Review

The 2004 reissue of Nektar's classic debut album (originally issued in 1971) is a revelation. Like Hawkwind, Nektar walked the knife's edge between psychedelic progressive rock and an early incarnation of heavy metal. Journey to the Center of the Eye is a concept recording, traversing a decidedly sci-fi, politico path; It begins with the story of an astronaut whose ship is bound for Saturn but is hijacked by a saucer of unknown origin and taken to view the earth through the eyes of sentient alien beings. Sound dreadfully pretentious? Hardly; it is one of the more cohesive statements about the state of war and violence gripping the world at the time. Hawkwind were a British band who appealed primarily to German and, later, American sensibilities. There are the Krautrock textures inherent throughout, but more than this, it is the sheer heaviness and multi-dimensional dynamic that the band put across on a wonderful set of songs. The wailing rock guitar power on "Countenance," the menacing vocal attack on "Astronaut's Nightmare," the dueling guitar and keyboard lines (mainly organ!) on "The Nine Lifeless Daughters of the Sun," the sheer sci-fi/futurism of "Warp Oversight" (that reportedly made Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider go ga ga), and the screaming rock terror that erupts in the middle of "Burn Out My Eyes," after a beautiful, quiet instrumental intro, and preceding a gorgeously pastoral pillow walk through space. Add to this "Death of the Mind," which offers the tension between wah wah freak-outs and shimmering expansive vocal and instrumental interludes. All of this offers a view of Nektar as emerging on to the recording scene not only fully formed, but able to completely articulate their vision, and it blows away many of their countrymen; this stuff blows Emerson, Lake & Palmer, David Bedford, Greenslade, and Caravan out of the water. The new edition features two bonus tracks, "1-2-3-4," and "Do You Believe in Magic" (not the Lovin' Spoonful tune), adding another seven minutes to the original. This remastered version of the 1971 stereo mix is utterly delightful in spatial dynamics and in its depth and clarity of sound. But this is just a teaser, because the disc is a hybrid, and features 5.1 Remixed and SACD layers to boot, making for the most amazing headphone experience since Dark Side of the Moon! There are wonderful liner notes that include a very fine biographical sketch of Sheffield's most unusual sons (who formed in France and played their first gigs on U.S. armed forces bases in Germany, giving them the mistaken identity as a German band). If ever a band from the bygone days of rock excess deserved to be reconsidered, it is Nektar; and this record is all the evidence one would ever need.