- Audio CD
- Number of Discs: 1
- ASIN: B000000QH9
- Other Editions: Audio CD | Audio Cassette
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,285,048 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
The Ozric Tentacles - an incomparable band. I have only recently 'discovered' them (as in I had heard of them but never bought anything), but been so blown away by their unique style that I bought all their studio albums within a few months. It's quite a musical journey, beginning at Pungent Effulgent (1989) and finishing (at the time of writing) with The Hidden Step (2000). During these years the Ozrics sound evolves without ever losing sight of their distinctive template.
Arborescence fits right in the middle of this sonic evolution and in my opinion stands up as one of their finest efforts. My favourite characteristic of their music is the blending of electronic sounds with the more traditional rock band - plus Ed Wynne's stellar guitar - and on Arborescence this fusion is at its best. Quite a few of the tracks are built around wonderfully hypnotic synthesizer loops, without ever swamping the rest of the band in effects. The mood is varied too - from frenetic (Astro Cortex and the glittering Shima Koto), through mid-tempo (Yog-Bar-Og, Al-Salooq and one of my favourites, Dance of The Loomi) to calmer and more relaxed atmospheres (There's A Planet Here and the bassy title track). Not to be missed either is the Tentacles' middle-eastern/oriental influence, which is present on a few of these tracks to excellent effect.
Other reviews of this album that I have read have proved that this isn't necessarily everyone's favourite Ozrics album, some people preferring their earlier guitar-heavy work with fewer synthesizers. I have no problem with this, as it highlights the diverse appeal that the Ozric Tentacles have, crossing the borderline between rock and dance.
Arborescence fits right in the middle of this sonic evolution and in my opinion stands up as one of their finest efforts. My favourite characteristic of their music is the blending of electronic sounds with the more traditional rock band - plus Ed Wynne's stellar guitar - and on Arborescence this fusion is at its best. Quite a few of the tracks are built around wonderfully hypnotic synthesizer loops, without ever swamping the rest of the band in effects. The mood is varied too - from frenetic (Astro Cortex and the glittering Shima Koto), through mid-tempo (Yog-Bar-Og, Al-Salooq and one of my favourites, Dance of The Loomi) to calmer and more relaxed atmospheres (There's A Planet Here and the bassy title track). Not to be missed either is the Tentacles' middle-eastern/oriental influence, which is present on a few of these tracks to excellent effect.
Other reviews of this album that I have read have proved that this isn't necessarily everyone's favourite Ozrics album, some people preferring their earlier guitar-heavy work with fewer synthesizers. I have no problem with this, as it highlights the diverse appeal that the Ozric Tentacles have, crossing the borderline between rock and dance.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
10 reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
From where come these Ozrics ??
15 April 2002
Format:Audio CD
5 stars is not enough credit, I would give it 10 stars. This is the fist Ozric I listened to a few of years back. I'll say this.... I was completely BLOWN away by the sounds and i am still recovering years later.
The energy is out of this world - OTHERWORLDLY - I think is a good way to describe it. It's as if the music is being generated by some alien spirit that has an urgency to express itself and has no choice except to escape in wild sound and bursts forth in the element. I think of forests, creepy vines otherworldly landscapes, growth and spirituality when i listen to it. Other words I would use to descibe it....psycedelic, ethnic, jungle, spacey, ambient, experimental, etherial (not new age - it's too lively)....but then it's dangerous to classify it.
To me, Arborescence captures the escence of Ozric Tenicles (sadly I read that is no more in production). It is truely unique and has a quality that I think is captured in brilliance best on this C.D than any other of their work. What stands out most to me on the work is how during tracks the music seams to shift gears. This power SURGE occures, your mind does a whirl and you get this feeling that you are being transported to another plane - I have not heard this EFFECT in any other kind of music I have listened to.
This music sprung very far away from mainstream (will not apeal to all tastes). From where, i know not - it bubbles too much life and creativity and make the soul swoon.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Ozrics in fine form
18 Oct 2001
Format:Audio CD
I don't know what the person below was thinking when describing this album. This is a great place to start. It was my first Ozrics album and encouraged me to buy subsequent albums. The highlight of this cd in my opinion is Dance of the Loomi. The guitar melody is in perfect synchronicity with the synthesizer lines. I could hear this song a million times.
Like others have said before is that the Ozrics music is beyond description. One has to hear the music to really understand. It's a shame that this album is no longer in print ... The cd starts out strong and you realize that it is very strong throughout. I love this cd. It is perfect for meditation (being instrumental and all). They manage to blend various ethnic sounds into a huge smorgasbord. Like I said beyond comparison to other current "prog-rock" or "space rock" groups.
This was recorded at a time where the guitar was the focal point of the album, not so with other Ozric releases. This is the place to start for new Ozrics fans (or those wishing to hear something a bit different and refreshing).
Like others have said before is that the Ozrics music is beyond description. One has to hear the music to really understand. It's a shame that this album is no longer in print ... The cd starts out strong and you realize that it is very strong throughout. I love this cd. It is perfect for meditation (being instrumental and all). They manage to blend various ethnic sounds into a huge smorgasbord. Like I said beyond comparison to other current "prog-rock" or "space rock" groups.
This was recorded at a time where the guitar was the focal point of the album, not so with other Ozric releases. This is the place to start for new Ozrics fans (or those wishing to hear something a bit different and refreshing).
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Incredible
15 Aug 2001
Format:Audio CD
Arborescence (1994) was one of the first Ozric Tentacles CDs I have ever bought (along with Jurassic Shift) and I was totally sold on the band just from hearing Arborescence. My version is the I.R.S. CD which was sadly their final album for that label (I.R.S. was facing serious financial problems that caused them to go under in the next couple of years). What got me in to the Ozrics was I was told they were the modern-day version of Gong, and when I saw the opportunity to buy their CDs, I couldn't resist the cover artwork and immediately snatched this disc. Arborescence is more guitar-oriented than Jurassic Shift, but the songs are a little shorter and a litte more put together, meaning the songs don't seem to meander as much as "Feng Shui" or "Jurassic Shift" from their previous effort. But the mystical atmosphere and the ever mystical synth sound (very dreamy and tasty use of both analog and digital synths) is very much intact, which very much fits the equally mystical Blim artwork. "Astro Cortex" is typical heavy guitar driven jam you expect from these guys. "Yog-Bar-Og" is an incredible piece that goes through several different changes with that wonderful mystical atmosphere. The title track is a dreamy ambient piece with great synth effects. "Al-Salooq", as the title suggest, is a rather Middle Eastern sounding piece, no surprise that Ed is big on Middle Eastern music and the band had made frequent trips to Egypt. "Dance of the Loomi" is a great, dreamy, dancy piece, it's about techno as it gets here. "There's a Planet Here" is dreamy and mystical ambient dub piece. And "Shima Koto", as the name suggest, is the band exploring Japanese style music with their spacy rock sound. The words "dreamy" and "mystical" seems overused, but that's truly how I feel of Arborescence. This was their last album to feature Joie and Merv. They decided to concentrate full time with Eat Static. This is not only one of my favorite Ozric releases, but one of my all-time favorite albums ever, I could hardly believe there was such great music to come out of the 1990s. If you're an Ozric fan, you must get a copy of this CD, it's just simply amazing.
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