Ozma

[Dan_Halen]

great fucking album!

I was wondering what I would have thought of this album if I had gotten it when it was released. I would still have been in high school. I think I would have been very interested in what I was hearing, but also a little freaked out. would have been a good combo.

it would have been interesting to have been exposed to Melvins at that age. but im enjoying coming at it from this age as well. definitely a different perspective. but being able to "discover" this album for myself at this point in my life is pretty great.

Very good point. In fact I did have this album in high school and in retrospect I was too young to fully appreciate it at the time, not like I do now. I still listened to it a lot. The standout album for me back then was Houdini. I remember being blown away by that one. I think the material was much easier for me to digest at the time.

[mhelmo]

I was in high school also the first time I heard Ozma. I really liked it, but I was also into Syd Barrett, jazz, Ween... a lot of stuff that most people weren't into at the time.

My best friend (who also was a musician) and I thought the time changes and rhythm changes were ridiculous, but very creative. We cranked it in the school parking lot after classes and got strange looks. And more than one redneck told us to 'shut that shit off!'.

Fuck you redneck, the Melvins are still great and you probably still suck.

[(the) Razor]

I was in high school also the first time I heard Ozma. I really liked it, but I was also into Syd Barrett, jazz, Ween... a lot of stuff that most people weren't into at the time.

My best friend (who also was a musician) and I thought the time changes and rhythm changes were ridiculous, but very creative. We cranked it in the school parking lot after classes and got strange looks. And more than one redneck told us to 'shut that shit off!'.

Fuck you redneck, the Melvins are still great and you probably still suck.

You did better than me at School. I remember being forced to listen to St Anger in the carpark at College.

[Amplified Cake]

love thing... for 10 hours

[goldennuggetrecordings]

I agree the quality is bogus haha live versions sound better haha but the material is actually some of my favorite. let god be your gardener is nuts!

[meezer]

I look at the back cover, and I can't even begin to comprehend which tracks are which. Very disorienting. I'll have to get the track order on this site, or somewhere, to figure this out. Then I'll write them on a post-it & slap that on the back of the jewel case. As for the music, this is an amazing album. I never got around to buying half of the material from before Bullhead, because I thought Bullhead was such a clunker.

[Hot Pants]

I never got around to buying half of the material from before Bullhead, because I thought Bullhead was such a clunker.

whoa.

[meezer]

I never got around to buying half of the material from before Bullhead, because I thought Bullhead was such a clunker.

whoa.

Allow me to explain. I started listening to the Melvins in '94. I found their new music to be very exciting. It had a metallic sheen to the guitar tone, tons of riffage, slick production, slick graphics. Then I would go see them and they would play stuff from Bullhead, it would make me yawn. It was like getting off a locomotive and climbing onto one of those little carts that you have to manually drive down the tracks. I bought Bullhead, Lysol and the Solo Albums in '99, and made a tape of them. I tried and tried to get into that stuff. I liked it, but just nowhere near Houdini and what came after. Then last summer, I saw them play stuff from Lysol on the 30th Anniversary Tour. I immediately listened to that tape. Aha! Now I get it! But I think I could have gotten into Ozma way quicker back then. Just didn't happen to buy it.

[buddy holiday]

I never got around to buying half of the material from before Bullhead, because I thought Bullhead was such a clunker.

whoa.

Allow me to explain. I started listening to the Melvins in '94. I found their new music to be very exciting. It had a metallic sheen to the guitar tone, tons of riffage, slick production, slick graphics. Then I would go see them and they would play stuff from Bullhead, it would make me yawn. It was like getting off a locomotive and climbing onto one of those little carts that you have to manually drive down the tracks. I bought Bullhead, Lysol and the Solo Albums in '99, and made a tape of them. I tried and tried to get into that stuff. I liked it, but just nowhere near Houdini and what came after. Then last summer, I saw them play stuff from Lysol on the 30th Anniversary Tour. I immediately listened to that tape. Aha! Now I get it! But I think I could have gotten into Ozma way quicker back then. Just didn't happen to buy it.

i can totally understand you.
i think this is one of the things that makes the melvins so special. they have released a ton of material and there are countless ways for the fans to get into music from the different stages of their career. not everybody here can be a fan from the very beginnings on... because only few were really there when it happened.
however if you stick around the melvins long enough and invest your time to listen to their work you will pretty likely end up loving literally everything they have released. because nothing of it is even close to "bad" music... the greatest band in the history of rock!

