Nektar
Printed From: Progarchives.com
Category: Progressive Music Lounges
Forum Name: Prog Bands, Artists and Genres Appreciation
Forum Description: Discuss specific prog bands and their members or a specific sub-genre
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=101957
Printed Date: April 29 2024 at 00:59
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Topic: Nektar
Posted By: justin4950834-2
Subject: Nektar
Date Posted: April 12 2015 at 18:07
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I know this thread won't get as many posts as the other recent band appreciation threads, but I feel like nektar is a greatly underappreciated prog band. I think Remember The Future is one of the best albums I have ever heard. The songs are filled with such subtle details and gorgeous melodys. Am I the only one that feels this way about Nektar. |
Replies:
Posted By: presdoug
Date Posted: April 12 2015 at 19:26
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Great idea for a thread! Interesting, just today I introduced a close friend to Nektar for the first time, playing him the whole A Tab In The Ocean album (my favorite Nektar record) and he said it was cool. Their music is so refreshing and stimulating, and creates quite an atmosphere of it's own, really, definitely an under-rated band all things considered. I also really love Remember The Future, Recycled, and Journey To The Center Of The Eye.
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Posted By: bhikkhu
Date Posted: April 12 2015 at 20:53
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Not really a fan of Tab or Journey but I love Remember the Future, Down to Earth and Recycled. ------------- a.k.a. H.T. http://riekels.wordpress.com" rel="nofollow - http://riekels.wordpress.com |
Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: April 13 2015 at 01:23
Great thread  Love Nektar !! Difficult to choose a favourite out of Tab In The Ocean or Remember The Future. The complete Roundhouse performance is killer. Man In The Moon is quite underrated, it's better than it's made out to be. Their latest, Time Machine, is excellent. Very much worthy of your time. I was lucky to catch them in NYC mid-2013, great to witness Roye and the boys having a bash, though I do miss Mo and Taff. The current keyboardist, Klaus Henatsch, is the best choice since Taff's departure ( great bloke, too) but the fill-in bassist at the time, Lux Vibratus (complete with Mohawk), paled to Mo. I was hoping at least Billy Sherwood would've been present. Recycled is quite a superb album too. Come to think of it, I'm quite the fan-boy, as there isn't an album I dislike from them. |
Posted By: mithrandir
Date Posted: April 13 2015 at 01:38
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Recycled is one of the most underrated Prog album of all time IMO |
Posted By: geekfreak
Date Posted: April 14 2015 at 04:35
count me in ------------- Friedrich Nietzsche: "Without music, life would be a mistake." Music Is Live Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. Keep Calm And Listen To The Music… < |
Tom Ozric wrote:Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: April 14 2015 at 06:39
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I got to see them on the Evolution tour. Caravan opened for them and I would up adding a couple of their albums to my collection. I've got just about all of their albums and a couple of DVDs. ------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened... 
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Posted By: zravkapt
Date Posted: April 14 2015 at 09:29
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One of the members of Nektar posted here on the forums maybe a year ago. No one replied to their post and they never posted again. ------------- Magma America Great Make Again |
Posted By: Rednight
Date Posted: April 14 2015 at 10:17
| Nektar is one of the unsung greats of '70s prog. The sad part was that Roye Albrighton, their singer/guitarist, left right when the band was enjoying its greatest popularity, and it never recovered. Saw them with about three other bands (including City Boy!) with Albrighton's replacement, one Dave Nelson, and it was enjoyable but not the same without the original lineup. I think by the time Albrighton came back (the present), not many cared. It's now him, the original drummer, and a couple pickup musicians. They came to L.A. about a year ago on some space rock junket, but I couldn't have been bothered. |
Posted By: HackettFan
Date Posted: April 14 2015 at 23:44
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Journey to the Center of the Eye is an amazing album to me. I heard it described as a psychedelic album once somewhere, but to me it is the heart and soul (and eye) of Prog. It's one of my all-time favorites. Remember the Future is nice. A Tab in the Ocean is nice too, but I find some of the base overbearing. Neither of these albums has the rich and creative use of timbre to match their debut. Recycled is a little too slick for me, built up out of endless gag-me-with-a-spoon style commercial hooks, but there are times when I'm up for it. |
Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: April 15 2015 at 05:54
^ you've been hearing too much Valley Girl  .Yes, Recycled does have its commercial 'hooks', as you say. Still, a remarkable album really, and much credit goes to Larry Fast's prescence on Moogs. |
Posted By: hieronymous
Date Posted: April 15 2015 at 11:16
