NOT THE ONE!
S. Joy | New Haven, Connecticut | 09/26/2008
(1 out of 5 stars)
"This is NOT the legendary Space Ritual record. Unless I am sadly mistaken, it is a poor-quality recording that gets reissued from time to time to rope in people who (a) think it really is part two of that truly fabulous piece of work or (b) don't have the real thing yet and think this is it (the covers are similar). BEWARE! But do buy the real one."
Do Not Buy This Version: Terrible Mastering on Disc 1
Fritz Gerlich | admin@audioetc.info | 01/05/2010
(1 out of 5 stars)
"Warning: This is a supposed 2-Disc set of The Space Ritual era Hawkwind. It is not. The first disc is the Sundown gig from The Space Ritual tour, but it is horribly mastered: clipping, mastering induced distortion, and zero dynamic range. It is a total loudness war victim. The second disc has nothing to do with The Space Ritual, and is excerpts from an audience member recording (i.e. really really poor sound quality) of a so-so gig, NOT from the Space Ritual era. A more complete version of that gig can be found: Text of Festival or Text of Festival if you really want to hear it.
There are several versions of this so-called 2 disc set floating around, so just avoid any Hawks cd release in 2008 by "Abstract Sounds", "Demi Monde", or "Plastic Head Records".
Which version should you buy? here is my list (from best to worst): 2008 (vinyl) 2008 vinyl Sundown, Vol. 2-->2002 cd 2002 Boxed Sundown, Vol. 2-->1996 cd 1996 Sundown, Vol. 2-->1985 [no amazon link] cd. I am sure you'll be very happy with the sound quality on either the '08 vinyl or the '02 masters.
And you really should pick up a copy of the Sundown disc. The original "The Space Ritual" album is rightly hailed as an absolute classic rock live album. That album was compiled from two Hawkwind dates, one at Liverpool Stadium on December 22, 1972 and one at Brixton Sundown on December 30, 1972. That album also had a fair amount of studio work done on it: guitar overdubs, redone vocals, etc. This album "Space Ritual Sundown V.2" presents the Brixton December 30th , 1972 Sundown gig, complete and untouched.
I've never liked it when bands take a live recording, and work on it in the studio. Redoing the vocals and adding overdubs kills the live element of the music for me. V.2 retains all of the intensity of the live moment, the mistakes, the extended trance inducing thrashing; in short everything that makes going to a gig worthwhile. The album is pretty much untouched in terms of studio mucking, with only one detectable edit between tracks 3 and 4. It is like hearing the live material for the first time, so dramatic is the improvement over "The Space Ritual". Of course, you should still get "The Space Ritual" because it has an entire second concert which V.2 lacks.
This album kicks the snot out of the reworked tracks on "The Space Ritual". This one is a must have for newbies and hard-cores alike."
