SPACE RITUAL

God I love this album! I saw this tour. What an experience. I bought the album the day it was released and I still listen to it at least once a year. (That may not seem like a lot but we're talking 33 years folks.)

If you can snag a copy of the vinyl it's worth having for the gigantic six square foot cover designed by Barney Bubbles. Once again it's hard to call this "prog Rock" in the contemporary sense. This is a totally unique amalgam of metal and space-rock, combined with poetry readings. At the concert you were given a small booklet that explained the whole concept and told you the story. Basically about a band of adventurers lost in deep space, some in hibernation, and the dreams that they have during their voyage. Calvert's poem "The Awakening" still gives me chills. It's basically the last guy in the spaceship whose job it is to take care of the rest of the crew while they are in suspended animation. He's lonely and wondering what his fate will be. It's a bit reminiscent of that scene at the beginning of the Planet of the Apes movie when Charlton Heston locks down the hibernation cubicles of the crew and wonders where they'll be when he wakes up. Anyhow.....the music is hard rocking Lemmy driven Hawkwind with even the acoustic numbers electrified. This has absolutely NOTHING in common with Yes or Genesis or Pink Floyd or ELP...this is Hawkwind, do not panic.