Pink Floyd Thread - New Old Releases

[Rob McCow]

@ Nathan - I hope that's not going to be your only contribution to this thread!

[Wayne]

Slightly off-topic, but i watched the 'Pulse' dvd for the first time last week. What a great concert!

[Dave Tudor]

ATOM HEART MOTHER

Harvest SHVL 781
Released 10 October 1970 (UK, US: Harvest SKAO-382)
Highest UK Chart Position: 1 (18 weeks on chart)
Highest US Chart Position: 55

Special thanks to: John Aldiss Choir
Engineers: Peter Bown, Allan Parsons
Cover design & photos by Hipgnosis
Produced by Pink Floyd
Executive Producer: Norman Smith
Recorded at EMI Studios – Abbey Road

SIDE ONE

1. ATOM HEART MOTHER (Mason, Gilmour, Waters, Wright & Geesin) 23.39
a) Father’s Shout
b) Breast Milky
c) Mother Fore
d) Funky Dung
e) Mind Your Throats Please
f) Remergence

A fanfare signals the start of this, perhaps the most unconventional Pink Floyd piece to date. We have not, as yet, heard the band with such a lush backing, and for most of the introductory section, Father’s Shout, the Floyd take something of a backseat, allowing Ron Geesin’s dramatic brass arrangement to come to the fore. However, when they do join the fray, rock band and orchestra blend together beautifully, despite the criticism which has often been levelled at this recording. During the second part, Breast Milky, Richard Wright’s organ arpeggio initially takes the lead, embellished by a lovely, haunting cello part, but it is David Gilmour’s soaring, soulful guitar work which is most striking: sounding far more sophisticated than ever before, this is (finally) more like the Pink Floyd sound which we have come to know over the years. On Mother Fore, a quite beautiful-sounding choir leads the proceedings, backed by some simple organ chords. This section builds nicely to some sort of climax, and the whole piece seems to be flowing wonderfully. Up to this point, the orchestral and choral arrangements have suggested that this has really been Geesin’s work (this is the first of only a handful of notable collaborations in which the band took part over the years) and he produces some wonderfully atmospheric work. However, in the appropriately-named Funky Dung section, Pink Floyd fully take charge, with a hitherto unheard funkier vibe, which sees Gilmour and Wright jamming away, with solid support from Waters and Mason. It is a sound with which the Floyd would continue to dabble over the next few years, but this first stab is impressive, aided by some unusual chanting from the choir. This exercise in ‘vocalese’ continues for a few minutes before a jubilant return to the main theme. It has to be said that it is a superb riff (which Gilmour dubbed ‘Theme from an Imaginary Western’) and it really sets the hairs standing on end. However, it’s only a brief refrain, before things go a bit strange: Mind Your Throats Please sees some atonal mellotron sounds underscoring a collection of treated voices, sound effects and tape loops. Perhaps the most avant-garde but unsatisfying section, it does not linger too long, but it is an early example of the sort of sound which the band would perfect on subsequent albums. Building to another climax, featuring passing glimpses of earlier sections, the main theme eventually appears once again, before we are treated to a reprise of the instrumental section from the first part (Remergence). Gilmour’s lead guitar is simply stunning here, and it is interesting to note just how quickly he seems to have adopted his (now) trademark style, after the first few cautious hints on the previous album. Things start to build to a crescendo, as band, orchestra and choir join together in almost perfect harmony, producing a glorious, tumultuous climax. Quite why Atom Heart Mother has been so damned over the years, I just cannot understand, as I think it’s wonderful and a definite turning point for The Pink Floyd.

Ron Geesin

[Dave Tudor]

Pink Floyd, 1970

SIDE TWO

1. IF (Waters) 4.31

Side Two opens with a more conventional acoustic ballad from Roger Waters, a simple, haunting song, featuring some stark imagery in the lyrics, Waters once again toying with fears of loneliness, madness and paranoia. A rather mellow piece, despite its subject matter, If features some subtle, laid-back playing from the band: witness Wright’s delightful piano, Gilmour’s unfussy guitar and Mason’s minimal percussion. A nice counterpoint to the grandiose work on Side One, this is a wonderful group performance.

2. SUMMER ‘68 (Wright) 5.28

Richard Wright takes the lead with one of his strongest compositions to date. This melancholy, yet generally upbeat number belies the song’s lyrical content (detailing an encounter with a groupie), but it works tremendously well. The “How do you feel?” part is a bit of throwback to earlier, more whimsical recordings (interestingly, it’s also one of the last occasions the band would use their voices in such harmony) but it is incredibly catchy, and wonders if the band may have even considered Summer ‘68 as single material (had they not abandoned the 45” altogether, of course!). Another notable aspect is the synthesised brass which is excellent, and it represents another slight change in direction, the Floyd taking their first tentative steps into the world of electronica. A very strong track.

3. FAT OLD SUN (Gilmour) 5.24

Perhaps picking up where Grantchester Meadows and The Narrow Way left off, this beautiful David Gilmour composition once again evokes the tranquillity of the English countryside in summer, something the band seems to be able to do so effortlessly (although, in truth, only Gilmour and Wright actually appear on this track). Gilmour’s soft, dreamy vocals still seem somewhat reticent, but he does appear to have grown as a lyricist. The production is especially good, and with Norman Smith now effectively out of the picture in his role as ‘executive producer’ (his last credit on a Pink Floyd album), the group have taken complete control, much to their credit. Gilmour turns in another marvellous solo at the end, one of his best yet, and, more and more, we see the elements of classic Floyd falling into place.

4. ALAN’S PSYCHEDELIC BREAKFAST (Waters, Mason, Gilmour & Wright) 13.00
a) Rise and Shine
b) Sunny Side Up
c) Morning Glory

The album ends as it began, with a more experimental piece. Accompanied by some pin-sharp recordings of dripping taps and rice krispies being poured, Floyd roadie Alan Stiles takes us through his early morning routine. Divided into three sections, the first, Rise and Shine, is a pleasant piano-led composition, embellished with some nice guitar and organ. At the end of this brief workout, the kettle boils and it’s time to sit down for tea and cereal. The accompanying number, Sunny Side Up, is a lazy acoustic solo courtesy of Gilmour, this excellent instrumental undercut with the sounds of Alan getting stuck into his morning meal, the titular character feasting (all too) heartily on his repast. The use of voices is another early precursor to later, similar such recordings. At the end, we hear Alan grumbling away, talking about life on the road, as he prepares a tasty fry-up, the sound of spitting bacon merging seamlessly with the intro to Morning Glory, effectively a group performance of the first part, but far more satisfying. Another superb instrumental, which rounds off breakfast nicely, we hear flashbacks of Alan’s routine overplayed. It may be of its time, but as experimentalism goes, it works far better, and is far more coherent than anything on Ummagumma, and, as a group jam, it is more laid-back than what we have heard before. Representing the more tongue-in-cheek end of the prog spectrum, Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast is a satisfying – and filling – end to an excellent, and much underrated album. But could somebody please stop that tap from dripping!?

