Hawkwind Space Ritual: Inside the 1973 Live Album

Hawkwind Space Ritual is the 1973 live double album that captured the band at the peak of its cosmic power.

United Artists released it on 11 May 1973, built from two shows recorded in December 1972.

Lemmy Kilmister played bass and sang lead on this record three years before he formed Motorhead.

What Is the Hawkwind Space Ritual Album About?

The Hawkwind Space Ritual album documents a single continuous audio-visual performance rather than a normal concert.

Spoken poetry, electronic noise, and songs from the band’s 1972 album Doremi Fasol Latido flow together without a break across both discs.

Three new songs, Born to Go, Upside Down, and Orgone Accumulator, appear here for the first time.

The whole show built a science fiction narrative of starfarers travelling through space and time, developed by artist Barney Bubbles and poet Robert Calvert.

Who Recorded Hawkwind Space Ritual?

Hawkwind’s classic early lineup recorded Space Ritual: Dave Brock on guitar and vocals, Nik Turner on saxophone and flute, Lemmy Kilmister on bass and vocals, Dik Mik on audio generator, Del Dettmar on synthesizer, and Simon King on drums.

Robert Calvert handled poetry and vocals, credited on the sleeve as poet and swazzle.

Dancer Stacia performed live with the band but does not appear on the recording itself.

Lemmy sang lead vocals on four of the album’s tracks, his most prominent vocal showcase before Motorhead.

Where and When Was Space Ritual Recorded?

Hawkwind recorded Space Ritual live at Liverpool Stadium on 22 December 1972 and Brixton Sundown in London on 30 December 1972.

Vic Maile and the Pye Mobile recording unit captured both shows, the same engineer who later produced Motorhead’s Ace of Spades in 1980.

Maile and Anton Matthews then mixed the tapes at Olympic Studios in Barnes, London.

United Artists Records released the finished double album on 11 May 1973, less than five months after the concerts.

Why Isn’t Silver Machine on Space Ritual?

Hawkwind left its biggest hit, Silver Machine, out of the Space Ritual setlist entirely.

The band had already broken into the UK Top 3 with that single earlier in 1972, funding the elaborate Space Ritual tour production.

Only Master of the Universe survived from Hawkwind’s first two studio albums, with the rest of the set drawn from Doremi Fasol Latido and new material.

The choice kept Space Ritual focused on the band’s heavier, more experimental direction rather than its one crossover hit.

What Is Sonic Attack on Space Ritual?

Sonic Attack is a spoken word piece written by science fiction author Michael Moorcock, a frequent Hawkwind collaborator.

Robert Calvert recites the piece on Space Ritual, delivering it as a mock civil defense warning against an incoming sound assault.

Moorcock also wrote Black Corridor, another spoken interlude on the album adapted from his own novel of the same name.

Both pieces cemented the science fiction concept running through the entire Space Ritual performance.

How Did Lemmy’s Bass Shape Space Ritual?

Lemmy Kilmister played bass as Space Ritual’s de facto lead instrument, distorted and pushed to the front of the mix.

He had never played bass before joining Hawkwind, having auditioned for the band as a guitarist in 1971.

Bandmate Dik Mik talked Lemmy into switching to bass immediately before a benefit gig, and the aggressive, chordal style he developed on Space Ritual carried directly into Motorhead four years later.

Hawkwind fired Lemmy in 1975 after a drug arrest at the Canadian border, ending his tenure on the band’s classic run of albums.

Did Hawkwind Space Ritual Chart?

Hawkwind Space Ritual reached number 9 on the UK Albums Chart in June 1973, the band’s highest charting album at that point.

The record also reached number 179 on the Billboard 200 in the United States, a rare American chart appearance for the band.

The UK certified Space Ritual Gold in 1973 for sales of 100,000 copies.

A 2023 fiftieth anniversary reissue charted again, reaching number 4 on the UK Rock and Metal Albums Chart and number 11 on the UK Independent Albums Chart.

What Made the Space Ritual Stage Show Different?

The Space Ritual stage show built a complete science fiction world around the music rather than presenting a standard rock concert.

Artist Barney Bubbles designed the stage set and a companion tour programme telling a story of starfarers returning to Earth.

Lighting designer Jonathan Smeeton, known as Liquid Len, created the show’s psychedelic visual effects.

Dancers Stacia, Miss Renee, and Tony Carrera performed alongside the band, turning each show into a multimedia spectacle years before that became common in rock.

What Did Critics Say About Space Ritual?

Ultimate Classic Rock called Hawkwind Space Ritual one of the most explosive live albums rock ever produced.

AllMusic awarded the album 4.5 out of 5 stars, praising its raw intensity over technical musicianship.

Pitchfork scored the reissue 8.6 out of 10, and the album appears in the reference book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Rolling Stone and other outlets have repeatedly cited Space Ritual as the definitive document of Hawkwind’s early 1970s space rock sound.

Why Does Hawkwind Space Ritual Still Matter?

Hawkwind Space Ritual matters because it captured Lemmy Kilmister just before he became one of heavy metal’s defining figures.

See the full story of every musician who passed through the members of Hawkwind across the band’s five decade history.

The album’s distorted bass tone and relentless pace anticipated the sound Lemmy would perfect a few years later with Motorhead.

As of 2026, the record still stands as the high water mark of Hawkwind’s classic early lineup and stage production.

Hawkwind Space Ritual remains essential listening for anyone tracing Lemmy’s path from space rock to Motorhead.

People Also Ask

Is Lemmy on Hawkwind’s Space Ritual album?

Yes, Lemmy Kilmister played bass and sang lead vocals on four tracks of Hawkwind’s 1973 live album Space Ritual, three years before he formed Motorhead in 1975.

His distorted, melodic bass playing on this record became the direct forerunner of the sound he later built with Motorhead.

Is Space Ritual a good Hawkwind album to start with?

Space Ritual is widely considered the definitive Hawkwind album, holding a 4.5 out of 5 rating on AllMusic and a place in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Its combination of the band’s heaviest songs, spoken word pieces, and continuous live flow makes it the most recommended starting point for new listeners.

When was Hawkwind Space Ritual released?

United Artists Records released Hawkwind Space Ritual on 11 May 1973, recorded from two December 1972 concerts in Liverpool and London.

The album reached number 9 on the UK Albums Chart within weeks of release.

Why doesn’t Space Ritual include Silver Machine?

Hawkwind deliberately left Silver Machine, its biggest hit single, off the Space Ritual setlist during the December 1972 concerts captured on the album.

The band chose to focus the show on heavier, more experimental material from Doremi Fasol Latido and new songs instead.

Watch a Space Ritual Performance and Shop Related Albums

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Last updated: July 28, 2026