Short Reviews [Nektar - 2021 - "Sounds Like Swiss"]

Nektar have always been one of those progressive bands who found more fame outside their own country than inside it, and when I was growing up I had never even heard of them even though I thought I knew what was going on and certainly don’t remember them being written about in the music papers. Although they were a musical quartet of Roye Allbrighton on guitar and vocals, Derek “Mo” Moore on bass and vocals, Allan “Taff” Freeman on organ and vocals, and Ron Howden on drums and percussion, they always described themselves as a quintet as Mick Brockett provided the visual tapestry that was such a key component of the “Music and Light Theatre”, and that was part of the complete package. Musically they took pieces of Uriah Heep, Yes and other symphonic bands to create something which was embraced far more by German audiences than those in the UK. This 2xCD and 1xDVD set are taken from long lost audio and video recordings from 1973, recorded in Switzerland, hence the name. It includes an hour-long concert videotaped for Swiss TV’s Kaleidospop, while the two CDs include the audio portion of the TV show as well as a complete show soundboard audio recording from the Pavilion des Sports in Lausanne. Given this is a professionally recorded show the sound is not as good as it could be but does a great job of capturing a full-blown prog band at the height of their powers. These shows were recorded in the same year they released their third and fourth albums, right in the middle of their heyday, and one can certainly understand why they were so popular to those who knew them. This is wonderful symphonic prog from a time when bands were either on the road or in the studio, so always working hard and this line-up had been together since the beginning so knew implicitly what to do and are as tight as one would expect. With great vocals, solid musicianship, and great songs such as “Journey to the Centre of the Eye” who could wish for more> This is more than 2,5 hours long, and even those who are new to Nektar will get a great deal from it. Derek “Mo” Moore says, “I have known of its existence since we did this concert in 1973 and have never been able to find it. To have this unearthed after all these years is fantastic and takes me immediately back to that time”. Superb.