REMEMBER THE FUTURE

The opening of this classic 1974 concept album is particularly catchy and powerful; it's one of my favorite pieces of prog. The rest of the record doesn't disappoint either -- far from it!

This is truly essential progressive rock, with the emphasis more on the "rock" side of the equation. If you don't know the terrific music of Nektar, you should, and this disc would be a great place to start! DOWN TO EARTH and RECYCLED (also concept albums -- see my reviews) are also enthusiastically recommended.

Warm up the lava lamp, crank up the hi fi, and TURN IT UP!

Oh no! Peter Rideout and I COMPLETELY AGREE! Remember the Future - and the two follow-ups, Down to Earth and Recycled - are absolutely essential prog-rock albums. "Future" can be loosely defined as a "concept" album, and its two side-long compositions are among the most creative and "approachable" in prog-rock. Heavy on the "psychedelia," Future retains its initial brilliance even after multiple listenings.

For those who have not heard this masterpiece of prog literature you have missed out. "Remember The Future" is built around 2 epic space tracks as NEKTAR take you into a new world. Vocal harmonies and medleys are in particular strong here and are well built into the songs. I love both part 1 and part 2 and only wish there was a second album as this is just too perfect to stop really! Some folks have made noise about the poor sound quality on this CD transfer, but it sounds just fine to me and offers very good sound reproduction. NEKTAR's musicianship is once again very high on this release and the guitar and bass playing is very memorable

Well this is the best example of such "Space-Kraut Rock", very close to the spirit of Romantic Progressive Rock, enriched with such an interesting music harmony.At that time this German ensemble settled the standard for this particular genre and, despite of being dated nowadays, it added an interesting range of dynamics and styles!! The unique defect is the weak production, which obliges me to deserve a 4 stars score... the vocal passages are remarkable, and cause of this consideration, this album is essential and well worth checking out at least!!

Not for the fans of Space-Kraut Rock only!!

Folks unfamiliar with the band Nektar think they are from Germany. What actually transpired was the quartet of Englishmen met in Germany in 1969 and formed the band. Ron Howden (drums, percussion), Derek "Mo" Moore (bass, vocals), Alan "Taff" Freeman (keyboards, vocals) and Roye Albrighton (guitar, lead vocals) would become huge in Germany and nearly broke big the in the U.S.

Eclectic Discs/Dream Nebula Recordings have reissued the four critically acclaimed albums that defined the band's career. "A Tab In The Ocean", "Journey To The Center Of The Eye", "Remember The Future" and "Recycled" are lovingly remastered with detailed liner notes for former fans and the newly indoctrinated to enjoy. Their well- known masterpiece "Remember The Future" was appropriately chosen for the SACD format as well as "Journey To The Center Of The Eye".

Their sound was a progressive-psychedelic mixture of rock that was far ahead of its time. For this listener this was a new wonderful listening experience. Prior to receiving these CDs, I had not heard any Nektar music besides a video of "Remember The Future" on a DVD compilation. I can understand now what all the talk has been about the band reforming and going on tour.

Roye Albrighton was the driving force of this band. His skilled guitar playing set the table for his fellow band mates. Each recording was outstanding and stands as a testament to their importance to the history of prog-rock music. What made this so interesting was how the label broke up each album into two parts respectively, the original recordings versus the newly remastered versions. You are now able to hear succinct differences between the two formats for the first time. Both versions are excellent and it was a treat to get the best of both worlds.

Any prog-rock listener will most certainly enjoy taking in this musical paradise in more than once, I listened to each CD four times myself and I know there will be many more spins of each CD down the road. I look forward to catching Nektar 2004 on the road this year to relive all of these great songs in a live setting. I never would have decided to see them in concert if it wasn't for this remastered series.

Rating: 5/5 overall

Nektar's signature: renewal at every album?

If I heard is right, Nektar never really went up with twice the same pattern in their long carreers. What's good with that? Well, if you're adventurous and dislike redundance. This way, Nektar discography is rich and varied but still carries the Nektar sound throughout time. What's bad about it? Well, sometimes Nektar really, and I mean really, hits the right spots. Some psychadelic pieces they did in Journey... and Tab in the OCean is totally trippy and hypnotic. Some stuff went into the same vein as the Barrett's period of the Floyd. And lord knows how cool this period was. So Journey and Tab in the Ocean really imbued my mind with their crazy voyages and sonic exploration.

With this one...man the good psychadelica is pretty much out the window.

Out the hypnotic vocal and the never-end-spiral-riffs-LSD-influenced. On the vocal side, you like it or not. And I don't. Sounds like the same the Who did in the past. Not too bad, but Roger Daltrey and Peter Townsend are cleary not singing here! Not much organ either. But the definite and recognizable signature of Nektar is heard throughoutly, don't be afraid. The accent is put on guitar, but not in the heavy sense. The guitar are 95% soft and they pretty much escort the listener than lead.

Honestly, I was a bit sad to find this record a tad wishy-washy, a bit more fire and spice would've been nice. On the other side the melodies are growing on you the more and more you listen, as every good Nektar album should be.

If you thought Tab in the Ocean was too heavy and if Journey to the Center of the Eye was too trippy for you....consider this one.

I got this after enjoying Journey to the center of the eye. This is much different as the spacey elements that were heavy in the aforementioned album are largely toned down and instead, this is more of a hard rock/pure prog rock album. The lyrics are still well done and the musicianship is right on. This album boasts two side long tracks and deserve a place (along with journey) in all prog fans collection.

I'm finally into Nektar! Perhaps I'm too hasty now to review this after only two and half listens, but because I find it much simpler and closer to mainstream rock than I expected, let me share my thoughts freshly. (Edited a week later.) I assume the music stands well repeated listenings, in addition to the fact that one gets into it quite easily in the first round, but is it a true masterpiece of prog? It also could be seen as a bunch of good guitar-oriented rock songs camouflaged under the epic form without track separation (the new edition I borrowed - with some bonuses that just repeat the main album's passages - doesn't even name the subtitles). It may not give very much measured in quantity, but it's a fine rock album that sure progresses - and also I am by now VERY close to say it IS a masterpiece of prog.

There are some weirder prog passages, for example ending of Part One, but also some stuff I dislike. "You know that I can't stop it" -passage in 'Let It Grow' is for me a real anticlimax. The moments that I like the best remind me strongly of WISHBONE ASH but beat clearly an average Wishbone song. The taping I made for myself lasts only about 20 minutes but no doubt I'll enjoy it for a long time. "A bit overrated" and "Don't expect your mind to be blown by this music", I ended my review at first, but that was too negatively said. Almost every time I listen to it (skipping the moments I don't like), there's hunger to listen it again ot once. A solid 4*! (I'm afraid I won't be this kind to Recycled which I've listened just once now. But that will be another review.)

Disaster!!!

Well, not a complete disaster but ... I find the first track unlistenable.

Remember the Future pt1 is a complete embarrasment in the progressive rock world unless I am mistaken. It is a psycheledic trip of horrible musicianship, embarrasing solos, a completely terrible introduction, and mediocre melodies present. And I never review an album before listening to it at least 4 times. (1/10)

Remember the Future pt2 is a good improvement over the first track. While in the same vein... this one succeeds in being listenable. The melodies are stronger this time, and the musicianship is good. (7/10)

I am sure that if the sections of the songs are individual songs, they would have been terrible! I am really not fond of this album.

