JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EYE

Nektar's debut, Journey to the Centre of the Eye is a strong debut and is, in my opinion the best Nektar album. Where some of Nektar's later work gets a little bright and airy, JTTCOTE is dark and menacing. The firsts true song, Astronauts Nightmare, is a real stunner and a perfect example of a darker Nektar that wouldn't surface again. The album is also more spacey and ,though i'm loath to use the term, trippy. The only problem with the album seems to be the track arrangments. Following Astonaut's Nightmare are three instrumentals of varying effectiveness. However, because of their similarities in form, the sound redundant following each other so closely. The problem could've been helped by making less distinct track breaks and instead having them flow together to form a whole. The better of this tracks, Countenance and Daughters of the Sun would've been better served breaking up the lyrical passages seperatly (they are ideal for mixtapes). This is a minor problem however and the album is still excellent. A great one to take in on the whole or to accompany a nighted or rainy drive, and definetly the best place to start for a new fan.