Nektar-...Sounds Like This (1973)

 "...Sounds Like This" is a rare bird within the discography of the British band Nektar, an album that shows a clear departure from the psychedelic and spacey side of works like "Journey to the Centre of the Eye", "A Tab in the Ocean", "Remember the Future", or "Recycled". With "...Sounds Like This", their third album, the English band attempted to infuse the energy of hard rock through the prominence of Roye Albrighton's distorted and raw guitar riffs, considerably increasing the volume and burying Allan Freeman's spectacular keyboards under his sonic blanket. In this release, the keyboards become mere instrumental support for the vast majority of the album's tracks. It is in the raw and primitive approach, at the expense of the usual structured and academic style, that the greatest appeal of this release lies, with tracks of marked instrumental improvisation such as "Good Day", which stands out for its continuous vocal refrain and the sounds of an arpeggiated guitar. The emotive "New Day Dawning", a clear nod to the Beatles, the bluesy "What Ya Gonna Do?", the expansive funk-rock "1-2-3-4", the lustful guitar of "Do You Believe in Magic", and the intense and epic bluesy "Odyssey", distanced them from the standard sounds of progressive rock. Although only for a brief period, this departure was initially poorly received by their most devoted fans for straying from the ordinary progressive canons, despite showcasing an interesting and more than valid take on the best incisive and sharp classic rock, something the British band would never repeat on any of their subsequent recordings.