I am an unashamed Hawkwind fan. It took me a while to get what they were about, and some of their later stuff is truly dire, but everything in this article from Strait magazine, published in 1973 is bang on the nail. "Space Ritual", recorded live in Liverpool and London in 1973 is their masterpiece. Anyway, here's the article, courtesy of
www.Freekly.com...
Hawkwind's Space Ritual and Kosmik Muzak
Gary Sperrazza!, Strait, 1973.
AS YOU ALL KNOW, the prime force, the "essence" if you'll permit, of good rock has always been Energy. Rock Energy is created through two different methods. One is Energy through enthusiasm: an excitement and freshness created humanly through youthful, joyfully unrestrained vocals and fresh pop arrangements, things like the Beach Boys, Wackers, Big Star, early Hollies, Blue Ash, early Stories, Stealer's Wheel, etc.
The second method is Energy through electricity: raw electric rock power which, in its throbbing pulse and relentless, continuous drive forces you to react, groups like the Stooges, Black Sabbath, Dust, Groundhogs, early Grand Funk, Pink Fairies etc. The electricity that seeps into your system can be absorbed and channeled, which supercedes you initial reaction to it. The fact that voltage enters your system is much more important than whether you belch, tap your feet or sit frozen, mesmerized by the sound itself. Embracing this electrical umbilical cord are Hawkwind, innovatively neanderthal, obscurely familiar and radically redundant. All in a positive sense, you understand.
Hawkwind have been together four years and Space Ritual makes their fourth album. Noted as a people's (read "hippie") band, they've attracted a wide following in England through their concerts (many of them free) and two singles, 'Silver Machine' (No. 3 in England; not on any album) and 'Urban Guerilla' (a new release; not on any album). The first three albums, Hawkwind, In Search of Space and Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do, while not always following a storyline as often as they'd have us believe, were conceptual in their initial inspiration, dealing with space themes, cosmic battles and intergalactic voyages.
The line-up of Hawkwind fluctuates as often as Marvel Comic's Avengers, but the basic five are: Dave Brock (guitar), Lemmy (bass), Simon King (a truly inhuman drummer), Nik Turner (sax) and Del Dettmar (synthesizer). Playing a crucially important role in the presentation is DikMik, whose audio generator creates a range of sounds from subsonic to ultrasonic frequencies; it is DikMik who helps one to feel the music so much more kinestheticly. Icing on the cake, are Stacia, whose extraordinary costumes and seductive dancing serve to cement those urges the music stimulates and Bob Calvert, a poet and narrator whose worthiness in the band is questionable.
Hawkwind is space muzak, oscillated heartbeats; an energy level that seeps into your body as well as into your ears. At first, they were regarded as a poor man's Pink Floyd, but Hawkwind has surpassed any physical impact Pink Floyd has foisted on us with swipe of Brock's guitar. Comparing Hawkwind to Pink Floyd is like comparing Fellini to Walt Disney. Pink Floyd gives the impression of being elitist in their conservatism; even their free form playing was highly structured. Pink Floyd programs their electricity so as to almost expect a certain reaction from their audience; but they know when to stop whereas Hawkwind doesn't. Pink Floyd is far from being an approximated risk which is one way of talking about Hawkwind.
These solar beings are pulsating, raw, blood-red energy. Hawkwind are the ultimate heavy metal urgists with cosmic frills transmitted through oscillators and synthesizers. As there is a sense of morbidity and an attempt at escapism in their themes (lyrics); there is this same morbidity evident in the, seemingly redundant sound they throw at us. Even the packaging for Space Ritual has a cold, inhuman quality about it. A six-part cover that folds out to the size of six album jackets (one up on Blue Cheer's Outsidelnside) is covered with mid-60's acid-rockfreakism photography, cosmic fantasy drawings and a nude Stacia (a space goddess indeed) with Andromeda Strain computer printout type for related phrases over the pictures.
