New fan of NEKTAR, but with a few questions?

[The Czar]

I have the REMEMBER THE FUTURE Purple Pyramid 2 disc version
Down to Earth new version on purple pyramid that just came out
and the Deluxe edition of Recycled from Cleopatra

Has Down to Earth other editions had lyrics? It seems silly to spend the money on a stupid slip case instead of including lyrics.

Are Cleopatra/Purple Pyramid releasing all their stuff? What is next?

And if they aren't releasing Tab in the Ocean, Sounds like this, and Magic is a child....what versions are the best?
I have read that the It's All About Music editions are just cdr's? Is that true?

I know all of this has probably been talked about before and I will do some research on my own, but I haven't posted on here in a long time...and hope to get back to checking this out again on a regular basis.

[The Czar]

I see that Magic is a Child is being released by Purple Pyramid on July 1st and there is a 6/18/2013 release date for Tab in the Ocean on vinyl, but does anyone know if they are going to release a version like the Dream Nebula one, with the two mixes of the album?

[Bruno Sampaio Barbosa]

The best versions are the ECLECTIC DISCS/Dream Nebula Recordings, Remastered & Expanded editions released 2004/2005. Remastered by Paschal Byrne and co-ordinated by Mark Powell (Esoteric Recordings)

[Progbear]

I had the original vinyl release of Down to Earth and it didn’t include lyrics, so I imagine the CD wouldn’t either (I just have the no-frills Bellaphon CD).

I agree that the Eclectic Discs versions are probably your best bet. I have the Eclectic versions of Tab and Recycled. These are a must, Tab because it includes the alternate US vinyl mix (done by Larry “Synergy” Fast), Recycled because it includes Geoff Emerick’s never before released original mix. Though it’s interesting to listen to for compare/contrast reasons, the released version is definitive.

Actually, except for the botch job on RTF (which was taken from the quad master, two channels are missing), the original Bellaphon CDs are not bad. As previously stated, though, no-frills packaging.

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MIKE (a.k.a. "Progbear")

‘“What blow, Goblin?” said Corinius.’ --E. R. Eddison

N.P.:nothing

[Mick]

Although there was no lyric sheet with Down to Earth, a songbook was available with all the music, guitar chords and lyrics from both DTE and Remember the Future. It was a limited edition with photographs which appeared in those Esoteric packages, but also long out of print.
It would have been really nice if Cleopatra had incorporated some of the songbook aspects with their re-release packaging of both albums, but as I no longer have any influence with the band or productions, lyrics from the songbook were probably overlooked, forgotten or ignored to reduce costs.
"Our" Dream Nebula series of remastered albums remains the definitive classic Nektar catalog, as their bonus features (including booklets and packaging) were excellent.

[veteranof1000psychicwars]

Although there was no lyric sheet with Down to Earth, a songbook was available with all the music, guitar chords and lyrics from both DTE and Remember the Future. It was a limited edition with photographs which appeared in those Esoteric packages, but also long out of print.
It would have been really nice if Cleopatra had incorporated some of the songbook aspects with their re-release packaging of both albums, but as I no longer have any influence with the band or productions, lyrics from the songbook were probably overlooked, forgotten or ignored to reduce costs.
"Our" Dream Nebula series of remastered albums remains the definitive classic Nektar catalog, as their bonus features (including booklets and packaging) were excellent.

I have a copy of the original songbook with lyrics and sheet music. As soon as l can locate it l will list it on eBay. It is mighty cool. Only one there is? Maybe!

[Casey]

Big Nektar fan, but I can't add to what has already been said.

You've raised a good question which really needs to be answered: CD or CD-R. I don't know how one tells one item from the other but there is one fellow on this site who has a great deal of technical expertise: Jeff Carney. Look him up, send him a message, & you're (hopefully) off to the races.

[Neil Palfreyman]

"Remember the Future" and "Journey to the Centre of the Eye" are also both available on Hybrid SACD with a surround sound mix on the SACD layer. Rare as rocking horse shit, but well picking up if you ever find copies at a reasonable price and have the means to play them.

