JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EYE

My longstanding favourite was The Dark Side of The Moon. It always made me feel like I was floating in the stratosphere, away from the entire world. But Journey, literally blew me off to a different galaxy. I had never felt so immersed and in sync with a piece of music quite like this before hearing it for the first time a couple of months back. Whether it is the obsolutely top-notch production( super impressive if you consider the era and the band's resources at the time imo), the screaming reverb-and-delay-fuelled guitars, the powerful yet gentle vocals, the naive lyrics which I always find a way to relate to, or the superb work on the keys, I find the overall sound very full and dense, in the best possible way.

From the very first listen, from the very first seconds, I realized this wouldn't be just another prog album with an intresting album cover. It starts with a creepy intro, but doesn't take long in introducing the spacey atmosphere. The third track "Countenance" is forever engraved in my heart. One time I was so immersed into the music, my forehead and belly were actually went numb for a few seconds. I am not joking you. Then the album takes an instrumental and exprimental turn, which I admire for how abstract it is while still being a part of constructing the mood. Then, The Dream Nebula suddenly bursts on and sets the direction for the rest of the album. Following is an amazing second side with many twists and turns, gorgeous melodies and emotional vocals. Eventually after such a Journey(pun intended), it all ends where it started, with a beautiful reprise of 'Astronaut's Nightmare" 's main melody.

The entire record is very cohesive and trully serves as a 40 minute continuous piece. In general, I believe Nektar is a band that can offer a lot to any listener throughout its discography, I think there is something for everyone to really enjoy within it. I absolutely love 'A Tab in the Ocean' and 'Remember The Future', but 'Journey' has that extra touch for me. There are moments where my whole life flashes right in front of me. Where so many emotions are created by what I am hearing that I only listen to it every little while because that's how sacred it is to me. I believe it is at least worth a try, even if the space rock/krautrock combination doesn't sound like your cup of tea. I am forever grateful to Nektar and the entire team behind this album for their wonderful creation.

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