[Dave Tudor]

Syd Barrett
BARRETT

Harvest SHSP 4007
Released 14 November 1970 (UK only)
Highest UK Chart Position: n/a

SIDE ONE

1. Baby Lemonade (* 12 String Guitar – D. Gilmour)
2. Love Song
3. Dominoes (* Drums – D. Gilmour)
4. It Is Obvious (* 2nd Organ – D. Gilmour)
5. Rats
6. Maisie

SIDE TWO

1. Gigolo Aunt (* 2nd Organ – D. Gilmour, Percussion – J. Shirley and Willey)
2. Waving My Arms In The Air/I Never Lied To You
3. Wined And Dined (* All instruments – D. Gilmour, except Lead Guitar)
4. Wolfpack
5. Effervescing Elephant (* Tuba – Vic Saywell, Arrangement – D. Gilmour)

All the above titles composed by Syd Barrett
Produced by David Gilmour and Richard Wright
Recording Engineer: Peter Bown
Personnel on all tracks except *:
Syd Barrett – Vocals, Guitars
Jerry Shirley – Drums (Courtesy of A & M Records)
David Gilmour – Bass
Richard Wright – Organ, Piano, Harmonium

By the time Syd returned to the studio in February 1970 to record this hasty follow-up to The Madcap Laughs, by all accounts his mental condition had become even more fragmented. David Gilmour, who produced the album claimed that Barrett simply pulled whatever he could out of the hat to record. It is true that at times, Barrett sounds as erratically-realised as the more chaotic parts of the previous album: tracks such as Rats and Wolfpack border on the insane, whereas the ponderous blues of Maisie is nothing short of dreary. Other numbers, like the wistful Dominoes and the medley, Waving My Arms In The Air/I Never Lied To You are more interesting, but which just fail to convince in their execution. However, Barrett occasionally serves up excellent fare, some of Syd’s best songs, in fact: the infectious blues of Gigolo Aunt depict a more carefree Syd, which in turn contrasts sharply with the heartfelt melancholy of the lovely Wined And Dined. Elsewhere, Barrett gives us the wonderfully whimsical children’s ditty, Effervescing Elephant, and, in the excellent album opener Baby Lemonade, perhaps Syd's finest solo recording: a striking blend of mournful surrealism, Baby Lemonade shows Syd at his most assured, ably supported by Gilmour, alongside Richard Wright and Jerry Shirley. Ultimately, Barrett is a less satisfying collection than The Madcap Laughs, and although the production is undeniably more consistent, it is perhaps this slickness which denies the album the raw charm and inventiveness of its predecessor. Frustratingly, though, Barrett does offer tantalising glimpses of what Syd could have gone on to achieve – but this was the final enigmatic release in an all-too-brief musical career, from a man, a boy-child, a crazy diamond who was simply ill-prepared for the music business… or was it the other way round…? 3 out of 5

[Dino]

Thanks for the write ups on those Dave!
And a sympathetic write up of Barrett which I rate more than Madcap as at least it sounds more produced and the good (Wolfpack,Baby Lemonade,Dominoes the medley and Rats) compare with Madcaps Late Night, Terrapin, No Good Trying, Golden Hair,Octopus, Long Gone best and as dull as Maisie is... I find it less traumatic than If It's In You or Dark Globe!

Although Syd was sighted recording a couple of instrumental tracks for the third album around 1975, it's also worth noting in the biography "Crazy Diamond" when Syd was living alone in the room of the Cloisters Hotel(or something), at the end of his stay Syd gave loads of his tapes to a porter who Syd had taken favour to.
Not the exact quote but "The hapless porter put the tapes down in a department store to go in a changing room and when he had left he had found every tape had gone"

So for all we know, Syd might have thought the record company didn't want to release his songs on his tape? Unaware they'd been stolen? You can't blame the porter that much though, what the hell was Syd doing giving his tapes to a porter when he knew where his ex-managers and record label headquarters where?
The biggest backfire music could give Barrett, as since hearing of this, I am trying not to get sick thinking what could have been on those tapes? Not the end to his musical career he deserved.

And is "Relics" kosher? (please?)

[Dave Tudor]

No worries, Aaron!

I always initially rated 'Barrett' over 'The Madcap Laughs' when I first heard both albums years ago (it may have even been you who did me copies!), simply because it sounded better-recorded, and because I thought 'Baby Lemonade' was such a fantastic song. However, since then, I've come to prefer the first album as a whole, even though 'Barrett' has better individuala songs. Does that make sense!?

As for those lost recordings, well we know from the accounts of when he visited the 'Wish You Were Here' sessions what state Syd was in by 1975 (the fact that he just gave the tapes to a hotel porter in the first place speaks volumes of his condition!), so for all we know, the tracks might not have amounted to much. His condition had even appeared to worsen by 1972, after the disastrous Stars gigs, so I fear that those last, lost tapes would not have been very good. Sadly, though, we'll never know, although it is disappointing to think that may have shown great potential. I wonder if those tapes are still out there somewhere...?

[Dave Tudor]

And is "Relics" kosher? (please?)

As far as I know, but I think Steve was going to look at that, and other compilations and live albums etc. at the end. If no-one minds, though, I might take a quick look before we get to 'Meddle', seeing as I've already reviewed most of the tracks on 'Relics' anyway!

I'll also be looking at Roger Waters' first solo sojourn later - and it's a strange one!

[Philipnet]

Various Artists
Zabriskie Point Soundtrack

MGM
Released January 1970
Highest UK Chart Position: n/a

Original 1970 tracklist

1. Pink Floyd – "Heart Beat, Pig Meat" (David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Rick Wright, Nick Mason)
2. Kaleidoscope – "Brother Mary" (David Lindley)
3. Grateful Dead – "Dark Star" (excerpt) (Jerry Garcia, Mickey Hart, Robert Hunter, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh, Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, Bob Weir)
4. Pink Floyd – "Crumbling Land" (David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Rick Wright, Nick Mason)
5. Patti Page – "Tennessee Waltz" (Pee Wee King, Redd Stewart)
6. The Youngbloods – "Sugar Babe" (Jesse Colin Young)
7. Jerry Garcia – "Love Scene" (Jerry Garcia)
8. Roscoe Holcomb – "I Wish I Was a Single Girl Again" (Roscoe Holcomb, Traditional)
9. Kaleidoscope – "Mickey's Tune" (David Lindley)
10. John Fahey – "Dance of Death" (John Fahey)
11. Pink Floyd – "Come in Number 51, Your Time Is Up" (David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Rick Wright, Nick Mason)

Bonus disc from 1997 release

1. Jerry Garcia – "Love Scene Improvisations" (Version 1) (Jerry Garcia)
2. Jerry Garcia – "Love Scene Improvisations" (Version 2) (Jerry Garcia)
3. Jerry Garcia – "Love Scene Improvisations" (Version 3) (Jerry Garcia)
4. Jerry Garcia – "Love Scene Improvisations" (Version 4) (Jerry Garcia)
5. Pink Floyd – "Country Song" (David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Rick Wright, Nick Mason)
6. Pink Floyd – "Unknown Song" (David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Rick Wright/Nick Mason)
7. Pink Floyd – "Love Scene (Version 6)" (David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Rick Wright, Nick Mason)
8. Pink Floyd – "Love Scene (Version 4)" (David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Rick Wright, Nick Mason)



Heart Beat, Pig Meat
I love the drums in this which give it a very tribal sound. Combined with the samples from, what sounds like, TV it delivers a somewhat intriguing and strange piece at the same time.

Crumbling Land
Back to the 60's with this sound, very much like the A Saucerful of Secrets album.

Come in Number 51, Your Time Is Up
Somewhat rather short and a bit slow to get to the meat in the track, but that's not a bad thing . At the start the lead guitar and choir make for a really good combination with a soft bass and drums to give it depth. About half way through it speeds up and totally changes sound. I expect that the change in the sound is to do with the movie, but just listening to the piece I can't tell why it changes.
On repeated listening I prefer the first half; I prefer the quiet start to the piece rather than the loud ending.