[Obscured]

Down To Earth lyrics for those who care-
http://www.thenektarproject.com/lyrics/dte_lyrics.aspx

[old school]

As far as Remember The Future the remastered bellaphon from Germany is the way to go in my opinion! Then the Dream Nebulas are cool. I'm not a fan of Cleopatra Purple Pyramid versions they suck!

[bobert]

As far as Remember The Future the remastered bellaphon from Germany is the way to go in my opinion! Then the Dream Nebulas are cool.

Actually the Bellaphon remaster and the Dream Nebula remaster are one and the same.

[old school]

Actually the Bellaphon remaster and the Dream Nebula remaster are one and the same.

Yes but the Dream Nebula has 5.1 surround remix that I'm not to fond of!

[bobert]

Yes but the Dream Nebula has 5.1 surround remix that I'm not to fond of!

I was talking about the stereo mix which is what the remaster was done for (by Paschal Byrne). As for the "5.1" mix it isn't 5.1, its the old quad mix that was done in the 70's,they say in the liner notes that it was taken from the 1973 quad mix and then, and I quote, "the decision was made to manipulate this mix into 5.1". On my system, which is set up properly, nothing comes out of the center channel when I listen to the surround layer, it is quad. But to me it sounds good.

[The Czar]

Saying the Cleopatra versions suck doesn't help. Why?
I have the new 40th Ann Remember the Future and I think it sounds good.

...and now I might have to get the version with the quad mix

[Progbear]

Bellaphon’s Bacillus sub-label did a lot of quad releases in the seventies. Journey and RTF were both released in quad, and the “5.1 surround sound” mixes are just the quad mixes reprocessed for 5.1. Other quadrophonic releases on Bacillus (these had matrix numbers ending in “Q”):

• Message: From Books and Dreams
• Dzyan: Time Machine
• Krokodil: Sweat & Swim
• Nine Days Wonder: We Never Lost Control
• Omega: 200 Years After the Last War
• Tiger B. Smith: We’re the Tiger Bunch
• Nektar: Down to Earth
• Omega: Omega III
• Dzyan: Electric Silence
• Karthago: Rock & Roll Testament
• Nine Days Wonder: Only the Dancers

This list may be incomplete...

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MIKE (a.k.a. "Progbear")

"Siento que debemos saber para el sueño de quién brillará esta luz
o consagrar una propia estrella" --Alberto Felici

N.P.:nothing

[The Czar]

So is the 5.1 mix only available on SACD? or was it on DVD too?

[Mick]

So is the 5.1 mix only available on SACD? or was it on DVD too?

There was NO DVD, The 2004 Dream Nebula (Eclectic) release of JttCotE was a matrix SACD, which could play the stereo layer on a regular CD player OR the remixed quad layer on an SACD player.
That quad mix has the only COMPLETE version of the album the way it was originally recorded in the studio in 1971 (without any fades in or out during the second verse of the Dream Nebula track, heard between sides one and two of ALL the vinyl & cassette releases AND subsequent CDs).
When CDs came onto the scene in the late eighties, the only master of Journey available at Bellaphon was our "cut" stereo version with the faded second verse. The "quad" master surfaced in 2003 allowing the non-stop 45 minute version to be remixed. That special SACD version was the only release which contained an unbroken Dream Nebula track.

[The Czar]

That's a shame that the new Purple Pyramid version didn't have the 5.1 mix.
Mick, what are your thoughts on these new versions? Have you heard any of them?

The version of TAB that I want, is the one that is hard to find, and I hope they follow that one (the one with both mixes)

It has taken me a long time to come around to Nektar, I wish I had been a fan when I saw that version a few years back...but great things come to those who wait.

It's funny, because I was born in 1972...and I'm just now getting into Nektar!

What boggles my mind is that Recycled was recorded before Down to Earth, yet released after? That was the labels choice? What a bad choice.

[Progbear]

What boggles my mind is that Recycled was recorded before Down to Earth, yet released after? That was the labels choice? What a bad choice.

