M.Neumann To paraphrase an old Japanese proverb: You are a fool if you do not own an Ozric Tentacles album...but you are a worse fool if you own two.

Well, more fool me is all I can say, and I'm sure a lot of likeminded fans would agree. It's true that most Ozric albums are more or less interchangeable, each one shuffling the same combination of vigorous cosmic ragas and throbbing space-dub soundscapes. But the formula allows plenty of room for invention, and after almost a quarter-century (and counting) it can still be a fresh and invigorating experience.

The final Ozric album of the last Millennium is fairly representative, despite the lingering cloud of mystery around it. Was the album really a haphazard compilation of incomplete older recordings, released without the band's permission? The Snapper Music CD lists no production credits, and includes no details about the musicians or instrumentation. The band itself apparently never promoted the finished product, and doesn't acknowledge the CD on their official web site.

Too bad, because it contains some quintessential space jams, beginning with the punchy opener "Steep" (one of the band's strongest and yet most economical rockers) and continuing to the somewhat meandering but often compelling 12-minute cosmic improvisation of "Voy Mandala". Other highlights include the pulse-pounding adrenalin rush of "Kick 98" (a dynamic update of "Kick Muck", from their 1990 debut LP "Pungent Effulgent"), and what may be the ultimate Ozric Tentacles trip, the aptly titled "Space Out": a minor classic of Eastern influenced guitar and synth psychedelia.

The album is only 45-minutes long, a bit stingy for digital music. And the lack of any official endorsement reduces it to a dwarf star in the larger Ozric universe. But if nothing else it's certainly a worthwhile primer for newcomers, and a windfall to all those dedicated fools who wouldn't ever think to stop at a single album.

FunkFreak75 Ed Wynne and his Ozric friends are nearing the end of an era with this album. Though the music isn't sounding tired, it is feeling somewhat formulaic and repetitive.

1. "Steep" (3:12) the best song on the album for its fresh, pastoral world music take, great bass sound (and play) and great DAVE GILMOUR-like rock lead guitar. (9/10)

2. "Space Out" (8:28) what starts out with some promise turns sour with its disco drum beat. (17.375/20)

3. "Pyoing" (4:29) solid rock rhythm foundation with JLP synth weave over the top pans out to be nothing more than another Star Wars video game soundtrack. Not even Ed's inventive "Middle Eastern" electric guitar solo in the second minute can save this one--though the tightening of the bass and drums in the third minute is an improvement--as is the addition of the Petri Walli guitar play thereafter. The long drawn out finale also diminishes the powerful mid- section. (8.875/10)

4. "Far Dreaming" (5:24) a song made up of several threads that are kind of at odds with one another. Interesting but ultimately feeling more like an experiment in combining that fails to deliver the desired magic. (8.75/10)

5. "Waldorfdub" (6:13) another one of the boys' variations on the Reggae music. Though this song is interesting for its bare-bones exhibition of percussion, it is ultimately kind of boring. (8.6666667/10)

6. "Kick 98" (6:03) a nice PETRI WALLI/KINGSTON WALL opening guitar is diminished by the movement and reversion into more comfortable OT sounds and individual styles. (8.75/10)

7. "Voy Mandala" (11:52) a pretty good song with strong Southeast Asian representation is marred by the Jamaican Reggae bass play. Also, Conrad Prince's drum play here just struggles to fit with A) Zia Geelani's bass play and B) the rest of the music. The scond half is, however, a little better--once Zia leaves behind the Reggae bass lines and Conrad is able to sync up better. (21.75/25)

Total Time: 45:01

Despite the fact that I do love to hear the "real" instruments being played (as opposed to the computer-programmed tracks that will dominate the future albums (starting with Spirals in Hyperspace), my feeling is that the band in its current lineup, form, and orientation has "played itself out." I welcome the arrival of the next gen of musicians (Ed's kids) and the 21st Century computer engineering. Even the swan-song album of this lineup and form, the highly- acclaimed live album, Live at the Pongmasters Ball, feels more akin to these "end of the century" albums than it does to the "future" sound that Ed and family ignite in 2004.

B/four stars; a fine representative of the Space/Psychedelic sub-genre, just not up to creative and innovative standards of other OT albums.