BOOK OF DAYS

A while ago I heard Nektar's previous album, Evolution, and was quite impressed with it. Before this, I was only familiar with some of the band's early releases such as Remember The Future and Recycled, but after having heard the excellent Evolution, I decided to dig deeper into Nektar's discography. By now I think that I have heard pretty much all their studio albums. While I consider Evolution one of the band's very best albums, this follow-up album, Book Of Days, is slightly disappointing to my ears. There is still some good material here, though.

One thing that impressed me with Evolution was how varied it was and how close it was to Symphonic Prog. It rocked quite hard at times but it also had a strong acoustic nature with several parts having grand piano and acoustic guitars as central ingredients. Nektar showed us there that they had the ability to be reflective and mellow. This element is largely subdued on Book Of Days, which is overall a more straightforward and very funky rock album. There is a lovely but very short acoustic guitar piece called Lamorna, and the two title tracks are ballads. These three are also the best tracks on Book Of Days. The rest is mid-tempo, often funky hard rock. The three 10+ minute tracks that occupy the middle of the album feel a bit samey and Doktor Kool is a real embarrassment that brings the album down further. No song with such a corny title can be successful. And indeed, it isn't! The lyrics are awful.

The melodies on Book Of Days are also not as memorable and strong as those one Evolution or Remember The Future or Recycled or Tab In The Ocean.

Book Of Days is not the worst Nektar album. But also far from the best. This is an average Nektar album. Good, but non-essential.

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