''Ozma'' is the second studio album by the

Melvins Melvins (sometimes The Melvins) are an American rock band formed in 1983 in Montesano, Washington. Their early work was key to the development of both grunge and sludge metal. Initially, they performed as a trio but later also sometimes appeare ...

, released in 1989 through

Boner Records Boner Records is an American independent record label in Berkeley, California owned by Tom Flynn. It has released recordings by Fang (Flynn's band), Verbal Abuse, MDC, Boneless Ones, Duh, Steel Pole Bath Tub, Melvins, The Warlock Pinchers, ...

. It is the first Melvins album to feature

Lori Black Lori Black (born April 9, 1954), also known as Lorax, is an American musician born in Santa Monica, California. She played bass for Clown Alley and for the rock band Melvins. Her father was the businessman Charles Alden Black and her mother ...

on bass guitar and was recorded when the band relocated to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

Background and release

"Love Thing" is a

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

of the

KISS A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

song "Love Theme from KISS" from their eponymous debut album. "Creepy Smell" begins with the intro to the song "Living In Sin" from Gene Simmons' solo album. "

Candy-O ''Candy-O'' is the second studio album by American rock band the Cars, released on June 13, 1979 by Elektra Records. Produced by Roy Thomas Baker, the album spawned two singles, " Let's Go" (number 14 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100) and " It's ...

" is originally by

the Cars The Cars were an American rock band formed in Boston in 1976. Emerging from the new wave scene in the late 1970s, they consisted of Ric Ocasek ( rhythm guitar), Benjamin Orr (bass guitar), Elliot Easton (lead guitar), Greg Hawkes (keyboards), ...

and was a bonus track on the cassette and CD editions. The title refers to the character

Princess Ozma Princess Ozma is a fictional character from the Land of Oz, created by American author L. Frank Baum. She appears in every book of the Oz series except the first, '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900). She is the rightful ruler of Oz, and Baum ...

from the

Oz series The Oz books form a book series that begins with ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900) and relates the fictional history of the Land of Oz. Oz was created by author Lyman Frank Baum, L. Frank Baum, who went on to write fourteen full-length Oz books ...

of books. The CD version includes the entire '' Gluey Porch Treatments'' album. The track listing that is printed on the CD lists 34 tracks, but the CD only has 33 tracks. This is due to "Exact Paperbacks" and "Happy Grey or Black" being mistakenly combined on track 23 and not split into separate tracks as credited. The album's cover art was drawn by Spazz bassist and owner of

Slap-a-Ham Records Slap a Ham Records was an independent label from San Francisco owned and operated by Chris Dodge, bassist of the band Spazz as well as others. The label is generally seen as a highly influential entity within the hardcore punk scene in California ...

, Chris Dodge.

Critical reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

critic Ned Raggett wrote: "The genre-dipping and out-of-nowhere efforts of later years were still some distance off, to be sure, but moments like the vocal/drum-only part on "Oven" and the needle-thin feedback treatment punctuating "Revulsion/We Reach" (along with occasional chimes) show more chances already being taken." Ira Robbins of ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference to ...

'' described the record as "an outpouring of overweight weirdness cut into short slices". The album was included in ''

Revolver A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six roun ...

'' magazine's list of "10

Grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of p ...

Albums You Need to Own", and was described as "a bestial

metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

hybrid that's lumbering, ponderous, and completely frightening."

Track listing

Side one

Side two

CD/cassette bonus track

Personnel

* Buzz – vocals, guitar * Lori – bass * Dale – drums, backing vocals

Additional personnel

Mark Deutrom Mark Deutrom is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and producer, best known as the guitarist for the punk rock band Clown Alley in the 1980s, and as the bassist for the multi-genre rock band Melvins from 1993 to 1998. Career In the ea ...

– producer *Joshua Roberts –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

*Chris Dodge – cover art

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ozma (Album) 1989 albums Melvins albums Boner Records albums Grunge albums Sludge metal albums