Search - Ozric Tentacles :: Floor's Too Far Away

Ozrics delivers the goods once again

BENJAMIN MILER | Veneta, Oregon | 07/20/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It's nice to see Ozrics give us another album, in this case, The Floor's Too Far Away. The wait wasn't as so long between studio albums as had The Hidden Step and Spirals in Hyperspace (in which the band tied us over with a live EP called Pyramidion and a live 2-CD set, as well as DVD called Live at the Pongmasters Ball). The new millenium sure didn't seem kind to the band. Their second label, Stretchy went under around 2001. They were going through so many lineup changes that you couldn't even keep track (they even had Hal Waters for a short in the band - none other than the son of Roger Waters of Pink Floyd fame!). They tried to mend relations with Snapper, but apparently did not want to continue recording for them, so they moved to Magna Carta. Spirals in Hyperspace became more of an Ed solo album than an Ozric album (with only band members participating on three cuts). Ed even brought his wife, Brandi Wynne to the band. Perhaps the biggest shock was the departure of John, although you have to bear in mind he was not an original member (he did not appear on their first four early cassette releases, it was only 1988's Sliding Gliding Worlds that he made his first appearance). Still John would be sorely missed, because he was responsible for those wonderful exotic flutes (he used both modern, Western flutes, and Eastern flutes, like the ney) that gave the Ozrics music that extra dimension.



With all that, this new release, The Floor's Too Far Away features Ed (as always) with Brandi, and new drummer Matt Shmigelsky aka "Metro". Tom Brooks, after a 20 year abscence has made a return to the band (excluding his guest appearance on Erpland) providing plenty of synth bubbles. Merv even guests on "Armchair Journey", so the presence of Merv and Tom on this album comes to prove that Ed hadn't forgotten his previous bandmates.



Many people might say if you heard one Ozric CD, you heard them all. Well, they're not King Crimson, who had a habit of changing their sound every time they changed their lineup. On the flip side, at least they won't suddenly give us a rap or polka album (thank God!), or sell out to commercial pop like Genesis and Yes had did in the 1980s. In other words, if you've been enjoying what the Ozrics been doing, you shouldn't be disappointed with this new CD.



I also really love the fact Blim is here, once again, providing nice cover artwork, I really believe she is to the Ozrics what Roger Dean was to Yes. I remembered being really disappointed with the computer generated artwork of The Hidden Step and Pyramidion (although they still made great music on those CDs, just needed better covers, specifically from Blim), so it was nice to see Blim return for Live at the Pongmasters Ball, and now this new CD (doesn't appear Blim did the artwork to Spirals in Hyperspace, no mention of who, but I suspect Ed).



"Bolshem", so named because the band was originally known as The Bolshem People back in '82-'83, starts off not unlike something off The Hidden Step, with those sequenced synths. "Armchair Journey" has more of an ambient feel, but then the music picks up speed, and the intensity gets more as this piece continues on. "Jellylips", is more of a techno experiment that the band has been doing ever since the days they had Rad and Seaweed in the band. "Vedavox" had more of a Middle Eastern feel to it, the only piece on this CD where Ed was the only musician playing, while "Spacebase" lives up to its name, emphasizing electronic synth basses, with tons of changes, including a short passage where the band does reggae (something they have periodically done, but not on every album) turning out to be one of the album's highlights, in my opinion. "Disdots" seems much more chaotic with all sorts of things going on at once, while the band continues on with the wonderful "Etherclock". This is another one of the album's high points, and I really believe this is simply one of the finest the Ozrics done in a long time, it almost wouldn't seem out of place on an album like Erpland! "Splat!" is another one of those techno-oriented numbers. The album closes with "Ping", a nice ambient piece, with fretless bass and nice spacy synths, but the piece does pick up with Ed's usual wild guitar playing, but keeping that spacy ambient sound throughout. It's really too bad to see the band disintegrate to the point you have no idea who would be in the band this week (aside from Ed and now Brandi), but at least in the studio, Ed and whoever he gets to record with (this time with Brandi, Tom, and Metro), is still able to hold their own, and still never disappoints. Now if only the band can get a steady lineup once again, people would even be happier.



I've been a fan of the Ozrics since 1997, ever since I started my Ozric collection with Jurassic Shift and Arborescence and I have to say there's not one bad Ozric CD I came across. How many bands that been around for over 20 years now can claim this? Not too many. Nice to see them going this strong after all these years and I recommend this CD to all Ozric fans."

Average

cosmicweatherdude | Saint Paul, MN US OF A! | 09/19/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I have followed the Ozrics since the internet became mainstream back in the 1990s and I was able to discover much more of the underground music the world had to offer. I have a liking for talented, interesting, progressive, heavy, weird, loud, soft, trippy, sonic, etc...type of music. The Ozrics fit right in with my tastes and became my fav for several years there.

Long story short, with the demise of much of the core of the band that held together through the 1990s to the early 2000's the sound has taken on too much sequencing for my tastes. This CD sounds much like the Spirals in Hyperspace but more laid back, and frankly kinda boring to me. I hate to say it but I've grown bored with the Ozrics. I listened to this cd once and did not have much desire to spin it since....oh I will, but usually a new Ozric CD stays in my player for several days upon first arrival. Not so here. I need more flute, real bass, screaming guitar and actual hammond chords once in a while rather than an over abundance of sequencers. Ed has great ideas but the band seems to be entirely his ideas now. Not so when Zia, Seaweed and Jon where in the band, not to mention Merv. Oh well...



"

Shows a marked decline for Ozrics

Rich Grace | Guerneville, CA United States | 08/31/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Not the disc to start with if you want to explore this band. Here, Tentacles is pretty much reduced to Ed Gwynn and a bunch of occasional contributors, at the cost of cohesion and consistency. Throughout, the disc reveals a muddy mix and a big hole where the bass should be. Not a single standout track on this disc, nothing that would stand up to "Jurassic Shift," Erpland" or "Waterfall Cities." It all sounds like home studio noodling. A rare miss, and hopefully Mr. Gwynn will get the band back together with a real rhythm section and get back to making Ozrics music. By comparison, this is a pale imitation."