Customer Reviews

Spirals in Hyperspace

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

First the good news, if you're a direhard Ozric fan check this album out. It is an interesting extension of their sound, and contains some places they have never gone before in their back catelogue.

Now for the bad news....I find "Spirals in Hyperspace" to be by Ozric standards a bit of a dissapointment. Admittedly the production is excellent and there are still lots of creative moments, however Spirals continues a troubling trend toward Ed Wynne monarchy. Consider that only 3 tracks have live drums, and 1 track featuring live bass. This gives the mix an even more synthetic feel than normal, as well as a lack of compositional "chemistry" as its pretty much Ed behind the controls. The songs as forementioned do include inspired and creative moments however many seem overall to have an unfocused feel. Rather than having an overall riff, theme, or melody, which holds the song together, the songs on Spirals begin and just seem to go wherever they please. Those familiar with Ozrics music know this isn't necessarily a bad thing, I however feel like it is done to an excessive degree here and which doesn't really work overall. Finally there is the obvious disparagment of the live band tracks and the Ed solo programing which makes it seem less unified than a tradtional Ozric album.

In all this album is way better than no album....but leaves much to be desired.

Here those wacky lads go again. For close to twenty years the Tentacles have carved out their own niche in music, spinning out one sensory trip after another full of swirly atmospheres and mind-expanding psychedelic grooves. That basic sound hasn't fundamentally changed in that time; their specialty is still one of super-tasty wild sonic colors, spinning jam-band ethos and wild psychedelia into an otherworldly trance of electro-space rock. Until some mad genius shares the secret phase-shift portal to dimension Z with the rest of humanity, music like this is the closest thing to the experience we'll probably have.

So if you've heard them before, you have a good idea what to expect. The difference from previous discs here is in the prominence of electronics: over the Ozric career there's been a gradual shift from earthy tribal rhythms to a more techno-oriented sound, and Spirals in Hyperspace has more programming and twiddly bits than ever before. (I couldn't resist.. this is the kind of music that phrases like 'twiddly bits' were invented for.) The only disappointment, as has been pointed out, is that this recording doesn't really show what divine fire the group can make when they're collectively hitting on all cylinders. It's more of a studio collage pieced together by founder Ed Wynne, who handles most of the tweaking and programming.. and synth.. and well, basically most of everything. That's not to say that there isn't a good helping of real live playing throughout this disc, but it's minced & blended with a good helping of hyper beats and dance-floor thuds. Add a somewhat higher-than-usual amount of synth riffs/atmospheres and far-out guitar effects, and you've got the most cosmic Ozric album yet.

For a taste of the collective band at work, go back and try The Hidden Step first; if you think you'd prefer the more acoustic/ethnic percussion, go for Pungent Effulgent or the masterpiece Erpland. I say this one's worth some good spins despite the studio-crafted factor. Even if it doesn't quite reach the plateau of maximum Ozrictude, this batch of textures is still one tasty ride.

This album sadly captures a band falling apart. The rest of the band had little input into Ed's ego project. Compared to their prior albums there is no comparison. Worse was to come with the awful Paper Monkeys and Yum Yum tree. Very Sad indeed.

The moments I'm referring to are those first listens with a new Ozric CD, taking each track and saying, "Ah, now there's something Jurassic..." or "A bit of Erp in that one, eh?" -- A game one Fellow Fan and I play with every new release: if each track had to belong on a previous album, which would it be?

Well, one reviewer has hit it on the head: the Ozrics have become the Edrics. With an album that's 80~90% programmed, you don't find the rich earthy tones of an Erpland, or the Strangeitudinal trek to the Bazaar.. and so the comparison game doesn't reach back any further than Waterfall Cities. The strongest likeness is with Ed's (and Joie's?) side project Nodens Ictus: Spacelines.. synths, synths, and more synths.

And to these ears, still 4-star enjoyable. The percussion on Psychic Chasm (before the tune turns into "let's have fun with some sound effects") and the acoustic guitar on Zoemetra are CD highlights.. and Spirals certainly gives fans more to choose from than the previous trend of 7-track releases (though I think I could have whittled this one back down to 7 tracks...). Bottom line: a must-buy for OT people, but not a starting point for newbies. Introduce yourself to some Erpland or Pungent Effulgent, and work your way to the present..

Last 3 cuts - I hear John Goodsall/Brand X, Mahavishnu, Gong's best instrumental sections, David Torn's "Tripping Over God", a more interesting Jan Hammer that doesn't revolve around such a shallow axis, a bit of Soft Machine Vol. 2's tightness and some interesting Ethno influence. These 3 cuts are so good that they make my eyes water and this is the best music I've heard since buying System 7's Water CD late last year ( I'm a bit late to the party). Parts of this CD are a cosmic "dance of Shiva" (Hindu) and are beyond words and I think that perhaps this group could fill the void that John Goodsall's absence has left in me.
I ordered the new Ozric after receiving this one last week; but, I'll take these one at a time because of the letdown of buying a bunch of System 7's after the Water CD.
To date, I have not heard a better utilization of synths, software, and programming with other instruments that lends itself so well to the bizarre and beautiful in such an interesting manner; the mastery of which, is pure genious. It's nice to know that with cut 7, Akasha, Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudy can still come up with outstanding input beyond the commercial realm. You can't put a price on this CD. Buy it.
Steve Jernigan
4/22/07

Take 2 parts Steve Hillage, 1 part Edgar Froese (Tangerine Dream), and part Chick Corea style jazz, and what do you get?
Ed Wynn and Ozric Tentacles. If you like etheral or spacey progressive instrumental rock this group is for you. Plainly stated listening to Ozric Tentacles is like spiraling through hyperspace!!

