THE OTHER SIDE

50 years of music, 15 studio albums, an amazing cartel of past and present musicians (some of them unfortunately not longer amongst us), immensely influential compositions?Nektar. What surprises me the most is that their latest studio album from 2020, The Other Side, its actually so good that is considered top 5 within their catalog, and believe me when I say that it is quite a strong catalog containing a few classic gems of the genre, that's how good this album is! Founder line-up is still represented by no other than the rhythmic section, Mr. Ron Howden on drums and percussion and Mr. Derek Moore on bass and vocals?how lucky we are! Galactic Lord-like powerful organ opens the album with I'm on Fire?I agree, they are! 21st Century psychedelic 70's rock, not so far from A Tab in the Ocean, Remember The Future or Recycled, outstanding guitar playing, unbeatable drum and bass and well suited keys, smartly chosen opener for their last studio album. PPP, pure prog power! And the production helps a lot to the flawless sound, proper of its era. Skywriter?this is how I wish a 2020 Beatles radio single would sound like, perfect! As if Lennon & McCartney would have joined Tommy Shaw and Dennis Deyoung for a recording session. Catchy hooks and choruses, memorable lyrical content?Chandla & Scott do such a wonderful job and are such a good addition to the band?Nektar deserves them, they deserve Nektar. The incredible epic, the astonishing 17 plus minutes track, Love Is / The Other Side? refreshing if we consider the melodies, the 80s feel behind the rhythm and tempo, with some vocal harmonies exploration, sometimes so familiar, sometimes kind of mysterious and even unexpected, even though there's not much surprises here, it rocks and it rolls in a prog and psychedelic way, like everything Nektar does, managing the long timing in a manner it just flows without even being noticed, easy listening but twisted enough to cause intrigue?yeah! Last 5 minutes deserve a place in the intergalactic radio, vein cutting guitar solo that just emphasizes the incredible connection between Mo and Ron, a 50 year long connection, and it shows. Drifting?the psychedelic and mellow mostly instrumental sinister ballad. A true gem inside the album, a true gem for the 2020 prog world, a true gem for music in a whole. Powerful more modern prog irrupts the scene with Devil's Door, combining Neo Prog with funky symphonic psychedelia, very Nektar style, back to early mid seventies?one of my favorites because its positive but still somehow mysterious. I really love the guitar work here, but the synth solo takes me to space and then opens the door for more guitar galore? 1 million thumbs up! The Light Beyond bruna exactly that, some light! A very welcomed instrumental passage involving various synth layers and playful crafting, necessary to properly digest the musical avalanche that preceded it. It Also helps the beautiful Look Thru Me to blend in, slower and mellow that everything heard so far, more storytelling in its concept and pleasantly acoustic. A nice place for Kendall Scott to showcase his talent and a perfect side A for the last song of the album, the even prettier Y Can't I Be More Like U, with impossible not-to-remember hooks and an extremely mature sound, experience is evident and these psychedelic prog veterans really know how to profit from it. Every instrument sounds fantastic and in strong cohesion, bringing all they have to the table, the ideas, the melodies and the greatness. I hope this line-up perdures and hopefully delivers more masterful music like this in the near future. THE END