Country Song
An almost 60's sound with a bass guitar for the choruses. It's really good to hear that and makes me think that if Pink Floyd went back and re-did those 60's sounding pieces with a 70's sound I might actually like them ! (although all those other Pink Floyd fans would claim that was sacrilege )

Unknown Song
Musical, eclectic, but not as weird as some of their earlier musical and eclectic pieces.

Love Scene Version 4
Hearing the piano on this track made me stop and think.
You may not know this, but I've been taught to play the piano from a young age and have a certain affinity for that instrument. Even though it's been a few years since I last placed a finger upon a key, I still can play it.
A romantic piece, good use of chords and octaves, and the bass for emphasis.
On repeated listening, it has melody, style and I can imagine playing it!
I love it! Some one send me the score !

Love Scene Version 6
A more traditional 'band' sound: keyboards, lead guitar, bass guitar and drums.
This track has a very bluesy feel and laid back attitude that sounds like 2/4 time.


Conclusion
I'm starting to see a departure from the Pink Floyd I started this Time Team listening to. I know I was very dismissive of their earlier work but now I can see Pink Floyd changing their musical style into something I find more palatable.

Clickable images

Note from the poster
The irony is that "1970 - Zabriskie Point" is listed after "1970 - Atom Heart Mother" on my hard drive. If it wasn't for that fact this post may never have existed.

[Dino]

Come in Number 51, Your Time Is Up
Somewhat rather short and a bit slow to get to the meat in the track, but that's not a bad thing . At the start the lead guitar and choir make for a really good combination with a soft bass and drums to give it depth. About half way through it speeds up and totally changes sound. I expect that the change in the sound is to do with the movie, but just listening to the piece I can't tell why it changes.On repeated listening I prefer the first half; I prefer the quiet start to the piece rather than the loud ending.

Thanks for getting stuck in with that one Phil!
I haven't heard this album or the extra tracks and only know of Crumbling Land and the other two tracks on the album by being on an australain copy of Relics which has extra tracks...
And with regards to the movie, it can usuall been seen on TCM channel around 11PM onwards at least twice a month.
Never sat through it myself but always managed to catch the best bit.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=bJsW6t...E59FD&index=93

(Fast forward to 1.58 if you are too busy to watch some hippie film...)

[Dave Tudor]

Good write-ups there, Phil, and thankfully, at least that album's been covered now. I've never heard it myself, but hopefully if I can pick it up some time, I'll take a look at it later on.

In the meantime, it's time to take one last sidestep (for the meantime, at least) and look at Pink Floyd's bassist first foray outside the group...

Ron Geesin & Roger Waters
Music from THE BODY

Harvest SHSP 4008
Released 28 November 1970 (UK only)
Highest UK Chart Position: n/a

SIDE ONE

1. Our Song*
2. Sea Shell And Stone+
3. Red Stuff Writhe
4. A Gentle Breeze Blew Through Life
5. Lick Your Partners
6. Bridge Passage For Three Plastic Teeth
7. Chain Of Life+
8. The Womb Bit*
9. Embryo Thought
10. March Past Of the Embryos
11. More Than Seven Dwarfs In Penis-Land
12. Dance of The Red Corpuscles

SIDE TWO

1. Body Transport*
2. Hand Dance - Full Evening Dress
3. Breathe+
4. Old Folks Ascension
5. Bed-Time-Dream-Clime
6. Piddle In Perspex
7. Embryonic Womb-Walk
8. Mrs. Throat Goes Walking
9. Sea Shell and Soft Stone*
10. Give Birth to a Smile+

All tracks composed by Geesin except *Waters/Geesin and +Waters
Album produced by Roger Waters (of the Pink Floyd) and Ron Geesin
Recording Engineer: Brian Humphries
Photograph by kind permission of Richard Bush Studio Inc.

THE BODY
An ANGLO-EMI Presentation
Produced by Tony Garnett
Directed by Roy Battersby
A Kestrel Film
Released by MGM-EMI Distributors

Released in October 1970, The Body was a (for the time) revolutionary documentary film about, well, the human body. Produced by Tony Garnett and Roy Battersby, the acclaimed filmmakers turned to Roger Waters and Ron Geesin to provide the film’s soundtrack. The pair was working on Pink Floyd’s Atom Heart Mother at the time, but Music from The Body, released one month after the chart-topping album, could hardly sound more different. As is to be expected from a soundtrack album, the music is there primarily to provide a backdrop to the visuals, but nothing could prepare the listener for the sheer oddness of some of the music here. Composed largely by Geesin, the tracks range from short string passages, to flamenco-inspired pieces; from the pseudo-classical to the downright strange: Geesin is a renowned avant-garde composer, and he seems to be having a lot of fun here, especially on such anarchic compositions as Our Song (consisting, it seems, entirely of bodily sounds) and the faintly disturbing Body Transport. Even the track titles are ludicrously weird – most give a clue as to their context in the film (e.g. The Womb Bit, March Past of the Embryos, Dance of the Red Corpuscles), but the mind boggles as to what the likes of Lick Your Partners, Piddle In Perspex, and, especially, More Than Seven Dwarves in Penis-Land may portray! However, for all this leftfield experimentalism, it is the four Waters-penned songs which are of most interest to Floyd fans. The beautiful Sea Shell and Stone and the haunting Breathe (both of which share the same melody) are excellent acoustic ballads, the latter featuring some very strong lyrics, emphasising Waters’ environmental concerns, as well as themes (and even an opening line!) which would resurface just a couple of years later. The darker Chain Of Life also boasts striking, if slightly more esoteric words, as well as some naggingly-familiar playground sound effects… Best of all, though, is the album closer, Give Birth To A Smile: a Pink Floyd song in everything but name, the track sees messrs. Gilmour, Wright and Mason (all uncredited) join Waters on this superb, soulful, bluesy ballad, the group supported by several female backing singers. Although a little raw in its production, it sounds undeniably like the classic Pink Floyd, but more importantly, it captures a sound which would later form the backbone of the band’s finest work. It’s one of the best Floyd-songs-that-never-were, and it ends this oddity of a record on a curiously epic note. As a fully-fledged Roger Waters solo album, Music from The Body barely qualifies, giving little indication of his post-Floyd efforts, over a decade later. However, in Pink Floyd terms, despite seeming insignificant at the time, it bears several seeds of things to come. 3 out of 5

Geesin and Waters

[Rob McCow]

And so, I finally get around to....

ATOM HEART MOTHER

Atom Heart Mother
Huge. Awesome. Sprawling. At a first listen, I wasn’t sure. But I love this track now. Every time I’ve heard it it’s got better and better. There are so many layers and textures, so much going on.
It’s interesting to compare it with what they were doing the year before on Ummagumma, because I found that album painfully unlistenable and yet, Atom Heart Mother seems to work to the same formula. There’s bombastic chords, experimental sections, orchestras… only here it all works. It’s coherent, there’s regular rhythm, harmony and melodies. There’s structure and style. It seems that on this track Pink Floyd are aware of the listener. Good grief, I even hum along to bits of it!
Even at 23:44 (by my watch) it’s not a second too short. The point of the whole thing is to be epic, so cramming the huge sounds into a shorter song would have been pointless. The music is given time to breath and build. The listener is given time to conjure up their own imaginings of what it’s all about.
The lack of lyrics, apart from ‘Silence In The Studio!’ and ‘There will now be an important announcement’ work in the song’s favour as well. It allows the listener to build up his or her own impression of what the song means, to take them on a trip… wherever! There’s a hint of the ‘Western’ theme in the galloping horses’ hooves, but the sound of a roaring motorbike engine seems to contradict that.
It’s all very grand sounding, suggesting Empires, strength and power. Then it delves into melancholy and surrealism, confusion and chaos. Then it returns to the original theme, faster paced and more youthful seeming than before. (Ahem! That’s enough metaphorical stuff.)
For me, this is the birth of the new Pink Floyd, finally finding their own direction after the loss of Syd.


