Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Nektar
Label: Cleopatra Records
Release: 2012
Running time: 69:36
Rating: 3.5/5
Nektar, the legendary British progressive rock explorers of faraway galaxies, decided to record their first-ever album of covers while celebrating the band’s fortieth anniversary. It’s a move most prog rock fans tend to frown upon, but it still delivers a bunch of pleasant and interesting surprises, embodied by the album »A Spoonful Of Time«. Band leader, guitarist and vocalist Roye Albrighton, drummer Ron Howden and keyboardist Klaus Hentasch teamed up on individual covers with a string of prominent, if not downright legendary, names from the worlds of prog rock, fusion and classic rock, such as John Wetton (Asia, ex-King Crimson, Uriah Heep), Mark Kelly (Marillion), Jerry Goodman (Mahavishnu Orchestra), Billy Sheehan (Mr. Big), Rod Argent (The Zombies, Argent), Geoff Downes (Asia, ex-Yes), Ginger Baker (Cream), David Cross (ex-King Crimson), Patrick Moraz (ex-Yes, The Moody Blues), Edgar Froese (Tangerine Dream), Nik Turner (Hawkwind), Mel Collins (ex-King Crimson, Camel), Steve Howe (Yes, ex-Asia), Bobby Kimball (ex-Toto), Ian Paice (Deep Purple, ex-Whitesnake) and Rick Wakeman (ex-Yes), to name just a few of the special guests. That alone will definitely draw plenty of fans of the ‘good old romantic days’ of rock music to »A Spoonful of Time«.
The results of covering a few of their sixties, seventies and even eighties peers are pretty mixed. Scanning the tracklist of rock evergreens they picked, especially the ones without a trace of prog essence, plenty of people will raise an eyebrow, even though some of them turned out surprisingly well. The opening instrumental »Sirius«, a cover of a The Alan Parson Project classic, holds no surprises apart from a modern synth sound and the help of special guest Michael Pinella (Symphony X), who gives it a slightly more ‘spacey’ undertone. A bit more interesting, if not exactly convincing, is the cover of the Rush evergreen »Spirit Of the Radio«, which Nektar play quite faithfully to the original instrumentally, with the important difference that the synth lines are laid on a bit thicker, a logical result of working with such a master of his craft as Mark Kelly. The only problem, as you’d expect, is the vocals, since Mr. Albrighton, no surprise here, just isn’t up to Geddy’s demanding high vocal lines.
One of the better covers on »A Spoonful Of Time« is, somewhat surprisingly, »Fly Like An Eagle«, originally by Steve Miller Band. Its funky rhythmic seasoning, relaxed atmosphere and lyrics all fit Roye’s vocal approach perfectly this time, so Nektar easily ‘adopt’ this rock evergreen. Geoff Downes and Joel Vandroogenbroek (Brainticket) shine as special guests here. Of all the covers on the album, for anyone who knows the history and evolution of space rockers Nektar well, the choice that makes the most sense is surely the legendary Pink Floyd acoustic classic »Wish You Were Here«, featuring krautrock elder statesman Edgar Froese. While the instrumental side is executed very solidly, Albrighton’s vocals simply lack the cynicism and nostalgia of Gilmour’s original, so it somehow doesn’t reach the atmosphere you’d hope for.
»For The Love of Money«, a cover of R&B, soul and disco heroes The O’Jays featuring John Wetton and Ian Paice, is yet another completely unexpected choice, since Nektar never really dabbled much in the musical styles mentioned above over the course of their career. Still, it’s a surprisingly successful version that leans less on vocal perfectionism and more on horn-fueled rhythmic elements. The Blind Faith folk rock classic »Can’t Find My Way Home«, written by Steve Winwood in 1969, has been covered ‘countless times’ over the past decades, but the Nektar guys still do a perfectly solid job with it, with help from Derek Sherinian (Black Country Communion, ex-Dream Theater), Mel Collins and Steve Howe. It surely helps that Roye’s vocal timbre is quite similar to that of Winwood, who is technically the more capable singer.
The cover of the Rolling Stones psychedelic standard »2000 Light Years From Home« is definitely one of the more bizarre and unexpected moments on »A Spoonful Of Time«. Plenty of prog purists will roll their eyes at the fact that these space rock heavyweights took on a creation by the most famous singing frog and his half-mummified crew, but with the help of Simon House (Hawkwind), Nektar nail the original psychedelic atmosphere. It’s followed by another solid cover of a psychedelic rock classic, »Riders On the Storm«, originally performed by The Doors. Besides the pretty sleepy and boring atmosphere that faithfully follows the original pulse, it’s worth mentioning the excellent organ soloing courtesy of Rod Argent, while Billy Sheehan contributed the bass guitar lines.
