The rhythm section of Dave Anderson and Terry Ollis was replaced by Lemmy and Simon King, both of whose style differed notably from their predecessors.

Rockfield Studios was in its infancy and the environment at the time was spartan, Lemmy explaining that they "recorded it at the barn, before they modernised it, with mattresses on the walls and things.

"[7] Some band members have expressed concerns with the quality of the production, Simon King feeling that "It sounded as if all the bass was turned off, your amp wasn't working properly and your stereo was bunged up all at the same time.

"One Change" is a brief sedate instrumental featuring a heavily echoed keyboard contribution from Del Dettmar.

It was dropped from the live set in the mid-1970s, but reinstated for the 1995 "Alien 4" tour, a version being released as the B-side to the 1997 single "Love in Space".

"Down Through the Night" is another Brock acoustic number with layered electronics, flute and reverse echoed vocals.

"Time We Left (This World Today)" is a song in four movements, the first being a chanted Call and response bemoaning the direction society was heading in the same vein Brock was exploring with "We Took the Wrong Step Years Ago" and "Psychedelic Warlords".

The lyrics were written from the perspective of someone from afar (perhaps God or an alien master race) watching the inhabitants of Earth destroy themselves through their own greed.

This is the only song from the album that wasn't featured in the Space Ritual set, but it did briefly make an appearance during 1973 and 1974 as can be heard on The 1999 Party, slightly re-arranged as a more uptempo band performance.

It alludes to the music of the spheres which Bubbles expounds upon: The basic principle for the starship and the space ritual is based on the Pythagorean concept of sound.

Each of these spheres as it rushed through space was believed to sound a certain tone caused by its continuous displacement of the ether.

For is it not written that the sword is key to Heaven and Hell?The UK music press warmly received the album, Nick Kent in NME confessing "I'd be ashamed to say I didn't love it" describing the music as one chord short of "the strongest high energy cosmic hubcap this side of the Metal Zone".

"[15] Sounds' Martin Hayman meanwhile described the music as "the bass and drums batter on with unflagging pace, synthesisers swirl and whistle around the thunderous block riffs whose endless repetition generates that numbed hypnosis, tuneless and menacing voices incant largely incomprehensible lyrics.