If
This track is pure Roger Waters, isn’t it? He has a kind of languid self-loathing that by turns is repulsive and intriguing. Sometimes his self-disgust is even beautiful.
‘If I was a train, I’d be late’ and ‘If I were a better man, I’d love you more often than I do’ are poignant couplets. The desire to improve himself is there, but he knows that he will never dig himself out of the hole that he’s in.
This is a good early example of Gilmour’s guitar complementing Roger’s lyrics and the tone of the song.

Summer '68
Well this ambles along quite nicely, not really saying much though it sounds very Rick Wright, an atmospheric, organ-led production and then BAM! HOW DO YOU FEEL?!?!
This track is thoroughly infectious and would have made a great single.
It’s the most 60’s sounding of the songs on the album, with the Pink Floyd harmonies imitating the Beach Boys of all people. They’ve got it down well too, with a bassy ‘Bah-ba-ba-baaah!’ in the background and ‘Wooo-oooo!’ in the foreground.
The piano part is superb too, a little lick to really hammer out on the keys. I get the sense that Rick is really enjoying playing this one. In fact, it sounds like a great little tune to bang out.

Fat Old Sun
This was recently resurrected on the Gilmour ‘Live In Gdansk’ album and it’s a good choice. In fact, it strikes me as a forgotten gem. Gilmour (I think?) sounds rather unsure on the vocals, but it’s a subtle, gentle little tune that swells naturally into something grander.
I particularly like the way that the last verse is totally obscured by the guitar solo. It’s a simple, clever touch and draws attention to the guitar playing, making it stand out in an exciting way.
Even the title of the song is dreamy and suggestive, bringing to mind dreamy evenings watching sunsets boiling away. The song backs that image up well, filled with memories (children playing) and wistful longing.


Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast
Marmalade. I like marmalade.
OK, it doesn’t stink, but it’s doesn’t work nearly as well as the songs leading up to it. There’s far too much where there’s simply nothing going on. The bit where he’s making the revolting chomping noises is seriously unpleasant to listen too on headphones and frequently gets skipped by me.
Still, it’s a nice experiment and I’m glad it exists. It’s quite humorous too, in a perverse way.
At thirteen minutes, Alan takes far too long over his breakfast. I suppose that’s what you get when you’re stoned.
Worse than that, the damned song always makes me hungry! Bacon, eggs, toast…. Nyum, yum, yum.

Overall, this is a bit of a classic. It's honestly my favourite of the Pink Floyd albums we've had so far. It's not without flaws and can be improved on, but it marks a clear new direction for the Floyd. Will they be able to explore it?

[Dave Tudor]

Another great review, Steve! Nice to see Atom Heart Mother enjoying something of a renaissance, at least here on PS!

Before we move on to Meddle, I hope you don't mind me taking a quick look at Relics - I know you said you were going to review at the end, but as I've reviewed most of the tracks anyway, and I'm trying to do everything in order, I thought I'd just squeeze it in...

RELICS

Starline SRS 5071
Released 14 May 1971 (UK); 15 July 1971 (US, Harvest SW 759)
Highest UK Chart Position: 32 (6 weeks on chart)
Highest US Chart Position: 152

SIDE ONE

1. Arnold Layne
Produced by Joe Boyd, 27 Feb. 1967
2. Interstellar Overdrive
Produced by Norman Smith, 16 March 1967
3. See Emily Play
Produced by Norman Smith, 23 May 1967
4. Remember a Day
Produced by Norman Smith, 9 May 1967
5. Paintbox
Produced by Norman Smith, 2 Nov. 1967

SIDE TWO

1. Julia Dream
Produced by Norman Smith, 13 Feb. 1968*
2. Careful With That Axe, Eugene
Produced by Norman Smith, 4 Nov. 1968*
3. Cirrus Minor
Produced by Norman Smith, March 1969**
4. The Nile Song
Produced by Norman Smith, March 1969**
5. Biding My Time
Produced by Norman Smith, 9 July 1969+
6. Bike
Produced by Norman Smith, 21 May 1967

P 1967, 1968*, 1969**, 1971+
Art work: Nick Mason

With their sound now more refined, and the bonus of an unexpected number one album to their name, Pink Floyd were gradually escaping their ‘underground’ roots, and spearheading the ever-burgeoning British progressive rock scene, slowly forging a reputation as one of the country’s biggest bands. But although The Rolling Stones and, especially, Led Zeppelin had taken it upon themselves to keep the British flag flying and were continuing to conquer the world in the wake of The Beatles’ break-up the previous year, the Floyd’s success was still somewhat modest (even Emerson, Lake and Palmer would later pip them to the title of Best Group in a 1971 Melody Maker poll). EMI, however, never an organisation to miss out on a marketing opportunity, were keen to cash in on Atom Heart Mother’s chart-topping showing in October of 1970, and so they hastily set about putting together a compilation of early material to capitalise on this. Released on the label’s now-defunct budget imprint, Starline, in May 1971, Relics was a strange assortment of single A and B sides, a few album tracks, and one previously unreleased song – ‘a bizarre collection of antiques & curios’, as Nick Mason’s striking cover boasted. Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd is well represented, with no less than six recordings from 1967 included: Arnold Layne and See Emily Play (two of the very best pop singles from that era, until then unavailable on an album, and now reprocessed in mock stereo) were obvious choices, as were Interstellar Overdrive and Bike, all of which gave a fair overview of Syd’s tenure. However, the rest of the record’s cuts seem somewhat arbitrary: although their flipsides are included, the more interesting (and, even by then, extremely rare) final three singles are ignored; A Saucerful Of Secrets is also strangely overlooked (Remember A Day, the one song lifted from that album, was actually recorded for The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn); while whoever it is who compiled the album, appears to have chosen to represent the More soundtrack by rather lazily taking the first two tracks from the album, rather than, say, the superior Cymbaline. The most notable track, though, is the previously-unreleased Roger Waters composition, Biding My Time, which had been recorded in July 1969 for Ummagumma (presumably as part of Waters’ section of the studio album), and which, under a different title (sources differ as to whether this was the number which was titled Work, Rest, Afternoon, or even Doing It!) had only been heard before as part of The Man-The Journey, the musical suite which formed the backbone of most of the Pink Floyd’s concerts from 1969-70.

BIDING MY TIME (Waters) 5.16

A curiosity of a track, which sees the Floyd tackling some very authentic-sounding New Orleans-style bluesy jazz. Biding My Time is a rather laid-back number, with good vocals from Roger Waters (stretching his voice a little, but rising to the challenge), even if the lyrics are somewhat contrived. The jazz breaks are most unusual (featuring Richard Wright on trombone!), but intriguing, admittedly sounding rather like striptease music! However, the last part of the track is a superb group jam, boasting an excellent solo from David Gilmour, who, even at this early stage, proves himself a most underrated blues guitarist. Special mention must also go to Nick Mason’s thrilling drumming here. Overall, it may be something of a throwaway blues jam, but Biding My Time is a pleasant track, and the only reason I can think of for its exclusion from Ummagumma is that it just did not sit well with all of that album’s oddness.

The 1979 Music For Pleasure reissue (left) and the remastered CD release from 1995.

