Evolution/Always

by Jo-Ann GreeneHot on the heels of a string of masterful remasters, restoring the entire Nektar back catalog to the shelves for the first time in 20-plus years, original bandmembers Roye Albrighton, Taff Freeman and Ron Howden were reconvened with recently enlisted bassist Randy Dembo, to record a new album that proves their evolution is more than just a theory. From the opening drive of "Camouflage to White" to the closing mini-epic "After the Fall," Evolution may still be recognizably the Nektar of yore, albeit with a more finely honed style and vision, but the modern sound and production insure the group are well-adapted for contemporary climes. Their old fans, however, will be pleased that the band still relies on building drifting mantras, most notably across the nearly-ten-minute "Phazed By the Storm," while their signature infusion of deep bluesy riffs juxtaposed against some genuinely startling hooks remains much in evidence. Of course, it would not be Nektar without some kind of thematic unity, and Evolution is certainly conceptual, with the set themed around an examination of man's own evolution and how our future development may well be determined by our effect on the earth's own ecology. "Dancin' Into the Void," neatly sums up the whole by delivering a prophesy of where we might be bound if things don't soon change. Shifting from lovely acoustic ballads to hard rockers, from orchestral offerings to proggy passages, Evolution streams across the stylistic spectrum, although its heart belongs to rock and its soul to the band's marvelous melodies.