Pungent Effulgent [Extra tracks, Original recording remastered]

Ozric Tentacles | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 7, 1998)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks, Original recording remastered
• Label: Original Masters UK
• ASIN: B000007WSQ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #209,909 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Disolution (The Clouds Disperse)

2. 0-1

3. Phalarn Dawn

4. The Domes Of G'Bal

5. Shaping The Pelm

6. Ayurvedic

7. Kick Muck

8. Agog In The Ether

9. Wreltch

10. Ayurvedsim (Bonus Track)

Editorial Reviews

2003 remastered reissue in a digipak of the British neo-prog jam band's 1990 album. Ten tracks including the bonus track 'Ayurvedism'. Snapper. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent first proper label album, February 20, 2002

By 

BENJAMIN MILER (Veneta, Oregon) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pungent Effulgent (Audio CD)

Here's the history of Pungent Effulgent: THE original version of this album, from 1989, was released only on LP (a little odd in 1989, since the CD was quite common by that time and the cassette was still quite popular) on the Demi-Monde label (a label owned by ex-Hawkwind and Amon Düül II bassist Dave Anderson). "Wreltch" was not featured on the original LP since it already appeared on their final cassette-only release, released at the same time as Pungent Effulgent, The Bits Between the Bits. In 1990, the Ozrics decided to go back to releasing albums themselves, and launched Dovetail, first releasing Erpland, then re-releasing Pungent Efflugent, both in 1990, this time with "Wreltch" and apparently a new cut called "A Gog in the Ether" added. Thanks to Pungent Effulgent being their first proper-label release, the music really benefits big time with actual professional production, rather than the more homemade production of their previous five cassettes (actually six, but one was a live album, that is Live Ethereal Cereal). "Dissolution" was one of the rare times that there was actually vocals on an Ozric song, vocals courtesy of John. There's also a remake of There is Nothing's "O-I" with more real sounding drums than the original. "Phalarn Dawn" is a gentle ambient number with some didgeridoo being used. Of all instruments I wished to hear more on an Ozric album is the didgeridoo. At this time, the Ozrics still wanted to give us some reggae like they had with "Crab Nebula" (There is Nothing), "Sorry Style" (Tantric Obstacles), "The Dusty Pouch" (Sliding Gliding Worlds) and "Sparkling Oasis" (The Bits Between the Bits), this time they give us "The Domes of G'Bal". I take a star off, because if you already own The Bits Between the Bits and Sliding Gliding Worlds, it becomes a little redundant to have to hear "Wreltch" and "Kick Muck" again, simply because both of those appeared exactly the same on those cassette-only releases (not re-recorded like "O-I" was). But there's one other great thing the Ozrics benefitted from a proper record deal is Pungent Effulgent features for the first time Blim artwork in full color (Blim artwork was featured on all their previous cassettes except There is Nothing, and all were black and white since those covers had to be photocopied and having the artwork in color was not practical). Despite having to hear some repeats from their previous cassette releases, Pungent Effulgent is a great album to get, but even better things were to come, and that would be Erpland.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Taste them again for the first time.., October 4, 2000

By 

Listener (BayArea, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pungent Effulgent (Audio CD)

For Pungent, the Ozrics first major CD release, the band picked a number of previously written tunes, modified some of them, and combined them with some new material to produce one ear-churning album.

The opener, Dissolution, is neck-and-neck with Erpland's Eternal Wheel as the track I'm most likely to use when introducing someone to the Ozrics. Ed Wynne's delayed guitar intro has to appeal to just about anyone with ears. This same intro seems to follow some earlier live tracks on the Live Ethereal Cereal tape: Tentacular and Obstacular Explosions. Next comes O-I, an echo from the tape There Is Nothing. Pungent's version is a little more compact, with a tighter jam in the middle; I'd say the original version delivers more of an eastern aura. Phalarn Dawn is new, low-density stuff. The Ozrics really know how to use open space in their music, and this track illustrates that. The Domes Of G'Bal is a CD highlight. The swelling intro fans into a moving reggae environment. Wynne shows he's the best at melding genres with a fuzzy guitar solo over the reggae foundation.

Shaping The Pelm is the album's weakpoint, serving at best as an ambient segue into Ayurvedic: a song you don't mind having stuck in your head all day. Again, Ed creates the warmest distortion I've ever heard in some of the most soothing guitar work in this track's beginning stages. The song goes from ethnicity to meltdown to, surprise surprise, reggae--perhaps the strongest Pungent track. The Ozrics continue with another fuzzy gem, Kick Muck. This ripper is taken right from the Sliding Gliding Worlds tape, minus the ambient outro, and has as much energy as you can ask for in a song. Agog In The Ether serves as the replacement ambient segue from Kick Muck, and leads into another solid tune, Wreltch. The band took this track right off of The Bits Between The Bits, meaning four of the six tapes were represented here on Pungent. Wreltch starts creepily, then jumps like a step function minutes into the track. This would be a fine album closer, but a live version of Ayurvedic (Ayurvedism?) hauls in the countdown instead. This is twice as long as the original due to the end jam...wish I could have been at that show.

Pungent, like Afterswish, recalls some old Ozric winners and yields a cast of fantastic originals. I strongly urge Ozric fans without this CD to remedy the situation immediately. People yet to experience the sound of this band can't go wrong with the purchase, but might want to start with Erpland...arguably the finest CD out there.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The strangest CD they ever put out, October 28, 2000

By 

Worgelm "The Grumpy" (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pungent Effulgent (Audio CD)

Ozric's first "CD" release. Of the remasters, this is definitely the one to own, because although they almost ruined the beautiful cover art, you get an incredible 18-minute live track "Ayurvedsim" (which as you can guess is an mutation of "Ayurvedic" from the album proper). As the album itself contains a lot of rehashes of older stuff from the tape-only releases with better production and tighter musicianship, it serves as a launching point to where the Ozrics came from and where they would go. There's some decent dub work (although the best of that IMHO is to be found on their earlier stuff) and great, wierd, Orbish _Pomme-Fritz_ era ambient exercises. "Dissolution", a live standard (and one of the rare tracks featuring vocals by Jumping John) is the sound of things to come, with some incredible guitar work by Ed on the buildup, while eerie songs like "Wreltch" sound like the death of an evil synthesizer and hearken back to their earliest recordings. The blistering "Kick Muck" and "O-I" are also to be found on here. (4-1/2 stars)