Pink Floyd so disliked Relics that, despite a budget reissue in 1979, the album did not appear on CD in Britain until 1995, the last of the band’s albums to receive the remastering treatment underway at the time. This version featured a three-dimensional model of Mason’s original Heath Robinson-esque drawing, courtesy of Storm Thorgerson and Jon Crossland. Relics is something of a hotch-potch – the fact that it was so quickly put together is all-too-evident, the track choices bearing neither rhyme nor reason, no real theme or consistency. In retrospect, it represents a huge missed opportunity: it might have been simpler to release perhaps a slightly revised version of The Best Of The Pink Floyd, the 1970 Dutch-only compilation, which does at least include the A and B sides of the first four singles. Better still, if EMI had collected together all those singles tracks, along with Biding My Time and other such unreleased gems as Scream Thy Last Scream and Vegetable Man, we might now have available to us a superb collection of early Pink Floyd rarities. As it is, Relics is, as the cover implies, merely slightly bizarre and curious. 2.5 out of 5

[Rob McCow]

meddle

ESSENTIAL INFORMATION
Recorded at Air Studios, EMI Studios, Abbey Road and Morgan Studios, London during 1971.
Released November 13th 1971. (A month late! The last two albums were October releases.)
Highest UK Chart Position – No.3.
The cover shows a very weird organic shape in silvery blue. Are we looking up Dave Gilmour’s nose here? Fold it out and you can see some ripples overlaying the surface. Turn it round the right way and it becomes an ear. This was chosen over Storm Thorgerson's original choice of a Baboon’s Anus, which would have continued the ‘Animal Arse’ theme from Atom Heart Mother. We can be grateful, if they’d carried on this way Dark Side of The Moon would have had a whale’s chuff on the cover.

TRACK LIST
SIDE A
One of These Days (Gilmour, Mason, Wright, Waters) – 5:57
A Pillow of Winds (Gilmour, Waters) – 5:10
Fearless (Gilmour, Waters) – 6:08
San Tropez (Waters) – 3:43
Seamus (Gilmour, Mason, Wright, Waters) – 2:16

SIDE B
Echoes (Gilmour, Mason, Wright, Waters) – 23:29


HOT LINKS
Lyrics - http://pinkfloydhyperbase.dk/albums/meddle.htm
Inevitable Wiki – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meddle
The far better Pink Floyd & Co Link - http://pinkfloyd-co.com/disco/meddle/meddle_album.html
Echoes + 2001 = GoogleVideo. And I thought it was supposed to be Dark Side of The Moon that synced to this? – http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...01706634101739
Echoes Live at Pompeii! Well, part one anyway. – http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=uLJ_QVfT_wM
Join in with the Andrew Lloyd Webber Echoes/Phantom conspiracy: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=0S3fpg...eature=related


OTHER ALBUMS OF 1971
Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On
The Who - Who's Next
Joni Mitchell – Blue
David Bowie – Hunky Dory
John Lennon – Imagine
Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin [IV]
The Rolling Stones – Sticky Fingers
Isaac Hayes – Shaft
The Doors – LA Woman
The Electric Light Orchestra – The Electric Light Orchestra
Jethro Tull – Aqualung
Black Sabbath – Master of Reality
Don McLean – American Pie

[Rob McCow]

Meddle

One of These Days
“One of these days I'm going to cut you into little pieces”
Meddle certainly gets off to an aggressive start, with this thunderous mini-epic which is very reminiscent of the Doctor Who theme tune. It’s faster and more exciting than anything since Astronomy Domine, or perhaps the intro to Let There Be More Light.
As much as Echoes, it also paves the way for Floyd to come with its pulsing, screeching madness and fabulous slide guitar playing. I suspect that Dave Gilmour is overdubbed twice on this track, creating a phenomenal onslaught of steel.
The song suggests a rising fury, developing to an extreme pitch where the violent lyric comes cascading in. The lyric itself is distorted and maddened, almost totally indecipherable after the ‘One of These Days I’m going to…’
The whole thing dissolves into winds at the end, leaving the listener with nothing. Both One of These Days and Echoes suggest dark English fields to me, huge expanses of frightening cursed ground with twisted trees and strange, huge birds circling.

A Pillow of Winds
There’s some lovely guitar on this song, but it really seems like a reject from the ‘More’ soundtrack. As does San Tropez, but we’ll get to that. It’s a very wistful and sleepy song. Again, it suggests nature and England. It could be a pastoral sequel to Grantchester Meadows, only not as awful.

Fearless
This track has a bit of bite to it, but it’s a shame they couldn’t have had some stronger and more vigorous ‘short’ songs to fill Meddle out. The riff is cool but too repetitive. The Liverpool crowd sounds don’t impress me much either. Fearless is a likeable song and probably very good to play, but it doesn’t really grab me.

San Tropez
In terms of atmosphere, this song does a really good job of capturing an idyllic Mediterranean evening in the sun. It also gives the impression that Pink Floyd were earning substantially more money by this point, taking holidays overseas and relaxing on record company money when they should have been making more albums!
I really like the extended piano solo on this one. Rick shows that he can adapt to different styles very well. San Tropez comes only two albums after the horrible Sysyphus!

Seamus
The less said the better?
This is certainly another different style for Pink Floyd, simple and straightforward blues accompanied by a mongrel. The wailing of the dog is timed fairly well to the music, but it would have been much more exciting if they’d have done a Radiophonic Workshop on it and constructed a melody from the various dog noises. At least that would have had a point to it.
It’s a very sad song. Is that Roger Waters putting on the Trans-Atlantic accent?

Echoes
Ping!
Pink Floyd as most people know them arrive with this song. It absolutely sets the mould for the sound of the band for the rest of the seventies, right through to the end of The Wall. There’s the organ playing, the acoustic guitar phrases, the slide and bass, a funk section and lots of weird noises. More importantly, it’s unsettling and alien. The band themselves vanish leaving only the music.
What? How can the band vanish?
I couldn’t say who sings on Echoes, it appears to be all of them. But it might just be Dave Gilmour. On a first listen, it’s not clear what instruments you’re hearing. Everything is filtered and distorted. The production values make everything crystal clear, which makes it seem more polished than Saucerful of Secrets or Atom Heart Mother. Take it altogether and any concept of Pink Floyd as a ‘rock group’ is gone, there is only the strange music.
The opening eleven minutes make up a great song on their own, which could have faded out at 11:08 and still Echoes would be brilliant.
The weird bit in the middle makes me think of a distorted English field again, with a huge whale-like creature dying at night, shrieking and crying as the birds peck at it.
Then the ‘pings’ come back in and it leads into some of the finest prog rock of the 1970’s. Everything from 16:20 onwards is astonishing. The build up of the organ playing leads into some wonderfully synthy harmonies. It’s dramatic and exciting. I can imagine the audience at a live performance drifting away slightly during the weird interlude, but being utterly brought back and slapped in the face by the build up to the reprise.
The lyrics themselves are a huge step forward. I haven’t really talked about the lyrics since Saucerful of Secrets, because they either haven’t been much cop or they just haven’t been there at all!

“Strangers passing in the street
By chance two separate glances meet
And I am you and what I see is me
And do I take you by the hand
And lead you through the land
And help me understand the best I can”

It’s simply wonderful. The sense of surrealism is built up by the reference to ‘You’, which works really well here. Is this some forgotten meeting that you had with Roger Waters? Do you really look like him?
Echoes is an absolute masterpiece. It’s entirely right that they stole the title for the best-of. They could have stopped here and been a well-remembered and much-loved rock group. Superb stuff!

[Dino]

Interesting views, I'm not going to rain on parades, different artist anyway, but although I see eye to eye with most of it...

Nick Mason, December 22, 1970 "Until very recently we were in acute danger of dying of boredom, but now that depression has lifted a bit because we have finally got a very rough basis for this new project. ...the thing to do is to really move people-to turn them on, to subject them to a fantastic experience, to do something to stretch their imagination."

