Space Ritual (officially known as The Space Ritual Alive in Liverpool and London) is a 1973 live double album recorded in 1972 by UK rock band Hawkwind. It is their fourth album since their debut, Hawkwind, in 1970.[1][2] It reached number 9 in the UK Albums Chart and briefly dented the Billboard Hot 200, peaking at number 179.
The album was recorded during the tour to promote their Doremi Fasol Latido album, which comprises the bulk of this set. In addition there are new tracks ("Born To Go", "Upside Down" and "Orgone Accumulator") and the songs are interspersed by electronic and spoken pieces, making this one continuous performance. Their recent hit single "Silver Machine" was excluded from the set, and only "Master of the Universe" remains from their first two albums.
The Space Ritual show attempted to create a full audio-visual experience, representing themes developed by Barney Bubbles and Robert Calvert entwining the fantasy of starfarers in suspended animation traveling through time and space with the concept of the music of the spheres.[3] The performance featured dancers Stacia, Miss Renee and Tony Carrera, stage set by Bubbles,[4] lightshow by Liquid Len and poetry recitations by Calvert. On entering the venue, audience members were given a programme[5] (reproduced on the 1996 remaster CD) featuring a short sci-fi story by Bubbles setting the band in a Starfarers scenario returning to Earth.[nb 1]
The original release featured edits and overdubs, the sleeve notes explaining that "We had to cut a piece out of Brainstorm and Time We Left because they were too long", but the 1985 Space Ritual Volume 2 album contains the full unedited versions. A previously unheard edited version of "You Shouldn't Do That" (segued with an unlisted "Seeing It As You Really Are") from this concert was included on the 1976 Roadhawks compilation album, then subsequently included as a bonus track on the 1996 remaster CD. The full unedited version of the track can be found on the Hawkwind Anthology album. June 2007 saw another EMI 2CD remaster issue with different bonus tracks and DVD-audio - this remaster would be reissued in 2013, minus the DVD-audio.
"Sonic Attack" had been written by science fiction author Michael Moorcock, who often performed with the band when convenient and Calvert was unavailable. Here it is recited by Calvert and it was scheduled for single release, promotional copies being distributed in a cloth sleeve, but it never did receive a full release.
The album was recorded at Liverpool Stadium, 22 December 1972 and Brixton Sundown, 30 December 1972 by Vic Maile and the Pye Mobile. It was produced by Hawkwind, then mixed by Vic Maile and Anton Matthews at Olympic Studios, Barnes. The bonus track "You Shouldn't Do That" was recorded at Brixton Sundown, 30 December 1972, and originally released on the Roadhawks compilation album. "Master Of The Universe" and "Born To Go", bonus tracks on the 1996 2CD release, were recorded at The Roundhouse, 13 February 1972, and originally released on the Greasy Truckers Party various artists album.
"The Awakening" is a spoken piece which had previously been printed in the Hawklog which accompanied the group's 1971 In Search of Space album.
The sleeve was designed by Barney Bubbles and came in 3x2 panel foldout, the outer 6 panels being colour, the inner 6 panels being monochrome, the discs in psychedelic patterned orange & yellow inner sleeves were folded into this.[7] It made Q Magazine's 100 greatest album covers list.
The outer foldout features an illustration of Miss Stacia flanked by the hounds of King over stage shots of the band.
The inner foldout features three panels of a photograph of outer space with three illustrations on each panel headed by lines from a Hawkwind song.
Inner panel 1: features a vintage photograph of a naked woman with listed credits.
Inner panel 2: chac bacab – features an image of a female nipple as a planet, and a legend of the Earth as a living entity.
Inner panel 3: kan bacab – features an image of a foetus suspended in space with the legend "The Universe resounds with the joyful cry I AM. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Naked I came out of my mothers womb and naked shall I return thither."
Inner panel 4: Features a mandala with the legend "Everything exists for itself, yet everything is part of something else. The One and the many contain in themselves the principles of time and space. The way up and the way down are one and the same."
Inner panel 5: Features a dedication from Lemmy to John the Bog, Supernova and Sue Bennett. zac bacab, tec bacab and bac bacab expounds upon religious and cosmological myths and sciences, starting with the William BlakeAuguries of Innocence poem "To see a world in a grain of sand, And a heaven in a wild flower, Hold infinity in the palm of your hand, And eternity in an hour", ending with the Alfred Whitehead quote "Give up illusions about ideas of order, accept nothing of inherited norm. Spread joy and revolution. It is the business of the future to be dangerous."
