VISITOR

Here's a quick quiz for all you prog-heads out there... What band is synth dominant, has a strong bass & percussion presence, incorporates ney flute accompaniment, uses track names like Alkivial Mode, Utep, Kull, Manu, and the band's name begins with the letter "O"? Ozric Tentacles? No. OHEAD! At least on this album...

Sure, Ozric Tentacles sounds can be found, in small part, throughout OHEAD's albums, but on this album, the rhythms, sounds, and compositions are often indistinguishable from the Ozrics. Some might say that is a bad thing, but I don't necessarily agree because the homage is done so well, and the Ozrics (IMHO) have become somewhat stale with age and deteriorating lineup. The sounds herein are new, fresh, and reflect the Ozric Tentacles at their (earlier) finest, yet they still have the OHEAD flavor.

And better than that, this is the first OHEAD album that really sounds like a full-on band, rather than a multi-instrumentalist with guest musicians for embellishment. In fact, there are some truly sublime parts of this album that, if combined consistently within and across multiple tracks, would yield a really killer album. I'm talking about synth (of course), ney flute, sax, a real drummer, airy vocals, and guest guitarists -- all together, all contributing at the same time as a band, all trading leads. How cool that would be!

This is an easy 4-1/2 stars (unfortunately rounded down to 4 because we don't have halves on PA, and I use my 5 ratings very sparingly).