The reissue comes in the form of a CD, and this is presented in a  clear jewel case. This features a glossy sixteen-page booklet- taking in original sleeve notes and a new seven-page write-up about the band & the album by Sid Smith. Sadly the booklet is  a little sparse on pics/ artwork related to the project- but I’m guessing this is because this was the bands only release.

Osmosis where formed & centered around Charlie Mariano, whose primal instrument was Alto Sax. Between the late 1940’s & early 2000’s Mariano was known more for his jazz-focused work- releasing a host of releases as bandleader, as well as playing with the likes Charles Mingus( on seminal records like The Black Saint & The Sinner Lady), Stan Kenton, Bill Holman , Shelly Manne, and many others.

Osmosis where most known as a live band between the late 60’s & mid 70’s, and toured with Miles Davis around the Bitches Brew period- with seemingly more of a fusion focus to their live sound. So seemingly the album was a little bit of a departure.

Osmosis self-titled album feels very shifting, varied, & often flamboyant in its sound make-up. Imagine if you can a blend of a more musical Doors, early Mothers of Invention(around Freak out), & orchestrated prog rock ala ELP- with flavors of  both jazz &  rock, ebbed with often buoyant &  showy vocal harmonies. With some shifts into stranger/ darker waters- like heavy psych rock jazz jam-outs,  and suddenly more angular & bombastic trippy dips.  I guess you can see why the album might not have got an audience at the time- as it was neither wholly approachable, or extremely out there, and of course the mix of genres won't have helped it either. 

Playing Osmosis self-titled today you can certainly hear they were really striving to create something multifaceted & clever. And at times it truly does manage that, though sadly at others it sounds a little muddled & messy, as they are trying to balance so many genre traits together. In, all in all, it’s certainly an intriguing, if not wholly successful album- and it would have been interesting to see where the sound might have gone on another release.

Really kudos must go to Esoteric Records for finally giving this album a release forty-seven years after it originally came out. And I can see it will certainly be of interest to those who like their 70’s rock, with jazzy & progressive leanings- but also enjoy more approachable/ orchestrated edges too.