My Grade : D-

Remember the future in 2004

This is the all time winner of the NEKTAR studio releases and should have a high rated position in every prog rock collection. 'Remember the future' is a concept album about an alien called Bluebird who comes to mother earth. The production is brillant because it rrrrocks, has also psychedelic and jamming parts. And it never gets monotonous because it has a complex well organized structure. Albrightons guitar is not so dominant as in other NEKTAR productions and therefore the keyboard (Hammond) gets a better role.

I bought the bellaphon release maybe 10 years ago and when I put it into my player I was very very disappointed. The guitar was terribly mixed into the background (The label did not use the original album master - oh - please bring back my vinyl!).

But 'Remember the future' was fortunately reissued in 2004 by NEKTAR with a much better sound quality based on the original tapes. They also added 3 bonus tracks - nothing new - don't know if this is really necessary - we have just new edits from the existing stuff: a shorter outtake so called 'west german edit', 'Lonely roads' as the closing section of Part I and 'Let it grow' the same of Part II.

Highly recommended for all NEKTAR neebies ...

3.3/5.0

I've waited for some time before reviewing this album because I wanted to give it a real try. After the first listening, I was quite ready to throw it away in the "guitar- bass-drum-vocals-always-the-same-simple-stuff" but after reading all the good reviews here I thought it deserved to be listened again and again. True, it is repetitive. True, there is not much musical variety there and the structure is very common. True, the voice is somehow annoying. That said, after some listening I felt I was hypnotized and it felt very good. Beside all the negative points I just wrote, it must be said the album is very consistent from the beginning to the end and it flows very well, and it has a lot of emotion in it. It certainly gets better after some listening.

Overall, this is a very good addition to your collection, but it is not an essential progressive music album. If you like more commercial prog bands like Pink Floyd or King Crimson, you should give it a try. 3.3/5.0

One year ago i was looking for new bands, new albums, isaw he name of Nektar, it caught my attention, so i decided to download (sorry) some of their songs, for some strange reason, the first song that i downloaded was Remember the Future Pt. 2, i listened to it several times, because i like it, i remember i said, what a great song, it`s almost 20 minutes, so after this i wanted to know more about it, i mean, where does this song belong, in which album. Then i realized that Remember the Future Pt. 2 was indeed the second part (and the last one) of a self titled album, so i got excited because i had to search only one more song to complete a Nektar`s album, and finally i got it, but, is it good?

Yes, but not the best in my humble opinnion, this is not that masterpiece that seems to be, this album remind me another great albums which only have 2 songs, Pt 1 and Pt 2 for example Ommadawn or A Passion Play, Nektar is considered a psychedelic space metal band, not so far from the truth, but actually i find them as a blend of rock , psychedelic and even jazz.

Remember the Future Part. 1, has become my favorite of both, despite the first that i loved was Pt. 2, i think it combines nice moods, some changes in time and tempo, and i like very much the sound of drums, i think the drummer is a fine man, and he makes more easy the work for the listeners. Also we can find good vocal harmonies, and a rythm guitar, keyboards making a nice background and great lyrics, im not a man who prefer lyrics instead music (i think anyone) the point is that i dont use to focus in lyrics, is not that important for men, but here they are a very important part of the album. After all, this first part is great, i enjoy it a bit more than the second, but anyway the other is also good.

Remember the Future Pt. 2, as i said above, i have to choose one best and one least track, this is the least, but it is not bad, in fact this is another great song, again an epic, almost 20 minutes , creating a creative psychedelic sound, but in this case i dont like the guitars, it has a particular sound over the song, which is a bit annoying for me, the music is also great, freaking vocals, and nice skills.

This was my first Nektar`s experience, and i immediatley realized that it is not one of my favorite bands, it is something missing that i dont really know, but however i think this album is indispensable for any prog lover.

So how many stars? 5... NO,. 4 are good for it, but really 3.5!

Remember The Future is another superior concept piece from Nektar exhibiting yet further progression from their roots. Gone are the heavy and psychedelic Germanic riffs, intricate musicianship and complex Symphonic Prog structures, to be replaced by a more song based mainstream 'Americanized' sound. Backed by appropriately detailed and airy production values, this album is altogether lighter in feel and tone, its songs supported by foot-tapping funky or disco grooves.

In essence, Remember The Future is a single continuous 'song cycle', divided into two parts due to the needs of vinyl LPs. The suite comprises seven distinct conjoined songs, plus a couple of short instrumental links. These songs are self-contained musical compositions which flow together in a more or less natural manner, maintaining stylistic consistency while progressing the album's concept, rather like The Moody Blues achieved with their early concept works.

The sound can best be described as 'commercial' and smooth! Organ and bass smoothly support Albrighton's melodic guitar, which in turn provides suitable counter to his vocal. Indeed, this is a very 'vocal' album: songs are structured concisely, centred on his sweet vocals, often with lush harmonies playing an important role in the overall mix. Clearly, the progginess factor is somewhat diluted compared to its predecessors.

Musicianship is of a very high standard, as we might expect, but mostly understated and kept very sparse and simple without recourse to complex overdubs: a fundamental Prog Rock palette of guitar/organ/bass/drums is used almost exclusively throughout. Guitar is the principal instrument, not loud and heavy, but light and floating, mostly as a rhythm support, but occasionally performing a heavier riff, or even a lead solo. The other instruments simply fall into line - even the organ rarely rises to the surface, though when it does it makes a strong impression.

The story is about the nature of life and existence as told by a kind of re-incarnating misfit ('Bluebird') to someone to whom his abnormalities have no meaning - a blind boy. Bluebird appears to be a Christ-like figure who has to be crucified before being reborn in the boy. The boy absorbs stories of the past and future, the meaning of life, before becoming the future with the promise of eternal life. The story ends with Bluebird imparting some sound and thought-provoking advice.

For me, there are two stand-out songs. Title song Remember The Future is, at heart, a soft poppy number, but it is accompanied by the best instrumental parts of the album, including a repeated 'Remember The Future Theme' which is both melodic and heavy. At the end, turn up the volume for a stunning sudden flip-over to a short but evolving riff-tastic work-out. This fades to be replaced by a psychedelic instrumental piece alive with extended wah-wah guitar thrashing over rolling bass figures. Bliss!

The other stand-out is Lonely Roads [or Path Of Light] from the second section, which replaces the predominantly pop and funk material with a blues based song straight out of a Pink Floyd songbook. Slow and sedate, with some glorious bluesy guitar fills and organ figures to the fore, it establishes a mellow mood and a stately pace, Albrighton's emotional vocals exuding the melancholy in the lyrics. It even comes complete with an exquisite Gilmour-like guitar solo as a coda.

Nektar cannot be accused of standing still, as no two albums are alike. While this is clearly A Good Thing as it means they [and we] did not get stale, it also means they stray into territory some of us may wish they had left unexplored. Personally, I find Remember The Future's simplicity and poppiness wander uncomfortably close to the line of unacceptability, taking me to places I would not normally care to travel, successfully challenging my perception of my own musical preferences. That, too, has to be A Good Thing!

Dream Nebula's 2004 re-mastered edition is, as always, excellently presented with some in-depth liner notes to add to the lyric sheet. They also include three bonus tracks, all of which are edits of material from this album but add little to its value. For an album recorded during just a single week in August 1973, Remember The Future is a stimulating work of well crafted memorable songs performed superbly by a set of gifted musicians. While falling short of being a Prog classic, it is nevertheless highly recommended.