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I was turned on to Nektar during college - my keyboardist at the time had a bunch of their stuff on vinyl (this is around '89-'90). Remember the Future and A Tab in the Ocean are the two that stuck with me - I picked up the CD remasters of those - was that around 2005? I never liked the live stuff I heard - the studio versions were burned into my brain and to me there was something lacking in the performance, but that could just be me too - for the longest time I didn't like Yessongs either. |
Posted By: TeleStrat
Date Posted: April 15 2015 at 11:23
| I have several Nektar albums from the seventies and I put Recycled right up there with the earlier albums. |
Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: April 15 2015 at 14:04
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Hi, I stop at "Recycled". Even though, "Down to Earth" has a couple of nice things, I do believe that it was not that good otherwise, and the premise was un-necessary, and I actually thought it took away from the "meaningful" side of things on the earlier album. I like, a lot, "Recycled" and much more than I do "Remember the Future". "A Tab in the Ocean" was the first thing I heard from this band, and that album is special to my memory. But, folks seem to not like "Sounds Like This", and it pretty much tells you how strong and supreme this band was in concert, which you can see in a couple of albums. They were absolutely magnificent. I always thought that in their hopes to reach the pinacle of rock music, they burned out ... their light show was almost prohibitive with some of the bands they toured with, and I think that massive tour with Golden Earring, probably ate them up ... aside from that, the original version of the "Marvellous Moses" song was way better than what ended up on the LP later, or any version on the Live albums ... I remember the Santa Monica version as much more ferocious and strong than what showed up later. I kinda died with "It's all Over, Now" at the end of "Recycled". ------------- Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told! www.pedrosena.com |
Posted By: Rednight
Date Posted: April 15 2015 at 14:22
"Gag me with a spoon!" -Moon Unit Zappa A little too slick? Do come along. And my kids used to describe things as "nice" when they were in kindergarten. Can you throw a little more details this way, please? |
Posted By: Catcher10
Date Posted: April 15 2015 at 18:06
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On another music site, about 10 members are in a reel to reel tape swap. We mail out a 7.5" reel tape of our favorite music, to share and enjoy our love of reel-reel tapes and music. It's fun to create and make playlists hoping other members will not know the music so you can introduce them. This last tape round I dubbed the whole of Side 1 of Remember the Future Pt1, so far 2 members have stated they never heard them before another was grateful to be reminded of them again. Amazing music, brilliant musicians......Love Nektar -------------   
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Posted By: RockHound
Date Posted: April 15 2015 at 19:06
| I really like Tab and Remember, which define the band for me. But my favorite Nektar album is Recycled. I think they really found some spit and polish, not to mention a really great sound, with Larry Fast in the fold. |
Posted By: presdoug
Date Posted: April 15 2015 at 19:42
| Also love the band Roye Albrighton formed after splitting from Nektar called Snowball, their debut album "Defroster" is great kind of jazz rock feel, and also features members of Passport. |
Posted By: Catcher10
Date Posted: April 15 2015 at 22:34
Never knew that, or this band...will check them out, thanks for the tip!!! -------------
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Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: April 16 2015 at 00:31
........then Roye goes and does the rather commercially oriented Grand Alliance. Not bad in Pop-Rock terms, but not that great either. |
Posted By: HackettFan
Date Posted: April 16 2015 at 13:21
Wow, I don't often get requests to say more - Oh m'gosh! I just listened to both Journey to the Center of the Eye and Recycled on a long car trip the last weekend, so they were freshest in my mind. In fact I was planning on starting a music on long car trips thread if there wasn't one already. I enjoyed hearing Recycled even though I've been critical of it. There's a geeky immaturity to it in addition to all the hooks that kind of gets to me the same way too much maple syrup does, but, wtf, it fit well with pushing that accelerator down. Now I think I'll listen again to A Tab in the Ocean and Remember the Future this again evening and report back. I referred to them simply as "nice" as a comparison to the high regard I have for Journey to the Center of the Eye. |
Posted By: Rednight
Date Posted: April 16 2015 at 13:40
| Thorough and precise! |
Posted By: HackettFan
Date Posted: April 17 2015 at 00:39
