Editing Space Ritual (section)

==Background==
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]] travelling through time and space with the concept of the [[Musica universalis|music of the spheres]].<ref>[http://www.kadu.demon.co.uk/pages/ritual.html Melody Maker, 28 October 1972] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061003015634/http://www.kadu.demon.co.uk/pages/ritual.html |date=3 October 2006}} - Watch This Space</ref> The performance featured dancers [[Stacia]], Miss Renee and Tony Carrera, stage set by Bubbles,<ref>[http://www.kadu.demon.co.uk/pages/hawknauts.html Music Scene, 1 December 1972] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061003015709/http://www.kadu.demon.co.uk/pages/hawknauts.html |date=3 October 2006}} - Hawkwind Musicnauts</ref> lightshow by [[Liquid Len]] and poetry recitations by Calvert. On entering the venue, audience members were given a programme<ref>[http://www.kadu.demon.co.uk/pages/ritualprog.html Tour Programme] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061003015640/http://www.kadu.demon.co.uk/pages/ritualprog.html |date=3 October 2006}} – An extract from the Saga of Doremi Fasol Latido</ref> (reproduced on the 1996 remaster CD) featuring a short sci-fi story by Bubbles setting the band in a Starfarers scenario returning to Earth.{{refn|Dave Brock: "Barney's taking over the concept that originally came from Bob. Barney's continuing where Bob left off - writing the whole story and the programme - the whole fantasy to go with the show. Originally Bob was going to be the Grand Wizard, reading poetry on stage, but he's kind of vanished and I don't know whether he's going to be doing it with us. He might turn up and do part of it, but Nik's going to do the poetry and he'll be the wizard. Barney's done all the designs, written the story, done all the posters, things like that - all the design side."<ref name="LETITROCK">{{cite magazine |magazine=[[Let It Rock (magazine)|Let It Rock]] |title=Sonic Assassins and Silver Machines | author=Steve Mann |date=December 1972 }}</ref>|group="nb"}}

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.

"Sonic Attack" had been written by science fiction author [[Michael Moorcock]], who often performed with the band when convenient and Calvert was unavailable. Here it is recited by Calvert and it was scheduled for single release, promotional copies being distributed in a cloth sleeve, but it never did receive a full release.