Space Ritual

The Space Ritual Alive in Liverpool and London
Live album by Hawkwind
Released	11 May 1973
Recorded	December 22, 1972 at Liverpool Stadium December 30, 1972 at Brixton Sundown, London
Genre	Space rock, progressive rock
Length	86:55
Label	United Artists (most of the world) Liberty (Japan) Parlophone (2015 & 2016 reissues)
Producer	Hawkwind
Hawkwind chronology
Doremi Fasol Latido (1972) Space Ritual (1973) Hall of the Mountain Grill (1974)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Pitchfork Media	{8.6/10}
AllMusic
Head Heritage	(Positive)

Space Ritual Volume 2
Live album by Hawkwind
Released	May 1985
Recorded	Brixton Sundown, 30 December 1972
Genre	Space rock
Label	American Phonograph – APK8
Hawkwind chronology
Bring Me the Head of Yuri Gagarin (1985) Space Ritual Volume 2 (1985) Hawkwind Anthology (1985)
Alternative cover
Space Ritual Sundown V. 2 (2002 Remaster)

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, reached #9 in the UK album charts and briefly dented the Billboard Top 200, peaking at #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. The performance featured dancers Stacia, Miss Renee, Jonathan Carney (later of the V8 Intercepters) and Tony Carrera, stage set by Bubbles, lightshow by Liquid Len and poetry recitations by Calvert. On entering the venue, audience members were given a programme (reproduced on the 1996 remaster CD) featuring a short sci-fi story by Bubbles setting the band in a Starfarers scenario returning to Earth.

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.