[Dumpster D]

I had the GPT-OZMA two in one CD with the ozma Cover and always thought of OZMA as the Lead up to GPT. Of course that was backwards but the two albums go hand in hand.

OZMA is the Bridge between GPT and BULLHEAD!

The OZMA Production compared to GPT sounds more *Dated* than GPT because its got that Unmistakable 80s Compression Gate that really Smooths over the EQ, While GPT was Just Lo Budget Cut and Dry it sounds a lot more Gritty of a Record.

To me, Ozma is too Crisp, or Brittle sounding On CD, Cassette and Vinyl Brings out the Kick drum and the lower End and the high Frequency roll off Helps in my oppinion, Warms up the Tinny Nasaly quality of the EQ a bit better than CD.Since Ozma was a VERY compressed analog Recording it naturally sounds fine on Tape (you can hear Tape White noise SSS on the CD if you listen for it, theres enough quiet passages and breaks to catch it)GPT still sounds like It was recorded Two Days ago on any Format. Despite Boner not having the $$$ to Encode the Commercial cassettes with Dolby NR I think the Cassette aspect is missing a lot of Dimension that is CRITICAL to the overall Effect of the sound being Driven which the CD master Definetly picks up on more critically.

Its important to keep in mind that Lorax was in CLown Alley and if you dont know that material youre sort of missing a lot of the picture.

It was like Melvins Integrated their Style with the Clown Alley Crossover thrash and it was mutated into a broken apart De-evolved Thrash style with the heavy and slow Stoner Sabbath Oldschool Melvins GPT style.

Its BEAUTIFUL,  OVEN!!!

Try again if you dont *get it!!!!*    you have to listen to where they ARENT playing!

Oven Is slow motion Thrash metal, Its fucking genius!

Anyway Ozma Is an acid-washed Flawlessly Blended Crossover Between Sludge Metal and Thrash, yet Punk, Yet still retains a style and Energy that is unique and distincly original. Ozma Is Very much a standalone album. You could produce and record it a thousand different ways and the material itself Would still remain intact and Tight.

The intensity truly is the Lyrics and Vocals though, I think there was a lot of debate and style change in the band going on if you listen to the Making love demos and compare the vocal tracks to the ones on Ozma. So I think they were shifting gears and Changing things around in a very short period of time.

By the time Bullhead comes onto the Scene they had more what they were probly Trying to Aim for with Ozma.

[homeless_dad]

Great analysis DD. 

The drums are a major part of that album.  The intro to agonizer comes to mind.  And Kool Legged.  At a crawl too.  Although the hi hat/ crash cymbals have too much of a (for lack of better descriptive words) "SssSsSSss" sound throughout.  But the songs are some of my all time favorite Buzz has written.

If you don't "get" Ozma, you don't get the melvins.  Or at least early melvins.

[Dumpster D]

Another VERY overlooked aspect of this album is its Co-efficiancy and Mastering Level. 

The Actual Sound Level being recorded needs to then play back at equal volume incraments to the original source, basically giving a 1:1 aural Aspect Ratio

Of course the co-efficiancy has been dramatically altered due to the production demands of More Compression.

This album pre-Dates the *LOUDNESS WAR* Either that or no one thought it would deserve to have that kind of trending clout and just said fuck it, these guys are Melvins.

On Cassette My Volume unit meters are Kicking WELL below the 0Db mark, nowadays this album would *SOUND* a Million times louder at ANY volume because the guy in the mastering booth is following the *Loud Equals BETTER* ideology being practiced in the control booths, Its a DICK measuring contest..so be thankfull this album has some CRANK to it.

since I dont know the particular ramafacations behind the final Product, I cant accurately portray a more detailed analasis of why the volume is so low on the Tape cassette. MY speculation tells me that OZMA is so COMPRESSED sounding because there was some kind of issue with the Recording Levels that were overlooked until after the deed was done, and the Compression was the only Quick Fix at the time, and therefore the Cassette Master level has been overall lowered to give the impression of more headroom on the recording to compensate for a completely Flat and Water-tight compression gate.

[meezer]

What he said.

[jules]

The Actual Sound Level being recorded needs to then play back at equal volume incraments to the original source, basically giving a 1:1 aural Aspect Ratio

Are you on one of my Vanilla Fudge LPs?

[borislikesitall]

Ozma is very sick. love it though the production is off. too much gated drums and buried guitars.

its one of their best. no doubt.