Nektar

For fans of Nektar, Van Der Graaf Generator and Progressive Rock! Formed in Germany in 1969, Nektar favored extended compositions and concept albums over the constraints of pop. They were among the progenitors of the progressive rock movement of the 1970s as well as the jam-band scene that arose in the late1990s. Their sound travelled well to the States, where they enjoyed Top 40 success with “A Tab in the Ocean” (1972) and “Remember the Future” (1973). Nearly 20 albums and a half-century later, the band’s artistic and personal charisma has earned them masses of devoted fans along with their latest album “The Other Side” (2020) which was Number 1 on Amazon Progressive Music.

Hot on the heels of a string of masterful remasters, restoring the entire Nektar back catalog to the shelves for the first time in 20-plus years, original bandmembers Roye Albrighton, Taff Freeman and Ron Howden were reconvened with recently enlisted bassist Randy Dembo, to record a new album that proves their evolution is more than just a theory. From the opening drive of "Camouflage to White" to the closing mini-epic "After the Fall," Evolution may still be recognizably the Nektar of yore, albeit with a more finely honed style and vision, but the modern sound and production insure the group are well-adapted for contemporary climes. Their old fans, however, will be pleased that the band still relies on building drifting mantras, most notably across the nearly-ten-minute "Phazed By the Storm," while their signature infusion of deep bluesy riffs juxtaposed against some genuinely startling hooks remains much in evidence…

A unique deluxe box edition of prog legends Nektar most critically acclaimed album Remember The Future. Comes with a bonus disc of the famous Chipping Norton Studios session recorded live on March 27, 1974. Among Nektar fans, there are many who consider Remember the Future to be the band's creative peak. The album certainly creates the grounds for making that argument. Indeed, it is an ambitious work that is essentially one composition divided into two parts. The whole is performed in a very seamless and competent manner. Still, many critics just plain didn't get it. The juxtaposition of the two opinions makes this album to Nektar much like what Tales From Topographic Oceans was to Yes…

A Tab in the Ocean mirrors Nektar's first album, but only to a certain degree. While their sound still basks in lengthy keyboard passages and fantastic lyrics, the psychedelia is traded in for a more directional and established approach, with longer tracks and a tighter progressive structure. There's an obvious cohesiveness between the guitar and keyboard tandem, with an attempt at shaping a concept through the album's five tracks. Both the title track and the 19 minutes of "King of Twilight" are Tab in the Ocean's best examples of Nektar's maturing process, with sleek instrumental runs that taper off into the lyrics as opposed to a more improvised feel that surrounded their last album. A stronger influence can be felt on Roye Albrighton's guitar playing, which is more structural, and Derek Moore's basslines are sturdier and more expressive…

A Tab in the Ocean mirrors Nektar's first album, but only to a certain degree. While their sound still basks in lengthy keyboard passages and fantastic lyrics, the psychedelia is traded in for a more directional and established approach, with longer tracks and a tighter progressive structure. There's an obvious cohesiveness between the guitar and keyboard tandem, with an attempt at shaping a concept through the album's five tracks. Both the title track and the 19 minutes of "King of Twilight" are Tab in the Ocean's best examples of Nektar's maturing process, with sleek instrumental runs that taper off into the lyrics as opposed to a more improvised feel that surrounded their last album. A stronger influence can be felt on Roye Albrighton's guitar playing, which is more structural, and Derek Moore's basslines are sturdier and more expressive…

…Sounds Like This is the third album from English progressive rock band Nektar, released in 1973. It was the first Nektar album to be released in their home country of the United Kingdom. An attempt to recreate the band's live sound, …Sounds Like This was largely improvised and dominated by extensive instrumental jamming, in contrast to their usual concept and composition-driven albums…

Magic Is a Child was released in 1977, the debut for new Nektar guitarist Dave Nelson. Carrying on, though, from where their last set left off, Nektar's fascination with shorter, punchier songs continued unabated, even while the keyboards continued to swell and the guitars shifted ever more toward the symphonic. Nektar's brightening vistas were new, however, and a fatal flaw as far as their fans were concerned. They didn't want breezy pop, and breezy pop fans didn't want Nektar, while the band's new label, Polydor, apparently didn't care either way. The art department did spring for the 13-year-old Brooke Shields to appear on the front cover, but that was it in terms of promotion. Thematically, too, little about Magic Is a Child recalls Nektar's days as prog darlings…