Definitely the most recognized glory for this english band of the seventies. As it happened for other english bands of that time (it mainly depended on the huge number of groups produced by the United Kingdom) - this was the case of Barclay James Harvest, for example - Nektar were "forced" to migrate to other foreign countries to build up wide success. And in fact they gained great popularity in Germany.

Then, with "Remember the Future" they gained great success even in the USA, reaching number 13 of the US' charts without the band ever have toured that country before.

The album is builded and arranged around two central musical themes, developed in a continuous unique track only split because of the well known temporal limits of vinyl (Remember the Future part 1 and part 2).

Even if the keyboards has an important role in Nektar, their sound is more electric guitar- based, so don't expect those spacey landscapes of other bands as Pink Floyd or Eloy. You neither won't listen to fast and particularly technical guitar's solos. That doesn't mean Roye Albright's instrument is less interesting and exciting. It goes from soft ballad as in the intro and in the section "Lonely Road" of part 2 to more hard rocker, distorted and quasi- psychedelic interludes as in the section starting from the 13th minutes of part 1. The arrengements are generally never too loud, sometimes pointing to symphonic prog, even in in a very sparse range of "contamination".

All in all this appears to be a special release, strong both for the instrumental and the vocal parts, interesting and convincing for the wise development of each single musical fragment and idea, able to please many exigent ears, even the most ones.

Special mention to the 2004 Eclectic remastered edition for its fresh sound and bonus material.

I had never heard of NEKTAR before until I read some reviews on their albums on Prog Archives, so I decided to get my hands on "Remember the Future".

NEKTAR is commonly mistaken to be a German band instead of a British band, probably because the band formed in Hamburg, Germany and their playing style which is influenced by Krautrock.

"Remember the Future - Part One" is a fine track which instantly makes you happy. A bit strange maybe, because a lot of prog-rock seems to be somewhat depressive. I'm not saying I don't like depressive songs, on the contrary! I usually prefer listening to depressing songs rather than listening to happy songs. Probably because depressive music often seems to be a lot more sophisticated.

"Remember the Future - Part 2" is another nice track with resemblance of Part 1.

I completely love the middle section of this track "Lonely Roads". This song sounds a bit more pessimistic and therefore more suited to me. I especially like the emotion in Roye Albrighton's voice and guitar!

Track 3, 4 and 5 are bonus tracks on the CD 2002 re-issue and can be seen as parts from "Remember the Future Parts I & II".

I would not call this album essential, because I had never heard of the band until just a few weeks ago and I wonder if they had great influence on other band, therefore I will rate it by 3,5 stars: An excellent addition to any prog music collection!

Nektar look to Duran Duran for concept, shock!

Nektar's fourth album finds them continuing to make decent music, while refining and clarifying their chosen direction. Consisting of just 2 tracks one on each side of the LP "Remember the future" is, perhaps predictably, a concept album. The concept is based around the experiences of a blue alien "Bluebird", and his encounters with a young blind boy. There are shades of the classic Jane Fonda film "Barbarella" (Duran Duran was the blind angel who took her under his wing), and a take people as you find them message.

While the tracks are long, the music is reasonably commercial, with pop like harmonies and often simple melodies. The repeating refrain of the title is very pop oriented. There are distinct similarities with the classic albums of the MOODY BLUES especially in the vocals. Instrumentally, the album follows the pattern of other Nektar albums, with spacy themes and psychedelic passages intermixing with more orthodox guitar and keyboard sections.

Part 2 begins with a light West Coast pop feel to the vocals. There is a striking similarity to HOME's excellent "The alchemist" album in the music, the guitar and harmonies being very reminiscent of that fine band. While the album stands well as a complete piece, part 2 comes across as the stronger in terms of structure and composition.

In all, another superb offering from Nektar, which once again begs the question, why did they never receive the recognition they unquestionably warranted.

The album is rather brief, especially part one which runs to a mere 16½ minutes. Incidentally, the various sub-section titles were presumably added later, as there is no mention of them on the LP or its sleeve.

I listened to this album a long time ago. It was bought by one of my brothers who liked it a lot and played it a lot, too.

I read the back cover credits of this album, and I was confused, because the album was recorded in Germany for a German record label. I first thought that this band was from Germany, but years later I read in the web that they were English musicians living, playing and recording in Germany. I also was surprised to read that they were a Progressive Rock band. Well, the story told in the lyrics and illustrated in the very good cover art made me think that, but this band sounds to me Prog in some places and in other places they don`t sound Prog for me. Anyway, this is a good band which is not really one of my favourites, but it`s good. They didn`t use many synthesizers and their keyboards sound was mainly done with the piano and the organ. The vocals sound more Hard Rock than Pog Rock for me. But the album sounds dated, IMO, in comparison to other albums recorded by other Prog bands like YES, Genesis, etc.

The L.P. copy that my brother bought in 1985 (in an used L.P.s shop) was released in the U.S. by Passport Records.

Oh, what a CD! The best Nektar ever done. While their previous work has been in a little psychedelic/hard rock vein, Remember The Future is their truly progressive opus: a concept album with one long song divided in 2 parts (actually the two sides of the old vinyl LPs). I was 15 at the time of its release and I was completely hooked since the first listening. Unfortunately I never bought the record, only listen to it at a friends house. And now, after 25 years without hearing a single note of it, I bought the remaster CD version and I find myself enjoying it now as much as I did in the past.

The band was in full swing at the time, being considered one of the most promising rising brithsh prog group in the early 70´s. And Remember The Future live up to that expectation. Great melodies, a tight sound, wonderful harmonies, a concept and storyline that really work. The band was quite bold, adding some beautiful harmony vocals not very common for an european prog band and great funky guitar licks. Somehow it worked better than anyone could expect. Even Roye Albringhton´s singing changed. While in the past his voice was ok, but not outstanding, on this record it reaches new heights. The guy really sings his ass off doing a magnificent interpretation of the characters. And the rest of the band is not far behind puting a great vocal suport every time the music calls for it. Amazing!

Remember The Future is a 70´s prog classic and my favourite Nektar album ever. It´s only fault is maybe the fact that it´s such a short record (only 35 minutes). But you´ll enjoy every second of it. After more than 30 years it is still relevant and beautiful. Not many concept albums can claim such a feat.

This NEKTAR album is a fine work which develops simple rock songs stickied together to make a "prog" epic structure. It has some nice energy in it, but it can get a bit boring sometimes. The first part has some memorable segments, and they rock pretty well in it.

I don't think this is "space" rock, for me it seems more like straightforward rock in epic shape. That doesn't matter though, since i'd never judge a band's work by if it is "prog", "spacey" or "straightforward". If you listen closely, you'll find a lot of good moments. My main problems with RTF are: the vocals, which are a bit irritating; and the simple fact that this album doesn't stand repeated listens. Anyway, ATITO is a better option for someone more into the prog side of things, as well as far as music quality goes that one is also much more interesting, since the title epic there is sublime. But i sure should admit that this may be a good intro to NEKTAR and to prog music in general, because if it is not "complex" or too elaborated prog, it is still nice to get people used to more long song structures. A nice rocker!

A SO-SO ALBUM! NOT A GREAT ONE!

