A SPOONFUL OF TIME

If you ever wanted to know how it would sound like if Nektar covered Africa by Toto with Patrick Moraz guesting, or I'm Not In Love by 10cc with Rick Wakeman guesting, or Spirit Of Radio by Rush, then the answers lie within. But once your curiosity is stilled, whatever initial excitement you might have felt is quickly lost and you're probably never going to want to revisit these versions ever again. Not that they are all bad (though Spirit Of Radio is truly awful), but like many covers they have little or no value beyond their curiosity value.

Roye Albrighton, Ron Howden, and Klaus Henatsch probably shared many laughs in the studio while recording their versions of other people's songs with a long series of Rock luminaries guesting. At least some of that fun in transferred to the listener, but I am certain that recording this album was a much more rewarding experience for the participating artists than hearing it can ever be for the listener.

Further bands being covered here are Alan Parsons Project, Manfred Mann's Earth Band (though the song was written by Bruce Springsteen), and Pink Floyd. Among the many guest performers we find Rod Argent, Steve Howe, Mel Collins, Ian Pace, Geoff Downes, and many more. It's a great marketing strategy, but not a very good artistic strategy. Again, the participation of these greats probably benefits the band more than the fan. The Nektar sound is somewhat lost in the sea of familiar faces and it is indeed hard to recognize what this release has to do with Nektar at all (beyond the simple fact that Albrighton and Howden are present). This is more of a collective enterprise that more or less incidentally happened to take place under the Nektar banner. I wouldn't file this album under 'Nektar' (more likely hide it behind the shelf!).

This star-studded cover album is a fun listen, but it is one you're going to want to hear only once. Beyond stilling your brute curiosity, I can't imagine this being essential for anyone but the most fanatical fan or collector. The special edition version comes with a second disc containing instrumental versions of all the songs. Even this disc is only worth at most a single listen.

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