A bit of a divisive album in the Nektar canon, this one. Conceived – very rapidly indeed, according to the sleeve notes from bassist Derek ‘Mo’ Moore – as a means of clearing out a ton of material that had been accumulating from the Hamburg-based Brits’ prolific writing sessions and live sets, 1973’s double album …Sounds Like This – set to be their first proper UK release – was laid down live in the studio, and as such contrasted with previous albums debut, Journey To The Centre Of The Eye and follow-up A Tab In The Ocean, and, indeed, fourth record Remember The Future.
Given the way it was recorded, plus the significant jamming, the result is probably the heaviest thing the band ever committed to tape, not far off a proggy Uriah Heep or Deep Purple, with plenty of blistering wah-wah guitar solos and lashings of Hammond.
This newly remastered two-CD edition presents a second disc of bonus tracks featuring mixes from the original 16-track master tapes of the initial October 1972 sessions, which were soon abandoned in favour of a later set of sessions from February 1973; the lengthy Cast Your Fate Jam and Sunshine Down On The City sound particularly fine, though Nektar fans who already have the reissue from 2006 might find it hard to justify forking out again for tracks they already have.
For newcomers, however, the full package, with restored artwork and detailed sleeve notes, is an opportunity too good to miss.
