Customer Reviews

Hidden Step

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Yes, the Ozrics do it once again. At first, it's not so catchy as Waterfall Cities was, but after a couple of times its beauty starts showing. During the opener, Holohedron, it is already clear what these guys are best at. Catchy spaced riff, relaxing bit in between and total madness towards the end. And that all to absolute perfection! The Hidden Step is an 8 minute soundscape. Very subtle but what a composition. The third one, Ashlandi Bol, is so typical Ozric again. They really master those oriental melodies combined with rock, techno,... Aramanu is yet another mamoth of a songs. The loomy riff goes on and on and on and... And meanwhile they fill it up with strange and beautyful samples and synth sounds. Pixel Dream has a very 'rocky' feel to it with a very nice funky part towards the end. Seaweed totally freaks out on Tight Spin. Wow, what a song! Maybe the best one of the album. Finally they end their new masterpiece with the peacefull Ta Kuth. Never before John's flute sounded so clear and cheerfull. Of course, Zia and Rad are rock solid as ever and Ed is the master of production. If you're new to Ozric, you really should buy it, if you're not, likewise.

One of my favourite album titles is Frank Zappa's "Shut Up and Play Yer Guitar." The title speaks to my sense that lyrics have no business in rock music: If you're not Yeats, keep your lyrics to yourself. Ozric Tentacles is, therefore, a band after my progressive, anti-lyric heart. These guys really know how to play their instruments: and, in good progressive fashion, produce songs over 2:30. "The Hidden Step" is probably their most polished album (it's not my favourite: I think "Waterfall Cities" has more soul) and does contain what I think is one of the more complex pieces of "rock" music in recent memory: Track 6, "Tight Spin". This track moves from a beautiful underpinning keyboard riff into a polytonal rythmic structure. It then, quite astonishingly, but somehow perfectly moves into a techo-flavoured section, then back to the underpinning keyboard riff. Just listen--no distractions and at as high volume as you can stand--to the transition! The talent of these musicians is breathtaking: the drummer (his names appears to be "Rad," poor sod) produces some of the most tight, intricate work I've heard since Bruford; the keyboard-centered sound may not be to all tastes but there is a weird kind of unobtrusiveness to the synth work here.

If you can get past the stunningly cheesy cover art (truly these fellows need to start hiring professionals to do their art work; time to stop hiring their art-school drop out buddies!) and the temptation to make bad puns on the band's name (Ostrich Testicles; Octopus Testimonies....) I guarantee you will love this album.

Decent 2000 release by the Ozrics.It's easy to bunch these Brits in with that of Hawkwind,Pink Floyd,Tangerine Dream,etc.But(at least on this CD),the guys appear to fuse together world music,progressive and elements of Middle Eastern trippyness.Does that make much sense?Better cuts include the title track "The Hidden Step","Pixel Dream" and "Ta Khul".Certain portions of this disc may actually make a good soundtrack for some science fiction film.

Yet another amazing album from the Ozrics. This one is notable for several reasons. First it is the most cohesive album by the current lineup, similar in many regards to Arborescence. The flow of songs make the album a continuous song cycle. Second, it outraves and out technos the weak Floating Seeds remix album without being a techno album in itself. Sections of songs, such as Tight Spin and Holohedron, beat the remixers at their own game wihtout overdoing it. And third, we are treated to some fine muscianship from all the members, notably drummer Rad (one of my favorite parts is a 3:33 of Holohedron) who was apparently replaced by a drum machine on many tracks from Waterfall Cities, and John has a couple nice flute passages. Ed's guitar is also more prominent than the previous album with Pixel Dream being the first mainly guitar song in a while. They also try a few new things - the synthesized strings on Ashlandi Bol are disconcerting at first but that song really moves. Tight Spin starts with a percussive smooth jazz theme and then moves on into whirling dervish territory like the best of Ozric suite-type songs. And of course the strange sounds and samples are hidden on many tracks that make each listen a new experience. Like other Ozric albums headphones reveal another world altogther. Enjoy it world!