One year later, would have been earlier but "Basically we're the laziest group ever. Other groups would be quite horrified if they saw how we really waste our recording time." David Gilmour 1971.

SIDE ONE

ONE OF THESE DAYS

Atom Heart Mother was cinematic but this is the first Pink Floyd song that could be described as
W I D e s c r E E N music. The space travel has ended and now we are flying through the breeze of alien icy desert inside a globe that echoes every heartbeat. Double bass backing band of Waters and Gilmour. Not sure which one had the rusty strings a roadie was sent out to find replacements for, but just spent the day doing other things so inspiring the only lyric in this track? The most urgent track so far recorded and an example of how the experts do prog.

A PILLOW OF WINDS

Although not quite the full on acoustics of Fat Old Sun or Grantchester Meadows, I always thought this was a contrast too soon after One of these days, but in re-listening I noticed David Gilmours different take on slide away from the screaming pace of the albums opener.
Slide guitar to shut up those who thought Atom Heart Mother sounded British brass?
This is no pastoral song regardless of the lyrics, this band have left the ground and are now floating through the stratosphere above Hyde Park and Cambridge.Perhaps it should have gone on first? Leading to the desert planet of One Of These Days? The soundtrack to many a heroin overdose over these last 38 years.

FEARLESS

Aside from Echoes this is the second best song I love it even more than One Of These Days. If this song became ubiquitous on radio play-lists I think it would improve the state of the nation and economy for giving you that lift to finish those papers, or empty the bins, or do the dishes etc, whatever your working on, this song never fails to pick me up and it's not the football crowd either. Favourite lyrics from this song. The tune may be childishly basic but it hangs and is very effective. More conservative than the imploding King Crimson. Far smoother than the classical pretencions of Yes and Emerson, Lake & Palmer, but more transatlantic in sound than Genesis. Closest they ever got to a Led Zeppelin ballad. (but did it better) Another one for my Echoes list.


SAN TROPEZ

Secret confession time, I went through a period of pretending I was in Pink Floyd at the time they recorded Meddle whenever I listened to that album. Teenage stupidity and all that, but in my fantasy, we record this one with Bruce Forsyth after he plays a round of golf with Roger Waters to show him we weren't drugged up loonies (I was the caddie) and Bruce performs it that Christmas with us on his BBC Christmas Special. All the underground heads call us sell outs but we continue... This is the most relaxed and amazing piano solo by Rick Wright. (The Great Gig In The Sky is not an improvised piano solo) A pity though there's no Brucie so we get a jokey sort of song that solo aside is still too long.

SEAMUS

To have a novelty song on your album that you expect people to pay money for is careless. To have another novelty song after it, that to further insult, is many miles below the standard of the first novelty song is pretty much side 1 of Echoes.
" 'Seamus' was fun but I don't know whether we ought to have done it in the way we did it on that album really, 'coz I guess it wasn't really as funny to anybody else as it was to us." David Gilmour some years later.
A disappointing end to the first half of what was a pretty full on Pink Floyd experience. And as we know from A Saucerful of Secrets the Barrett-less Floyd can make an excellent side 1?
Things can only get better...

SIDE TWO

ECHOES

"it's all noise!" the boyfriend of my friend's mother all those years ago.
I remember my friend having the yellow grey plastic tape of it with original 70's label on the side of the tape. I wasn't lending it or copying it, but there was something else I was doing so the first impression didn't register with me that much. It was the performance in the excellent Live at Pompeii film that made me look into getting Meddle next. Magic lyrical shift by Roger Waters sung by Richard Wright and David Gilmour. A band in total harmony with each others strengths and know how to arrange them around each other to make a greater music? Of course they'd never be that close again...(Dark Side etc has songs sung solo)
I did think of Andrew Lloyd-Webber when I first heard the riff. So glad it isn't just me.
Although this diamond was honed down over live shows there are still a couple of things that vex me...

a)The funk bit, although again better on "..Pompeii", is a shadow of Funky Dung from their predecessor.
b) A fade out is not a bridge. They melted out of the music a bit too long. Like Banqo's ghost Quicksilver still walks their albums...

That said the closing piece is the most stunning finish that would have comforted any music fan traumatised over the earlier death of Jim Morrison that year. Still not the comfort needed by traumatised Beatles fans so they looked away judging by chart position? Plus in the film you see their only venture into acting when they pretend to run down a mountain during an eruption. Here's the end of that Pompeii performance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sein...18ED62&index=1

The Verdict

I couldn't be happier to contradict the NME etc "Meddle is the first post-Barrett masterpieces" but San Tropez and Seamus are indulgences too far and sound like they were made out of boredom. Echoes is the most valiant effort yet Meddle is still that frustrating step away from all round classic. In my last review I said Atom Heart Mother was the first of an unbreakable chain. I have to give it top marks to not look like I'm making it up on the spot and have some credibility... Er...

4 out 5.

[Rob McCow]

Teenage stupidity and all that, but in my fantasy, we record this one with Bruce Forsyth after he plays a round of golf with Roger Waters to show him we weren't drugged up loonies (I was the caddie) and Bruce performs it that Christmas with us on his BBC Christmas Special. All the underground heads call us sell outs but we continue...

Awesome! That's the kind of thing I love to hear.

Four out of five is a fair score. There's brilliant and essential stuff on it, two all-time classics, but also a few songs that are a bit pointless.

[Dave Tudor]

I listened to 'Meddle' for the first time in ages yesterday, and I was a little disappointed that, as a whole, it's not as good as I thought it was. However, one track MORE than makes up for it. (Clue: it's not 'Seamus', sadly.)

Full review to come this week.

[SiHart]

One of These Days ****1/2
What a great opener! Urgent and excting music the like of which we haven't heard for ages from Pink Floyd. In fact I'm not sure there are any antecedents for this track in their repetoire to this point. There are obvious echoes (ha!) of the Doctor Who theme in this, which can only be a good thing! One of the best tracks they've done so far and it's nicely reined in, as there is the feeling this could be a much longer track if they wished. Superb!

A Pillow of Winds ***1/2
Then we go all mellow. This is a lovely little track that really does feel as if it's been blown along on the breath of a breeze. Nicely played and nicely sung, this floats beautifully along.

Fearless ***
Another lovely little riff and some good lyrics, but I don't like the Liverpool crowd overdubs which seem to work against the song for me. It ambles along very pleasently, but isn't anything outstanding. At least though the band are writing songs now and there's a cohesion here that was missing only a year or so back...

San Tropez **1/2
This one just provokes a sigh from me. It meanders along, again very pleasently and all, but doesn't go very far and doesn't summon up San Tropez to me. Again it's all played very well but a nice solo in the middle can't disguise that this is a very slight song.

Seamus *1/2
The best thing about this is that it is short. Even then it outstays its welcome very, very quickly. Not terrible, but not terribly exciting. I'd skip this in future. I guess I just don't like dog howls or the blues. Stop the noodling and right some good songs!

Echoes *****
Ping!
Fantastic!
This is obviously the start of the Pink Floyd sound that develops over the next two albums and it feels for the first time really like the Pink Floyd I first heard. It's epic and grand and atmospheric and shows a band that has learnt many lessons along the way, really applying themselves to create something that no other band could do. They're working together and the lyrics which should be pretentious are sung in beautiful harmonies and seem absolutely perfectly suited to the music.
Even the breakdown in the apocalyptic sounding soundscape in the middle doesn't annoy as much as it would have done a few albums back because it's perfectly in keeping with the song. There's a lot to take in, but a lot to love here too. Top stuff!

