Talk:Space rock/Archive 1

Defining the genre
is it just me or does Creedence's "Green River" really not belong as an example of this type of music.. Floorsheim 18:46, 25 Jan 2005 (UTC) Please, what is the difference between space rock and psychedelic rock? And waht makes a Bob Dylan folk-cover-band like The Byrds to a space rock band? Four songs?--212.80.224.243 20:28, 19 October 2005 (UTC)

Can't help feeling that the problem with this article is that it confuses music with lyrics about space with space rock itself. Space rock is a definite musical genre - basically free jazz inflected rock played by hippies on acid. Hawkwind, Spacemen 3 etc count, but I'm not sure you can really squeeze the purple people eaters in. Also, how can you have an article on Space Rock that doesn't mention Sun Ra or the MC5 doing Starship? Hmmm? My suggestion is that this gets split into a musicological page called Space Rock which tries to link the common themes (long songs, drones, atonality, hair, acid) into a musical movement and another which is one of thos pointless (but amusing) Wikipedia list pages (suggest: songs about space travel)

I have to agree with that last comment by unsigned - this is mixing two different things rock/pop with a science fiction theme and the Hawkwind et al --- Beardo 09:28, 26 March 2006 (UTC)

is this really alternative?
i'm pretty sure that alternative rock is defined as basically the whole musical generation that followed punk, when space rock appeared far too early for that. 67.172.61.222 21:52, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

Removed something
I've removed the intro. It looked really amateuristic and I didn't know how to fix it, so I've just deleted it. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Slowgaze (talk • contribs) 19:42, 11 May 2007 (UTC).

Pink Floyd
I'm not sure where to put this, and I don't want to muck up the article without proper forethought, but I ran across a quote the other day that probably belongs here to balance out the Pink Floyd references.

"All that stuff about Syd starting the space-rock thing is just so much fucking nonsense. He was completely into Hillaire Belloc, and all his stuff was kind of whimsical, all fairly heavy rooted in English literature. I think Syd had one song that had anything to do with space, 'Astronomy Domine', that's all. That's the sum total of all Syd's writing about space and yet there's this whole fucking mystique about how he was the father of it all. It's just a load of old bollocks, it all happened afterwards. There's an instrumental track which we came up with together on the first album, 'Interstellar Overdrive', that's just the title, you see, it's actually an abstract piece with an interstellar attachment in terms of its name." -R. Waters Caterpillar 36 23:56, 2 February 2006 (UTC)

The article says that "astronomy domine" and "Interstellar Overdrive" are examples of Pink Floyd's space rock. But,in fact,they are the ONLY space rock tracks of that band


 * How about "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun"? Actually Pink Floyd's connection to Space Rock is more thematic than titular, Pink Floyd's use of extended Psychedelic ambient textures over standard song structure is what ties them to the genre more than song or album titles. Freddiefreelance 19:39, 16 July 2007 (UTC)

Err...this page really could use a second look. Cave In? Mars Volta? These are not space rock, friends...

"Citation Needed"
For the two requested citations on Pink Floyd couldn't you point to the previously cited Richie Unterberger band bio on allmusic.com? Do they really need a separate citation? Freddiefreelance 19:39, 16 July 2007 (UTC)

Vs. Synth Rock
Is someone able to succinctly explain the difference between these two genres? If yes, please add that to the article. The definitions are somewhat similar, but there is a rather audible difference. --Tropylium 11:12, 7 August 2007 (UTC)

U2
U2 space rock? LMAO, could someone remove them? Slowgaze 18:21, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Space Daze
the whole thing on space daze is incredibly POV, i'm deleting it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.69.86.114 (talk) 17:07, 13 September 2007 (UTC)

Joe Meek
I think Joe Meek should be listed among the precursors - he used spacey sounds and produced records with space-related themes like "Telstar" back in the very early 60s. Rodparkes 12:22, 3 November 2007 (UTC)

Angels and Airwaves
Are they space rock? Madblast 27:39, 02 Feb 2007 (UTC)
 * I have no idea, why not ask it on their page's discussion page and see what others who know about the band say? --C Hawke (talk) 09:36, 2 February 2008 (UTC)
 * I highly doubt it. 98.203.242.56 (talk) 07:38, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

defining bands
Can I suggest that only bands that have Space Rock as a genre on their entry page be included - as that is where those wikipedians that are best qualified to judge a bands genres are likely to be found and if it is accepted on the bands page then it means it has got some sort of backing--C Hawke (talk) 13:24, 4 January 2008 (UTC)


 * I think this is a great idea, and furthermore it should be a requirement that bands on this list should have "space rock" as a genre in their article's info box (if it has one) as well as the introductory paragraphs. I'm putting a box at the top of this page to specify this.  I have also checked the articles, and fixed them so they meet this requirement.


