PAPER MONKEYS

OK so I'm a fan converted after seeing the Ozrics in the late 80s while at university in England (after being played some tapes by a mate I've been hooked ... thanks Seb). For the uninitiated Ozrics are THE spacerock band bar none. For me they define the genre.

How does this compare with the classic sound?

Lemon Kush: more upbeat, trendier, maybe dancier. Flying Machines has plenty of Ed Wynne's riffs that would grace if not embarrass the more self-aggrandizing lead metal guitarists. Plowm (not pwned) is perhaps the most typically Ozrics track.

Lost in the Sky has a dreamy swirling nature, mixing throbbing bass with genuine edgy lead guitars and somehow having psychedelic keyboards. Classic Ozrics. Excellent. Nothing new but, hey, if it ain't broke.

So for the Ozrics aficionados why add this one to our expanding collection? Simples: The Will of the Wisps. Worth the purchase on it's own (and now with the wonders of the interweb thingy you can get it on its own): dreamy (one of the great bass lines .. wafting keyboards, bubbles, delicately mixed acoustic, then about 5 mins in "the change": simply picks up, changes the rhythm, bass line changes, muted guitar; by 7 mins in it's grooving in such a mesmeric way that it's almost impossible not to start moving to the music. By 10 mins the Borg is in control: resistance is futile: Ozrics at their very very best.

Is the album essential: nah, not by a long shot. But every progger should have The Will of the Wisps.