Nektar - Journey to the Centre of the Eye - Genuine MINT 1971 First Pressing LP

	£		124
	$		164

Artist & Title: Nektar – Journey to the Centre of the Eye

Rare IMMACULATE MINT 1971 ORIGINAL BELLAPHON FIRST PRESSING 13-track vinyl LP - a fantastic debut album, and a fine example of the progressive rock opera; issued in a fully laminated gatefold picture sleeve. The record, cover and inner sleeve are all in ‘as new’ Mint condition and the record sounds as wonderful as ever. See pics. A very nice collector’s copy of the German based British prog-rockers’ debut album.
Highly desirable for its first pressing matrices and Mint condition, and increasingly difficult to find in ANY condition, this could be a once in a lifetime opportunity to add this extreme rarity to your collection at an extremely advantageous price.

Catalogue Number: Bellaphon/Bacillus Records ?– BLPS 19064

Release date: 1971

Overall Grade: Mint/Mint (LP/Cover)

Matrix (Runout): Side 1: BLPS 19064 A-2    Side 2: BLPS 19064 B

Notes:
This is the first release of this album, pressed and printed in Germany. There were no UK or US pressings.
Comes in a fully laminated gatefold cover and has the ‘unboxed’ Bellaphon logo at the top of the labels. Later pressings used a ‘boxed’ Ballaphon logo and had "Made in Germany by Bellaphon-Records" on the top-rim.

Recorded June - August 1971 in Cologne-Stommeln.

This stellar debut LP from Nektar is hardly ever offered for sale in this condition – if ever.

“An oft-overlooked exemplar of space-rock, Nektar’s Journey to the Centre of the Eye is a must-hear for fans of the genre.”

This is the extremely rare real thing: a genuine flawless MINT 1971 German first pressing. The record is in mint condition and the cover and inner sleeve are also in mint condition. All items are free from any major defects. See pics. All items are the genuine originals bought together by me in 1971 (in the UK), not reprints or replacements. The LP is the original 1971 German stereo LP as distributed in the UK, which was only played once or twice on top-end audiophile equipment and lovingly cared for.

‘“Although my mind is gently weeping” cries Nektar from their absolutely stunning Kraut-Rockish masterpiece of 1971.’

Nektar's debut album was one of their finest releases, saturated with abstract psychedelia and a wonderful science-fiction motif that is magnified through the rigorous but dazzling Mellotron of Allan Freeman and Roye Albrighton's nomadic guitar playing. Throughout Journey's 13 cuts, Nektar introduced their own sort of instrumental surrealism that radiated from both the vocals and from the intermingling of the haphazard drum and string work. With the synthesizer churning and boiling in front of Howden's percussive attack and Mick Brockett's "liquid lights," tracks like "Astronaut's Nightmare," "It's All in the Mind," and both "Dream Nebula" cuts teeter back and forth from mind-numbing, laid-back melodies to excitable, open-ended excursions of fantastical progressive rock. Just as Hawkwind was exploring the depths of outer space with their progressive tendencies on most of their albums, Journey to the Centre of the Eye musically probed the inner universe of the mind and body with its very own conceptual field trip. "Burn Out My Eyes" and "Warp Oversight" are let loose with buzz-saw vocals and hazy, undefined guitar chords which converge and fade into background rhythms, while the 54 seconds of "Look Inside Yourself" is a short, illusory voyage that ends too soon. Nektar's freewheeling sound is best felt on Journey and on their next three releases, as by the end of the decade, their progressive moods and ambient-like suites started to get harder and take on more of a mainstream feel.

This may be your only ONCE IN A LIFETIME chance to own this rare piece of music history in this condition.

 “A breathless, spinning, maddening concept record with guitars that roar and tremble like Blake's Rintrah, I consider Journey to the Centre of the Eye absolutely essential prog listening.”

Although Nektar enjoyed a steady if underrated career through the 1970s (and enjoyed a recent mini-revival with the Greatest Hits Live album plus studio work) it was their first two albums, Journey to the Centre of the Eye and Tab in the Ocean, which established them as one of the leading progressive rock exponents. Thereafter, pop crept in too pervasively, though Sounds Like This had some great tracks and a laudable commitment to spontaneity and energy. If A Tab in the ocean is a little more polished, Journey scores for its pure energy and willingness to abandon form in favour of some outrageous experimentation. It looks to the continent for its avant garde-ness; it looks to the UK for its blending of themes and rhythms, but like all great albums it is a unique stand-alone monument, and a 'must-have' for progressive rock enthusiasts.

A fantastic time warp example of this rarity in amazing condition, a true investment grade item - get it while you can!

AND IT MUST SELL IN THIS ONCE ONLY AUCTION

You can read more about this album and Nektar all over the web.

I pack my records professionally in stiff corrugated cruciform record boxes leaving the Vinyl (housed in anti-static bags) outside the Sleeve.

Postage discounts for multiple orders are available: £1 per additional LP, up to a maximum of 4, in the UK.
£4 per additional LP, up to a maximum of 4, in the Rest of the World.

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“Superb piece of vinyl - wonderfully packaged”

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