JURASSIC SHIFT

If the rumour is true that if you hear one Ozric Tentacles album, you've got the whole story and sound of the band, then it would make sense that the first one you hear would be their finest and all of the others simply follow that formula. That logic didn't work with me; I heard ERPLAND before I heard JURASSIC SHIFT, and somehow the latter album attracted my attention far more than ERPLAND.

My understanding of the main idea of psychedelic space dance music is to keep a steady yet mesmerizing beat going adding flourishes over the top so that the track doesn't become repetitive. The Ozrics managed to make that work quite well here, most notably in the title track. That title track has some pure Tim Blake essence for about eight minutes until Wynne just goes thrash punk on the listener and yet that moment sounds warranted.

And this album is condensed compared to ERPLAND. The music is quite easy to get into and enjoy, yet the occasional time signature shift and long song should keep progsters interested. It's only real problem is that it can be relegated to background music out of habit.