Nektar, a prog band of English men that decamped to Hamburg, Germany in the early 70s, have released some brilliant albums in their time. Magic Is The Child, Remember The Future, and my personal favorite Recycled, have helped in bringing the band cult status acclaim. For their 10-song 2013 studio release, Time Machine, original guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Roye Albrighton and the truly underrated drummer Ron Howden are joined by keyboardist Klaus Henatsch, plus on bass as well as the engineer on this record, former Yes guitarist Billy Sherwood.
The CD opens with the full thickness of a good swirly “A Better Way,” and it’s evident from this first track, that Howden is pretty much perfect with his understated power. “Destiny” is a long song with lots of different pieces, one of which is a distinct middle part featuring Albrighton’s floaty soft guitar overdubbed solo part with a spoken lyric. As often is the case with Nektar, things go from light to heavy rather quickly, and Howden once again opens up the tune to a big ending.
“If I Only Could” is one of the best with a Moody Blues-sounding mid 80s harmonic guitar opening, a little Yes-like bass from Sherwood throughout driving the verses and Henatsch laying in on his organ with a great jam at the end. Albrighton’s tone is as distinctive as ever and he does tend to pick his notes succinctly. The song does overstay its welcome to deliver what seems a last attempt a chorus that won’t soon leave your head, but it’s really a damn good tune overall.
Again we get Albrighton’s fret noodling on the title track and the immediacy of Bowden’s quarter note snare rim hits. The choruses are rather trite though and really don’t add much, despite a solid Henatsch organ solo. We get a welcomed dose of him playing an almost country-rock flavored piano on “Tranquility.” This is one song that certainly could have been longer, with a simple, clean riff from Albrighton and nice bass from Sherwood. we get the full impact of Albrighton’s vocal too, sounding every bit as he did back in the day.
“Talk To Me” seems not much more than a short number to hang some great clean cutting Albrighton leads over, but the instrumental “Juggernaut,” basically a pretty basic workout, does see fantastic interplay between the rhythm section, electric piano and synth leads from Henatsch. Albrighton manages another nice clear lead here.
Big sweeping sounds open “Diamond Eyes,” but we are suddenly into some slight funk (featuring some layered vocals Sherwood seems to favor in his engineering) and on the verses, Henatsch’s organ strikes. There’s lots of light and shade here, the middle slower section punctuated by Howden’s tom work and Albrighton’s distorted lead. The band lifts to the stratosphere at the end jam with synth leads and Bowden matching a spectacular display by Sherwood. This could be the best playing on the whole record.
Time Machine is a slightly uneven album, in some instances, the tunes do ramble on and there is an attempt from Sherwood to create some late 80s Moody Blues, Yes-like moments (no surprise considering his past). Still, this is a solid CD with the occasion true Nektar sound.
~ Ralph Greco, Jr.
