I have been an independent music reviewer now for nearly 20
\nyears, and with almost each new disc I listen to, I learn something
\nabout this field which I never knew before. Case in point: having
\nlistened to
\nRecycled<\/i>, the 1975 release (and fourth studio effort) from
\nBritish prog-rockers Nektar, I never knew how much they influenced
\nbands like Marillion.<\/p>\n
The recent re-issue of this disc, complete with two completely
\ndifferent mixes of the album (including a previously-unissued mix
\nby Geoff Emerick), illustrates a band trying to merge the worlds of
\nprogressive music and popular music without sacrificing too much to
\neither side. Working a concept into a good portion of the album and
\nhaving songs with little to no segue was a risky move, but nearly
\n30 years after this disc was first issued, it was a risk well worth
\ntaking, and is a very enjoyable album.<\/p>\n
Granted, Roye Albrighton and crew took on a difficult task by
\ncreating an album in this vein, especially one on a touchy subject
\n— as the disc’s namesake suggests, it is a tale about our
\nthrow-away society — and daring to be a bit preachy about it.
\nGranted, too, the way the songs intertwine, it would be hard to
\npinpoint one song and call it a single. But all around, the key
\nword was “success” — even to the point of culling two songs,
\n“Flight To Reality” and “It’s All Over”, as a double A-side
\nsingle.<\/p>\n
Musically, Nektar moves away a bit from the more traditional
\nprog leanings of an album like
\nA Tab In The Ocean<\/i>, but they do so without seeming like
\nthey’re sacrificing their art for the gamble of commercial success.
\nTracks such as “Costa Del Sol,” “Flight To Reality” and “Marvellous
\nMoses” all demonstrate that Nektar was indeed at the top of their
\ngame with this release.<\/p>\n
But like its predecessors,
\nRecycled<\/i> is not an album which the listener will get on a
\ncursory listen (though it’s a tad more accessible than
\nA Tab In The Ocean<\/i>); rather, you’ll find the more time you
\nput into this one, the more you’ll take out of it. And, like its
\npredecessors (or at least the other one I’ve heard as of this
\nwriting), the time is well worth the investment.<\/p>\n
There is one major difference I picked up with this particular
\nre-issue, as compared to
\nA Tab In The Ocean<\/i>. Whereas the inclusion of two different
\nmixes tended to hurt
\nA Tab<\/i>, the contrasts in the two versions (namely, the
\nreleased version and Emerick’s mix) helps to highlight the music on<\/p>\n
Recycled<\/i>. Emerick’s has a more pop-sounding mix and is a
\nshade crisper, while the final version is more prog-based and
\nricher in sound (in no small part due to the inclusion of a chorus
\nwhich is interspersed through the disc).<\/p>\n
Listening to
\nRecycled<\/i> undoubtedly will bring some comparisons to early
\nMarillion albums, especially
\nMisplaced Childhood<\/i>. This is indeed meant as a compliment to
\nboth Marillion and Nektar, as both groups essentially looked at
\ntheir musical target with these releases and nailed it — that is,
\nat least as far as I can remember, since it’s been a while since I
\ndusted off
\nMisplaced Childhood<\/i>.<\/p>\n
\nRecycled<\/i> is a disc which should be welcomed back with open
\narms not only by aging prog-rock fans who remember Nektar’s salad
\ndays, but also today’s generation who want to hear what real music,
\nnot pre-packaged schlock-pop, used to sound like. Bands like Nektar
\nare indeed rare today in the commercial music market — and, merely
\nfor their existence, we should indeed be thankful.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26796,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7059],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-38069","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-nektar","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38069\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38069"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}