Recycled is definitely one of the best albums Nektar ever released. Given the competition that says a lot. Now it's gotten this deluxe five-CD edition. The first disc features a new remaster of the album with two bonus tracks. The second disc includes an original mix of the album that was never released. The other three CDs include a couple live shows from 1976.

This all comes in a cardboard clamshell box. It includes a great booklet, and each CD comes in its own cardboard sleeve. This is well worth having if just for the live recordings. Personally, I think it's worthwhile for the other two discs, as well. I have previously reviewed the album itself, and since the music is the same, I've used the earlier track reviews for the sake of consistency.

This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) form in Music Street Journal: 2024  Volume 3 More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2024.

Beginning much like a hybrid of Yes and Genesis, it eventually gives way to more wholly Yes type approach, though not really derivative.

Starting in a poetic Moody Blues/Hawkwind type fashion, this song evolves into a more Yes style approach. This a very kinetic piece.

This song contains a very dramatic build up leading into a recurrence of the opening theme.

Containing some rather Steve Howeish guitar work and some nice choral vocals, this piece contains a bit more of the main theme, but in a more dramatic and symphonic treatment. "Unendless Imaginations" leads into a nice textural sort of section that carries into the next piece/movement.

Beginning with the same textural feel that the last song introduced, this one moves into new ground, while still evoking (to an extent) some of the earlier themes. Sao Paulo Sunrise contains a section which is one of the most mainstream and straight-forward portions of the album, while actually imparting an almost Zappaesque feel.

Starting with another return to an earlier theme, this one quickly moves into the main body of the piece which is at one time both mainstream and quirky as hell. The bass work is prominent on this piece. At one point the song moves into a very dramatic instrumental break before returning to the main body of the movement. Eventually the music is brought down to prepare for the nice calm opening of the final portion of the album.

While there are differences here, and the songs are all a few seconds longer than on the final version, this is close enough that I've used the track reviews from the other version. It's also similarly magical as far as I'm concerned. At times this does feel more aligned with space rock. At others there is a bit more organic vibe.

Bringing to mind other progressive sounds, most notably ELP and Kansas, "Cybernetic Consumption" most reminds me of Drama era Yes, although it predates Drama by about five years.

Starting in a poetic Moody Blues/Hawkwind type fashion, this song evolves into a more Yes style approach. This a very kinetic piece.

This song contains a very dramatic build up leading into a recurrence of the opening theme.

Beginning with the same textural feel that the last song introduced, this one moves into new ground, while still evoking (to an extent) some of the earlier themes. Sao Paulo Sunrise contains a section which is one of the most mainstream and straight-forward portions of the album, while actually imparting an almost Zappaesque feel.

Starting with another return to an earlier theme, this one quickly moves into the main body of the piece which is at one time both mainstream and quirky as hell. The bass work is prominent on this piece. At one point the song moves into a very dramatic instrumental break before returning to the main body of the movement. Eventually the music is brought down to prepare for the nice calm opening of the final portion of the album.

This live take feels a little rough, not only in recording and mix, but also in vocal delivery. There is some magic in the performance, though.

They seem to gel a little better here. This is a solid jam that works pretty well here. It's an improvement on the sound from the previous number.

This song works better than the two that came before it did. Given the last one, that says a lot, really.

This Nektar classic gets a cool live rendering. It's not the best thing here, but it works really well.

As this epic live take gets underway it suffers a little from sound issues. That resolves shortly, and the move the track forward with style. This is a classy version, but it does have some other rough moments in terms of the recording. It's a shame because it's such a stellar performance. I mean, it's great even with the tape issues. It would be positively surreal without them. The band gets introduced at the end.

This is a great closing shot. It's a strong live rendition, too. It does work into some noisy weirdness late.

This 13-minute epic is a real powerhouse of prog rock goodness. The recording is not without some issues, but it's better than that on the previous CD. In fact, it's largely blemish free. This live number just works so well.

Remember the Future was my introduction to Nektar, so I love hearing this live performance. They put in a stellar showing on it, and the sound, while not perfect, is pretty darned good.

They bring us into the Recycled zone with this driving prog rocking number. It's another great performance and a good, but not great, recording. I really love some of the jamming on this thing, particularly the keyboard work.

If anything, this is even better than the previous son. It works so well in this live take.

This disc closes with another compelling live rendition of a song from the main studio album.

This version of the instrumental we heard on the previous live set seems more polished, but I think I prefer the other performance. This has a bit a Genesis sound at times. It suffers a little early from recording issues.

On the other hand, I think I prefer this version of the song to the one on the other live show included here. It just seems a little more intense.

These movements from Remember the Future get great live representation here. I absolutely love these pieces of music, so this is one of the highlights for me.

Here we get a live telling of this epic selection. It does suffer a little at times because of the sound, but overall it works well, both performance and sound-wise. This is another highlight, and the whole "going down" section gets really intense.

I love this number from Remember the Future. The song is introduced as "I Can See You," but honestly the titles are in flux because that album is two songs, "Remember the Future" part one and part two. The other titles are given when movements are performed removed from the whole. This is a great song and an excellent performance. This has a strange noise fest at the end that doesn't really work for me, though.