My guess is that because RTF was a big hit, they wanted to strike while the iron was hot. Record companies being record companies, they went with the album with more perceived commercial potential (DTE) instead of the one more like what made listeners like Nektar in the first place.

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MIKE (a.k.a. "Progbear")

“It doesn't get any more...like this. Than this.” --Anders Lundquist

N.P.:“Caos (Parte seconda)”-Area/Maledetti

[JeffCarney]

Nektar is a bit of a mess on CD.

The old Bellaphon CD versions of Journey and Tab are absolutely horrible. Journey sounds like somebody with tin ears mastered it for AM Radio. Tab is compressed to hell and super smiley-faced in the EQing. By contrast, the old Bellaphon CD of Recycled sounds wonderful. Bellaphon's foray into CD was really strange. Some of their discs sound fantastic, some are amongst the worst I've ever heard.

I haven't heard the new versions but I figured they were clones of the Eclectics. Those were no prize either but in most cases they were far better than the original CDs.

[Mick]

Jeff summed up the Bellaphon CD situation pretty well, but as I have niether seen nor heard ANY of the Cleopatra re-releases yet (I guess I'm not on Royes' list), I can't say which masters were used.
While I'm here, let me mention that DTE was recorded at Chipping Norton in March 1974 and Recycled was recorded at the Chateau in July 1975, so I don't know where the rumour of their reverse order began. Most of the "Sounds Like This" album was WRITTEN before Journey.
The 3 epic albums... Journey, RTF & Recycled had Tab, Sounds & DTE released in between them.
I was there for ALL of them.

[JeffCarney]

Original Bellaphon CDs that sound great and beat the Eclectics (IMO):

Sounds Like This
Recycled

The rest either sound like crap or I'm not sure about how they compare with the Eclectics.

[Progbear]

↑↑Incidentally, don’t expect any version of Sounds Like This to sound amazing. It was a live-in-the-studio recording and has always had poor sound quality (I used to own the original Bacillus vinyl). I wound up with the Bellaphon CD because it was cheap; this was always my least-liked album by the original lineup and I didn’t want to pay an arm and a leg for it on CD.

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MIKE (a.k.a. "Progbear")

"That's my purse! I don't know you!" --Bobby Hill

N.P.:“In a Glass House”-Gentle Giant

[JeffCarney]

↑↑Incidentally, don’t expect any version of Sounds Like This to sound amazing. It was a live-in-the-studio recording and has always had poor sound quality (I used to own the original Bacillus vinyl). I wound up with the Bellaphon CD because it was cheap; this was always my least-liked album by the original lineup and I didn’t want to pay an arm and a leg for it on CD.

Good point about SLT.

All I meant was that the original Bellaphon sounds pretty warm and very much like it was left alone in terms of mastering. OTOH, the Eclectic sounds a bit louder and dehissed, so it lacks the "life" that the original had. The Eclectic does come with a bonus disc, but frankly it is not up to typical Nektar standards and is not a top notch performance, IMO.

I also prefer the remix of Sunday Night Live At The Roundhouse to the original Bellaphon CD, but I'm not sure the Bellaphon CD represents how the original mix sounded very well. I suspect that like Tab it might have received a smiley-faced EQing from whoever did the CD transfer, but I haven't heard the vinyl for comparison. The remix also has lots of bonus tracks which makes it an easy choice, IMO.

[GuitarGeek]

I also prefer the remix of Sunday Night Live At The Roundhouse to the original Bellaphon CD, but I'm not sure the Bellaphon CD represents how the original mix sounded very well. I suspect that like Tab it might have received a smiley-faced EQing from whoever did the CD transfer, but I haven't heard the vinyl for comparison. The remix also has lots of bonus tracks which makes it an easy choice, IMO.

If I remember correctly, the original Sunday Night At The London Roundhouse album was split up between two different Eclectic releases: a couple of the tracks (the one that were actually recorded at the Roundhouse) appear on the Eclectic CD with the same title, and the others (taken from a "live in the studio" sesion) appeared on a CD called Unidentified Flying Abstract.