I like A Tab In the Ocean a lot.

It reminds me of Argus by Wishbone Ash (Tab came first though).

M27Barney wrote: I Bought Recycled - and was VERY disappointed - very much a indie/pop album in my eyes! - It really put me off buying anything else to be honest!

That is really surprising, coming from one, whom I gather, is fond of many Neo-Prog and Sympho-Prog bands. I agree that Recycled is full of catchy hooks, almost quite 'commercial' sounding even. My thoughts are that Recycled is the most symphonic sounding of their albums, the music is very dense, the Moog arrangements (by Larry Fast) are dramatic. Some of the music can get complex at times too. I wish you would give it more time.
And like I mentioned in an earlier post, I don't think any 2 Nektar albums sounded the same.

M27Barney wrote: I Bought Recycled - and was VERY disappointed - very much a indie/pop album in my eyes! - It really put me off buying anything else to be honest!

And off in the distance, a dog's bark could be heard.

Aah !! I take side 1 as a 'song suite' of sorts - it does flow well enough, has some recurring themes, and a lyrical concept. Side 2 is more like 4 songs that stand on their own.
I didn't mean 'symphonic' per se, just 'sounding', which I guess is a rather 'thin' assumption, but the amazing moog arrangements kind of 'symphonise' the whole affair to my ears.
Marvellous Moses is the tip-top piece here, and that gorgeous end passage of the last track is perfect bliss.
And that mind-blowing cover..........
But having said that, I do think somewhat highly of Down To Earth, which you would probably find to be a pathetic album. I urge you to try Remember The Future, or A Tab In The Ocean, failing those, try the debut, if no connection, give up and move on.

The woman in the waterfall was Brooke Shields, FYI. 

^ It doesn't make that album any better than it is (a 3 star effort). You can almost hear Roye on the track 'Listen'. He gets a co-credit on that song.
The Live in New York album is great but has a weak sound (on LP anyway). In sore need of some bottom-end 'oomph'.

^ At last, someone sees the value in Man In The Moon
What ?? There's improvement on the Live In New York recordings ?? Great performances, marred by a very shallow and thin sound on the LP.
And honestly, they never repeated themselves album to album, but still sounded 'Nektar' - at least to my ears......

hieronymous wrote: Picked up Journey to the Center of the Eye - looks like an early German CD release, not one of the remasters. I like it! I've listened before - actually, the keyboardist in my band in college back in the late '80s turned me on to them - he had a lot of the stuff on vinyl - at that time, I borrowed Journey, Tab, RTF, Down to Earth, some album with a blue cover with a woman standing in a waterfall? Maybe even one of the live albums. Tab & RTF are what stuck out to me - I could never get into Down to Earth, I am just not into the circus theme. But back to Journey to the Center of the Eye - it is more raw than Tab or RTF, both musically and production-wise. More spacey, atmospheric sections - reminded me of the Syd Barrett/Daevid Allen slide-guitar stuff - a lot less "songs" with vocals - the keyboards seem more present. One thing that struck me is that Nektar isn't a virtuoso band - you don't listen for the soloing, it's more the mood and atmosphere that they create, at least in the early period through RTF. I also realized that I have the live in New York album! I picked it up, listened once, then put it aside. Well, it appeared again so going to give that a listen soon.

I'm happy to hear someone newly discovered Journey to the Center of the Eye. It reminded me of Amon Düül II, then again, like you, both remind me a bit of Syd Barrett. It's not just the slide guitar but the use of analog delay too. Unlike Journey...Eye, Interstellar Overdrive gets me weirded out, though.

Man In The Moon is a bit more Arena-Rock oriented (and dare I say 'commercial') but sports some excellent moments. I had no trouble digging this from the first listen, but then I don't mind some AOR or New-Wave music in my listening diet.
The next album of Nektar's I have is the most recent Time Machine, which I am really satisfied with - having said, the LP version which I obtained has culled 3 or 4 tracks from the full CD release, and I believe the ones they dropped are reputed to be weaker tracks. I haven't heard those, so I can't really say, but the tracks on the vinyl are mostly excellent. Having caught them live in mid-2013 whilst on holiday in NYC, was such a blast. Really rekindled my love of Nektar, which, at that point, been left behind by me in the wake of a lot new Prog I've been getting.

Recycled - seems side 1 is a perfectly conceived 'suite' of sorts - it flows along for 18 minutes (or whatever) flawlessly. Side 2 is more like 4 separate tracks on their own. Still, quite a special album regardless.....