TIME MACHINE

I honestly am rather unimpressed with this latest effort from Nektar. I was excited to hear it, and I always get a little fanboyish when someone names their album Time Machine, or something else that tickles my nerd fancy. However, this album is---the word I hate to use but have to in certain situations---boring, Now, I don't use that word often. I can always find something to enjoy and appreciate in just about any medium. Infamously (with my family anyways), I tend to love "boring movies". Yet, I usually find these offerings to have a charm that consists of introspective material. I love that.

Nektar's new album, though, doesn't have this. It's a straight up prog rock album that doesn't do anything new at all, and it doesn't even try. It has some good tracks and some fairly decent guitar work, but my overall opinion is "meh". The music also does not match the theme at all, as I can't stand it when an attempt at heady themes also involves little ditties. That doesn't work for me. The music doesn't match the mood similarly to how Shadow Circus' attempt at a concept album based on A Wrinkle in Time didn't have matching mood and music. That's a pretty good example, I think.

So, what we have here is an album that is mildly enjoyable, but rather flat and plain. It has some neat artwork and some cool moments, but it ultimately fails. It isn't, however, repulsive, so I'll give it 3 stars.