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Nektar - Time Machine (2013)

Posted By: hill0

Date: 20 Jun 2015 17:38:43

"The best album Nektar has ever made!" proclaims founding member, guitarist, and vocalist Roye Albrighton of their first album of new material in four years, titled Time Machine. Well, for a band that has created such legendary classics as Remember the Future, A Tab in the Ocean, Sounds Like This, Down to Earth, and Recycled, those are some pretty lofty expectations to set for your fans. The thing is, Time Machine is a pretty damn good Nektar album, though calling it their 'best ever' is truly a stretch, but as a release of all new material here in 2013, there's a lot to like about it. Joining Albrighton is founding drummer Ron Howden, keyboard player Klaus Henatsch, and bassist Billy Sherwood (ex-Yes), though it looks like he just filled in for the album and new bassist Lux Vibratus is now in the fold. The material is a mix of classic Nektar styled progressive rock & psychedelia, as well as some melodic pop. The latter styled pieces stick out like a sore thumb here, and though tracks like the Caribbean themed "Set Me Free, Amigo" and the breezy pop of "Mocking the Moon" and "Talk To Me" are fine songs for what they are, most fans don't flock to a Nektar album to hear pop music. The meat and potatoes of the album happen to be the songs where the band does what they do best. "A Better Way" is epic, symphonic, rocking Nektar at their very best, complete with Albrighton's wailing guitar and loads of vintage sounding keyboards, while the lush acoustic guitar & keyboards of the dreamy "Destiny" shows a different side to Nektar, but a totally intoxicating one, with hooks that grab you instantly. Upbeat prog-rocker "If Only I Could" reminds a little of late '70s Genesis, with Albrighton's vocals even hinting at Phil Collins a tad, and the wonderful title track combines dreamy musical soundscapes with an ultra catchy chorus. Roye's yearning guitar provides plenty of emotion on the soaring "Tranquility", which not only hints and classic mid-70s Nektar but also Genesis and Camel, and also features some sensational keyboards from Henatsch. The very fine "Juggernaut" is a killer instrumental that has elements of jazz-fusion, with Howden & Sherwood completely locked in underneath some sizzling electric piano & synths from Henatsch and Albrighton's melodic guitar lines. The longest track on the album, "Diamond Eyes", also closes things out, and in fine fashion I might add. Complete with mysterious lyrics, a catchy chorus, and symphonic arrangements (love the Hammond organ!), this is another strong cut on a very solid album.

Nektar - Time Machine (2013)

So, as long as you don't have unrealistic expectations that Time Machine is the best Nektar album of all time (sorry Roye, have to disagree with you there), it's easy to enjoy it for the very solid release that it is. Whether it's better than the post-reunion albums Evolution or Book of Days will be up to you, but if you liked both of those then I'm sure you'll have a really good time with this one as well. Hey, in the end, let's just be glad that Nektar is still making viable, fun progressive rock at this stage of the game. Keep it coming guys!
by Pete Pardo

Discogs | Progarchives | WebSite

Tracklist:

1. A Better Way (9:17)
2. Set Me Free, Amigo (5:01)
3. Destiny (5:17)
4. If Only I Could (9:55)
5. Time Machine (8:07)
6. Tranquility (5:06)
7. Mocking The Moon (5:24)
8. Talk To Me (3:55)
9. Juggernaut (4:37)
10. Diamond Eyes (10:14)

EAC log

Exact Audio Copy V1.0 beta 3 from 29. August 2011

EAC extraction logfile from 2. August 2013, 16:55

Nektar / Time Machine

Used drive : ASUS DRW-1608P3S Adapter: 1 ID: 1

Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No

Read offset correction : 48
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Installed external ASPI interface
Gap handling : Appended to previous track

Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 128 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files\Exact Audio Copy\Flac\flac.exe
Additional command line options : -V -8 -T "Date=%year%" -T "Genre=%genre%" %source%