With "The Hidden Step", the psychedlic knob-tweaking rock freaks know as the Ozric Tentacles have created yet another new journey. One that glides from spaced-out guitar-laced twiddlings to far east spiced tracks that weave a complex and inviting mental landscape. This is a much more ethereal, smooth and mellow album than Ozric Tentacles have put out in a long time, and has touches of the flow of "Arborescence" to it, yet easily picks up where the lighspeed sounds of "Waterfall Cities" left off. Tracks like "Tight Spin" fuse together such amazingly spiced guitar work and synth lines into an swirling mixture almost good enough to drink. The album really has a nice overall feel and atmosphere to it, which is sewn together by some mystical flute playing that gets showcased here much more than on recent albums. There is not a bad track to be found on these "Steps" and I think this is one of the finest recordings the Ozric Tentacles have made in years, and one that shows them playing just as strong and blissed out at a slower pace than the usual high velocity blast of psychedlia they often put forth.

Being a recent freak of the Ozric's club, The Hidden Step is a wonderful release. For those not familiar with the band, OT's are an instrumental, progressive, spacey band. You hear loops, watery mixes, sploops and splats and all albums are great sounding. After having about 8 albums, I can say that The Hidden Step is a solid release with great samples, great guitar and bass work and more on the world music side I feel then most OT's releases. Get this now because most of their releases seem hard to find for some reason. Other favs are Waterfall Cities(the masterpiece), Become the Other(the second masterpiece), Aborescense and Curious Corn.

Album number.. what's the count again? Fifteen? It can be hard to tell some of them apart. If you've heard another album already, this one won't be a huge surprise; the Ozrics aren't going to suddenly change their style to a mixture of Neil Diamond and Cajun salsa music anytime soon. This is based on the same trippy, spaced out, sonic-mushroom-trip style they've been honing for over a decade. As before, this is an album that'll please techno/dance fans and give tie-dye-wearing hippies a mind-expanding groove to float around.

The Hidden Step, however, isn't just an exercise in wandering the same circles. The earlier releases gave the impression of an English group borrowing liberally from the RealWorld Records catalog and spicing up their own psychedelic stew. Now it seems they've been possessed by aliens and want to recreate the music of their homeworld. This is a sci-fi soundtrack for the ears from the minute "Holohedron" spirals into consciousness and takes you along for the ride. Some of the album is carried by jamming, but not all; check "Pixel Dream" and the title track.

To those who were a little disappointed by Waterfall Cities: give this one a chance. WC used drum programs and occasionally sounded like the soundtrack to a video game, true. I got the impression they'd raided the local Radio Shack and spent most of the sessions seeing what weird keyboard tones they could get out of their instruments. No matter: Hidden Step is what that one should have sounded like. They've finally got the outer-space groove down right.

Newcomers, try Erpland first. Others, give this one a spin.

This cd rocks from begining to end, just like everything else the Ozrics have released. If you crave instrumental progressive music, buy this one! No use describing each song since they're all great, but I must say that unlike its predecessor, Waterfall Cities, you can always expect the unexpected. kudos!

Ozric Tentacles' latest album pretty much encapsulates all their best qualities. Like all their albums, this disc sounds like something from another dimension, fusing jazz with space rock with African and Middle Eastern song influences. Sometimes people compartmentalize them as an instrumental progressive rock band, but that's...wrong. With those heavy downbeats and synthesizer-laden tracks, an initial suspicion is that the Ozrics are a techno group. While they do acknowledge various conventions of that genre, make no mistake - they are a rock band. Their elaborate, inventive, and sophisticated musicianship combined with a knack for dynamic and innovative songwriting and a crystal-clear production all mesh and take you on a crazy instrumental music ride that only this band can offer. Swirling sonic textures blend and weave in hypnotizing patterns, and sometimes you must simply stop and be amazed by what these folks are doing. Songs also ooze atmosphere, especially on songs where they utilize Eastern chord progressions. Very cool. The songs are perfectly varied, from the energizing opener "Holohedron" to the slow, mesmerizing "Aramanu" to the jaw-dropping dynamics of "Tight Spin" (with a killer acoustic solo to boot!). Great CD.

It costs money to record high-quality audio, and after some severe legal problems with crooked labels Ozrics is busy touring to keep their finances afloat. That's a shame, because Ozrics is one of the most consistently solid instrumental bands around. On top of this, Rad the drummer is gone. Enjoy this CD, because there may not be another for a long time. Top to bottom, this is a great atmospheric work.