Magic Is a Child was released in 1977, the debut for new Nektar guitarist Dave Nelson. Carrying on, though, from where their last set left off, Nektar's fascination with shorter, punchier songs continued unabated, even while the keyboards continued to swell and the guitars shifted ever more toward the symphonic. Nektar's brightening vistas were new, however, and a fatal flaw as far as their fans were concerned. They didn't want breezy pop, and breezy pop fans didn't want Nektar, while the band's new label, Polydor, apparently didn't care either way. The art department did spring for the 13-year-old Brooke Shields to appear on the front cover, but that was it in terms of promotion. Thematically, too, little about Magic Is a Child recalls Nektar's days as prog darlings…

For fans of Nektar, Van Der Graaf Generator and Progressive Rock! Formed in Germany in 1969, Nektar favored extended compositions and concept albums over the constraints of pop. They were among the progenitors of the progressive rock movement of the 1970s as well as the jam-band scene that arose in the late1990s. Their sound travelled well to the States, where they enjoyed Top 40 success with “A Tab in the Ocean” (1972) and “Remember the Future” (1973). Nearly 20 albums and a half-century later, the band’s artistic and personal charisma has earned them masses of devoted fans along with their latest album “The Other Side” (2020) which was Number 1 on Amazon Progressive Music.

While the instrumental alliances that take place throughout Recycled aren't nearly as solid as on Journey to the Center of the Eye or Remember the Future, the album still harbors some of Nektar's intergalactic progressive rock penchants, although a slight decline in the band's cohesion is apparent. Guitarist Roy Albrighton lacks his usual gusto on most of the tracks, but tends to show signs of earlier days on both "Flight to Reality" and "Automatic Horrorscope." What does hold strong is Nektar's ability to conjure up a science-fiction atmosphere through the unorthodox application of percussion, guitar, and keyboards. Tracks like "Unendless Imagination" and "Cybernetic Consumption" wallow in a futuristic amalgam of strings and synth, with Larry Fast working the keyboards this time around…

One thing you can not criticize Nektar for and that is making albums that sound the same. "Sounds Like This" was the result of a 2 day live in studio recording experiment without great gobs of editing and studio trickery.. They were pretty much just captured live and raw. The end result is still a very much psychedelic Nektar rock sound with a certain raw vibe throughout. The big problem with "Sounds Like This" was that it was sandwitched between "Tab In The Ocean" and "Remember The Future" and has forever been sadly greyed out by many in perspective. This might be really Nektar's most rock oriented album but still carries lots of progressive tendencies. This album was originally released as a double vinyl album and clocks in at about 75 mins and really does not stop from start to finish. Overall a superb album.

Depending on who you ask, this is either Nektar's greatest or worst album. As Albrighton explained later, it was the band's attempt to re-invent itself as someone else - like the Magical Mystery Tour. Old fans were appalled; but as the first album to get much airplay in the U.S., it brought in new fans who found it by far their most accessible work. Its progressive and funk elements are set around a demented circus theme, with the songs introduced by a loony Teutonic ringmaster. "That's Life," powered by chattering drums and a positively orgasmic Rickenbacker bass sound, is a standout of progressive rock showmanship. Delicate pieces like "Little Boy" and "Early Morning Clown" - where Albrighton uses rotating Leslie speakers to great effect - alternate with pub rockers like "Fidgety Queen" and the lumbering funk of "Nelly the Elephant"…

A Tab in the Ocean mirrors Nektar's first album, but only to a certain degree. While their sound still basks in lengthy keyboard passages and fantastic lyrics, the psychedelia is traded in for a more directional and established approach, with longer tracks and a tighter progressive structure. There's an obvious cohesiveness between the guitar and keyboard tandem, with an attempt at shaping a concept through the album's five tracks. Both the title track and the 19 minutes of "King of Twilight" are Tab in the Ocean's best examples of Nektar's maturing process, with sleek instrumental runs that taper off into the lyrics as opposed to a more improvised feel that surrounded their last album. A stronger influence can be felt on Roye Albrighton's guitar playing, which is more structural, and Derek Moore's basslines are sturdier and more expressive…

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…

This 50th Anniversary edition comprises 4 CDs and a multi-region Blu Ray disc and features a newly remastered original stereo mix of the album along with and additional two CDs featuring a previously unreleased concert recorded at the Stadthalle, Munster, Germany in January 1974 and stunning new 5.1 Surround Sound and Stereo mixes of the album from the original multi track tapes. Also included on the Blu ray disc are the original 1973 Quad mix and additional video content comprising of the rare 'Remember the Future' promotional film, the film of 'Wings' shown on BBC TVs Old Grey Whistle Test and a live performance of 'Desolation Valley / Waves' for the same TV show.

Newly remastered and expanded edition of the classic 1973 album ‘Sounds Like This’ by Nektar. This quartet of British musicians came together as Nektar in Hamburg, Germany in 1969. Roye Albrighton (guitar, vocals), Derek “Mo” Moore (bass, vocals), Allan “Taff” Freeman (keyboards) and Ron Howden (drums) first gained recognition in Germany with their imaginative Progressive/Space Rock sound and their highly impressive stage shows featuring lights by Mick Brockett and Keith Walters (who were also listed as band members).

Depending on who you ask, this is either Nektar's greatest or worst album. As Albrighton explained later, it was the band's attempt to re-invent itself as someone else – like the Magical Mystery Tour. Old fans were appalled; but as the first album to get much airplay in the U.S., it brought in new fans who found it by far their most accessible work. Its progressive and funk elements are set around a demented circus theme, with the songs introduced by a loony Teutonic ringmaster. "That's Life," powered by chattering drums and a positively orgasmic Rickenbacker bass sound, is a standout of progressive rock showmanship. Delicate pieces like "Little Boy" and "Early Morning Clown" – where Albrighton uses rotating Leslie speakers to great effect – alternate with pub rockers like "Fidgety Queen" and the lumbering funk of "Nelly the Elephant." For new fans, this album is the place to start; and if they're willing to take it on its own terms, old fans might find a place in their heart for it too.

A Tab in the Ocean mirrors Nektar's first album, but only to a certain degree. While their sound still basks in lengthy keyboard passages and fantastic lyrics, the psychedelia is traded in for a more directional and established approach, with longer tracks and a tighter progressive structure. There's an obvious cohesiveness between the guitar and keyboard tandem, with an attempt at shaping a concept through the album's five tracks. Both the title track and the 19 minutes of "King of Twilight" are Tab in the Ocean's best examples of Nektar's maturing process, with sleek instrumental runs that taper off into the lyrics as opposed to a more improvised feel that surrounded their last album. A stronger influence can be felt on Roye Albrighton's guitar playing, which is more structural, and Derek Moore's basslines are sturdier and more expressive…

…Sounds Like This is the third album from English progressive rock band Nektar, released in 1973. It was the first Nektar album to be released in their home country of the United Kingdom. An attempt to recreate the band's live sound, …Sounds Like This was largely improvised and dominated by extensive instrumental jamming, in contrast to their usual concept and composition-driven albums…

Classic psychedelic proggers Nektar update their sound while staying rooted in their origins for a surprisingly fresh release…

Hot 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…