 * If I could not find anything in an article explicity identifying the band as space rock, I have removed them from the list. I only had to do this with one band: Circle.  This is not to say I'm challenging their inclusion.  If the editors of Circle's article want to change it to say they are a space rock band, then it can be added back to the list.  If any band's article is edited to remove this genre, it will be taken that the label is disputed, in which case it should be removed from our article's list.


 * Recognizing that some editors may object to the modification of the opening paragraphs, I have used this edit summary: "adding genre as per space rock page's requirements for list of bands", and I recommend we use this wording if we edit any articles in future for this purpose. --A Knight Who Says Ni (talk) 16:08, 20 April 2008 (UTC)

The notice referred to above was placed in the article from April to today, when I removed it, because of the recent decision to remove the genre field from musician infoboxes. As we say goodbye to this warning box, I have to say I'm surprised at how many editors completely ignored it and inserted an inappropriate band in the last 6 months. Some people just don't bother reading the articles they are editing, I guess. I have no ideas on what to do now, about curbing future attempts to add bands to this section. I have a feeling that after the removal of genres, this aritcle isn't going to be referenced very often, so maybe that solves the problem, in a way. --A Knight Who Says Ni (talk) 14:48, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

One of the main problems it seems is that people don't seem to get that a space rock sound is entirely different from just 'rocking' and having songs about space/future things. Most of the bands like Angels And Airwaves are on the page just for that it seems. David Bowie never dabbled in the space rock sound and yet hes here, why? Oh Major Tom of course...it rocks and is about space! *sigh* Space rock sound is more tied to krautrock and best exemplified by Hawkwind. I like looking at Last.fm as it seems alot of people tag it wrong there as well (http://www.last.fm/tag/space%20rock) -- look at all the people decrying Angels And Airwaves as not being Space Rock. In sum, just get rid of the band list as its a complete mess.

Precursors
This war removed from the article by another editor for want of sources:

Precursors
The earliest example of something like space rock is probably a song written in the 1940s by Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger for a BBC radio show called You're Only Young Once. The song is called "Space Girl" and parodies most of the major themes of 1940s science fiction. A version of the song was recorded on "The World of Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger" volume 2: Songs from the radio ballads, released in 1971 on Argo Records. A much shorter version of the same song was recorded in the 1960s by Shirley Collins. ChildofMidnight (talk) 22:54, 25 March 2009 (UTC)

RUSH
I'm not particularly a coneisseur of the genre like some here, but I think Rush almost certainly qualifies. 2112, Cygnus X-1, etc. Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.141.255.60 (talk) 15:04, 16 August 2009 (UTC)

Muse
Muse is also rather spacey. Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.141.255.60 (talk) 15:04, 16 August 2009 (UTC)

Two question
I really dislike Lester Bangs as a critic, but this is just where he thought space or "rocket roll" as he called it originated, "It all started with Pink Floyd ... No! It hardly started with Pink Floyd, though it may have started with Jules Verne or Cyrano de Bergerac. Musically, the rock & roll edition of the extraterrestrial impulse probably began somewhere long about Chuck Berry's "Our Little Rendezvous": "We'll build a spaceship/With a heavy payload/And we'll go beep! beep! beep! way out in the wide open blue!"

But that was only the Fifties when the rocket roll was just beginning, fertilized cross-idiomatically by the movies, which were grinding out such certified brain-busts as Forbidden Planet, Destination Moon, The Angry Red Planet, etc. etc. etc. With the coming of the Sixties the real age of the Starship commenced in rock & roll. Pink Floyd were first to couple it with the new sonic zoom technolorock, of course, but such hardy perennials as the MC5 ("Starship"), Black Sabbath ("Into the Void") and Deep Purple ("Space Truckin'") wasted no time in jumping on board. And least we forget, Wild Man Fischer himself honored the genre with an entry called "Rocket Rock," whose singular lyrics ("The sun rocks/The moon rocks/Everybody's doin' the rocket rock") put to shame the diarrhetic broadsides of Paul Kantner, who tended to come off in his mellower moments like Bing Crosby: "Have you seen the stars tonight?/Would you like to go up on A deck and look at them with me?" Source: http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/hawkwind/albums/album/156638/review/5942439/in_search_of_space Should it be included? And where are Captain Beyond? Rockgenre (talk)Rockgenre 01:59, 18 September 2009 (UTC)

I forked the article to Wikinfo
They allow SPOV and OR, so you might be able to expand the list, and in time, make this article even better. Just saying.70.54.181.70 (talk) 20:23, 3 March 2010 (UTC)