| A Tab in the Ocean and Remember the Future are really good albums. What I like about them is the prominence of the guitar to the point of including some histrionics not frequently heard in classic era Prog. I'm not as into keyboards as some of the other Prog folk. The base is, once again, a little annoying to me, especially in Tab, because of how prominent it is in the mix and then it quite a number of times just does a sort of pulse following the drums. A lot of the compositions are driven by the pairing of drum and base, which transition between a lot of cycling patterns which can be kind of interesting. They could use more texture beyond base and drums in those sections. There is some organ in Tab, but it loses out in the mix. There was a lot more organ in Journey to the Center of the Eye. There was also a lot more effective use of timbre in general in Journey. And rather resourceful use of timbre; there weren't a lot of gizmos back then. Journey made a great deal of use of delays and multiple delays, probably the best use of delay anywhere by anyone up until Henry Kaiser came along more recently (in the 80s and onward). Tab departed from the use of delays and it comes across to me as a more stark and barren landscape perhaps because of it. Remember the Future is similar in this fashion, though a little more melodic in a way that seems to foreshadow Recycled. In fact it sounds like Recycled may have re-used one or two guitar guitar riffs from Remember the Future. Remember the Future eventually gets to incorporating a rather funky wah sound toward the end and I just have to turn it off at that point. I've never owned Down to Earth, so I don't know what that sounds like. |
Posted By: Rednight
Date Posted: April 17 2015 at 10:09
| Down to Earth is a prog station-of-the-cross to obtain, so run, don't walk to your nearest retailer (web site) and order it up. |
Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: April 18 2015 at 20:45
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Down To Earth is a quirky album in the Nektar catalogue. It feature lots of horns, shorter songs, and HAWKWIND eccentric Robert Calvert, playing the role of Ringmaster. It's a concept album about life in a Circus. It works. Great album, the playing is there, and Taff uses a larger variety of keyboards. No two Nektar albums sound the same, really. I don't understand why .....Sounds Like This....... is not rated highly. Cranking this one up shakes the foundation of your house !! Explosive and indulgent - awesome album. |
Posted By: AEProgman
Date Posted: April 18 2015 at 21:14
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My first exposure to Nektar was Remember the Future and loved it, still one of my favorites. For some odd reason, the only other album I have by them is A Tab in the Ocean. My catalog is too small, I at least need to get all the 70s stuff, starting with Journey to the Center of the Eye. ------------- 
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Posted By: hieronymous
Date Posted: April 23 2015 at 17:01
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Finally dug up my copy of the 2004 CD reissue of Remember the Future - I really love this album, I wouldn't put it in my top 10, parts of the music get repetitive to me and parts are almost fantastic but then are kind of a let-down. Also, it seems like the keyboards could be more integral - there are times when it sounds like a 4-piece with two guitarists, bass & drums. But this is nitpicking - certainly a classic album! Makes me want to start digging around at Amoeba and Rasputin for some of the other albums! I have and love A Tab in the Ocean, never got deeply into the others like Journey to the Center of the Eye, Recycled, etc. Maybe it's time...
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Posted By: JD
Date Posted: April 23 2015 at 18:19
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IIRC, there were a number of releases of RTF on CD that were poorly done from quad masters leaving many of the parts unheard. My first copy of it was on 8-Track (yup, that's how old I am) and I listened to it almost non-stop in my car along with Manfred Mann's Solar Fire and Man's Back into the Future. For you young kids out there, we oldies had these bulky 8-Track tape things (before in car cassette decks became vogue) that used to cut out in the middle of songs to change to the next track on some songs. One of the truely horrible inventions of our times. ------------- Thank you for supporting independently produced music |
Posted By: hieronymous
Date Posted: April 23 2015 at 18:47
I am just young enough/lucky enough to never have suffered through 8-tracks - I had never heard of songs cutting out in the middle, I thought that not having gapless playback was annoying enough... I believe the 2004 reissues were done from the quad masters?
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Posted By: JD
Date Posted: April 23 2015 at 22:18
------------- Thank you for supporting independently produced music |
Posted By: dr wu23
Date Posted: April 23 2015 at 22:30
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Good solid prog band.....I still play Tab and Remember The Future from time to time. Time to pull them out and listen again. ------------- One does nothing yet nothing is left undone. Haquin |
Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: April 25 2015 at 03:05
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The newest album under the Nektar name, Time Machine, is quite excellent. There's a 10 min track called Diamond Eyes - it is a beauty !! And an instrumental called Juggernaut. And great cover-art to boot. |
Posted By: HackettFan
Date Posted: April 25 2015 at 23:06
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Posted By: HackettFan
Date Posted: April 25 2015 at 23:10
| Would anyone put Journey to the Center of the Eye into the Krautrock category? It has that kind of feel in terms of mood and timbre, I was thinking. Not sure if they were ever prone to the same level improvisation. I'm curious what anyone else thinks. |
Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: April 25 2015 at 23:54
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Roye stated that the 'Krautrock' movement was all abuzz around them at the time they worked on their debut, and it was hard not to be influenced by it. So, there is definitely a Krauty element going on. Floyd were also a big influence. And drugs .
