Hawkwind – Space Ritual (1973) (@256)

18 Mar 2007

(Review from vintageprog.com)

Late in ’72 Hawkwind was joined by the “space-poet” Robert Calvert and went out on the road with their legendary “Space Ritual” show, which supposedly featured a light show that was very impressive for its time. The tour resulted in this double live-album that is Hawkwind’s best and most important recording from the earliest phase in their career (1970-73). And it’s not hard to understand why. For nearly 90 minutes you get a full dose of their classic, noisy and raw space-rock performed with an enormous energy and intensity. With the exception of “The Watcher”, you get all the tracks from “Doremi Fasol Latido”. From “In Search of Space” you get a real high-energy version of “Master of the Universe”. And you also get a bunch of tracks they never recorded in the studio, including Hawkwind classics such as “Born to Go”, “Orgone Accumulator” and “Seven by Seven”. All the tracks are tied together by some short interludes, usually some weird poems by Calvert where space (surprise, surprise) is the main theme. The funniest and best known of these is probably “Sonic Attack”, instructions for how to behave “in case of sonic attack!”. And the band also plays some of the tracks a little bit different from the studio recordings, like the electric versions of “Down Through the Night” and “Space is Deep”. Overall, “Space Ritual” has all the trademarks of a classic live-album: good sound quality, inspired and energetic playing that threatens to kick the ass of the studio-versions and (thank god!) NO drum-solos! Essential stuff for any space-rock fan, and the band still had their best studio-albums ahead of them.

Line-up:
- Dave Brock / vocals, guitars
- Robert Calvert / poetry (poetry by Michael Moorcock)
- Del Dettmar / synthesizers
- Dik Mik / audio generator, electronics
- Lemmy Killmister / bass, vocals
- Simon King / drums
- Nik Turner / vocals, sax, flute

Track List:
CD 1:
01. Earth Calling (Live) (1:46)
02. Born To Go (Live) (9:56)
03. Down Through The Night (Live) (6:16)
04. The Awakening (Live) (1:32)
05. Lord Of The Light (Live) (7:21)
06. Black Corridor (Live) (1:51)
07. Space Is Deep (Live) (8:13)
08. Electronic No 1 (Live) (2:26)
09. Orgone Accumulator (Live) (9:59)
10. Upside Down (Live) (2:43)
11. 10 Seconds Of Forever (Live) (2:05)
12. Brainstorm (Live) (9:20)
CD 2:
01. 7 By 7 (Live) (6:13)
02. Sonic Attack (Live) (2:54)
03. Time We Left This World Today (Live) (5:47)
04. Master Of The Universe (Live) (7:37)
05. Welcome To The Future (Live) (2:03)
06. You Shouldn’t Do That (Live) (Bonus) (6:55)
07. Master Of The Universe (Bonus) (7:26)
08. Born To Go (Live) (Bonus) (5:04)

Links in comments.

Dave Brock, Hawkwind, Lemmy Kilminster, Robert Calvert

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Comments (14)

#1 written by Sakalli
about 5 years ago

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MP3!
Filesonic 1 -> http://tinyurl.com/3jzda8b
Filesonic 2 -> http://tinyurl.com/3uck9lj
Filesonic 3 -> http://tinyurl.com/4466z39
Rapidshare 1 -> http://tinyurl.com/2t8npo
Rapidshare 2 -> http://tinyurl.com/2nobpq
Rapidshare 3 -> http://tinyurl.com/2jpyr5
Password -> sakalli
#2 written by Illiterate Moron
about 4 years ago

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Aaaahhh – Hawkwind ruleZ !!!! This is the most essential album of early Hawkwind. Unbelievable, a must have for every fan of true Spacerock. A 10+++ album. Always download it if I found it on the net again – and then: Do not panic ……. the sound is really best at maximal volume … sorry for the neighbours. ….. Grab it, grab it, grab it, grab it, grab it.
#3 written by Omayyad
about 4 years ago

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“…legendary “Space Ritual” show, which supposedly featured a light show that was very impressive for its time.”As one who fortunate to see this tour, there is no “supposedly” to it .. it was impressive. Not until Pink Floyd and “Mr. Screen” in ’77 did I see anything better. You must realize the recording is exactly like the concert — there are no tune ups, pauses, etc. Once the “wind” started, it was balls to the wall until the end. A truely impressive show. Thanks for putting up the remastered version with the additional tracks!
#4 written by St.
about 4 years ago

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Oh, this is splendid ! Thank you very much.
#5 written by Anonymous
about 4 years ago

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Thank you, much.
#6 written by Anonymous
about 4 years ago

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hi could please re-up this? Great work, this is a super album, now I can retire my vinyl thanks!
#7 written by Sakalli
about 4 years ago

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> could please re-up this?
The files seem to be intact?
#8 written by Anonymous
about 4 years ago

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Its number 2……keeps saying it can’t be found…..the others are fine.
#9 written by Sakalli
about 4 years ago

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> Its number 2……keeps saying it can’t be found…..the others are fine.
Are you sure you are copy-pasting correctly? That file’s downloadable too.
#10 written by Anonymous
about 4 years ago

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yes… can’t understand it… these always come right up…. just keeps saying it can`t be displayed thanks anyway for your trouble
#11 written by Chris
about 4 years ago

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No problem getting the files…. thank you so much – what an incredible album. My LP is almost dead…
#12 written by Mookie
about 3 years ago

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Thanks, that’s an awesome gem, in great quality!
Must have!!!
#13 written by Anonymous
about 1 year ago

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thank you very much for sharing this !!!!!!!
#14 written by Jörg
about 1 year ago

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Their best ever? Avoid the DVD version from around 2007, though…it’s not even a video, just stills!

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