Nektar "Remember the Future"

[JMAUSGP]

Okay this goes back to the 70s but some of you may remember an English band called Nektar. I discovered something tonight that really blew me away.

Over Christmas I was in Best Buy wasting some time in the CD section when I spotted an old Nektar CD with a two inch oval yellow sticker on the front that said Nektar Approved Remasters. I actually had the LP in my collection but it was 36 years old so I thought I might as well pick up the CD version because I was planning on playing it through my McCormack ARM circuit so it would take the 2 channel CD and sort of make it come out as MCH recording.

Well I didn't get around to playing the CD until tonight. I pop it in the Moon Orbiter and it flashed up SACD. I thought that is strange, the disc has the CD DISC logo, there are no other logos and the jewel case has no mention of SACD. Just for giggles I hit menu and it pops up with two tracks in the Multi-Channel Area. Okay, I was pretty sure that this was some kind of glitch but I hit play anyway.

Wow, I was stunned when music started coming out of the front and rear speakers. This CD was playing a discrete Quad mix. So I start digging into the booklet that came with the jewel case and sure enough the original master tapes were in fact done with a quadrophonic mix. They actually used these tapes to do the remaster and somehow it comes out as an SACD 4.0 mix. There is no mention in the booklet of this being a multi-channel remaster, nothing, just a regular old CD.

Anyway, if you ever heard Nektar back in the day, Joureny to the Center of the Eye, Tab in The Ocean, Recycled, or Remember the Future and liked Roye Albrighton who use to jam with Jimi Hendrix and Mitch Mitchel and you are a fan of Nektar and you happen to have a SACD player for MCH, then you gotta find this mis-labeled CD. It cost me 10 bucks at Best Buy but I am pretty sure you can find it other places. It was remastered in 2002 on Eclectic Discs Dream Nebula Recordings.

If you haven't heard Nektar but like a jazz rock fusion, then you will definitely like Nektar and if you are a fan of MCH then all the more reason to get this CD.

Nektar has a website www.nektarmusic.co.uk but I don't see this album on their website.

Anyway, if this is old news to you MCH guys at MLOC then just carry on and I will go back to my bed pan.

 

[Jimna]

im going to BB tomorrow!

thanks for the heads up.

 

[User211]

The British are always surprising people, Joe...

I'll check them out tonight via Napster, because I've never heard of them... and I'm English.

You see, even I'm surprised

 

[RUR]

FYI, the Dream Nebula/Eclectic Recordings redbook remaster of Recycled is a nice improvement over the original Bellaphon issue, IMHO.

 

[JMAUSGP]

Cool, after my experience with Remember the Future, I was going to try and find other remastered Nektar albums and see if by chance they did the same with one of the others.

Regardless, if the remaster is better than the first try, then that is still worth having. Thanks RUR.

 

[Sambob2]

Anyway, if you ever heard Nektar back in the day, Joureny to the Center of the Eye, Tab in The Ocean, Recycled, or Remember the Future and liked Roye Albrighton who use to jam with Jimi Hendrix and Mitch Mitchel and you are a fan of Nektar and you happen to have a SACD player for MCH, then you gotta find this mis-labeled CD. It cost me 10 bucks at Best Buy but I am pretty sure you can find it other places. It was remastered in 2002 on Eclectic Discs Dream Nebula Recordings.

If you haven't heard Nektar but like a jazz rock fusion, then you will definitely like Nektar and if you are a fan of MCH then all the more reason to get this CD.

Nektar has a website www.nektarmusic.co.uk but I don't see this album on their website.

Anyway, if this is old news to you MCH guys at MLOC then just carry on and I will go back to my bed pan.

Long time Nektar fan here! Awesome find there, I wonder which album the tracks are off of? Have all the recordings you've mentioned and a few more. Always thought Albrighton had a unique sound and style including his vocals. Although I don't have an SACD player I can only imagine how good it must sound!

Attached clip is a picture of a ticket from a concert I went to in 1976 to see Nektar, check it out and look at the price of admission...$7.00!!!!!!!!!:rocker:

I've had Nektar's "...Sounds Like This" in my SUV CD Player for the past month and a half! Lots of great tracks on that double album.

 

[Sambob2]

For those interested:
Hi Sam

Just an update as to what's new and what's due in the Nektar camp. First off it's tour time again and as you can see on the tour page. most of the shows are in Germany. We have been trying to get interest in the USA to play at a few locations but as yet we have had no luck.
Brazil seems to be a possibility this year, but as yet we have no confirmations.

Regarding the new album earmarked "Juggernaut";
The writings are going well considering that the band live so far apart (two in Germany, one in UK and one in USA) but we are getting there, I can't give you a definite release date yet, but I promise to inform you in plenty of time.

After the April tour is finished we plan to begin the release of the old catalog remastered. Likely it will start in North America and then onto the best part of the rest of the world. The remastering that was done from 2000 onwards was mostly very good but for a few albums that were a little over cooked (volume doesn't mean quality!) so we are going to rectify that before publishing.
The release will be via a well respected American company. Although the release schedule will try to mimic that of the 70's original, it may differ slightly.

I realize that you may already have one version or another of our albums which is why we are planning to produce dual CD packages..i.e. two complete albums in one dual case complete with their artwork/info/liner notes..etc..etc.

Well, that's it for now Sam
I'll write you another update soon.
Hope to see at one of the forthcoming gigs.

RA
On behalf of Nektar

www.nektarsmusic.com

 

[JMAUSGP]

Sam,

Since you seem to have a dialog going with Nektar, you should ask if the new 'remasters' are going to be in SACD surround sound or just stereo cd.

And you might suggest as for a concert tour of the USA, well I have seen that lots of 70s and 80s bands have been successful in playing and selling out at Casinos in the US. The seating is only a few thousand but the pricing is right and the demographic for the casinos seems to work well.

Tonight I am going to see Kansas at the Hoosier Park Casino and they have two sold out shows tonight.

Next week we go to French Lick casino to see Collective Soul, most of the Casinos have small venues that seat between 4 and 10 thousand people and tickets range from 50 to 250 per seat. They could do just a exclusive casino tour thoughout the US and end it in Vegas.