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Posted By: hieronymous
Date Posted: April 26 2015 at 09:54
Also, it was my understanding that they were British expatriates living in Germany, which would make influence all the more possible. |
Posted By: HackettFan
Date Posted: April 26 2015 at 17:05
| Thanks both of you. That's enlightening. I'm just getting into Amon Düül II and I love it. Small wonder it appears out in that I so highly adore some common properties with the first Nektar album. |
Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: April 27 2015 at 01:29
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Amon Duul II are a treat - make sure you get Tanz Der Lemminge - just AMAZING. Yeah, that Nektar debut is a beauty. Been enjoying it since 1989, and it's always a joy to spin. I have a live DVD from recent years that features an in-depth interview with Roye and Ron, that's where Roye said that it was hard not to have any Krautrock ideas seeping into their music. I think that some of the reviews of the debut here mention Krautrock , so good analysis there, Hackettfan
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Posted By: HackettFan
Date Posted: April 28 2015 at 00:32
| I have Phallus Dei and Yeti. Tanz Der Lemminge is on order, just waiting for it. Sounds like I have a good one coming. |
Posted By: M27Barney
Date Posted: April 28 2015 at 04:26
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I Bought Recycled - and was VERY disappointed - very much a indie/pop album in my eyes! - It really put me off buying anything else to be honest! ------------- Play me my song.....Here it comes again....... |
Posted By: Kirillov
Date Posted: April 28 2015 at 04:32
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I like A Tab In the Ocean a lot. It reminds me of Argus by Wishbone Ash (Tab came first though). |
Posted By: hieronymous
Date Posted: April 28 2015 at 20:00
Don't give up yet! A Tab in the Ocean & Remember the Future are the classic albums - much better place to start IMHO. |
Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: April 29 2015 at 04:58
And like I mentioned in an earlier post, I don't think any 2 Nektar albums sounded the same. |
Posted By: Guldbamsen
Date Posted: April 29 2015 at 09:10
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My favourite has always been the debut, and it usually gets spun during the summer months. I have some very good memories of listening to it in a park in Copenhagen just after coming home from the Roskilde Festival. I do remember digging Tab, but I honestly can't remember the last time I put it on. ------------- “The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.” - Douglas Adams |
Posted By: Rednight
Date Posted: April 29 2015 at 10:02
And off in the distance, a dog's bark could be heard. |
Posted By: M27Barney
Date Posted: April 29 2015 at 13:22
It may be that I was listening - expecting something else - I certainly didn't class it as symphonic?? No long tracks on it for a start! ------------- Play me my song.....Here it comes again....... |
Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: April 30 2015 at 03:12
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Aah !! I take side 1 as a 'song suite' of sorts - it does flow well enough, has some recurring themes, and a lyrical concept. Side 2 is more like 4 songs that stand on their own. I didn't mean 'symphonic' per se, just 'sounding', which I guess is a rather 'thin' assumption, but the amazing moog arrangements kind of 'symphonise' the whole affair to my ears. Marvellous Moses is the tip-top piece here, and that gorgeous end passage of the last track is perfect bliss. And that mind-blowing cover.......... But having said that, I do think somewhat highly of Down To Earth, which you would probably find to be a pathetic album. I urge you to try Remember The Future, or A Tab In The Ocean, failing those, try the debut, if no connection, give up and move on. |
Posted By: hieronymous
Date Posted: May 22 2015 at 10:08
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Picked up Journey to the Center of the Eye - looks like an early German CD release, not one of the remasters. I like it! I've listened before - actually, the keyboardist in my band in college back in the late '80s turned me on to them - he had a lot of the stuff on vinyl - at that time, I borrowed Journey, Tab, RTF, Down to Earth, some album with a blue cover with a woman standing in a waterfall? Maybe even one of the live albums. Tab & RTF are what stuck out to me - I could never get into Down to Earth, I am just not into the circus theme. But back to Journey to the Center of the Eye - it is more raw than Tab or RTF, both musically and production-wise. More spacey, atmospheric sections - reminded me of the Syd Barrett/Daevid Allen slide-guitar stuff - a lot less "songs" with vocals - the keyboards seem more present. One thing that struck me is that Nektar isn't a virtuoso band - you don't listen for the soloing, it's more the mood and atmosphere that they create, at least in the early period through RTF. I also realized that I have the live in New York album! I picked it up, listened once, then put it aside. Well, it appeared again so going to give that a listen soon.
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Posted By: rushfan4
Date Posted: May 22 2015 at 10:16
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The woman in the waterfall was Brooke Shields, FYI. ------------- 
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Posted By: hieronymous
Date Posted: May 22 2015 at 17:38
Now THAT is some interesting trivia! I had no idea.