TOC of the extracted CD

Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 9:17.00 | 0 | 41774
2 | 9:17.00 | 5:01.29 | 41775 | 64378
3 | 14:18.29 | 5:16.45 | 64379 | 88123
4 | 19:34.74 | 9:55.01 | 88124 | 132749
5 | 29:30.00 | 8:06.44 | 132750 | 169243
6 | 37:36.44 | 5:06.29 | 169244 | 192222
7 | 42:42.73 | 5:24.02 | 192223 | 216524
8 | 48:07.00 | 3:55.00 | 216525 | 234149
9 | 52:02.00 | 4:36.74 | 234150 | 254923
10 | 56:38.74 | 10:14.02 | 254924 | 300975

Track 1

Filename E:\bzp01\Nektar - Time Machine (2013) [FLAC] {CLP0044}\01 - A Better Way.wav

Pre-gap length 0:00:02.00

Peak level 97.8 %
Extraction speed 5.2 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC B6B9B94D
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Track not present in AccurateRip database
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Track 2

Filename E:\bzp01\Nektar - Time Machine (2013) [FLAC] {CLP0044}\02 - Set Me Free, Amigo.wav

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Peak level 94.5 %
Extraction speed 5.7 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 8E3531EB
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Track 3

Filename E:\bzp01\Nektar - Time Machine (2013) [FLAC] {CLP0044}\03 - Destiny.wav

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Peak level 91.3 %
Extraction speed 6.2 X
Track quality 100.0 %
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Track not present in AccurateRip database
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Track 4

Filename E:\bzp01\Nektar - Time Machine (2013) [FLAC] {CLP0044}\04 - If Only I Could.wav

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Peak level 98.4 %
Extraction speed 7.1 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 0D3DDA86
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Track not present in AccurateRip database
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Track 5

Filename E:\bzp01\Nektar - Time Machine (2013) [FLAC] {CLP0044}\05 - Time Machine.wav

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Peak level 95.6 %
Extraction speed 7.7 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 566D8B0E
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Track not present in AccurateRip database
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Track 6

Filename E:\bzp01\Nektar - Time Machine (2013) [FLAC] {CLP0044}\06 - Tranquility.wav

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Peak level 92.7 %
Extraction speed 7.0 X
Track quality 99.9 %
Test CRC E40A6277
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Track not present in AccurateRip database
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Track 7

Filename E:\bzp01\Nektar - Time Machine (2013) [FLAC] {CLP0044}\07 - Mocking The Moon.wav

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Peak level 95.4 %
Extraction speed 7.3 X
Track quality 99.9 %
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Track not present in AccurateRip database
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Track 8

Filename E:\bzp01\Nektar - Time Machine (2013) [FLAC] {CLP0044}\08 - Talk To Me.wav

Pre-gap length 0:00:00.73

Peak level 93.6 %
Extraction speed 8.0 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC B36D0772
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Track 9

Filename E:\bzp01\Nektar - Time Machine (2013) [FLAC] {CLP0044}\09 - Juggernaut.wav

Pre-gap length 0:00:00.74

Peak level 95.6 %
Extraction speed 8.3 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 05D49319
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Track not present in AccurateRip database
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Track 10

Filename E:\bzp01\Nektar - Time Machine (2013) [FLAC] {CLP0044}\10 - Diamond Eyes.wav

Pre-gap length 0:00:00.74

Peak level 97.4 %
Extraction speed 9.3 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 73898B42
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Track not present in AccurateRip database
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None of the tracks are present in the AccurateRip database

No errors occurred

End of status report

==== Log checksum 69B329400884C5B4976930331E8D05E9304432B73D65EC3A60471D9A6F78608F ====

Personnel

- Roye Albrighton - guitars, lead vocals
- Klaus Henatsch- keyboards
- Billy Sherwood - bass guitar
- Ron Howden - drums, backing vocals

All thanks to zavr

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MP3 320 CBR Progressive rock 2013 Lossless Rock