History
Seems very short and not too diverse. The Krautrock influence is important, as is evident in UFO's 1971 second album - Flying (also subtitled One Hour Space Rock). Can and other Krautrock pyschedelic bands crossover into space rock, as is already noted with Ash Ra Tempel. And while Hawkwind is a fine starting point for US spacerock, it hardly stands alone. Someone better schooled in this music than I am should flesh this out. The Psychedelic Rock section is a good model. Space rock might not have the breadth of the psychedelic movement as expressed in music, but it deserves more that the paltry few paragraphs it currently has. ++++++++++++ 71.130.107.219 (talk) 08:42, 1 July 2008 (UTC)


 * The quantity of text doesn't look paltry to me. The article is more than a stub, and sufficient to explain the subject without being a full essay.  By all means, add a note about the UFO album having a subtitle that explicity labels it as space rock. --A Knight Who Says Ni (talk) 09:49, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

I completely agree with the first comment!!! This article does not cite the German movement of the 1960s and 1970s with the so-called Kosmische musik and the Krautrock music genre. There are just few lines about that. Bands like Popol Vuh with albums such as Affenstunde released in 1970 and In den Gärten Pharaos (1971), or Tangerine Dream with Electronic Meditation released in 1970, Alpha Centauri (1971) (the title speaks for itself!!!) and Zeit (1972), not only are examples of Space rock, but they are somee of the real cornerstones of the entire music genre. At Progarchives.com, on a page dedicated to the Psychedelic/Space Rock definition, they write: "In the late 1960s space rock emerged from psychedelic rock with the result of quasi binovular twins. The bands began to assimilate krautrock elements like repetitive hypnotic beats and electronic/ambient soundscapes." Another example, the Flying Saucer Attack in the 1990s released a series of songs entitled and dedicated to Popol Vuh.

Gong are cited for the first time in the 1990s revival section. How is it possible that there is not a BEEP "note" about Gong before???

Also, British composer Gustav Holst wrote the seven-movement orchestral suite The Planets, Op. 32 between 1914 and 1916. Yes, I know that it is not Rock music ~ lol ~ but it should be considered as an influence. In 1976, Japanese electronic music composer Isao Tomita arranged and released an Electronic album, The Planets, which is entirely based on Holst's suite. It starts with a countdown and the launch of a rocket!!! –p joe f (talk • contribs) 14:26, 15 April 2010 (UTC)

BTW Stop deleting
Fans of Space rock There are many fan based websites out there for Space rock. Including, the premier site http://www.spacerocktrading.com/

This is a fan site, devoted to spacerock music. Link us man. This is Not for profit. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.216.93.197 (talk) 12:13, 3 October 2010 (UTC)
 * Please stop adding the link, it does not comply with our guidelines for external links and have been removed. Wikipedia is not a collection of links; nor should it be used as a platform for advertising your fansite. Please review WP:ELNO, specifically items #10 & #11. --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 00:31, 9 October 2010 (UTC)

Boston
Does Boston qualify? Thinking particularly of the direction they explored with Third Stage, which had "The Launch" and "Cool the Engines" as example tracks. "The Launch" fits with the instrumental concept described. Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.165.80.2 (talk) 18:28, 13 October 2010 (UTC)

.
I never heard of these other bands but I sure like Pink Floyd, Hawkwind, and Ozric Tentacles.

Some of pf songs sounds a little like space rock, like shine on u crazy daimond and echos too.

But still good, I think Hawkwind is definately space rock.

OZRIC TENTACLES on the other hand isnt really a rock band. Some elements of it sounds like instrumental rock music but their more like psychedelic, ambient, etc. an some of their music sounds like techno n new age.

I esp. like the become too other album and the yum yum tree. OT isnt a real rock band but its still really good an way better than most of todays popular music.

Some people complian on amazon that ozric tentacles are the sameness, like they still make same psychedelic progressive music as of erpsongs, but anyway for those who complains, would you rather have their turn into as lame and cheesy as Linkin Park? I think not, lol

Arent much of a review but I don't really like Porcupine Tree at all because that band sounds like regular rock, etc. not psychedelic. Thats my option and I just can't really seem too get into the band call Gong for some reason, but I do like Steve Hillage and the System 7 band he does today. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Psa123456789 (talk • contribs) 17:36, 27 February 2011 (UTC)

Page is a mess!
As someone noted above, Gong are barely mentioned, yet they and Hawkwind are the two biggest, most definitive space-rock bands. Pink Floyd certainly strayed into Space Rock territory (and Space Rock doesn't have to have lyrics about Space!) too. Also this part: "Kyuss, Slowdive, The Verve, My Bloody Valentine, Flying Saucer Attack, Loop, Ride, The Flaming Lips, Failure, Tool, Monster Magnet, Supergrass, Hum, Spacemen 3, Spiritualized, Mercury Rev and Muse": Half of them are Stoner Metal bands, a different yet related style. Supergrass are in no way Space Rock, and neither are Muse. Shoegaze is psychedelic, yes, but NOT Space Rock. Same goes for Flaming Lips. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.154.72.144 (talk) 22:49, 17 April 2011 (UTC)

The only bands[s] that you just said are: Tool, Kyuss, Muse, and The Flaming Lips. Tool is a progressive metal, art rock, and alternative metal band; they are not at all a stoner metal band. They have some space rock songs in their work, but not much though. Muse is definitely a space rock band, I do not care what anyone says or does: they are the definition of what it does. Muse is also progressive rock, new prog, alternative rock, fragments of progressive metal and as well as symphonic rock elements to hold it off. Kyuss is a stoner metal and desert rock with heavy metal undertone in their work--they eventually added psychedelic elements to their work, as well.

