On Track... Nektar
Of all the British bands that rose to fame during progressive rock's golden age, despite massive success in the US and Germany, Nektar remain the most mysterious and least documented. Because they chose to base themselves in West Germany, until now commentators in their native land have tended to overlook them. They're all but excluded from prog's official narrative even though Remember The Future is a classic of the genre and one of very few European art rock albums to conquer the US.
This book is a long overdue corrective. It reveals Nektar as much more than just a hit album, celebrating a catalogue rich in works of equal stature which, uniquely for the time, poured so effortlessly from the players that they stormed through a whole double album of superb material in little more time than it takes to play it, just to be done with the stuff. Whether you know only the clutch of 1970s albums that are Nektar at the pinnacle, or you've followed their progress under leaders Roye Albrighton and now Derek "Mo" Moore, here's everything you need to complete your understanding of an agile, continuously intriguing band as distinctive as their covers, as dazzling as their lightshow, and as warm as their fans.
It documents how Germany was both boon and bane for the band, how America tore them apart and pulled them back together, and how from Journey To The Centre Of The Eye (1971) to Mission To Mars (2024) Nektar have vision and connection that doesn't just set them apart from their heritage peers, but brings them much closer to our small scared lives than any other band of their stature.
About the Author
Scott Meze's many guises include music critic, science fiction author, and folk horror poet. For him, Nektar are the perfect nexus between the space rock that shifts the animal part of his brain out into the wonder of the universe and the prog that keeps his humanity grounded in the sheer inventive brilliance of our species. Scott abandoned the drippy dells of Somerset, UK, for the steamy swamp of Tokyo decades ago, and still neither he nor his wife have a clue what he's doing here.
On Track... Nektar is available at:
Burning Shed, in the UK
https://burning.com/sonicbond/scott.meze_nektar-on-track_book
Amazon
