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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Spiralling on..., 24 Mar 2004
This is the long awaited new studio album, the first since The Hidden Step in 2000, and the first since the band switched to new label, Magna Carta. I can honestly say that I haven't enjoyed listening to a new Ozric Tentacles album this much for a long time and it's amazing that after all this time they can still sound this fresh and original.The album is largely an Ed Wynne solo effort although other band members, past and present, guest here and there along with Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudi on Akasha. All the usual elements are here; swirling, spiralling, spacey synths, weird sound effects, strange time signatures, frenetic guitar soloing etc. The feel of the album reminds me at times of earlier Ozric outings such as Sliding Gliding Worlds and there's more than just a hint of Nodens Ictus (the ambient outfit comprising of Ed along with Joie and Merv from Eat Static) in there too. The album clocks in at 70 minutes which I think must make it the band's longest studio album for many years. The sound and production are excellent and the artwork and photography appears more professional than previous efforts. The standout tracks for me are the final three, Akasha, Psychic Chasm and Zoemetra. Psychic Chasm features former Ozric drummer and half of Eat Static, Merv Pepler, and is simply awesome, mixing traditional Ozric elements with thumping techno and drum 'n' bass. I was lucky enough to catch Nodens Ictus at Glastobnury last year and this track is pretty similar to some of the material they performed there. A whole album of this stuff would be absolutely amazing!! Any Ozric fans out there who havent't got this yet, what are you waiting for?!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Spirals in the right place!, 21 April 2004
Another brilliant album by Ed Wynne & Co. Alot more Spacey Synths than Guitars on this album give Spirals in Hyperspace a different sound to this album than previous releases. On the down side though, Spirals doesn't sound like an album recorded by a band, more of an Ed Wynne and friends project. Don't be put off by this, with Merv, Joie returning on a couple of the tracks and Steve Hillage of System 7 casting his magic this is a wonderful album.
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12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
LOST IN SPACE, 2 April 2004
Well it is a small miracle that this albun has even found it's way onto the public domain after the band has suffered at the hands of both unscrupulous management and record labels in recent years. Rising tensions within the band resulted in bass player Zia leaving the camp but mysteriously is still photographed with the rest of the band on the insert sleeve of this release. His sole contribution is to 'Oakum', a track released, albeit with a different musical arrangement, some 3 years ago and available primarily only at concerts. In fact the band, as a unit, appear on just 3 of the 9 tracks with mainman Ed supplying sole writing credits and instrumentation on the remainder aided by guests on just 2 other numbers. Heavy use of computer programmed rhythms and lashings of synths has given this album a sanitised feel, probably more from necessity than desire.
So onto the music. 'Chewier' kicks the album off promisingly with a thuddering mind melting belching bass riff with Ed's glissando weaving in and out of what is the most organic sounding track on the album. The title track begins less frenetically with an infectiously programmed bassline providing the foundation for some 'funky choppy' guitar lines and spacey synths to add texture. Mid section ambience then gives way to a rousing coda with Ed's guitar in full flight providing his best solo work on the c.d. Next up 'Slinky' is dominated by luschious ambient sounscapes provided by multi layered keyboards built on a mid tempo pulsing rhythm. Nicely understated guitar patterns lend the track a detuned but sonic edge that drifts in a relaxed manner. 'Toka Tola', probably the album highlight, contains one of the precious few memorable riffs on the disc which is repeated with both guitar and synths before embarking on a space journey incorporating a nice chill out section before proceedings speed up to a rousing crescendo. This track highlights a particular difficulty with this album. An infectious motif is foresaken after a few minutes as Ed continues to play out the piece in an unstructred almost jazzy style noodle. Most frustrating!
Thereafter the album deteriorates with both 'Plasmoid' and 'Psychic Chasm'(with Merv) based on tedious and repetitve techno style drum beats only occasionally broken by some Vai style guitar freak outs. Both 'Oakum' and 'Akasha'(with Steve Hillage) meander meaninglessly in a jamming style without coherence or melody. The final track 'Zoematra' however finds the band back in harness and a welcome return of real drums. Fine flute playing from John gives the piece an Eastern flavour and is reminiscent of previous works.
Overall an album the starts well but becomes disjointed and gives one the impression that half formed ideas have not been worked through to give a convincing musical performance. Ed is without doubt a magnificently gifted muscian but a more democratically produced album may have helped to mould ideas and attain a more controlled result.
However, after such recriminations, the album is still a reasonably good addition to their catalogue but suffers in comparison with their last few releases.
Heres hoping the FULL BAND return for the next opus.
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