Overall, I really wanted tolike this album, but the opening and closing tracks really do outclass just about all of the other songs. Maybe that's the idea, but it's a shame they still haven't quite managed to apply themselves to creat something of a consistent quality all the way through. I think I prefer Atom Heart Mother over this album. I'd still give it 4/5 just for the sheer quality of One These Days and Echoes.

Si xx

[Rob McCow]

Ping!

Time's running out for Meddle Reviews, I'll be starting Obscured By Clouds on Wednesday!

Ping!

[Dave Tudor]

Eek! Probably won't be able to do mine before Friday, but go on without me, I'll only hold you back... aargh, the wound...

[Rob McCow]

obscured by clouds

ESSENTIAL INFORMATION
Recorded at Chateau d'Herouville (Honky Chateau) near Paris, France during 1972.
Released June 3rd, 1972.
Highest UK Chart Position – No.6.
The cover shows… I don’t know. Looks like someone swimming, viewed from underneath a plate of glass with droplets of rain on it, taken very out of focus.

TRACK LIST
SIDE A
Obscured by Clouds (David Gilmour / Roger Waters) – 3:03
When You're In (Gilmour / Waters / Richard Wright / Nick Mason) – 2:30
Burning Bridges (Waters / Wright) – 3:29
The Gold It's in the... (Gilmour / Waters) – 3:07
Wot's... Uh the Deal? (Gilmour / Waters) – 5:08
Mudmen (Gilmour / Wright) – 4:20

SIDE B

Childhood's End (Gilmour) – 4:31
Free Four (Waters) – 4:15
Stay (Waters / Wright) – 4:05
Absolutely Curtains (Gilmour / Waters / Wright / Mason) – 5:52


HOT LINKS
Lyrics - http://pinkfloydhyperbase.dk/albums/obscured.htm
Wiki – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obscured_by_Clouds#Notes
The far better Pink Floyd & Co Link - http://pinkfloyd-co.com/disco/obc/obc_album.html
Good god. They’ve been ripped off! http://www.obscuredbyclouds.net/
Authentic, period Pink Floyd with a bit of French narration – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otSfF...eature=related
Childhood’s End Live – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xJIz...eature=related
Learn how to play Wot’s… Uh The Deal – In Spanish! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTdIXEuJyPI
This is pretty awesome – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouhCc...eature=related


OTHER ALBUMS OF 1971
George Harrison & Friends – The Concert For Bangla Desh
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV
Genesis - Foxtrot
----Glam Rock had arrived!
Lou Reed - Transformer
David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars
The Rolling Stones - Exile on Main St.
Nick Drake - Pink Moon
Mott the Hoople - All the Young Dudes
Neil Young – Harvest ---- (Not Glam Rock)
Roxy Music - Roxy Music
Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick
Stevie Wonder - Talking Book

[Rob McCow]

OBSCURED BY CLOUDS

Right, I better get this reviewed because I’m a little fed up with listening to this album! It’s not bad by any means, but I’m getting tempted to fast forward to Dark Side of The Moon. This is going to be a shorter review, I think.

Obscured by Clouds
Great synthy vibe and sparse guitar, this one makes a very gentle but atmospheric opener. The long, single note intro paves the way for things to come in later albums!

When You're In
This is a nice stompy little rocker. Although I’ve just noticed that the song is 2:31 and the fade-out starts at 1:30! It would be repetitive, but almost half the song is the ending.

Burning Bridges
The first proper ‘vocal’ song on the album and a nice one too, gentle and laid-back in a very stoned out way. There’s some good slide guitar, Gilmour seems to have really mastered his slide playing by this point.

The Gold It's in the...
Heavy rock, almost Led Zep style! This is the first one on the album that sounds like a cover of something else, in this case Fleetwood Mac. Although Don’t Stop wasn’t released until 1977, this song sounds rather similar. Not as infectiously catchy as Don’t Stop, but the chorus seems to me to be always about to break out into… ‘Don’t! Stop! Thinking about tomorrow!’ Perhaps it’s only me. The heavy pop/rock sound works brilliantly for Pink Floyd and it’s a shame they never really explored this direction more.

Wot's... Uh the Deal?
Now this is an infectious and catchy tune. Cut from the same cloth as ‘Fat Old Sun’, this is a great example of what you get when Waters and Gilmour work together properly. Even Rick Wright gets to contribute a great piano solo. The vocals and music are wonderfully harmonious, with the reflections on life and death accompanied by the wistful acoustic guitar. There’s even an optimistic twist at the end of the song –

Someone sent the promised land
Well I grabbed it with both hands
Now I'm the man
On the inside looking out

Hear me shout come on in
What's the news where you've been
Cause there's no wind left in my soul
And I've grown old

This is a fantastic track and wouldn’t shame their finest albums. It certainly would make it to their best of if I were putting it together!

Mudmen
The intro to this song isn’t promising. The drumming is very languid and ponderous. Things pick up with the organ and guitar solo, but it’s not a winner. We’ve come a long way since ‘The Soundtrack to More’ but this song could have been pulled right off that early album.

Childhood's End
Ah, the really, really, long intro… not only does this have a long, slow build up, it also has the pitter-patter metronome drumming that would turn up again on Time. This song more than any other shows the elements that would come together on Dark Side of the Moon. Gilmour plays funky backing and blistering lead guitar, while Waters contributes some bleakly enthralling lyrics.
The Arthur C Clarke aspect is interesting. Childhood’s End is about vastly superior aliens coming to Earth, making our efforts in technology, art and science seem useless. The adults grow old, apathetic and indolent while the children gather together an island and evolve far beyond humanity. There’s elements of this in the lyrics, particularly in the last verse:

Some are born some men die
Beneath one infinite sky
There'll be war there'll be peace
But everything one day will cease
All the iron turned to rust
All the proud men turned to dust
And so all things time will mend
So this song will end

Although the last line is awful!


Free Four
It starts off like the Pink Floyd Novelty Christmas Comedy Song, but it’s a bit better than that. They haven’t released a song that’s been playful in this way since Piper at The Gates of Dawn.
This one also sounds like someone else, specifically T-Rex. I can’t put my finger on quite which track it is, but it’s definitely a glam-rock stomp more than anything else! The huge bass note that turns up in each line is fabulous. BOMMMM!!!

Stay
Has a nice ‘end of the day’ feel to it. It should probably have been the last track. What can you say? It’s a gentle ballad, Pink Floyd style. It’s really, really good, but tucked away at the end of Obscured By Clouds, it’s totally lost. There’s nothing exciting, different or special about it, but it’s a damn fine song.

Absolutely Curtains
This is pretty cool, though again nothing too exciting. The chanting at the end of the track goes on and on and doesn’t really help. In fact, it makes me glad when the album finishes which can’t be a good thing. I’d be really hard pushed to tell you how the instrumental parts of this song are different from what’s on Dark Side, all I can say is that ‘They’re not as good’. The mysterious Pink Floyd alchemy doesn’t quite come together to produce gold this time round.

In short – although there are no out-and-out classics, every single song on this album is better than the dross that fills out the middle of Meddle. If they’d have stuck ‘Stay’, ‘Wot’s… Uh The Deal?’ and ‘Childhood’s End’ on instead of ‘St.Tropez’, ‘Seamus’ and ‘Pillow Of Winds’ they’d have had a surefire classic HIT on their hands! Surely!

In another universe, Pink Floyd wrote twenty albums like this, enjoyed moderate fame and produced a whole slew of chart-topping singles. They were certainly capable of it. Perfectionism will only get you so far. Obscured By Clouds shows that if you have the talent, you can produce something decent without going to the extreme degree of control that produced Dark Side of The Moon, but ultimately drove the band apart.

