Space Ritual (+DVD) [Remastered] - Hawkwind

...allowed the band to stage Space Ritual in the first place.

Overall I'd recommend this to anyone who wants a record of how good Hawkwind could be when they were all friends and their live shows were second to none. You will be disappointed if you want footage of the concert in question though.

If you want those few extra minutes of the concert that fade out on the vinyl version then buy this. You can always use the DVD ...
...on those extra minutes, then buy the remastered CD which is several pounds cheaper.

Available from all good record shops (and a few bad ones) and all the usual online suppliers. The RRP (if there is still such a thing) is about £15.00, but you may be able to get it for less. HMV have it listed at £12.99 (post free to UK addresses)

A track listing is on the product information so I'm not going to repeat that here.
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So, EMI have re-released this classic album from the early '70s. This time instead of just remastering the original, they have extended a few of the tracks which were missing from the original vinyl version, and added a DVD disc for good measure.
They have labelled this package as the "Collector's Edition".
So, the question is, is this worth it?
And annoyingly the answer is yes and no!

Yes, because the extra few minutes added, mean that you can finally hear the concert tapes in full, with no fade outs. This was previously unavailable (even on the vinyl version and the remastered CD version released a couple of years ago.)

No, because, if you already have the remastered CD, the extra DVD is not worth the extra money.

The DVD does NOT contain concert footage. This is something that I hoped for when I first saw the thing advertised. Disappointingly what it consists of is the whole of the audio track (useful if you like playing music through your television) and patterns on the screen. These consist of images that are taken from the original sleeve which spin and morph into other images. This is fine for a few minutes but then it gets wearing, especially as the images used are fairly few in number and are used repeatedly for over two hours!

Also on the DVD are two promo videos for "Silver Machine" and "Urban Guerilla".
These are great for nostalgia purposes but are not worth the extra cash.

The other feature available on the DVD is a "gallery" consisting of still images of various band members and the plans for the stage set up of the concert.

There is also a booklet included in the package, but this is the paper version of the gallery on the DVD. There are a few notes about how the sales of "Silver Machine" (no 1 in UK and other European countries) allowed the band to stage Space Ritual in the first place.

Overall I'd recommend this to anyone who wants a record of how good Hawkwind could be when they were all friends and their live shows were second to none. You will be disappointed if you want footage of the concert in question though.

If you want those few extra minutes of the concert that fade out on the vinyl version then buy this. You can always use the DVD as a coaster!
If you're happy to miss out on those extra minutes, then buy the remastered CD which is several pounds cheaper.

Available from all good record shops (and a few bad ones) and all the usual online suppliers. The RRP (if there is still such a thing) is about £15.00, but you may be able to get it for less. HMV have it listed at £12.99 (post free to UK addresses)

A track listing is on the product information so I'm not going to repeat that here.

For anyone who doesn't know what Hawkwind sound like, then they play what is termed as "Space Rock". Basically heavy metal with a science fiction bent. Lots of synthesizer twiddles and beeps with a heavy driving beat and a few poems thrown in for good measure. Play very loudly for full effect and to annoy the neighbours! 

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