A TAB IN THE OCEAN

Nektar are one of the most iconic and recognized german bands in the progressive genre. They are famous for their strong psychedelic sound, being closer to the british sound than to the krautrock movement that was happening at the moment in Germany. For me, they sound like a mix between Yes, Pink Floyd and the more aggresive sounds from the hard rock movement in USA (Grand Funk Railroad, Foghat, Humble Pie, Cactus, Mountain...).

A Tab in the Ocean is probably their most known and appraised record. However, I don't think of it as highly as the majority of people. Yes, it is a good record, but nothing breathtaking in any way. The title song is a long-epic that has never catch my attention. It has some good riffs but I don't see it on the same level as other epics from the time.

Indeed, is in the second side of the LP where I find the most entertaining stuff. "Desolation Valley/Waves" is the best song from the album by far. In the first half they went full psychedelic mood, and the guitar solos are amazing. They remind me of the mighty Eddie Hazel from Funkadelic, one of the best psychedelic players of all time. The other two songs are good rocking prog songs, oriented in a more USA hard rock way than the songs before them.

Moreover, another thing I find rather mediocre from the album are the vocals, which are neither virtuous nor aggressive enough to be interesting to me. The only instrumental performance that I found above average is the guitar, being Roye Albrighton a very good guitarist but a rather mediocre vocalist.