A lot of NEKTAR fans think of REMEMBER THE FUTURE as the peak of their carreer! Yes, we have a beautiful prog cover, we have a ''story'' (please, let's not get into it) , a long suite covering the 2 sides of the LP, all the ingredients seem to be here to produce a great prog album, but not quite.

This is NOT complex music. Yes, there are different parts, some hard-rockish moments , some more moody,a little bit of space here and there but the musicians never let the music go. You have to wait the end of the first part after 14mns to hear a guitar solo. Everything is well constructed, maybe too much and sometimes, it becomes quite repetitive.

But what is not mentioned often are that the melodies are very weak, just listen to the beginning of the second part of the suite; sounds like radio friendly blue-eyes soul for american charts, nothing remotely prog. And this is not the end of the problem. This is a FUNKY album!!! not that there is anything wrong with funk as long as you like it, but listening funk music from the guys who came up with the A TAB IN THE OCEAN suite, that's quite a torture.

The album starts funky the first 5 minutes with all the bass hooks you can imagine, and the damage gets worst on the second part with funky songs at the beginning and finally you meet total horror at the end with this LET IT GROW!! Plain horrible!!!!You can see yourself listening to the Funkadelics in Detroit. That's not prog!!!

There are still some good parts; the ending of the first part is quite good, good organ, good guitar in the spirit of their great first album, somehow the middle of the second section is listenable, but that goes never very far in term of creativity or originality.

This sounds more like a funk band adding some prog touches to their music than the opposite: that bad!!!

2 STARS.

I see someone else who struggled with a rating on this one and another who struggled with calling Nektar a "second tier" band and I sympathize with both because I'm in the same boat. I feel the ratings for this one are on the high side and I just don't think Nektar is in the same league as some of their 70s prog peers.

Compositionally challenged compared to Yes and Genesis, well below Floyd in sheer beauty, and even a peg below Camel I'd have to say. This is not a bad album by any means, it has a wonderfully sci-fantasy 70s conceptual theme, it has some nice melodies and vocals, and it has a very warm organic sound. But to me it lacks real excitement and challenging changes and hooks. It flows in a relaxing manner and is very easy to enjoy as a rock album but it is quite one dimensional throughout both long pieces. There are some funky rock moments during the "Let it Grow" section near the end that really fall close to Spinal Tap territory for me. So for people who have a very deep 70s rock collection Nektar may be a very appropriate choice. For those with other musical interests just looking to have some classic period exposure I would say there are many albums to get to before this one.

So I'm in 3 star territory for Nektar, a pretty good album but certainly no masterpiece to my ears. Recommended to fans of easily assimilated early 70s fantasy rock with lots of laid back spacey electric guitar and pleasant choruses. Not recommended to prog fans looking for highly challenging or complex material.

Two sides. Two songs. Two stars.

I really can't be very much enthusiast about this album. So many four or even five stars rating. What's all the fuzz, really ?

It is a funky album, not a prog one. "Part One" is particularly hard to digest. Good moments will be scarce. The first half of it is particularly hard to bear. It gets a bit better during the second part while the hypnotic beat takes up and is mixed with some nice symphonic sections. Some hard-rock oriented music to follow and finally some psychedelic to finish (although also on the hard side).

This first part is too jam-oriented to be really interesting to my ears. As if "Nekatr" wanted to prolonged the experience of their very average "Sounds Like This". Two stars for this song.

Can we hope for an improvement with "Part Two" (but it isn't that difficult) ? Well, yes and no. It sounds fresher, more inspired during the intro but the first vocal part and its funky mood again brings us to "Part One" actually. These funky beats will reappear a little later. Part Two, will finally turn proggy during some brief moments. Vocals will be more harmonious, guitar more passionate. But it is only for a little while.

IMO, this album is seriously overrated. Two stars is all what it'll get from me. Stick to their debut one or to "A Tab in the Ocean". At least it is psyche and space-rock oriented. Which is precely why this band sits in this category.

Prepare to be underwhelmed.

I agree with ZowieZiggy--I just don't get what is memorable about this album. Remember the Future to me is the definition of average, with songwriting, vocals, guitar, keys. There's little changing of time signatures, no virtuosic playing, and very little creativity and uniqueness anywhere on this album. There are some psychadelic spots, some quasi-disco bits, and some hippy filler, and all are average, tame, uninspired, and any number of synonyms.

Part One. The intro is nice enough, especially if it was building to something memorable. Unfortunately, the main chorus (about eight minutes in, mind you) is repetitive and seems to lag in tempo. If there is a highlight, it's the conclusion, where they shift times a bit and do some cautious freaking out.

Part Two. Definitely higher quality throughout, especially in that this song is actually going somewhere worth waiting for. A happy, pleasant intro is reintroduced with an edge at the conclusion, which sets up the foot-tapping finale. Possibly a little to disco-y, but a few minutes I can admit to enjoying.

You won't love it, and you won't hate it. It's just decent, and that may be enough for you to warrant purchasing. If you really want your rock to progress, I recommend avoiding Remember the Future.

Nektar was a band that could be considered to have blended the British and German rock styles of its time, changing with every album and not really leaving us with a great idea of who they really were. Change is fine and can be exciting, but it seemed like they dabbled in different in-favour styles more than mastered or epitomized them. "Remember the Future" was the fantasy epic and one of the best of all their releases.

I preferred the vinyl version because it delicately carved up each side into separated tracks, which made it easier to enjoy. On CD one must contend with part 1 and 2. This would be fine if the seamless seguing was always a transition to something worthwhile, but here and there we have inferior sections that cannot be "skipped". In general I enjoy the vocal sections for their simplicity, fine acoustic and lead guitars, changes of tempo and style, especially the wistful and melodic "Wheel of Time", "Path of Light", "Recognition" and "Let it Grow". The title section is a bit soft poppy and boring, and some of the instrumentals are less competent, although the part that closes side 1 is interesting if a bit dated, and the opening for side 2 builds up to the best sequence of connected themes on the album.

Although "Remember the Past" might be a more apt title, and I can not call this a masterpiece, it is a classic and one I will always hold dear.

'Remember The Future' is the creative peak of a band doomed always to be considered as a lesser god in the pantheon of seventies prog rock. As such, many of you have the chance to hear something new from that period. It's a chance you should take.

NEKTAR don't do any one thing outstandingly well. Instead, they do everything with thorough competence and professionalism. This album is one track of two parts driven by guitar and vocals, and is a combination of gentle psychedelica and blues.

The song itself is well constructed, with no part outstaying its welcome. The album begins with some rather dated wah-wah guitar, but it's a signal you're firmly in psychedelic territory. The first three 'parts' are all melodic, based on the massed vocals of four of the five members, which are a significant improvement over previous albums. The group strikes an excellent balance between vocals and instruments. Then, after 12:50 minutes, comes the most obviously Germanic part of the album, a repetitive guitar motif that sounds like something TANGERINE DREAM would go on to develop, reminding me a great deal of tracks like 'Magical Meridian' from TD's 'Cyclone'. This is the album's 'freak-out' section. Following this, the first side closes rather abruptly.

Side two is more of the same, but with more memorable tunes. Two promo singles were culled from the album and appear on later versions of the CD, which indicates how successfully the band was able to integrate melodic sounds into this ambitious piece. There's some excellent musicianship in the 'Tomorrow Never Comes' part, eight minutes into Side two. There's a very good (if somewhat disconnected) guitar solo at the 12:30 mark, and the album finishes with the well-constructed 'Let It Grow'.

