Search - Melvins :: Ozma

My Absolute Favorite

edouard pinaud | USA | 12/20/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album ranks among my top three or four albums of all-time. That's putting it too mildly: this record figures among my all-time favorite slabs of music, of any genre. In my book, and in terms of musical achievement, the Melvins' "Ozma" sits right beside Haydn's Symphonies No. 05 and 32, as well as Sly and the Family Stone's "There's a Riot Goin' On," followed closely by "Fresh." The Melvins are not for the weak-of-heart or the weak-kneed. "Ozma" is some of the most off-kilter, decentered music you will ever experience in your life. It will take more than a few listens for the "hooks," if you can indeed call them that, to become apparent. There is, however, a clear logic to their illogical structure. With patience, you will find yourself walking along, far from your record player, having listened to this album days or years before, but suddenly you're now "singing along," grunting indecipherable sounds, composing lyrics to what you think King Buzzo is actually saying. To me, that is the absolute beauty and genius of this record. Certain words surface amongst the sludge, but, save for a few -- which are generally unsettling, but not in a predictable skull-and-crossbones kind of way -- you can never be sure you actually heard what you thought you did. Although the Melvins would probably dislike the comparison, only R.E.M's "Murmur" achieves the same admirable level of lyrical murkiness and ambiguity. Music should not be a crystal-clear blueprint about unrequited love, or mere longing for someone's ever-shaking booty on some dancefloor somewhere. The Melvin's understand that once you actually comprehend something, it loses luster. Here, the vocals meld and pull with the groaning guitars, guitars that are as percussive and rhythmic as they are harmonic. The drums are pummeled by Dale Crover, like only Dale Crover can pummel a set. The drums do sound like drums, but unlike any other kit you've ever heard before. The production quality of the album is hardly pristine, but that is hardly a flaw. The music just seems to emanate from a remote dark corner of the universe, a place where the "record button" happened to be pressed that day. I would have loved to see the actual making of this record. It boggles the mind. Who knows, maybe VH1 will do a "rockumentary" someday. The Melvins have released many amazing records over the decades, but, to me, it all returns to this. I'm preaching to the converted, though. Only well-established Melvins' fans would, should, or do excavate from this goldmine of music."