NEKTAR - Master Progressive Rock

Como o Valvulado nunca postou nada do Nektar??? Não sei e peço desculpas!!! O Peter que nos lembrou, enviando uma jóia remasterizada... Mas antes tarde do que nunca...

The band formed in Hamburg, Germany in 1969. Members included Englishmen Roye Albrighton on guitars and vocals, Allan "Taff" Freeman on keyboards, Derek "Mo" Moore on bass, Ron Howden on drums, and Mick Brockett on lights and special effects. Songwriting was always considered a group effort. The band's early albums Journey to the Centre of the Eye, A Tab in the Ocean, and ...Sounds Like This were obscure psychedelic rock albums that won the band a growing cult following, based largely on word of mouth. The last of those albums was the first Nektar album to be released in the U.S., on the small Passport Records label. Nektar's second U.S. release, Remember the Future (1973), propelled the band briefly into mass popularity. A concept album about a blind boy who communicates with an extraterrestrial being, the music was a big leap forward for the band, with a much more melodic sound than on previous albums. It shot into the Top 20 album charts in the U.S. The follow-up album, Down to Earth (1974), was another concept album with a circus theme; it also sold well, breaking into the Top 40 album charts and included Nektar's only song to chart on the Billboard singles charts, "Astral Man". 

The next album, Recycled (1975), was stylistically close to bands like Gentle Giant and carried on the band's close connection with progressive rock. Guitarist Roye Albrighton left the band just prior to the studio sessions for Nektar's first major-label release, Magic Is a Child (1977). He was replaced by guitarist/vocalist Dave Nelson. The album was more eclectic, although with shorter songs and fairly straightforward rhythms. Lyrically the album covered a wide range of subjects from Norse mythology and magic to more down to earth subjects like railroads and truck drivers. The band would go on to release one more album, 1980's Man in the Moon, before breaking up. Nektar regrouped in 2002 and headlined NEARfest (opposite Steve Hackett) with a full line-up including synthesizer player Larry Fast. They also released their first album of new material since the 1970s, The Prodigal Son. They followed this release in 2004 with Evolution. The lineup of Nektar included Randy Dembo on bass and Tom Hughes on Hammond organ alongside original members Albrighton and Howden. Dembo and Hughes left in August 2006, citing communication problems, money issues, personality issues and trust in the management issues. All of Nektar's back catalogue has either been remastered and re-released or is in the process of being so.

http://nektarsmusic.com/nn/band/band_biography.asp

1971 Journey To The Centre Of The Eye

Journey to the Centre of the Eye is the debut album from English progressive rock band Nektar that came out in late 1971. Though formally divided into 13 tracks, the entire album consists of a single continuous piece of music, with some musical themes which are repeated throughout the work. Because of its narrative nature, it has been called a rock opera and/or dense concept album. The story follows an astronaut who, while on a voyage to Saturn, encounters aliens who take him to their galaxy, where he is suffused with knowledge and wisdom. It is usually interpreted as a commentary on the nuclear arms race. Allmusic's retrospective review was a rave, avowing that "Throughout Journey's 13 cuts, Nektar introduced their own sort of instrumental surrealism that radiated from both the vocals and from the intermingling of the haphazard drum and string work." They gave unqualified praise to both the compositions and the performances of each of the individual members.

1972 A Tab In The Ocean

Alternative Link

1973  ...Sounds Like This

1974 Down To Earth

1974 Sunday Night at the London Roundhouse

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CD2

1977 Magic Is A Child

1980 Man In The Moon

2006 Sunday Night At The London Roundhouse (1973)

Este veio do acervo do Peter

First time available on CD and features the complete concert. Recorded live at the Roundhouse, Chalk Farm, London on November 25, 1973 by the Pye Records Mobile Studio. Engineered by Vic Maile All Tracks mixed from the original 16-track master tapes by Paschal Byrne, Roye Albrighton, and Mark Powell at the Audio Archiving Company, London in March 2002.