"The Tenth Second of Forever"

"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one!

Blast off to adventure in the amazing year Four Hundred Billion, with Commander Hoëk and his faithful companion, Cadet Stimpy! As they roam the endless uncharted regions of space at speeds so fantastic they boggle the imagination!"

Prepare to surge to sublight speed."("Space Madness")

Two Weeks ago, in a fit of curiosity, I bought Hawkwind Space Ritual. I bought used, in case it sucked. It came yesterday.

I read awhile back in Mojo for Music, a UK music magazine which usually comes with a weird, kick ass compilation, and excellent articles, all for 10 bucks. So, there was an article called "The Beginner's Guide to Hawkwind" and it ranked their records, which to buy, etc. Space Ritual was near the top, and it described a live record of the band in "all their lysergic glory". Generally speaking, I agree with Bill Hicks in that the best rock music is made by people on drugs, so that is definately a plus. Plus the cover is sort of cool, and well, I've just been in a space rock kind of mood lately, so, hey, what the fuck.

The second bottle of Pinot Evil has this thing rattling around my skull cap like comets in a dryer. It's really difficult to describe. There is, of course, the comparison description: This album sounds like Black Sabbath at there most arcane, or maybe if Deep Purple's lead singer was Syd Barrett in the court of the crimson king.. Jupiter and Beyond.

"Heh...heh...heh...they think I'm CRAZY. But I know better. It is not "I" who am crazy. It is not I who am MAD!

Didn'tcha hear 'em? Didn'tcha see the CROWDS?"

Then, there is an attempt at an alternate: Echoplex abounds, turning fat riffs into ancient and menacing technicolor Obelisks on the surface of the Jupiter. Guitar Solos that sound like blaster fire. Two star cruisers toe to toe in the cold of interstellar space. Weird spoken sections which come on like an Archons liturgy, courtesy of Michael Moorcock. Space Madness



The Ritual, at least in this case, is a heavily distorted wah-prayer to Deep Space, the Eight Second of Forever. Into the void...

Imagine tripping on the moon. These guys are the soundtrack for your space helmet. I'll bet a Dolby 5.1 of this would be incredible. But since we're, for the time being, terrestrial...Headphones for sure.

"Oh, how long can trusty Cadet Stimpy hold out? How can he possibly resist the diabolical urge to push the button that could erase his very existence? Will his tortured mind give in to its uncontrollable desires? Can he resist the temptation to push the button that, even now, beckons him even closer? Will he succumb to the maddening urge to eradicate history? At the MERE...PUSH...of a SINGLE...BUTTON! The beeyootiful SHINY button! The jolly CANDY-LIKE button! Will he hold out, folks? CAN he hold out?"

Turn out the lights. Light a candle. Get comfortable.
Set the controls...
press play.
Erase History.