Overall the music does sound dated, but I'm guessing that's what many reading this review want: something to take them back to the seventies. This does exactly that, gently and with real skill, though with no outstanding moments. It beguiles rather than thrills the listener. This is an album to savour repeatedly.

Like nektar to my ears

This is a slightly psychedelic piece of conceptual, quite hard rocking music. Overall, this album reminds me a lot of Captain Beyond's excellent debut album from one year earlier. These two works share a similar structure, with the whole album making up basically one long piece of music with three or four different themes coming and going throughout. While the Captain Beyond album was divided into many shorter tracks, Remember The Future is only divided into two longer parts. But just like on Captain Beyond, some moments are soft and mellow, others are loud and hard rocking, yet others are funky or psychedelic.

The whole piece is well structured and carefully arranged and there is not much room for mindless improvisation, psychedelic jamming, or virtuoso soloing. The bass sound is loud and strong throughout. On some passages the bass guitar and the electric guitar remind me slightly of Chris Squire and Steve Howe respectively. It is hard to compare this album to works by other bands. Some say this is similar to Pink Floyd or Hawkwind, but not very much, in my opinion. This is a pretty unique band and much better, in my opinion, than early Floyd or Hawkwind.

The lead vocals are not the best, but certainly not bad either. However, the backing vocals are quite good and make up for whatever inadequacies the lead vocalist has. The lyrics are quite interesting and unusual. The instruments involved, however, are basically just the traditional ones - electric guitar, bass, drums and organ. So you will not find any flutes, violins or Moog synthesiser solos etc. here. The progressiveness of this music is in the composition and not in the instrumentation.

Nektar's best album and a minor classic, an excellent addition to any Prog collection

Some varied opinions about this album that's for sure. My first taste of NEKTAR was with their "Recycled" album which I didn't like at all and rated it at 2 stars. Because of my dislike for that one i've held off listening to anything else by the band for some time. Fast forward to 2009 and I decide to check out "A Tab In The Ocean" and I am pleasantly surprised. A 4 star album in my opinion. So I quickly move on to "Remember The Future", and while it certainly has it's moments there's not nearly enough of them to give it more then 3 stars. The album is made up of two side long suites with recurring themes.

"Remember The Future-Part One" is kind of spacey to open as organ comes in briefly then it turns jazzy. Vocals a minute in. It turns sort of dreamy before 4 minutes and the vocals are back. It's heavier with guitar 11 1/2 minutes in and organ joins in too. A calm after 13 minutes. Drums then start to lead the way and it turns psychedelic a minute later.

"Remember The future-Part Two" is mellow to start. It kicks in before 1 1/2 minutes. It's mellow again as contrasts continue. Vocal melodies 7 1/2 minutes in. Some raw guitar after 12 1/2 minutes is great. A change a minute later to a lighter jazzier sound. It kicks back in before 16 minutes.

This just seems more accessible and lighter to me. Nothing about this album gets me excited or makes me want to play it again.

I honestly don't remember this album having a strong reputation on PA; the only bit of excitement I had before purchasing a vinyl copy of the album is the fact that my dad owned this album on vinyl until the mid 90's (I was around 8 years old) when vinyls were thought to be a dead medium. Well, I picked this up on a $5 US price tag and somehow, some way ended up with well more than I paid for.

REMEMBER THE FUTURE is a one song epic album split into ten parts. The vinyl I own has the grooves marked at about where each section transitions into another. This makes it easy for me to find a part that I like relatively easily, but to be honest, it's almost a sin if I don't listen to the album in full. The overall flow of the album is simply fantastic as each theme is developed properly and any switch of themes is greatly appreciated rather than awkwardly forced.

The album combines various elements of funk, AOR, psychadelia, prog, rock and other things into a unique output. My pick for the best section is the ''Confusion'' section; a lot of prog things go down here in this psychadelic freak out, including Roye Albrighton's fantastic guitar work. Part One tends to be a bit more boring than Part Two only because the dynamic changes in the second half are more significant.

An underrated piece of psychadelic prog history.

Compared to the space-rock of Tab In The Ocean, Nektar now took Yes as their main source of inspiration. As usual with this kind of imitative approach, the copycat fails in comparison to almost anything the original released. But the failure is far from dramatic here and Nektar sure doesn't have to be ashamed about this deserving attempt to be the next big prog thing.

Part one starts with an adequate Yes-y opening. It gradually becomes dreamier and offers nicely mellow psychedelic sympho with some soft-jazzy touches. They even remind me of the early Camel, so the Canterbury scene must have provided some ideas as well. At the very end, a disconnected bit with looping interwoven guitars fades in. Quite nice and a reason for space-fans to check out this album.

The second part is quite different. There are still some traces of Yes, most notably in the guitars, but the sung parts have changed to more regular classic rock type chords and melodies. Rather cliché and even cheesy at times. After a funky bit, things mellow out into a nice mellow ballad with a sure appeal to fans of Camel's Moonmadness. I also enjoy the funky bit at the end but overall the entire track feels like a couple of separate tracks that were mashed together only for the sake of having a side-long track. A sure commercial thing to do in those days. Not bad. Not too good neither.

I'm not sure if I like this or Recycled better. Either way they are the only two Nektar albums that grabbed my attention. This band likes to change their sound every album. Remember The Future sounds like a mix of Yes and Pink Floyd, with a hint of Beatles and Hendrix. It's great 70s rock but it's mediocre prog. I've never heard another two-song album where one song was completely superior to the other one in everyway. That's the situation here as Part 2 just destroys Part 1.

The members of Nektar were Brits who moved to Germany, but their music never sounded like Krautrock. In many ways they sound 'behind the times'. The reliance on wah-wah and Hammond for example. The latter is the only keyboard on here unless I missed some piano or something. This was recorded in 1973 but could have easily been from 1970-71. It's really well done but it's nothing to text home about. Lots of good melodies and riffs.

The music rawks, it can be funky, it can get spacey. There is some nice vocal harmonies on Part 2. I like how the album sounds like what it is: little minisongs all sequed together. You know they are different sections but they are linked in such a way that you would not want to listen to them individually. The whole is greater than the sum of it's parts...that sort of thing.

If Remember The Future Part 2 was on one side of an album, and the best songs from Recycled were on the other side...that would be a 5 star album. These guys are very inconsistent. I don't know if they have any compilations or not but all most people would need from these guys would fit on one 80 minute CD. Part 2=4.5 stars. Part 1=2 stars. A good album but there are many better. 3 stars.

My first Nektar album--introduced to my by my local pop radio station! (They were into playing shorter prog songs to promote upcoming local concert appearances: Yes, Pavlov's Dog, Nektar, Ambrosia and others were heard during 75-76.) the 'songs' "Remember the Future" and "Bluebird" were extracted for radio play in order to promote an upcoming tour at a brand new outdoor concert venue. While I now own several versions of this album, the original American vinyl release--with it's four separated 'songs' per side--is still a favorite. I do recognize that the album was really meant to be one continuous play and that each and every song bleeds into the next.

Anyway, to this day I have a distinct attachment to Nektar--and especially to the guitar work of much under-appreciated Roye Albrighton. Though Pink Floyd, Hawkwind, The Eloy, and Ozrics Tentacles reign supreme atop the list of Psychedelic/Space Rockers, I hold firm that, for me, aside from Tangerine Dream and Brian Eno, there is no group out there that took me farther into an altered state of outer space than Nektar.

