NEKTAR - A Spoonful Of Time (2012)

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NEKTAR is probably the most German-like of the seventies British bands, a fame that owes a lot to the town in which this act was founded (Hamburg) and to their stylistic approach.
Their earliest works were hard rock that drew heavily from the space-rock and later the band definitely turned melodic Prog releasing some mindblowing epic albums.
Nektar is celebrating their 43rd Anniversary releasing an album covering classic songs of all time aptly entitled “A Spoonful Of Time”, featuring an all-star guest line up.

Amongst the contributors we have Rick Wakeman, Geoff Downes, Derek Sherinian, Billy Sheehan, Ian Paice, Steve Howe and many more luminaries.
Doing a covers album can be tricky business; you need the right songs, but more importantly the inspiration and enthusiasm to bring them to life by your own interpretation. In the case of “A Spoonful Of Time” the results are satisfactory for most of these classic tunes.
Nektar chose 14 popular, mostly rock, songs from the last 40 years or so. Most are well known like Rush's "Spirit of the Radio", Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here", The Doors's "Riders on the Storm" or Toto's "Africa".
Others, like Roxy Music's "Out of the Blue" and The Rolling Stone's "2000 Light Years from Home" may be a little more obscure for some.

On all covers, Nektar's interpretation basically stay faithful to the original melodies and arrangements of every song with, of course, some Prog variation.
I liked the majority, being Rush's "Spirit of the Radio", Toto's "Africa" (featuring Bobby Kimball on vocals), 10CC's "I'm Not In Love", the mellotron festival of "Blinded By The Light" and Door's "Riders On The Storm" with a long keyboard solo, the best of the bunch.
Steve Miller's "Fly Like an Eagle" and Blind Faith's "Can't Find My Way Home" are the only weak covers for me, a bit flat in their development.
On the other hand, in the obscure O' Jays song, "For the Love of Money" (that drops more into the Motown category) Nektar version is truly well done with Ian Paice hitting the skins effectively.

Nektar's “A Spoonful Of Time” was produced by the band and mixed by Prog icon Billy Sherwood, who also played bass on some of the tracks.
The CD is a good Classic Rock collection of tunes covered with a Prog touch performed by these seasoned musicians with ease. It's a pleasure listening Bobby Kimball singing again or Billy Sheehan and Ian Paice playing something different from what they do in their bands.
Nice.


1. Sirius
featuring Michael Pinnella (Symphony X)

2. Spirit Of The Radio
featuring Mark Kelly (Marillion)

3. Fly Like An Eagle
feat. Geoff Downes (Asia) • Joel Vandroogenbroeck (Brainticket)

4. Wish You Were Here
featuring Edgar Froese (Tangerine Dream)

5. For The Love Of Money
feat. Ian Paice (Deep Purple) • Nik Turner (Hawkwind)

6. Can't Find My Way Home
feat. Steve Howe (Yes) • Derek Sherinian (Dream Theater) • Mel Collins (King Crimson)

7. 2000 Light Years From Home
featuring Simon House (Hawkwind)

8. Riders On The Storm
feat. Billy Sheehan (Mr. Big) • Rod Argent (Argent)

9. Blinded By The Light
feat. Joakim Svalberg (Opeth) • Ginger Baker (Cream)

10. Out Of The Blue
featuring Simon House (Hawkwind)

11. Old Man featuring
David Cross (King Crimson)

12. Dream Weaver
featuring Jerry Goodman (Mahavishnu Orchestra)

13. I'm Not In Love
featuring Rick Wakeman (Yes)

14. Africa
featuring Bobby Kimball (Toto) • Patrick Moraz (The Moody Blues)


Roye Albrighton: Vocals, Guitar
Ron Howden: Drums, Vocals
Klaus Henatsch: Keyboards, Hammond, Mellotron, Vocals
Billy Sherwood, Peter Pichl: Bass




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MARILLION - Sounds That Can't Be Made (2012)

the REAL one

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MARILLION returns with "Sounds That Can't Be Made", their 17th studio recording
echoing the great layered sound of albums like 'Marbles' and 'Afraid of Sunlight', all that Marillion fans hope to hear again.

Of course, you could guess from a look at the track times that Marillion are back in one of their proggier moods this time around, with three songs at over 10 minutes. These three tracks are effectively the tentpoles that hold the album up, being long proggy pieces in the tradition of 'The Invisible Man' or 'Neverland' from Marbles.
It's ironic, actually, that Marillion have spent so much energy trying to distance themselves from their mainstream 4-min. song format when in fact in the Hogarth era they've produced more long-form tracks than they ever did with Fish.

Album opener "Gaza" might well prove to be one of the most controversial tracks of Marillion's career - not for its musical content, but for its lyrics and themes, directly tackling the conflicts in Middle East. The music fluctuates from nuancing dark uptempo passages to real prog slow melodies.
The rest of the album is somewhat thematically less heavy going. The middle tentpole, "Montreal", is a 14 minute tribute to the city written as an account of one of the band's visits there on tour. It's ethereal for the most part with a melodious neo-prog middle section.
Closing number "The Sky Above The Rain" is an exploration of relationship difficulties and lack of communication, where the two protagonists are a woman who's stopped loving her partner but doesn't want to talk about it. The story is complemented with beautiful instrumentation reinforcing the drama.
All three of the tentpole songs are tour de forces as far as the band's performance goes, with Mark Kelly's keyboard soundscapes and Steve Rothery's guitar solos as always being a particular treat.

As for the shorter songs, the most notable one is probably "Pour My Love", which features lyrics from John Helmer, who helped Hogarth on previous albums and makes a welcome return here to provide the words for this rather soulful, musically intimate song.
I also enjoyed title track "Sounds That Can't Be Made" for its melodic line and impeccable vocal arrangements, with Hogarth drawing wonderful verses.
The band don't seem to have been tempted to include any songs which don't support the generally fairly progressive tone of the album, with even lead single "Power" having more depth than you might think at first listen and some occasionally rather Steve Hackett-sounding guitar from Rothery.
Same with the more accessible sounds of "Lucky Man", filled with some rock-pop inflections but definitely filled with a prog instrumentation and arrangements.


If you're a fan of Hogarth-era Marillion and consider 'Marbles' to be one of their better albums, you're highly likely to see "Sounds That Can't Be Made" as a return to form.
It is indeed a great album, with all the Marillion essence and a strong melodic orientation but always prog rooted. A very 'musical' piece with excellent musicianship and production.
In short; "Sounds That Can't Be Made" features all the hallmarks of Marillion's classic work, and that's a good thing.
Easily Recommended.


1. Gaza
2. Sounds That Can't Be Made
3. Pour My Love
4. Power
5. Montreal
6. Invisible Ink
7. Lucky Man
8. The Sky above the Rain

Steve Hogarth / vocals, keys, percussion
Mark Kelly / keyboards
Pete Trewavas / bass, backing vocals
Steve Rothery / guitars
Ian Mosley / drums



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