Ozric Tentacles - Waterfall Cities
# Audio CD (July 6, 1999)
# Original Release Date: July 6, 1999
# Number of Discs: 1
# Label: Phoenix Rising
# ASIN: B00000JJBV
Biography by John Bush
A band from another time, Ozric Tentacles served as the bridge from '70s cosmic rock to the organic dance and festival culture which came back into fashion during the '90s. Formed in 1983 with a debt to jazz fusion as well as space rock, the band originally included guitarist Ed Wynne, drummer Nick Van Gelder, keyboard player Joie Hinton, bassist Roly Wynne and second guitarist Gavin Griffiths (though Griffiths left in 1984). The Ozrics played in clubs around London, meanwhile releasing six cassette-only albums beginning with 1984's Erpsongs. (All six were later collected on the Vitamin Enhanced box set, despite a threatened lawsuit from the Kellogg's cereal company for questionable artwork.) In 1987, Merv Pepler replaced Van Gelder, and synthesizer player Steve Everett was also added.
Ozric Tentacles' first major release, the 1990 album Erpland, foreshadowed the crusty movement, a British parallel to America's hippy movement of the '60s. Crusties borrowed the hippies' organic dress plus the cosmic thinking of new agers, and spent most of their time traveling around England to various festivals and outdoor gatherings. The movement fit in perfectly with bands like Ozric Tentacles and the Levellers, and the Ozrics' 1991 album Strangeitude became their biggest seller yet, occasioning a U.S. contract with Capitol. After the British-only Afterswish and Live Underslunky, 1993's Jurassic Shift hit number 11 on the British charts -- quite a feat for a self-produced album released on the Ozrics' own Dovetail label. The album was released in America by I.R.S. Records, as was 1994's Arborescence. Neither album translated well with American audiences -- despite the band's first U.S. tour in 1994 -- and Ozric Tentacles returned to its Dovetail label for 1995's Become the Other. Waterfall Cities closed out the decade in 1999, and the following summer the group resurfaced with Swirly Termination. Hinton and Pepler also perform in the trance-techno outfit Eat Static, and have released several albums on Planet Dog Records. Ozric Tentacles surfaced in 2000 to release Hidden Step, followed by the EP Pyramidion. In 2002, Live at the Pongmasters Ball came out on both CD and DVD, making it their first venture into the latter.
Customer review
I've seen Ozrics several times and have most of their CDs. For some reason, Ozrics has always created polished studio efforts, starting with the classics Erpland, Strangitude and Jurassic Shift, going through the underrated Become the Other & Swirly Termination, and ending with Hidden Step. However, for me, the CD that holds up the best over time and continues to grow in depth is the fabulous Waterfall Cities. On this disc, the 2nd Ozrics lineup achieved their greatest focus and consistency, and produced a space-rock masterpiece.
The title track, in my view, contains one of the five or six finest recorded guitar solos in the entire decade of the 90's. Here, Ed Gwynn channels Jeff Beck into a powerful, multi-phased statement of true virtuosity. Building in ferocity as the extended solo passage progresses, and yet avoiding the technical excesses of the Malmsteen/Vai/Satriani school, Gwynn builds the theme of the composition and finally erupts into a scorching single-string line that circles around the key of the passage and brings it home in flawless fashion, followed by a keyboard jam passage of stunning beauty that takes the song in a completely different direction. Satriani only WISHES he could build compositions like this. Exciting and inspirational.
After opening with a passage resembling chamber music from Mars in Ch'ai?, Gwynn also contributes another scorching solo which is built upon an incredibly solid rhythm section backdrop - another specialty from this particular Ozrics lineup. The whole disc is like this. Without going into detail about every track, the entire CD breathes of integrity and concentration. This is a flawless effort from a band that really deserved a lot more exposure than they have ever received.
Review by Heather Phares
Ozric Tentacles' 1999 album Waterfall Cities features what the band does best: long, hypnotic but cohesive grooves that draw from the best of psychedelia, reggae, jazz, and rock. Tracks like "Coily," "Xingu," and "Spiralmind" live up to the Tentacles' reputation for fluid musical interaction.
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