Very good album from the 70s ...

This classic album by Nektar was quite phenomenal by the time it was released. Unfortunately I did not pay enough attention to the album as by that time I was quite "busy" enjoying the music of Genesis whom at the same year released concept album as well 'The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway' and also other bands like Pink Floyd, Gentle Giant, Yes, King Crimson. Ranked against other bands like I mention, Nektar was not in priority list to listen. So, I only played the album occasionally. Yes, Nektar was quite famous at that time because one of its songs was featured in a compilation cassette 'Rock Vibration 2' published by local magazine Aktuil. Most people who live in the 70s in my country knew very well Nektar at least from that compilation cassette.

'Remember The Future' is a very good album as the music flows nicely from every segment in the fisrt epic continued beautifully to the next epic (part2) of the music. The music is quite predominated by psychedelic sort of style even though there are some passages with classic rock style - especially the guitar part. There are changes of style as well as tempo as the music moves but most of them are managed smoothly so that we don't hear any sudden or abrupt changes in mode or style. If you like the kind of 70s music, of course you will enjoy this album as well. When it comes to taste, I'd better like the second part than the first. I can imagine if I have the vinyl, I might play the side 2 more than the side 1. But in digital era, we are so fortunate that we can enjoy the two parts like one cohesive whole. Now, talking about cohesiveness, this album has it all because you can taste the music nicely from start to end without being shocked by unplanned changes in styles or moods. Well, you can feel so during the part 2 of the album as the music moves in crescendo at approximately minute 8 of the part 2 music. There are some guitar fills that remind me to Steve Hackett as well even though they sound simpler than Hackett's. You can find also Floydian guitar work at this Part 2. It's enjoyable, really.

When this album is compared to 'Lamb Lies Down' or 'Dark Side of The Moon' or 'Close to The Edge' or 'Thick as a Brick' it's less challenging. However, I still consider this is a very good album from Nektar from its 70s archive. If you love prog music in 70s, you must have this album. 3.5 out of 5 stars. Keep on proggin' ...!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

Although it enjoys an enviable reputation, I have to say that I don't think Remember the Future is in the top tier of Nektar's albums. Taking a leaf from Jethro Tull's book, the group try to stretch a song across an entire album, only for a lack of material to become evident - by the last couple of minutes the song descends into fairly pedestrian hard rock, and the rest of the album just doesn't have the richness or diversity of Thick as a Brick, or even A Passion Play. The band's symphonic masterpiece would come later in the form of the brilliant first side of Recycled, but Remember the Future finds them not quite there yet, and could have done with an editing pass to trim back the filler.

"Remember the Future" is a sensational Nektar album, hailed as one of the masterpieces along with "A Tab in the Ocean". The band were at their most creative on this early release with massive epics to revel in and incredible virtuoso performaces throughout. The legions of Nektar fans will swear that this is the album to get hold of along with "Tab" and of course the band always gave reverence to these albums, playing tracks from them on the live stage for decades.

My first taste of Nektar was on the live DVD and the epic 'Remember the Future' track immediately drew me in. The subtle light textures counterbalanced with awesome guitar riffs was like Pink Floyd meets Yes. There is never a dull moment and the epic must stand as one of the all time greats alongside their other masterpiece 'A Tab in the Ocean'. The vocals are gentle and very well sung by Roye Albrighton also fantastic on lead guitar, and mention must be made of the amazing keyboard skills of Allan Freeman. The bass is performed well by Derek Moore, and the ever reliable percussionist Ron Howden keeps things together. The unseen fifth member of the band was Mick Brockett on the psychedelic lights, mentioned on the album sleeve because he had such an integral role to play at the time with the light show that became Nektar's trademark on the live stage.

The epic is cut into many parts but it really blends together as a multi movment suite. Some parts are more memorable than others such as the section at 11 ½ minutes with some terrific keyboard over a driving fuzz guitar riff. The time sigs change many times but there is a main motif that keeps returning with a 4/3/3 signature. It fades and a new part fades up with a spacey atmosphere. The drum triplets come in with organ and a frenetic bassline. This provides a background for some psychedelic phased wah-wah lead work from Albrighton. The band really take off and at 15:20 and it becomes quite absorbing with psychedelic swirls and a pulsing bassline.

Part 2 of the epic on side 2 begins gently with clean guitar and keys. The tempo is upbeat and then a harmony of voices comes in, "I can see you, I can hear you." The section known as 'Questions and Answers' begins with the serene voices and dreamy melodies. Albrighton's voice is more forceful on this song. The song has changed completely here from the beginning. I love the section at 8 minutes where the tempo quickens on 'Tomorrow Never Comes' and the layered harmonies are uplifting. The guitar work her is exemplary really adding strength to the melodies. The lyrics are fairly pedestrian; "Walking down lonely roads, what do I see, won't be long till we come again." This piece of the epic is edited into a single and features as a bonus track called 'Lonely Roads'.

The melody to follow is memorable especially as it features on the "Live Nektar" DVD. The lead break at 12:40 is one of the best on the album. At 13:50 a new song begins with a cool funkadelic rhythm known as 'Let It Grow' and it is a catchy thing worthy of a single and indeed it was a single in edited form, also a bonus track on the CD remaster. It is perhaps the best section on the album. It is nice to listen to all the edited tracks at the end too as bonuses, bringing back the memorable tunes once more in an expurgated friendly format, rather than wading through all the sub sections to find them.

In conclusion, the album was a great magnum opus for Nektar though not as full of masterful music as "A Tab in the Ocean". The band are still renowned for excellent music such as this album and the Nektar trilogy "A Tab In The Ocean", "Journey To The Center Of The Eye", and "Recycled". All are essential Nektar albums and are hailed as prog classics.

This has to be my favorite Nektar album. It all came togetherso perfectly. The progressive nature of the Nektar never seemed more prosperous than here. At least in my opinion. Nektar is one of those bands unfortunately enough partly forgotten, partly ignored. Their albums are all worthy several spins and offer great music.

As always, making one track (or in this case two) ranging over 10 minutes, and as on this album, nearly double that time, takes skill and genius and Nektar possesses both. They manage to make these two sidelong tracks feel short, like a regular 5-minute song. I guess the secret lies in the changes of melodies and riffs and the re-occuring themes. But that's not the whole secret, just partly. The greatest secret is Nektar itself who makes the music so worth while, never allowing it to grow boring, disoriented or in other ways lose focus or the listener. That's truly genius.

4,5 stars, in my book and an obvious buy.

Every so often I find an album that I not only really enjoy listening to completely through from start to finish but also find myself with the music stuck in my head when I wake up, thus making me want to listen to the album yet again. Nektar's 'Remember the Future' has surprisingly become such an album.

After 'A Tab in the Ocean', this became my second purchase of Nektar's music. Initially, 'Tab' had left me with a decently good impression but had not inspired me to order more Nektar albums just yet. However, some months later I found myself enjoying the album more and I decided on buying 'Remember the Future' over 'Recycled' only because it was a little cheaper. As a concept album containing only one song divided into ten parts which are all segued together save for the break between sides one and two, this album already seemed fated to rare plays simply because of the time it demanded. I couldn't just pick a couple of favourites to play during my on-foot and in-transit commutes during the day; I had to commit to at least one whole side. As such, I first listened to each side only twice and then tended to a couple of dozen other albums I acquired within the same three months, searching for new favourite songs to add to prog and metal playlists.