So by definition, the bands who do this specific style of music, they at lest have to incorporate either progressive or acid rock, and psychedelic elements into their work, with maybe metal and alternative tones to balance itself out. They do not have to talk about space at all; specifically, Tool with "Lateralus"--Tool doesn't talk about space at all, only the Fibonacci number. Muse talks about space all the time. So with that being said as well: it just depends on the band itself. Some bands talk or mention it, or they just sound like they are with the environment of the music that they're playing. panicpack121 12:01, 28 November 2011 (UTC)

'Examples of space rock' needs to go
Seriously, as if it wasn't bad enough having editors adding their own favourite space rock (in their opinion) bands to the rest of the article, a big unsourced list of artists does nothing to improve this article. I suggest that it should go. --Michig (talk) 19:33, 16 April 2012 (UTC)
 * Agreed; at the rate the list is expanding it will soon fill up the known universe. Straw Cat (talk) 00:34, 17 April 2012 (UTC)
 * I also agree, the list adds nothing to the article. A lot of the acts are not space rock and some are not even notable.--''' SabreBD  (talk ) 06:42, 17 April 2012 (UTC)

Agree and per consensus here I removed it and it was quickly restored by a random IP. Ridernyc (talk) 22:11, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Influences
I can't listen to songs like "Interstellar Overdrive", "Take Up Thy Stethescope and Walk" or "Lucifer Sam" without thinking about surf rock and its lilting, twangy guitars and keyboards. Surely surf rock was something of an influence?24.16.47.87 (talk) 22:18, 8 November 2012 (UTC)

Scope?
What is the scope of this article? Should it include only bands that are notable by Wikipedia standards, or should it include any band that is provably in the space rock genre? Binksternet (talk) 14:39, 9 February 2015 (UTC)
 * The former. Obligatory edit warring notice left for the Daves. --&mdash;  Rhododendrites talk  \\ 01:46, 10 February 2015 (UTC)

Billy Thorpe
Surely Billy Thorpe and his space opera album, and single, Children of the Sun (1979), should be included. 71.35.103.206 (talk) 17:25, 29 July 2016 (UTC)

May 2017
So can we include all of the festivals on this page? I may personally take a few hours out of my time at some point to really work on this page as it deserves to be higher quality... So... What do I do? I'm new to this! --Steve.houston
 * You would have to have supply third-party reliable sources (WP:RS) for the festivals to meet notability standards (WP:SIGCOV). If you want to take the initiative in "rebooting" this page, you're gonna have to find articles and books using the term "space rock" and extrapolate as much as possible from them.--Ilovetopaint (talk) 09:54, 14 May 2017 (UTC)

You do realize that there has been space rock performed _in space_ right?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaOC9danxNo dude. Why isn't this in the article, it's so meta. 24.45.153.40 (talk) 06:11, 31 May 2017 (UTC)

Where the fuck is UFO in this article?
Preceding unsigned comment added by 143.54.168.235 (talk) 16:06, 18 November 2019 (UTC)

McGuinn/the Byrds?
It's surprising that there's no mention here of the Byrds as pioneers of space rock. (I'm guessing, but maybe it's because some authors/journalists ignore space rock as a mid-'60s musical style, as this article seems to support.) From The New Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (p. 139): "[Gene Clark's] departure, plus their somewhat avant-garde LP [Fifth Dimension], marked the start of the Byrds' 'space rock' phase. The hit single 'Eight Miles High' from Fifth Dimentsion solidified their new style, sporting a thunderous bass line, free-form guitar lines, and a corps of otherworldly harmonies." Johnny Black in a 2002 issue of Mojo: "Not content with inventing one new genre, The Byrds were in the vanguard of so many emerging styles – from psychedelia to space rock, raga rock and country rock – that it seemed as if each successive album heralded a new epoch." JG66 (talk) 05:19, 3 July 2017 (UTC)

I agree. Roger McGuinn's guitar solo on "Eight Miles High" is a lot like Floyd's "Interstellar Overdrive" (and precedes it IMO). Meltingpot (talk) 18:09, 23 November 2021 (UTC)