Inner panel 6: features a winged superhero grasping an electrical cable and lightning bolts, perched upon an Earth situated in a void.
May 1973: United Artists Records, UAD60037/8, UK vinyl – original issues came in 6-panel fold-out sleeve with inner sleeves. Subsequent releases in gatefold sleeve.
March 1996: EMI Remasters, HAWKS4, UK CD – initial copies in digipak with reproduction of the Space Ritual tour programme (An extract from the Saga of Doremi Fasol Latido)
June 2007: EMI Remasters, UK 2CD+DVD
11 October 2010: Rock Classics, RCV016LP, UK, 2x12" vinyl 1000 copies; RCV017LP, UK, 2x12" vinyl 1000 copies
21 January 2013: Parlophone Records, HAWKSS 4, Europe 2CD - re-issue of 2007 release, but without DVD - 6 panel fold-out inlay - track listing as per 1996 CD release Hawkwind - Space Ritual
29 September 2023: Cherry Red RecordsATOMCD111053, UK, 10 CD + 1 Blu-Ray disc box-set including new stereo and 5.1 remixes by Stephen W. Tayler, plus new mixes of Liverpool, Brixton and Sunderland concerts from 1972, 68 page booklet with essay by Robert Godwin and reproduction original concert program.
In the Q & Mojo Classic Special Edition Pink Floyd & The Story of Prog Rock, the album came number 8 in its list of "40 Cosmic Rock Albums".[13] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die at number 276.[14]
Space Ritual Volume 2 is an archive live album by Hawkwind released in 1985 consisting of a live performance from 1972. The tapes were licensed by Dave Brock to former Hawkwind bass player Dave Anderson for release. Recorded at Liverpool Stadium
This recording is part of the performance that was processed for disc 2 of Space Ritual. Here it is in its original state, with no edits or overdubs, notable differences being a different middle section to "Orgone Accumulator", "Paranoia" included as the middle section of "Time We Left This World Today" and the end portion of "Brainstom" (Often mistakenly stated as "Wind of Change") leading into "7 By 7". "Space Is Deep" and "You Shouldn't Do That" / "Seeing It As You Really Are" from this tape were released on Hawkwind Anthology.
"Electronic No. 1" [listed as "Space"] (Dettmar/Dik Mik) – 2:15
"Orgone Accumulator" (Calvert/Brock) – 8:45
"Upside Down" (Brock) – 2:45
"Sonic Attack" (Moorcock) – 2:50
"Time We Left This World Today" (Brock) / "Paranoia" [unlisted] (Brock) – 13:20
"10 Seconds of Forever" (Calvert) – 2:10
"Brainstorm" (Turner) – 12:00
"7 By 7" (Brock) – 8:50
"Master of the Universe" (Turner/Brock) – 7:40
"Welcome to the Future" (Calvert) – 2:55
see starfarer for full catalogue of releases, re-releases, retitles of this album.
On 22 February 2014, Hawkwind performed a one-off show at the Shepherd's Bush Empire, London in conjunction with Rock 4 Rescue in aid of various animal charities (Wet Nose Animal Aid, Animals Asia Foundation, Team Badger and Doris Banham Dog Rescue).[15] The night consisted of two sets, the second being an almost entire run-through of the original Space Ritual album - "Electronic Number 1" being replaced by a new electronic instrumental piece titled "A Step into Space". The event was compered by TV presenter Matthew Wright, and the group were joined by former Soft Machine guitarist John Etheridge on "Down Through The Night" and "Space Is Deep", while "Sonic Attack" was recited from a pre-recording by Brian Blessed who had been involved in other Team Badger projects including the "Save the Badger Badger Badger" single with Brian May. Silver Machine was performed as the encore (unlike the original 1972/3 shows where "You Shouldn't do That" was the encore.) Paradoxically, the single of Silver Machine that helped to finance the original Space Ritual tour, but wasn't actually performed on that tour.
The recording was released by Gonzo Media on 30 March 2015 in three formats: 2CD, 2CD/DVD-Video (set 2), and 2CD/2DVD-Video (both sets).
^Dave Brock: "Barney's taking over the concept that originally came from Bob. Barney's continuing where Bob left off - writing the whole story and the programme - the whole fantasy to go with the show. Originally Bob was going to be the Grand Wizard, reading poetry on stage, but he's kind of vanished and I don't know whether he's going to be doing it with us. He might turn up and do part of it, but Nik's going to do the poetry and he'll be the wizard. Barney's done all the designs, written the story, done all the posters, things like that - all the design side."[6]
^Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 135. ISBN0-646-11917-6.
^Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN978-951-1-21053-5.
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