I came back to the album earlier this year and gave it an attentive listen and found I really enjoyed side one, parts a) to d). There are some great vocal melodies and the singing sounds very much in the mid-70's rock style, which I say with a compliment here. The music leans more toward the guitar this time round with the organ spending less time at the forefront. Apparently they put the guitar through Lesley cabinet speakers for the Hammond organ so the sound of the guitar is different and very pleasing. Side one alternates between melodic slower passages and more heavy rock passages with one part resembling Uriah Heep slightly. The close of side one is a spacey guitar effects solo that is pretty wild. I have to add that the rhythm section is wonderful with both bass and drums working hard to keep the background solidly strong and worthy of attention.

At first I thought side two was less exciting than side one because I felt there was less transition in tempo but listening more made me aware of some wonderful guitar bits and once again more of what made side one so pleasing. The last song really grooves with an early disco-style rhythm but with rock guitar. It's boogie time!

The length of each side is actually very manageable with side one just under 17 minutes and side two a little over 19 minutes. Unlike some great double disc concept albums that are like the audio version of a feature length film, I can get through 'Remember the Future' well before my commute to work is over and still have time to enjoy reading or perhaps some other songs from playlists in my iPhone.

I bought the remastered double disc edition of this album and the second disc includes a 9- minute radio edit version of the album. The first couple of times I listened to it, I thought this was a great substitute for the whole album as it had most of my favourite parts with some of the longer sections edited down. But after really becoming acquainted with the album I noticed that a lot of good music was missing. There is also a collection of songs called 'The Boston Tapes' which were early recordings by Nektar back in around 1970. These reveal a more usual rock band and don't really hint anything about the great band that would give us 'A Tab in the Ocean', 'Remember the Future', and 'Recycled'.

A final note on the music, it's very tight and well-executed with some wonderful performances by all. But as far as progressive rock goes, it seems to be progressive in that the group were striving to create a full, stand-alone album with some excellent music that has some wicked abrupt changes in tempo and atmosphere. However, it doesn't have the more progressive attributes that one finds on albums by Yes, Genesis, Gentle Giant, King Crimson, ELP, or even Jethro Tull. Still, it's well above the standard rock fare of the same era. Since coming to appreciate this album, I have purchased 'Recycled' and 'Sounds Like This' but not even 'Recycled' comes as close as 'Remember' to winning my favour. A strong four stars from me for prog. But I'd give it a full five for a rock music album.

Third album by Nektar ''...Sounds like this'' was released in 1973 and was a somewhat jamming effort with countless psych soloing on guitar and organ, leading to controversial critics and mixed reviews.Apparently they were compared to Man at the time, a band with which they travelled in England and gained a contract with the United Artists label.''...Sounds like this'' was also the first work of Nektar to be published in the States, followed in 1974 by ''Remember the future'', the fourth overall work of the band, which saw Nektar visit UK and recording the album at the Chipping Norton Studio in Oxfordshire.It was a concept effort, dealing with a blind boy, who comes in a touch with an extraterrestrial.The album was released on Bellaphon in Germany, Passport Records in the USA and United Artists in the UK.

This was a much more melodic offering by the band, showing a return to the sound of ''A Tab in the ocean'', albeit in a less grandiose and powerful package.The album consists of two long epics, placed in each side of the original issue, the 17-min. ''Remember the future part I'' being propably the best of the two.It sounds like the past and present PINK FLOYD sound mixed with some GENESIS symphonic overtones in the opening organ themes and a few YES touches in the quirky guitar parts.But most of all this is very good Psychedelic/Prog Rock with a deep sense of melody, written with the unique style of NEKTAR, offered in mid-paced grooves, polyphonic harmonies and changing climates, where laid-back tunes meet groovier and more emphatic passages, built on guitar and keyboards, closing with a great psych jam on organ and guitars.Very tight and convincing stuff.''''Remember the future part II'' is a bit more diverse and progressive in sounds and sights, it goes from a melodic, almost Canterbury-styled Prog Rock in the vein of CARAVAN to a dynamic organ-based style in a Kraut Rock enviroment and every possible range of power inbetween, always revisiting some of the PINK FLOYD-ian moods and even flirting with the more spacey stylings of HAWKWIND.Again the music is led by the solid rhythm section, the personal guitar touches of Roye Albrighton and the omnipreesent organ of Allan Freeman , being mostly pretty melodic and rhythmic with soft textures and occasional harder moves.While the result is not always great, you can't do else than admire the cohesion of Nektar's music, the arrangements are very compact with impressive twists between more complex instrumentals and mellow tunes.

Pretty cool stuff, one of the albums, where the epics seem to last shorter than their actual length due to the impressive musical cohesion.Solid Psych/Prog in the vein of PINK FLOYD, CARAVAN and HAWKWIND.Strongly recommended...3.5 stars.

Remember the Future is a pleasing, melodic, and well executed album of space/symphonic prog by one of the era's more under rated groups. Nektar combines thoughtful compositions, enjoyable dynamics, ever shifting melodies and textures, and a unique instrumental sound that is put to enjoyable effect throughout this rather short concept album.

Telling the story of a cosmic traveler, known as the Bluebird, and his retelling of Earth's history through the eyes of a sensitive blind child, Remember the Future's concept is perfect for the band's style that combines spacey keyboard and guitar textures juxtaposed to rousing riffing and melodic bass lines. The band plays very well, and the ambitious songwriting is really the star of the show here. While Albrighton and Moore are impressive players, their performances are restrained and thoughtful. The same goes Howden's drumming and Freeman's understated keyboards, which feel very much part of the composition. Don't expect any big solo moments. The band works is very tight, creating an album that stands as a piece of art rather than a series of songs or exciting highlights. Interestingly, there really isn't very many psychedelic moments in this album; in fact, it's actually pretty upbeat and heavy.

Albrighton's vocals are passable, though the lyrics are thought-provoking and memorable. Another example of the "total package" that Remember the Future offers.

One of the few criticisms I have of this album is that it doesn't have the dramatic momentum or emotional hooks to make it resonate with me like, say, Yes' Relayer, released in the same year. Nektar has many strengths as a band, but creating music that really grabs you isn't one of them. I enjoy them because they sound different than some of the other more well known prog groups, and this is a great album to begin discovering them with.

While not a masterpiece, Remember the Future is an excellent release and should be explored by anyone interested in music from prog-rock's greatest era.

Songwriting: 4 - Instrumental Performances: 4 - Lyrics/Vocals: 3 - Style/Emotion/Replay: 4

It's honestly kinda rare for me to find a album I strangely find endearing. Obviously there are records I love and would if I had the chance to get them on a record and play them on my player, but there are very few albums I'd say are the best album I have heard, and strangely, I found myself with something kinda like that with this album. Remember the Future by the Progressive and Psychedelic Rock band Nektar is quite the interesting album. I have heard it 3 times now to fully form my thoughts around it, since this record it felt like I needed a bit more time to reflect on it. Usually I hear it once and than I go to reviewing it, but strangely it was difficult to start my review for the album, and I think I know why, but before that let's get out some of the goods, the bads, and the weirdness of this album.

