Space Rock, Proto-Metal, and One Glorious Album Cover

Hawkwind’s cosmic live blast, Skid Row’s early Gary Moore, Bloodrock’s second chance, and Nick Gilder’s glam-pop gem—your vote picks the winner.

The riffs are thick, the cover art is questionable in exactly the right way, and somewhere in this ballot is the next Dig Me Out episode.

Four heavy records from the ’70s. Four different entry points into the decade. One winner gets the full Dig Me Out treatment: history, deep dive, host ratings, community ratings, and the comments that keep the conversation going.

Paid members: this is your ballot. You’re not just picking a record for us to talk about—you’re deciding what gets made next.

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Hawkwind — Space Ritual (1973)

Suggested by Eric Peterson

“The DNA of stoner rock, weird, sci-fi, psych, and even trance can be found on this recording.”

Hawkwind weren’t just playing hard rock; they sounded like they were trying to transmit it from a damaged spacecraft somewhere beyond the moon. Space Ritual is the definitive early live document from the British space-rock institution: proto-punk velocity, psychedelic drift, sci-fi atmosphere, and riffs that feel built to shake loose a few ceiling tiles.

Eric makes a strong case that this is the right doorway into Hawkwind beyond “Silver Machine” and “Urban Guerrilla.” If you want to hear a record where heavy psych, punk, stoner rock, and cosmic repetition are all beginning to bleed together, this is the one.

Skid Row — 34 Hours (1971)

Suggested by Gavin Reid

“The ’70s Irish Skid Row is a mix of rock, proto-metal, psychedelic and prog sounds, to create something you’ll want to hear.”

No, not that Skid Row. This is the early-’70s Irish band with a young Gary Moore, playing before the legend had fully arrived but with plenty of evidence already on tape.

34 Hours is what happens when blues-rock muscle, psychedelic wandering, proto-metal crunch, and prog curiosity all decide to pile into the same van. Gavin’s “maybe even a supergroup” thought is hard to shake—especially knowing where Moore would go from here. This is the sound of a guitarist and a band testing every possible route before the map was finished.

Bloodrock — Bloodrock U.S.A. (1971)

Suggested by Kyle Bittner

“My dad, who passed a few years ago, had this in his collection and when I was younger I was enamored with the cover art, but obviously hated the music at the time.”

Sometimes the hook is a riff. Sometimes it’s an album cover that burns itself into your brain before you’re old enough to understand what the music is doing.

Kyle rediscovered Bloodrock U.S.A. through exactly that kind of family-memory detour: a record from his late father’s collection, remembered first for its artwork and then found again years later with different ears. He came back to it, dug into Bloodrock’s catalog, and found an album that feels ready for another shot.

And yes, Kyle is also right about the cover: it makes an immediate, extremely persuasive case for itself.

Nick Gilder — City Nights (1978)

Suggested by Whitney Beehler

“Chunky, glammy power pop songs including ‘Hot Child in the City,’ ‘(She’s) One of the Boys’ and ‘Got to Get Out.’”

Need some glitter with your guitar muscle? Whitney Beehler brings City Nights, an album packed with glossy hooks, chunky guitars, and enough glam swagger to make the whole ballot lean toward the mirror.

“Hot Child in the City” is the obvious calling card, but City Nights has more to offer than one massive single. It’s power pop with a little grit under the polish—the kind of record that makes a strong argument that catchy doesn’t mean lightweight.

Cast Your Vote

One of these albums becomes the next full Dig Me Out episode. We’ll get into the band, the record, the ratings, the poll fallout, and the community takes that deserve to be heard.

Paid members, cast your vote now. You get voting power, a place in the comments, and a real hand in deciding what we dig into next.

Which album would hurt the most to see lose—and what song from it still gets you every time?