje livowych utworow na plejke, ale plyte wrzuce do biblioteczki spotifajowej, zeby nie zpomniec o sprawdzeniu jak wypadaja przy nim studyjne krazki
1972 - Space rock, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, proto-punk, hard rock
Pretty good listen, very obscure psychedelic rock. Only annoying part was the weird prophetic ramblings. Made me hallucinate and wield a turnip hacksaw, running around the house.
psychadelic space rock with a sprinkling of jazz, very nice. some dutty dutty riffs would’ve been great if it was shorter might listen to some more of their stuff, as long as it won’t take up half of my day. cool album cover 8.8/10
I could've done with less of the narration or whatever but mostly I really dug this.
Right, this is fantastic. I don’t have two and a quarter hours to listen to it in one sitting.I did this in three goes, and I loved it. I’m a huge fan of the Amorphous Androgynous psych compilations and this sounds like the first 3 volumes. I’ll add most of this to my psych playlist but probably not listen to it as an album from start to finish.
Vaikka kuuntelin tämän lähinnä taustamusiikkina, enkä niinkään ajatuksella, niin nautin tästä silti. Luultavasti palaan tähän vielä myöhemmin vähän lyhyemmissä pätkissä, koska kokonaisen albumin kuunteleminen oli aika työn takana.
I only ever knew Hawkwind as the band Lemmy was in before Motorhead, forgetting they were an influential Space Rock group in their own right! || Cool riffs and sounds at times, and I'm very glad to have listened and for it's influence on later bands like The Sword, but it's not groundbreaking for me and as expected a little indulgent at times. Very solid four, but I could be persuaded to add or take away half a star depending on the argument.
Good album that I haven’t listened to for a few years. Certainly see the influence on stoner/slidge rock. I was thinking this deserved a five because Lemmy is I. The mix, but the awkward space talk brings it down to a more earthly four stars.
Can't believe I'd never heard of this band before. Pretty cool! Sort of prog rock meets proto-punk. Enjoyed it quite a bit, need to listen again. 4 stars.
Je pense c'est le meilleur album live j'ai eu dans les 1001 jusqu'à date. Je suis surpris de ne jamais avoir entendu parler de ce band, c'est du très bon rock psychédélique, ça sonne presque comme du proto stoner.
I was initially dreading jumping into another prog rock but the riffs and noises they were making were really good! (When they weren't doing their own radio space opera). They seemed to be having a lot of fun which comes through.
I have never been high enough to appreciate this album. Even so, it was almost good until the pseudo-intellectual nonsense monologues started. Kind of a mood killer.
Great live rock album. I think one would have to take this in the moment to get the full experience (the out-there interludes don't make for easy listening), but even as a recorded experience the energy and life behind each track is apparent. Reminds me of a prog King Gizzard.
So everyone always says, "yeah, I wish I was high as a kite while listening to this", but I feel like that detracts from the media you are enjoying. If something (music/movie/food/etc) is good, you shouldn't have to be in an altered state to find it enjoyable, or even incredible. And that's where I find myself disagreeing with myself as I listened to Space Ritual. This album is so damn long that you absolutely need some kind of substance that speeds up time in order to find it thoroughly enjoyable. Each song? Cool. The whole thing? A crawl to the end. Only HyperLSD will work here.
Just a jam album, not fantastic but not bad, probably shouldn’t be sober to fully enjoy this album.
I mean it's good, but nothing really sticks. They sound similar but it's space rock.
Mucho rock, casi que puro instrumento y pues se oye bien, sin duda, pero no regresaré al disco. No es lo mío, vaya, y de repente son canciones larguitas. Eso sí, están chistosas esas canciones en donde hay más voz, como manifiestos, proclamas, por ejemplo "Space Is Deep", "Sonic Attack" o "Welcome to the Future", ya se nota cierto patrón con los títulos... Igual, seguro alguien más versado podrá decir qué instrumentos o qué arreglos suenan mucho mejor, pero para mí en algún momento fue repetitivo. 7/10