'72 NEKTAR CENTER OF THE EYE Acid PROG PSYCH THRILLER

$

79

   BEAUTIFUL 1972 Original CONCEPTUAL SPACEROCK ADVENTURE

\                                       USA - GERMAN - BELLAPHON  - BLPS 19064

Outstanding CLEAN 1972 first pressing in fully laminated eye-popping gatefold cover... the very first Nektar is a forever great acid journey with echo guitar, mellotrons and fantastic infectious melodies -- what more could you want?  

"Although my mind is gently weeping" cries NEKTAR from their absolutely stunning Kraut-Rock'ish materpiece of 1971. "Journey To The Centre Of The Eye" is just that and lands with perfection and carrying some of NEKTAR most treasured musical moments. "Journey..." is in a slightly different vein from later NEKTAR albums, delivering more of a psychedelic/underground flavour -- a masterpiece to say the least! This is an amazing concept album and has very touching lyrics. Reccomended to to any progressive or psychedelic fans because it has many different styles, from hard rock to psychedelic to Krautrock, along with many other sub genres. Picture a early Pink Floyd with elements of krautrock and early Hawkwind.

"The prelude" has smatterings of Saucerful of Secrets and Meddle all over it, and the title "Astronaut's Nightmare" would suggest things like Astronomy Domine and Set the Controls...

However, the music of "Astronauts Nightmare" is more early Hawkwind combined with touches of early Deep Purple and Uriah Heep.

"Countenance" takes us into more ambient territory, with some quite wonderful keyboard sounds and intriguing guitar/bass interplay -- reminding once again of Saucerful of Secrets - but this time the final part - in two things; the step-descending chord progression and the constant build-up aspect. You can practically hear Roger Waters vocals chiming in over the top.

"The Nine Lifeless Daughters..." comes in with a bit of a jolt, sitting more in Iron Butterfly land, but with an insistent driving riff that carries the Nektar hallmark of individuality. The piece builds towards a kind of swirling frenzy - at one point expecting it to slam into an anthemic trance hook - then dissolves into "Warp Oversight", a starlit piece of texture exploration that boldly goes around black holes, and may even deliver one or two revelations.

Then Bam! "The Dream Nebula Pt 1" crashes in, with columns of sound framing delicate and often edgy textures. The vocals are a great demonstration of the fun that can be had armed with but a single copycat tape loop, and contribute to the overall texture wonderfully. Pt 2 seems somewhat hesitant at first, by contrast - and the vocals sound quite Bowie-like.

The guitarist then gets busy with the tape loop effects, and constructs a neat solo passge that continues the Bowie-in-space feel.

"It's all in the Mind" =  "My mind expands to a great degree - a feeling that must be free" -and is also dripping with Mellotrons. wow !!!

Some really great textural experimentation is interspersed with some guitar riff experimentation that builds-up to the guitar solo and beyond is quite wonderful, only to return to the textures and riffs from before the solo - full points for sonic exploration.

"Burn Out My Eyes", a seven and a half minute feature with loads more mellotrons, and an ice-cool slow groove that carries the song along to a passage of starts and stops. The song goes through many episodes of development that maintain the interest throughout, and not only does it never get boring, despite the constant changing, it also remains engaging.

"Void of Vision" has a rather wonderful almost atonal feel to start, and the song parts are rooted in Syd Barrett-style psychedelia and the Beatles. The "atonal" passage is re-used as the song structure reveals itself, but where the bridge should be is a real surprise, and a lovely smattering of vocal harmonies that show the group 'Yes' how it should be done.

These are carried into "Pupil of the Eye", such that the ending of one song and the beginning of the next are completely blurred into one another -- all quite wonderful.

"Look Inside Yourself" is a nice, short, mellotron drenched affair - in fact, we get two Mellotrons - what more could you want?

"Death of the Mind" shares an apocalyptic vision with the re-interpretation of the second track variant that we were treated to in the early bars of this album - and the song is given a nod and a wink through the lyrics "Although my eyes are gently weeping " - One gets the distinct impression that this album, indeed, perhaps this song was inspired the mighty Necronomicon Opus "Tips Zum Selbst Mord".

1. Prelude (1:27)
2. Astronauts nightmare (6:22)
3. Countenance (3:30)
4. The nine lifeless daughters of the sun (2:41)
5. Warp oversight (4:28)
6. The dream nebula (2:14)
7. The dream nebula part II (2:25)
8. It's all in the mind (3:22)
9. Burn out my eyes (7:48)
10. Void of vision (2:01)
11. Pupil of the eye (2:46)
12. Look inside yourself (0:53)
13. Death of the mind (2:52)

CONDITION: The cover: laminated gatefold cover is nice "EX" (excellent) no problems...ALL clean... no bends, no writing, no split seams = upgrade quality.

The vinyl: is all glossy both sides glow: M- clean...looks and plays very enjoyable...both 'Bellaphon' labels are CLEAN

      A cool addition to anyone's music library!

SEE: SELLERS OTher items for similar cool sounds for "head" people...

EFFICIENT/CAREFUL GRADING

All imperfections are noted both cover & record