WATERFALL CITIES

It seems a complaint many people have against the Ozrics is that they don't change much from album to album. I merely have three of their records: Strangeitude, Waterfall Cities, and Spirals in Hyperspace. All of these are very good in their own right, but what people say is true; the Ozrics really haven't progressed much sonically. But because they are a band so refined in their perticular style--adventurous, high- energy, often trance-reminiscent psychedelia--it really isn't something I can detract too much from a specific album rating. Sure, if we could apply a rating to the band as a whole, regarding progression and stylistic experimentation, the Ozrics would definitely not score very high. You may be thinking, and you would be in the right doing so, that because of the relatively little amount of progression throughout this band's none-too- small catelog there may not be much need to get more than a few records from them. I follow this line of thinking, but I'm a big fan of their music even considering their catelog, so I'm probably going to continue on and get more of their highly-regarded albums. But until you find out whether or not the Ozrics are your cup of tea, just check out some of their better albums.

Speaking of the Ozric Tentacles's better albums, I find Waterfall Cities to be the best of the batch that I have my hands on at the moment. Can I say why? I suppose it's the album where all of what I hold valuable in the Ozric's music comes to frutition. Strangeitude and Spirals in Hyperspace are both highly enjoyable, but this album just has more of what appeals to my ears: shimmering keyboard and ambient soundscapes, a driving but not overly "funky" rhythm section, guitar lines with a focus, and usage of ethnic and unfamiliar instrumentation that seems natural and fitting rather than forced. These create a fun, relaxing trip, not so much the "floating through space" sort of psychedelic trips, but rather more like a drive through a foreign, tropical paradise. I picture this as the soundtrack to that vacation i may take one day. It keeps mu spirits up in this mid-winter....

Well, being that the Ozric Tentacles's discography is seen as rather monotonous (in a good way, if that can be imagined), this will probably be my only review for an album by the band. I don't really feel like coaxing out a review that I couldn't properly expand upon, so here's my final say on the band: you can hardly go wrong with Ozric Tentacles if you're a fan of psychedelic, space music, or perhaps even jam and new age. They may not advance much in style from album to album, but the style they maintain is comforting and pleasurable. Waterfall Cities is their best album, but I'd wager you can't go wrong with just about any choice.

SB

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