MAGIC IS A CHILD

"Magic is a child" was Nektar's first album without founding member Roye Albrighton on guitar and vocals. In his place comes Dave Nelson. Whether Nelson can be held responsible for the direction the band heads off in here is doubtful, but there is no doubt that there is a distinct move away from prog into prosaic AOR.

Things start of reasonably soundly, with the safe prog of "Away from Asgard", and the poetic ballad of the title track. Things take a decided dip though with "Eerie Lackawanna" and "Midnite light". For those familiar with STARCASTLE's sudden migration to AOR on "Real to Reel", the effect is similar here. The songs are far too lyrical with at best average melodies and a real dearth of instrumental breaks. By the time side one finishes, we seem to have drifted into AIR SUPPLY territory with "Love to share", a song whose concept borrows liberally from Cat Stevens' "Father and son".

Side two is an improvement, although the opening "Train from nowhere" is a bit too DOOBIE BROTHERS. "Listen", which was written by the band prior to Albrighton's departure, is clearly the best track on the album with some fine guitar work. The song has similarities with WISHBONE ASH's ballads such as "Everybody needs a friend". Unfortunately, that's as good as it gets, and we end with a further couple of nondescript pop rock pieces.

Given Nektar's lack of commercial success throughout their excellent prog period, it was perhaps inevitable that they would seek to move in a more commercial direction eventually. It is to their credit that it took until their seventh album for them to do so. It is probably no coincidence that the change came about when the band moved to Polydor records. Nevertheless, this is a poor album both by their standards, and indeed by any standards. It does have some redeeming features, but the overall impression is of a band who have run out of ideas, but who are desperate for commercial success. Nice sleeve by the way.

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