Spirals in Hyperspace for me isn't a real Ozric Tentacles album, more an Ed Wynne solo project with guests.

If you listen to earlier Ozric releases you will hear excellent drums from Rad, Shoo and of course Merv (from the excellent Eat Static). All drummers were totally superb! My favourite drummer of all time was actually Rad, with Merv & Shoo a close 2nd equal. As for their current bassist Brandi, err, Zia? Roly? Nowhere near!

There really is no comparison between the early Ozric albums and what they do now. I wish they'd drop the name "Ozric Tentacles" and at least be honest with themselves! The bassist, Brandi just doesn't have it! As has been said by others, the only reason she is in the band is because of marrying her way in. I sometimes suspect that the very rare good bass riffs on the album are actually done by Ed Wynne! (the guitarist and the only member of the current line up who can play!)

At the live shows now, Brandi's lack of talent is there for all to see! She cannot improvise at all and her playing is very 'prescriptive'. Just go to see 2 nights close together and you will see what I mean. Compared to when they had a proper lineup where each band member was a total genius live, and shows very different it is quite despairing for those who remember the Ozrics as one of the best live acts. Those days are well over!

Their current live shows also rely heavily on old material which at least gets them some cheers. But the same old material was played way better with the great line ups of old. I also miss the real flute and amazing solos and without jumpin Jon on stage they really do lack a stage presence.

I'd agree with the other reviewer who said that Ed Wynne is still trying to stick to the same album formulae, electric tracks, fast, quiet, the odd mid eastern, but with this line up he really is wasting his time. Time to do something different, perhaps?

At least musicians like Simon Posford (Younger Brother, Shpongle) and OTT really are experimenting. While the new Younger Brother album 'Vaccine' isn't everyones cup of tea, it certainly is very different to the other 2 albums. Same can be said of other bands like Phutureprimitive. I wish Ed would go it alone and do something different. Obviously the old line up will never be recreated, but playing with sub standard musicians only drags the Ozric name through the mud. I wait and hope for a solo project.

Spirals, while not as bad as the awful 'Paper Monkeys' was when the Ozrics as a band started to fall apart. While I can't say I loved every song on previous albums, I certain liked at least 1/2 the album. With this album I only liked 2 songs.

Having seen them live twice last year, I also don't think that the current Ozric line up is that good. I remember seeing them 2 nights in a row back in the mid 90s and being blown away by how different they were. The current line up just don't improvise much and everything seems far too rehearsed. I want the 2nd show to sound different and yet the only person who really improvises is the guitarist. That never used to be the case. They also are relying far too much on the old 'hits', yet they don't play those hits anywhere near as good as they used to. Will the magic every return? Time will tell, though I fear not with the current line up.

Spirals in Hyperspace was when the Ozrics as a true band were falling apart. It was more an Ed Wynne project and it missed the contribution from other musicians such as Seaweed, Zia and Jon. Since then their last 3 albums have seen them fall to depths I thought unimaginable back in the 90s.

I used to be a huge fan of the Ozrics and couldn't wait till their albums were released. The reason why I didn't buy this album before Christmas is that I already knew that it would be medicore at best. Unfortunately, it was worse than medicore. My main reason for fearing this was knowing how poor the current line up is. Ed Wynne can still play, of that there is no doubt. The others in the band are medicore at best, in reality quite talentless. The weakest link it has to be said is Brandi who not only has no talent, but it is no coincedence that the other musicians quit as soon as she arrived on the scene. Put it this way, if only she was as good as Yoko Ono!!! Nowhere near.

The Ozric Tentacles used to be one of the greatest live acts out there! They were extremely tight and each album truely was a band effort. When they had people like Merv, Jumpin Jon, Joie, Roly, Zia and Seaweed each individual contributed to an amazing live performance. It was out of this world! Live, they played like noone else. Better than Hawkwind, better than Steve Hillage & Gong, better than Shpongle. The line up also helped create quality albums such as Pungent Effulgent, Erpland, Jurassic Shift, Waterfall cities to name just a few.

It makes me sad to say, but I have to agree with the other reviewers who are honest enough to admit that Ozrics pre-hidden step compared to the 'Brandi show' are like a totally different band. I'm astonished that Brandi is considered good enough to be in the band. How long will Ed cut off his nose to spite his face? Fact is she is talentless. The rest of the line up isn't much better.

Ed's formulae for an album just doesn't work with this line up, nor will it ever will. Those who give this album rave reviews either never saw the Ozrics in their peak, or haven't heard of their earlier stuff (nor listened to Eat Static, Shpongle, Younger Brother, Aphex Twin, Shulman, Entheogenic... the list goes on). Frankly there are a lot more musicians out there now who have long since overtaken the Ozrics. This is sad as like I say, Ed Wynne should be doing better than this. For those that gave this 5 stars I say, lay off the drugs!!! A bit of honesty instead of sycophantly nodding yer head and accepting medicority. Who knows if more people were honest, the band line up may change for the better. There must be better musicians out there that would love to play with Ed. Well, one can only hope.

The title for the album couldn't be better!
I'm listening (and loving) OT for about 4 or 5 years now and am prous to have seen them 4 times live and own the live DVD they have released.
This is a killer album if you are into progressive AND pychedelic rock!
ever since i got a hold of this album i played it.
Great compositions, great pshychedelica, great musicians!

if you are into pucho/ prog/ rock you should onw it! (They are not playing for 20+ years after-all with a growing fan base behind them ;-))