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Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: May 22 2015 at 21:50
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^ It doesn't make that album any better than it is (a 3 star effort). You can almost hear Roye on the track 'Listen'. He gets a co-credit on that song. The Live in New York album is great but has a weak sound (on LP anyway). In sore need of some bottom-end 'oomph'. |
Posted By: AreYouHuman
Date Posted: June 03 2015 at 20:07
^ Have you heard Cleopatra’s Complete Live in New York? Great improvement over the original LP releases, though I’ve only heard the first double album.“Catchy hooks” on “Recycled”? I’ll concede that, but that hasn’t kept it
from becoming my favorite of theirs, helped enormously by Larry Fast’s
contributions.
All of their albums are unique
from each other, and of course some, like “Sounds Like This”, “Magic Is a Child”
and “Man in the Moon” took longer to get into, but I don’t consider any of them
bad by any means.
------------- Caption: We tend to take ourselves a little too seriously. Silly human race! Yes is for everybody! |
Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: June 04 2015 at 01:22
^ At last, someone sees the value in Man In The Moon  What ?? There's improvement on the Live In New York recordings ?? Great performances, marred by a very shallow and thin sound on the LP. And honestly, they never repeated themselves album to album, but still sounded 'Nektar' - at least to my ears...... |
Posted By: HackettFan
Date Posted: June 05 2015 at 11:46
| I stopped listening to them after Magic Is a Child, from which I only favored two songs: the title track and another on Norse Mythology (perhaps only because I like Norse Mythology). Are there subsequent albums that are worthwhile in having rekindled their Prog origins? |
Posted By: HackettFan
Date Posted: June 05 2015 at 12:02
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Posted By: Rivertree
Date Posted: June 05 2015 at 12:05
I'm in favour of the gold old Nektar times, the 1970's. I still can remember a thrilling live gig at my hometown alongside with Welsh band MAN  my favourite album is 'Remember The Future', though all the albums released beforehand are also great. I can't make friends with their newer albums from this century, and last time when I saw them live, it was in 2007, that was so so, not really engaging ... ------------- https://awesomeprog.com/users/Rivertree" rel="nofollow">  |
Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: June 05 2015 at 19:39
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Man In The Moon is a bit more Arena-Rock oriented (and dare I say 'commercial') but sports some excellent moments. I had no trouble digging this from the first listen, but then I don't mind some AOR or New-Wave music in my listening diet. The next album of Nektar's I have is the most recent Time Machine, which I am really satisfied with - having said, the LP version which I obtained has culled 3 or 4 tracks from the full CD release, and I believe the ones they dropped are reputed to be weaker tracks. I haven't heard those, so I can't really say, but the tracks on the vinyl are mostly excellent. Having caught them live in mid-2013 whilst on holiday in NYC, was such a blast. Really rekindled my love of Nektar, which, at that point, been left behind by me in the wake of a lot new Prog I've been getting. |
Posted By: dennismoore
Date Posted: June 05 2015 at 19:54
You silly, silly English Kah-niggggggitt! Recycled Side One is ONE LONG SIDE. The suite is "Recycled" for real Although I bear responsibility, since I made you buy Recycled. I am still shocked you don't like it. Noting wrong with hooks and vocal harmonies inside of a long epic. ------------- "Yeah, people are unhappy about that - but you know what, it's still Yes." - Chris Squire |
Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: June 06 2015 at 04:12
| Recycled - seems side 1 is a perfectly conceived 'suite' of sorts - it flows along for 18 minutes (or whatever) flawlessly. Side 2 is more like 4 separate tracks on their own. Still, quite a special album regardless..... |
Posted By: dennismoore
Date Posted: June 06 2015 at 19:07
I see it the same as you Tom, BTW, Recycled is Roye Albrighton's personal fav Nektar record (Roye told me himself.) Don't worry about Barney, if a song checks in at under 28 minutes, he won't even listen to it.  ------------- "Yeah, people are unhappy about that - but you know what, it's still Yes." - Chris Squire |
Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: June 06 2015 at 20:12
| Marvellous Moses is one of my favourite Nektar tracks. |
Posted By: Rednight
Date Posted: June 07 2015 at 13:44
I'm game. Where did you meet Mr. Albrighton? ------------- "It just has none of the qualities of your work that I find interesting. Abandon [?] it." - Eno |
Posted By: dennismoore
Date Posted: June 09 2015 at 19:26