Space Ritual, recorded live in England, is a musical representation of a story so ambiguous that it forces the listener to do all the work in interpreting it. As a double, album of heavy attacking rock and formless experimentation (a minor part), it implies a conflict between their two styles. But it is the heavy metal aspect that dominates and it's Hawkwind's mastery of it that makes them so special. Space Ritual is helped along by fantasy writer Michael Moorcock who contributed themes, passages and poetry. Calvert's readings sound a bit ridiculous in context with the energy of the music, but supply quiet breaks from which Hawkwind's dramatic song openings can blast off of (some of the material is from older albums).
'Lord of Light' comes across as the most melodic of their heavier material. A fine bass line and solid drumming set the groundwork for a plea by Brock, keeping an attempt at consistent vocalization rather than the spontaneous tokenistic grunts that usually accompany Hawkwind's music. 'Space is Deep' is a space chant creating images of surviving Earthlings reflecting on their planet, long since dead. 'Orgone Accumulator' is a return to the Earth in the form of a cosmic boogie, a plutonian Canned Heat, possibly Disneyland's Pluto. 'Brainstorm,' taken from DoReMi, is my personal favorite, possibly creating a new energy level in its own right. Dave Brock sets up a slicing guitar riff as the band plays their bodies out, giving the song the full treatment it deserves. The flip of the 'Silver Machine' single, '7 X 7' is given a desperate feel as Brock casts his attacking view of Earth onto the audience, who, at this point, must be so intoxicated by the unreality of the whole Space Ritual that it passes unnoticed. The many other tunes are a furthering of the basic electric theme set down previously.
Surprisingly, Space Ritual is recorded well; Hawkwind, during the mixing, miked the drums and bass upfront to add the physical impact lacking in home seclusion, that is, versus a concert setting. That's why Hawkwind, in some of their incredibly long passages, can sustain interest because of drive, you really feel the music.
Lemmy deserves special mention as he is the best power bassist around; he brings Hawkwind back to the ground which defies their basic policy of ascension. Lemmy's bass chording is so rich and full that it, at times, functions as a rhythm guitar when Dave Brock goes through cosmic-menstruation. Drummer Simon King must have a stand-in ... or the drums play themselves; to sustain such energy and tightness throughout this double album is indeed astounding.
Dettmar and DikMik, while enhancing the special effects and giving Hawkwind a distinctive style, fall short of their potential at times in light of other's accomplishments on the synthesizer. For example, M. Frog (alias Jean Yves Labat, who accompanied Todd Rundgren on his spring tour) and Eno (late of Roxy Music) funneled their respective group's sound and acted as a coating while still shining in their own right; if there is a purpose in Hawkwind's synthesizer effects other than to accent the chaotic feel that Hawkwind preoccupies themselves with, it's generally lost.
Hawkwind's saga is what you want it to be. The more you get involved with them, the more you believe – it becomes elaborate. If they are as dumb as they look, their stupidity is probably instinctive. If they're doing this on purpose, if it all does make sense in some elevated fashion, they're definitely poking fun at us. Seemingly paradoxical is the fact that Hawkwind make Pink Floyd sound like the DeFranco Family and most heavy metal bands like Black Sabbath sound like classical composers.
As for Space Ritual, it's doomed to become a lost masterpiece. But if they're consistent with their philosophy, they won't care if no one buys it, right? Hawkwind have adhered to a simple formula: rather than help the audience to accept an image, they create their own and dare you to accept it. It's worked in England (as has David Bowie) but in America, the general audience is not tuned into experimentation; look at the charts. What amazes us is how rock Energy via pop, which is formula-based, is not accepted and rock Energy via electricity isn't accepted either. American kids don't like formulas and they don't like experimentation. What's left? Groups like Hawkwind, the definitive heavy metal masters of the '70s, left out because of no exposure. Space Ritual isn't for everybody, obviously, but it's hoped that those who crave this kind of Energy blast will find it themselves: I've done all I can.
© Gary Sperrazza.
