Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Nektar
Label: Bellaphon
Released: 1977
Runtime: 41:24
Rating: 3.5/5
Before recording this album, the legendary British progressive rock champions Nektar temporarily moved from Germany to New Jersey (USA), and you can hear it in the slightly changed, let’s call it more “polished” production compared to their earlier releases. After the masterpiece “Recycled” (1975), “Magic Is a Child” was a bold break with tradition and a guitar-driven step into the unknown, since it came out after the departure of a key member of the band, the versatile guitarist Roye Albrighton. Roye couldn’t handle the grind of touring anymore, so he decided to step away from Nektar for a while and take on other challenges. To the relief of many fans who couldn’t come to terms with the change, he returned soon after this record came out.
The thankless job of replacing him on guitar and vocals went to the talented American Dave Nelson, who did surprisingly well and successfully asserted his own playing style. It drew on the same blues tradition, just without as much finesse and adventurousness as his legendary predecessor. His voice was fairly similar to Albrighton’s too, though he couldn’t match him when it came to convincingly conveying emotion, which is most obvious in the rare balladesque moments.
Despite the big change, the album is still eclectic enough to be declared a worthy successor to the Nektar sound tradition, even though the songs got shorter and a lot more compact, and the rhythmic finesse was played in a much simpler way than their longtime fans were used to. Compared to their earlier, far more experimental setup, this was almost a swerve into pop waters, and some fans, after the high standards set by albums led by “Remember The Future” (1973) and “Recylced” (1975), naturally didn’t take it too well. Looking back today, that negative reaction seems a bit exaggerated, because this is an extremely solid record that still has plenty of that recognizable Nektar magic that marked their best work, while a few of the experiments, unusual for them up to that point, only confirm that this was a progressive rock band in the truest sense of the word. Making a guest appearance once again was the American keyboard wizard Larry Fast (ex-Peter Gabriel, Synergy), whose generous synthesizer strokes delivered an abundance of melodic, symphonic arrangements that nudged Nektar even closer to the world of symphonic prog rock.
The album covers a wide range of lyrical ground, from Norse mythology and magic to more down-to-earth themes like train journeys and the adventures of truck drivers. Little is left of the space rock Nektar in either sound or lyrics, which is a bit surprising given their past, especially in a year when science fiction was booming and plenty of bands, and not just prog rock ones, were drawing their inspiration from it. “Magic Is a Child” is therefore closer to Tolkien fans than to George Lucas fans. The ethereal cover, featuring the young actress and model Brooke Shields (best known for her role in the film The Blue Lagoon), stirs the imagination too.
With the opening epic “Away From Asgard”, one of the album’s highlights, you set off with the valkyries for the mythological home of the Norse gods. The tinkling of synthesizer-simulated bells heralds a bubbly melody that is soon joined by hypnotic vocal harmonies. The seamless interplay of synth lines and mighty guitar riffs, with an eclectic rhythm line cutting through them, creates a downright epic atmosphere. The excellent chorus, with its constantly shifting symphonic motifs, is a real feast for the ears. The title track is a gorgeous ethereal ballad with Tolkienesque lyrics about magic and fantasy worlds and a baroque keyboard arrangement. Here Nelson gets his first chance to show he’s a good storyteller of fantasy lyrics in the vocal role (with enviable help from the backing vocals). The end result is one of their most beautiful ballads. As a fun fact, the verse “I was a keeper of the golden key” from this song is said to have inspired Helloween guitarist Michael Weikath’s famous “Keeper of the Seven Keys” saga, which defined European power metal.
“Erie Lackawanna” is dedicated to one of the counties of the US state of Pennsylvania. With its disco beat and simple piano arrangements, it’s without a doubt the most commercially minded track in their story up to then, but it’s still an interesting creation with hypnotic vocal harmonies. “Midnight Light” goes down a much more dramatic road, thanks to a determined, hard-rocking guitar riff and scattered synthesizer passages. Nelson shines on vocals again, while his guitar riffs are laid down with a great deal of imagination. The Beatles-esque “Love to Share (Keep Your Worries Behind You)” is another very interesting little treat, with tasty orchestral arrangements, seductive vocal melodies and layered harmonies that never let you get bored for a second. It’s hardly surprising that they eventually came up with a song built in the tradition of their main role models. On the funk-spiced “Train From Nowhere”, guest guitarist Walt Nektroid briefly joins the band, and his swaying blues touches create the feel of a moving train. In the middle of the song, they treat themselves to a short jam for the first time in ages, where a duel between synths and guitar joins the ominous piano passages.
The dramatic ballad “Listen” is the most ambitiously conceived composition on the album. Its vibe, also thanks to the mighty sound of the Hammond organ, is very close to what they’d done in the past, but Nelson’s attempts at emotional flights into the high registers are nowhere near as convincing as Albrighton’s used to be. The end result is a solid, subtle ballad with excellent guitar solos, but with quite a bit of untapped emotional potential. With the excellent “On the Run (The Trucker)”, where the dramatic three-part harmonies stand out in particular, they sail back into harder waters and show where bands like Iron Maiden, for example, learned a thing or two. Maybe it’s the track that best showcases Nelson’s guitar talent, which was never properly pushed.
The closing “Spread Your Wings” (no relation to the Queen classic) is the most fun they ever had with hard rock, as they managed to fuse a basic hard rock riff and a playful piano motif into a bouncy melody that’s practically begging for heavy radio play. The closing guitar solo is finger-licking good and wouldn’t embarrass even someone like Michael Schenker (MSG, ex-UFO, Scorpions). Plenty of fans were probably horrified when they first heard it, since in structure and atmosphere it’s closer to hard rock bands à la Scorpions than to Pink Floyd, while in the eyes of music gourmets they once again proved their incredible versatility.
Despite the dramatic change caused by the (temporary) departure of a key founding member, “Magic Is a Child” is a very good album, eclectic enough to still win over even the snobbiest prog rock purists who aren’t too weighed down by the mighty Nektar legacy. In terms of atmosphere, though, it’s of course no match for their best work. The band had big expectations for “Magic Is a Child” (especially from the traditionally receptive American market), but most fans didn’t take well to the swerve into more radio-friendly waters, so commercially it flopped completely. The disappointment led to the band’s temporary breakup and the departure of the excellent Howden/Moore rhythm section, while Nelson left soon after, once he’d grown tired of playing demanding prog rock riffs in his predecessor’s manner. He later joined the short-lived but cult prog rock band Spy and started earning his living as a member of the reunited sixties pop rock sensation The Turtles. Returnee Albrighton did reorganize a considerably changed Nektar lineup in 1980 for one last heroic effort, but it was followed by the inevitable multi-year hibernation that befell far too many legendary prog rock bands in the eighties.
Lineup
Dave Nelson – guitar, vocals
Alan “Taff” Freeman – synthesizer, keyboards, backing vocals
Derek “Mo” Moore – bass guitar, backing vocals
Ron Howden – drums, percussion, backing vocals
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Julien Barber, Kermit Moore, Michael Commins, Anthony Posk – string quartet
Larry Fast – synthesizer, programming, processing
Walt Nektroid – guitar on “Train from Nowhere”
Production
Jeffrey Kawalek
Tracklist
1. Away From Asgard
2. Magic Is A Child
3. Eerie Lackawanna
4. Midnight Light
5. Love To Share (Keep Your Worries Behind You)
6. Train From Nowhere
7. Listen
8. On The Run (The Trucker)
9. Spread Your Wings