Hi Rednight. :) Sure, it was at the Nektar reunion(orig 4 and Larry Fast & Mick the lighting wizard) it was at a festival in Camden NJ around 2004-5. The band hung out at their hotel after the show, a connected Nektar fan told me where this was. I met all the gang. Roye and his lovely wife were there and they were beyond gracious. I had made a custom Nektar CD w\art for Man In The Moon & Remember...(neither were released on CD at the time, so they were vinyl rips...) Roye was very impressed by the CD I made and asked me where I got some of the Nektar pictures I put in the insert. I asked him to sign the jewel box and we talked about Nektar. I told him it was a dream to see Recycled performed complete since Recycled was my favorite Nektar record. His eyes perked up and he shared with me that Recycled was his favorite Nektar record as well. We talked further and then he got mobbed. Later I went to a table where he and his wife were sitting(Roye was sipping a Heineken) and we all chatted. Roye couldn't have been nicer. Mo Moore was very busy and seemed like he was in a hurry. Taff is kinda quiet, but I met his wife earlier during the day and she introduced me to him that night, he was then very gracious and he opended up a bit to me. Mick Brocket was totally cool and he loved my art design. Ron Howden was also super cool and chatty. I had waited since 1978 to see these guys. Nektar had broken up just as I bought my first record(Recycled) Great show and a great bunch of gentleman. ------------- "Yeah, people are unhappy about that - but you know what, it's still Yes." - Chris Squire |
Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: June 10 2015 at 01:41
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^ Man - what memories........treasured for a lifetime I almost got to chat with Roye but he seemed comfortable sitting with a blonde American lady (his wife ??) at the next table to where I was sitting. I didn't want to bother him. I did, however, got to chat with new keyboardist Klaus Henacht and that was cool enough. Top bloke. They only performed side 1 of Recycled at this gig, and it was a blast. All the classics were played (Day In The Life....., all of Tab, a bit of RTF, some new stuff, Dream Nebula etc.). I only got into Nektar in 1989, so the chance to see them whilst on hols in New York, well, a total knockout, even with the revamped line-up. Larry Fast really synergised the Recycled album - Taff didn't use much synth, so Larry really made this album spectacular. Now, does anyone know the date of the Live In New York recordings ?? Taff takes some cool synth (ARP ??) solos and of course some killer Hammond. The More Live In NY LP seems very elusive to me - haven't seen a copy to this day. |
Posted By: Icarium
Date Posted: June 10 2015 at 03:24
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Nektar influenved Iron Maidon -------------  
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Posted By: Rednight
Date Posted: June 13 2015 at 20:22
I'm now jealous of both you and Ozric! What a time that must have been. ------------- "It just has none of the qualities of your work that I find interesting. Abandon [?] it." - Eno |
Posted By: cstack3
Date Posted: June 13 2015 at 22:39
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Count me as a fan, particularly "Future!" In 2003, Nektar appeared in the Chicago region with Martin Turner's version of Wishbone Ash, and I opted not to attend since it was a pretty far drive (200 km round trip). I'm still kicking myself! http://patch.com/illinois/buffalogrove/ev--martin-turners-wishbone-ash-with-nektar-viper-alley" rel="nofollow - http://patch.com/illinois/buffalogrove/ev--martin-turners-wishbone-ash-with-nektar-viper-alley
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Posted By: hieronymous
Date Posted: September 23 2015 at 21:36
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Finally picked up Recycled, the 2004 reissue with the original album mix & Geoff Emerick mix. Wasn't too impressed on my first couple of listens, which was only a couple of tunes each time. Now I'm listening again from the beginning and starting to get into it! The bass sounds wonderful - I believe that Mo Moore used Rickenbacker basses - sure sounds like it anyway! I was ready to write it off, sell it after one more listen, but now I think I finally see/hear what people like in this album. |
Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: September 24 2015 at 01:45
| ^ Correct - Mo used a Ricky during those days (after Tab and onwards). He had a great, crisp sound (not unlike dear Squire, bless his soul) and please do persist with Recycled. It's a beauty. |
Posted By: presdoug
Date Posted: September 24 2015 at 13:25
| yes, Recycled is a gem, all right. A unique and very special atmosphere it creates. |
Posted By: hieronymous
Date Posted: September 26 2015 at 01:12
I started listening to Nektar in the late '80s - a friend lent me vinyl copies of Journey to the Center..., Tab, RTF, Down to Earth, Recycled, and I believe one of the live ones. I taped them, found that Tab & RTF were the ones that touched me. The bass playing and sound was definitely part of the allure for me, being a bassist myself - finally chanced upon a Rickenbacker 4001 in 2002 (right before prices started skyrocketing) - but I was hooked ever since I heard Roger Glover, Geddy Lee, Lemmy, Chris Squire, and Mo Moore... Really coming to appreciate Recycled - thanks for the encouragement - I like the way you hear little riffs, runs, and chords that remind you of other Nektar things, and yet are different. Stuff that goes all the way back to Journey to the Center of the Eye, to which I am listening as I type. But I'm done with Nektar. These four albums are pretty much all I plan on listening to - will enjoy these, but don't plan on plumbing the depths anymore - maybe give the live album a shot but I can't get into an album whose theme is the circus... |
Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: September 26 2015 at 01:55