The album really shines a lot. With two suites, it can really hone in on some great aspects and some great music. I love the whole more traditional rock sound, however it doesn't hammer the album down. You can clearly see some psychedelic sounds the band pulls, which gives the album some unique flavors and blends of the more accessible rock at the time, specifically the rock in America with acts like Kansas and Styx, and the psychedelic rock of Hawkwind and Eloy. Despite the band being born in Europe they really showcase a nice blend of the western side of things with their Europe side of things. The album is also very funky which I love. It has a sort of twang and danceable charm too it, and it's clear the band wants to be enjoyed and be sophisticated at the same time. I never felt bored when they go a bit slower and down to earth though, I actually feel the opposite. They are pretty and are good parts to already great songs to just relax and mellow down after some good music. I never feel bored when I hear this album.

So let's get into some mishaps of this album, and really why I was a bit stumped on how to review this album. After 3 listens, I never found much to say that'd be critics, but yet I know this album isn't perfect. So I'll try to find something, how about the vocals. I was mostly talking about the instrumentation and the sound you'd find on the album, but never the singing. The singing is alright, not the best but it feels like they are trying to imitate their contemporaries over in the American rock scene, which isn't bad just kinda feels unoriginal. It also sort of gets a bit messy at times, not so much to where it is noticeable at first but after a few listens I sort of saw a tad screws loose. Other than that, nothing much really. It's honestly kinda hard to review a good album over a bad album. With a bad album you can tear it apart, but with a good album finding a flaw is rather hard to do. It all boils down too, should I hear a bad album to make a good review or hear a good album to make a ok review. It's a bit of an dilemma really.

So I really loved this album, but I would not call it perfect, but it definitely gave me a bit of perspective of my reviews and a dilemma on what to do. Maybe the album's title means more than just important words for this concept album, but instead asking me or anyone really to remember the future, and to remember it for it's growth. Who can really say? I sure as hell can't but I can at least try.

NEKTAR's second album of 1973 which arrived a mere seven months after "?Sounds Like This," REMEMBER THE FUTURE proved to be the band's most successful album of its entire career. A concept album about a blind boy who can communicate with a extraterrestrial being known as Bluebird who narrates an uplifting tale and an optimism that proved to be the winning strategy at least in terms of popularity. The album featured a single track theme that was divided into two album cuts (due to the limitations of the original vinyl format) that were further broken down into shorter segments. The album provided a continuous stream of consciousness and was the band's highest charting album in both the US and Canada.

Throwing the usual curveball by delivering a completely different album that came before, NEKTAR seemed to be all about contrast. Was the band from England or Germany? Was it a space rock band? A prog one? Or hard rock? Well, the truth was somewhere in between for all of these matters with the ingredients simply being shuffled around on each album so that a different style dominated. While on "?Sounds Like This" NEKTAR focused on a loose heavier rock style that tamped down the prog and space rock attributes, REMEMBER THE FUTURE found the band attempting to balance the world of progressive rock with the easier pop musical sounds that included strong melodic hooks, more streamlined rock characteristics and in the case of this album, heavy doses of funk.

The opening "Part I" of the album long title track imitated previous album's intro tactics of a trippy intro but it doesn't take long until the music breaks into a major funk style making you think you've somehow slipped into an Earth, Wind & Fire album. The track wends and winds its way through four different segments that drift from the funk laden grooves to the hard rock guitar oriented tracks accompanied by the classic organ runs however the guitar riffs which seem to rely on a single memorable hook sound more like something that The Edgar Winter Band would've conjured up. As usual the band excels with the trippy intermissions that provide the interstitial connective tissue to bind the different suites together and these are the parts i find the most authentic in the style of the classic psychedelic space rock NEKTAR and provide the needed connection to its past.

The clear attempt to develop more accessible pop aspects seemed to be the band's modus operandi and as a transition album (along with its predecessor) into the world of more straight forward pop rock (which would emerge on the following "Down To Earth.") The album was clearly more inspired by popular pop rock bands as The Beatles and more soulful bands like Spooky Tooth than the world of Yes, Genesis and the band's previously most apparent influence, Pink Floyd. Despite the lengthy track the tracks were clearly shorter radio hit quality musical quality stitched into a larger tapestry of a concept. The two tracks really are indistinguishable as to where one begins and the other ends but more mainstream approach keeps it all humming along in a rather standard rock format for the era.

While this is considered one of NEKTAR's best albums, i have to say that i'm not very impressed by REMEMBER THE FUTURE for many reasons. While competent, it seems the band was trying to hard to balance its prog creds with a more accessible mainstream style and in the end the prog seems extremely watered down while the pop aspects sound extremely forced and dragged out. Add to that for a concept album with so many suites that supposedly narrate a larger theme, the music really doesn't vary that much and the monotony of a constant funk guitar sequence for the majority of the album is way too repetitive. Add to that the production is a bit flat even on the newer remastered versions so the original must've sounded particularly underwhelming.

It's certainly not a bad album and an entertaining listen but i find the claims of its status as NEKTAR's answer to Yes' "Tales From Topographic Oceans" or ELP's "Brain Salad Surgery" to be woefully exaggerated. Certainly a major step up from the dreadfully boring "?Sounds Like This" but a far cry from the magnanimous nature of the debut "Journey To The Centre Of The Eye" or the following "A Tab In The Ocean." The next (and last) decent prog album from NEKTAR wouldn't come until the 1975 "Recycled" and although REMEMBER THE FUTURE is most certainly a prog album, it just lacks so much of the vitality that its more varied prog albums exuded. Sure there are moments where the Pink Floyd space rock seeps in and the hard rock has its field day but overall this album would've benefited from a more robust infusion of creative mojo that just wasn't firing on all cylinders. A decent attempt but not an album i choose to revisit often.

Returning to the progressive vein they had left aside in their rough and rudimentary "...Sounds Like This", Nektar released in the same year (1973), one of their most mature and ambitious albums, "Remember the Future", the fourth in their discography. The relationship between a blue bird from another dimension, rejected for its appearance, and a blind boy to whom it transmits visions of the past and the future, serves as a conceptual theme to develop a unique suite with the same title as the album.

Divided into two major parts and ten sections, "Remember the Future" flows in a generally gentle atmosphere, prioritising melodic and rhythmic structures with brief experimental moments, rather than their usual exuberant displays of instrumental virtuosity. After Roye Albrighton's initial lively funky guitars and the vocal chorus of "a) Images of the Past", "Part I" is highlighted by the excellent harmonies of "b) Wheel of Time" guided by Albrighton's riffs and Allan Freeman's Hammond, and the guitarist's spatial ramblings supported by the persistent wall of sound generated by Freeman's keyboards and Ron Howden's percussion on "d) Conclusion".

"Part II", while maintaining the same character as the first, has a greater musical versatility, adding elements of jazz and blues, as in the accentuated "h. Tomorrow Never Comes" or in the arpeggiated half-time of the emotive and radiant "h. Path of Light" and Albrighton's vigorous solo, pieces that converge harmonically, until reaching the final stretch of the work that returns to the initial Funky sonorities in "i) Recognition" and the counterpoint between the singer's voice and his guitar, as well as in the conclusive "j) Let It Grow", giving a very good closing to the album.

"Remember the Future", undoubtedly one of the most representative works in the career of the Hamburg-based Englishmen, reached position 19 in the US Billboard charts, being, if not the biggest, one of Nektar's biggest commercial successes.

Very good.

3.5/4 stars