»Blinded By the Light«, originally written by Bruce Springsteen and made a huge hit by the unforgettable art rockers Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, ranks among the better moments of »A Spoonful of Time«, which, given its original prog rock aura, is in its own way hardly a surprise. Albrighton’s vocals sound right at home here, even though Chris Thompson is of course a class of his own and Roye doesn’t even try to imitate him. This time the special guests who shine are old drumming curmudgeon Ginger Baker and Joakim Svalberg (Opeth).
»Out of the Blue«, again featuring Simon House, is a moderately interesting, sleazy and somewhat slowed-down cover of the Roxy Music standard. Another rather big surprise is the cover of Neil Young’s folk rock evergreen »Old Man«, which, thanks in part to the guest violin of David Cross, turns out surprisingly fun if you don’t take it too seriously. The spiritual ballad »Dream Weaver«, originally by former Spooky Tooth keyboardist Gary Wright and featuring a thrilling electric violin turn from Jerry Goodman, is another successful experiment, mostly thanks to the strong electronic backdrop of synthesizers.
10cc’s sardonic standard »I’m Not In Love« also turns out very well and stays faithful to the original. It feels like it was made for Nektar to cover ‘one fine day’, even though a whole host of other artists got to it before them. Keyboard helpers Rick Wakeman and Joel Vandroogenbroek splendidly play the demanding synth lines. To close, Nektar decided to cover the unforgettable Toto hit »Africa«, with help from Vandroogenbroek, Patrick Moraz and former Toto singer Bobby Kimball. Even though his voice hasn’t been what it used to be for a long time, Kimball sings the best-known Toto classic, originally sung as lead vocalist by keyboardist David Paich, perfectly decently.
»A Spoonful Of Time« is an album aimed first and foremost at longtime fans of these English space rock greats. They’ll find quite a few fun, interesting covers of some of the most beloved rock classics of past decades, even if none of them bring anything worth mentioning to the table compared to the originals. Production was handled by versatile American musician and producer Billy Sherwood (ex-Yes), who has in the meantime also become Nektar’s new bassist, replacing Peter Pichl (ex-Running Wild). It’s clear the band members mostly had a great time playing through selected works of their peers, so nobody should be overly disappointed by a pretty unusual choice of covers for the average ‘proglover’. That’s exactly why you could say the prog rock elders designed »A Spoonful Of Time«, which also boasts an eye-catching cover in the style of some Iron Maiden record (who, by the way, are among Nektar’s big fans), as a kind of warm-up for the upcoming new studio album »Time Machine«.
Line-up
Roye Albrighton – vocals, guitar
Ron Howden – drums
Klaus Henatsch – keyboards
GUEST MUSICIANS:
John Wetton – bass guitar
Michael Pinella (1) – keyboards
Mark Kelly (2) – keyboards
Geoff Downes (3) – keyboards
Joel Vandroogenbroeck (3) – keyboards
Edgar Froese (4) – keyboards
Ian Paice (5) – drums
Nik Turner (5) – saxophone
Derek Sherinian (6) – keyboards
Mel Collins (6) – saxophone
Steve Howe (6) – guitar
Simon House (7, 10) – keyboards, violin
Billy Sheehan (8) – bass guitar
Rod Argent (8) – keyboards
Ginger Baker (9) – drums
Joakim Svalberg (9) – keyboards
David Cross (11) – violin
Jerry Goodman (12) – electric violin
Rick Wakeman (13) – keyboards
Bobby Kimball (14) – vocals
Patrick Moraz (14) – keyboards
Production
Billy Sherwood
Track list
1. Sirius (2:44)
2. Spirit Of The Radio (4:58)
3. Fly Like An Eagle (4:07)
4. Wish You Were Here (5:56)
5. For The Love Of Money (7:14)
6. Can’t Find My Way Home (3:21)
7. 2000 Light Years From Home (4:56)
8. Riders On The Storm (6:40)
9. Blinded By The Light (7:17)
10. Out Of The Blue (4:46)
11. Old Man (3:26)
12. Dream Weaver (3:48)
13. I’m Not In Love (5:56)
14. Africa (4:21)