Anyway, you don't want to delve into the circus concept of DtE, let me say this much : on a day that I whopped from trade-school (i.e. - didn't want to attend....) armed with a 'friendly bud', I got blasted and headed down to my 2nd-hand record shop. I came back with Down To Earth, and also the album Circus (by Argent). Both are, coincidentally, Circus-themed.....  and the NEKTAR album blew me away (the Argent didn't let me down, either) If you do decide to 'take the plunge' - yes, it's 'song' oriented, it's often overlooked, but man, Mo's Ricky playing sure wins out on this one. He is sooooo under-rated as a bassist........... At least Steve Harris (Iron Maiden) acknowledges his talent. 'Magic Is A Child' also sports some outstanding Ricky bass from Mo - sure the songs aren't mind-blowing (except for 'Listen') but still enjoyable. Be sure to check out the latest 'Time Machine' album from them - Billy Sherwood holds the bass (not a Rick, unfortunately) but does an A-class job. The thing that really makes Recycled special for me, is the catchy compositions, Mo's bass playing, and the addition of Larry Fast on his Moog synths (modular 'telephone exchange' model, like Emerson). What a whopping album. I'm generally 'anti-commercial', but some things, if done correctly, win me over (Kajagoogoo being a case in point..........don't ask......) |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: September 27 2015 at 10:20
Personally I wouldn't stop there. But if you do you really should check out the Nektar Live DVD from 2002. I think I'm going to give a spin this afternoon... ------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
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Posted By: kenethlevine
Date Posted: September 27 2015 at 11:49
| I love Remember the Future and kept looking for something else that might grab me without luck |
Posted By: Big Ears
Date Posted: September 27 2015 at 15:15
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I like the Live in New York albums 1 & 2. I think they now call them The Complete Live in New York. Roye Albrighton was also a member of Quantum Jump. |
Posted By: garfunkel
Date Posted: September 27 2015 at 23:42
I'm not a Nektar fan (I've only listened to one album once, I think) but I thought this would be nice to share. Hopefully you haven't seen it yet. Sherman Hemsley (?) on The Jeffersons (also a big ?, I'm only 18  ) dancing to Nektar's Show Me The Way. He was also a big fan of Gentle Giant, Gong, and Yes. He collaborated with Jon Anderson on an unreleased album in 1999.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKHY3pMEUJs" rel="nofollow - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKHY3pMEUJs |
Posted By: Rockin rob
Date Posted: January 29 2016 at 17:09
| The Magic is a Child album was something quite different from the previous material, and one particular cut is fore ever emblazoned in my head.But I can never remember the title of it , something WINGS is as close as I can recall! Perhaps somebody else can help refresh my memory? |
Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: January 29 2016 at 17:37
| The last track on Magic Is A Child - called Spread Your Wings. |
Posted By: The.Crimson.King
Date Posted: January 29 2016 at 18:24
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I like bits of "A Tab in the Ocean" but "Recycled" was one of my 1st prog albums and I still regularly give it a spin. Side 1 (which I call the Recycled Suite) is fantastic and the best thing Larry Fast ever did...and the album closer "It's All Over" is perfection ------------- https://wytchcrypt.wixsite.com/mutiny-in-jonestown" rel="nofollow - Mutiny in Jonestown : Progressive Rock Since 1987 |
Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: January 29 2016 at 19:07
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^ Bravo - It's All Over ends too soon. What a brilliant end to a superb album that sounds quite ahead of its time
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Posted By: HackettFan
Date Posted: January 29 2016 at 23:58
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I got the Recycled record back in the early 80s and as usual quickly put it on tape to keep the record in good shape. I only got a CD of it 4 or 5 years ago. It was the Nektar Recycled Deluxe Edition. It has the original mix first, then the album starts over with what is identified as the Geoff Emerick Mix. Does anyone else have this or heard it. Does anyone else find the Geoff Emerick Mix to be as dreadful as I do? It really changes the character of the album. Unfortunately, I can't find the booklet that came with it. Must have taken it out to read just put it somewhere. It had a lot of info about the mixes in there. ------------- A curse upon the heads of those who seek their fortunes in a lie. The truth is always waiting when there's nothing left to try. - Colin Henson, Jade Warrior (Now) |
Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: January 30 2016 at 00:17
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I'm a firm believer of the way things are supposed to have happened.........therefore, to my ears, Recycled could not be improved upon..............great album the way it is ............ Heck, I'm sure with a modern twist of production and sensibility, Invisible Touch could sound smazing............... |
Posted By: hieronymous
Date Posted: February 01 2016 at 00:41
I have that one with the Geoff Emerick mix - not sure where it is right at the moment but if I can find it I'll try and scan the liner notes for you. Still kind of new to Recycled in general when I was listening to it so can't really comment on the mix itself. This is the first video footage I've ever seen of them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAnESYSpgn0" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAnESYSpgn0 |
Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: February 01 2016 at 00:58
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^ Classic vintage footage right there......... MASSIVE thanks for posting....... |
Posted By: Rockin rob
Date Posted: February 02 2016 at 09:40
| Tom: Thanks for the refresh on " Spread Your Wings" there is a nice guitar riff in the middle of the track that just stands out for me. The lyrics are also relevant to a situation I was in at the time. Again I appreciate Your input. |
Posted By: Rockin rob
Date Posted: February 02 2016 at 09:56
| I saw Nektar at Hofstra University in Long Island , New York back in 1977 I believe . The show was nice and intimate the theater there had good acoustics and was sold out about one thousand possibly! We had front row balcony as our seats were relocated due to the fact the sound mix console consumed our original seats. During the encore Mo Moore was knocked onto the floor of the stage , when a flash pot exploded too close and prematurely.He dropped his bass guitar and the feedback resounded through out the hall.Most people thought this was part of the show, luckily no one was hurt and the band finished the show.At the time I considered Nektar one of the best progressive rock bands I had seen to date.As I will never forget that experience that night I am glad to hear that Nektar is still recording and gigging too! |
Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: February 02 2016 at 12:28
The sad part of this comment is that it comes 40 years after the piece of music was created. At the time, it was unbelievable and the power and attention on the album was great ... beginning to end ... non-stop. At the time, it was a massive mix of electronics and rock music ... and it helped put Larry Fast on the map! I only have one comment ... their original version of "Marvelous Moses" was harder, louder and better! What is on the album and the live albums is already softened up. ------------- Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told! www.pedrosena.com |
Posted By: ster
Date Posted: February 02 2016 at 19:06
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My first post. Nice timing for this thread. I am a new NeKtar fan. Discovered them listening to Pandora. I had my “Caravan Radio” station playing while doing work around my house and every time I had to stop and check what band was playing this incredible music that I wasn’t familiar it was Nektar. So far I have Journey, Tab and RTF. I love every single note. Great band. Hopefully they’ll tour again I’ll definitely go see them.
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Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: February 02 2016 at 22:26
I'm always up for a yarn about Nektar - I don't spin them as often these days with all the new discoveries I happen upon, but this is one band close to my heart. Man In The Moon is quite a decent album, it often cops a lot of flak........ |
Posted By: hieronymous
Date Posted: February 04 2016 at 13:37
So I scanned the booklet - here are the sections relevant to Geoff Emerick:   I generally only listen to the "original" mix, I suppose it's nice to that the alternate mix but if the band weren't happy with it, why should we be? I thought that maybe the Geoff Emerick mix we prior to Larry Fast adding his synth parts, but those were already laid down - looks like choir and some overdubs were added before the classic mix we are all familiar with?
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Posted By: Rednight
Date Posted: February 04 2016 at 14:01
------------- "It just has none of the qualities of your work that I find interesting. Abandon [?] it." - Eno |
Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: February 05 2016 at 11:13
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Hi, the original "Recycled" as was in the LP is the important one. The other is not necessary, in my book, as you do not learn anything new about the band with it. Just seemed like wasted studio space for me. ------------- Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told! www.pedrosena.com |
Posted By: Eradicus
Date Posted: February 12 2017 at 01:14
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I can credit Nektar with my introduction to prog rock, perhaps unusually enough; indeeed, the introduction itself I owe entirely to the wonders of modern musicology, because it was through Spotify Weekly and its superb playlist-building algorithms that an innate desire I never even knew I had for prog rock was teased out of me. You see, I'd grown up in an environment that sneered and scorned prog rock at the very mention of the name. But this 20-minute masterpiece called Remember the Future, Pt 1 started playing one day, and by the time I'd finished with Pt 2, I was devoutly prog and everything it stood for and sounded like. I'll cut out an unnecessarily long meander through my encounters with each individual album but suffice it to say I have pretty much got the following playlist on endless repeat, when I'm not interspersing it with Yes, Jethro Tull or early Genesis. I think every single album I'm about to list has at least a handful of brilliant prog material. An absolute joy to listen to, and utterly criminal to not be more well known: Journey to the Cente of the Eye (1971) A Tab in the Ocean (1972) Sounds Like This (1973) Remember the Future (1973) [how they released TWO albums of such quality in ONE year astounds me. And i'm also surprised that Sounds Like This hasn't got more of a mention] Down to Earth (1974) Recycled (1975) Magic is a Child (1977)
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