4/5.

[Dino]

Thanks for getting to my favourite album with a fair review Rob!
I'll seal the Meddle vault knowing full well Dave Tudor will somehow escape through the vents to bring us his Meddle review.
Is it ok to draft your reviews over time on yahoo! and then copy and paste here?
It seems a bit overdressed but here's my contribution for this overlooked bastard gem of a record!

[Dino]

Another soundtrack?
Uh oh...

OBSCURED BY CLOUDS

Space rock, bird song, brass bands, whistling wind and now they open the album with... ...silence.. then a slight drone getting louder and then the drums come in.
The guitars remind me of those 80's Krypton Factor shows, not theme tune but incidental music for the contestants? As the track progresses and Gilmours guitar gets more expressive, we get something that in all honesty could have been recorded yesterday. In his dreams, this plays in the head of Peter Jones as he walks up the stairs to record an episode of Dragon's Den.

WHEN YOU'RE IN

This does sound like a slight variation of the "Captain Walker didn't come home/his unborn child would never know him" part of the start of Tommy by The Who. But a full band instrumental version.
It does make sense when you consider this was played over the end credits? I didn't know that at first and I can't find the link to the end titles on you tube. Not the movie cut up into bits, the isolated end credits. And even that uses half the tune on here! It still doesn't top Duncan Banatyne dancing to it with his arms waving?


BURNING BRIDGES

Mr Pink Floyd ambassador! You are spoiling us with these instrumentals! The first song of the album that sticks to the classic Echoes formula. Waters lyrics written with Wright, Shared vocals between Dave Gilmour and Rick Wright.
Gilmour, Wright then Gilmour.Wright duet.
Wouldn't surprised me if Waters vocal buried low in the mix as well? But check how short it is? A condensed Echoes with the more challenging interesting bits edited out of it. Pleasant enough but I've no idea what the images in the film were? This tune reappears later on in the album as a slower spacier instrumental. This song must be impossible for Roger Waters to listen to now for the Rick Wright memories of happier collaborative times?
Theo is giving it the thumbs up!

THE GOLD IT'S IN THE...

One of the few songs not to feature Rick Wright (unless he's singing back up) a Bad Company style riff as they retrace their steps to the Nile Song and Ibiza Bar after becoming more focused and not pretending to be wild men. Only a couple of verses in this one. Is this a record? If this was a lesser band, it would have been on all those "Greatest Hits Of 1972" cheapo Cd's and sound tracked many a location shoot of Jeremy Clarkson. Even Deborah is dancing my eyes my eyes?!? One of the most commercial tunes they've done. If you didn't know what else they'd done you'd probably dismiss them as a lesser glam rock band. But we know better don't we?
David Gilmour alternates between his sliding and his George Harrison guitar soloing impression. I've no idea if he actually has a method called that, it's just how it sounds like!

WOT'S...UH THE DEAL

I haven't seen David Gilmour live, but I'm happy this has returned to the set list. It's been too long away to be honest. If you were making an acoustic compilation this decade, this song would fit between "Your Beautiful" and Katie Meula without anyone noticing and would be prefered no question! One of my favourites from this album. In an ideal world, this song would be in those top 20 Pink Floyd songs lists that pop up from time to time. Perfect length.Should have gone on the 2001 Echoes so it will go on mine. One of the best Waters/Gilmour songs going. In fact they should tour as Waters/Gilmour playing Waters/Gilmour songs and clean up the silly tossers!

MUDMEN

And this is even better! This is the reprise of Burning Bridges. I've had relationships with two women (not at the same time thank you!) who both loved and had their own copy of this record. Chicks dig clouds not dark sides...
Let's just say it takes me back to our happier times. *ahem* you really don't want that image in your mind, here's the clip from La Vallee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulkXnU5Joz8 it starts off quiet but gets loud and imagine Doctor Who with the current pace taking over a minute to film him meeting the aliens of the story? And if Murray Gold could do a version of this as well. The end of the clip is the perfect marriage of image, sound and performance. David Gilmour Guitar of the Weeeeek located here.

CHILDHOOD'S END

The prototype Time from DSOTM. After threatening to be a go nowhere update of Quicksilver, the song ticks and tocks into a powerful but clean slow rock with the slightest taste of Funky Dung. Well I can hear the influence on this track anyway. Not David Gilmour's better lyrics if truth be told. And it is him who is credited as the sole songwriter.
This is probably how Roger was able to launch his coup to lead the band into the paranoid dictatorship of the late 70's Pink Floyd that the band more or less sleepwalked into, by their admission? (although Roger always insisted he wanted the other people to write?) So perhaps Pink Floyd can be a useful metaphor for the ID Big Brother state?
You can imagine the solo being used as the theme tune for The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy radio series, if it wasn't for the fact it hadn't been written yet?
I do however, really love the last lyric is "And now the song will end" simple stupidly so, but effective.

FREE FOUR

The greatest lost chance single Pink Floyd could ever had.
Take me now to the alternative universe where not only this was not only a number one single, but the band refused to play Top of the Pops so Pan's People danced with large toy instruments around exaggerated life sizes cardboard cut-outs which they karate kicked and smashed guitars into?
The lyrics are the last time Roger Waters satire had a genuine warmth. An ingredient he forgot to include on his travels.
The last verse is one of the best verses Roger Waters has written and up there with Echoes. Who would have thought after Take up thy Stethoscope and Walk or even Several Species...?

STAY

A quiet ending to the album, intimate Rick Wright vocal. Like Roger Waters getting his "best mate" to read out a valentine to a woman he fancies. David Gilmour's wah-wah is like the dummy who went along thinking it would be a double date, only to find it was supposed to be couples only, so he makes loud wah-wah noises to interrupt their conversations? Listening to it now, you can argue a good case for Paul McCartney ripping this off for "My Love".

ABSOLUTELY CURTAINS

This is one of the greatest endings to a Pink Floyd album ever. Maybe not a fist-in-the-air sing song of their next album, a space rock epic like Echoes or a peacefully troubled Jugband Blues. This track is a glimpse of their future if you consider Wish You Were Here.
The ghost of Quicksilver is finally laid to rest with an experimental track that actually has structure and tension, thanks to all hands on all keyboards they can get their hands on. Nick Mason has put in tremendous performances throughout the album and sees us out with the timpani of the Gods. A Dalek is on it! Isn't it? Daybreak! Chord change! Then an indigenous people's tribe chant something that reminds me of the riff from Sorrow from A Momentary Lapse Of Reason, but that's a long way off yet! The recording stops just before the tribe, held at gunpoint by Roger Waters, Nick Mason and David Gilmour, are brutally murdered...
Well no, not really. But it would have made more sense that this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVIz2...eature=related

VERDICT

Sentimental reasons aside, if I heard this for the first time I would think it one of the better Pink Floyd albums of the last seven albums. Of course it was destined to be overshadowed by Echoes and Dark Side of the Moon sitting alongside basically the "poppiest" album they produced in the 1970's.
Either pink floyd were ahead of their time or modern music has fallen back in on itself? Perhaps the word "Soundtrack" put off buyers but I won't take a number less than 10 in the chart for best film soundtracks. Vast improvement on More, so much so, I imagine the band got asked to soundtrack many a wedding video? And if this was produced in collaboration with a film maker, imagine what they could do now left to their own choices?
Top three so far are Piper At The Gates of Dawn, Obscured by Clouds and Atom heart Mother. And I had to relisten to Piper to make sure it still held top spot!

5 out of 5.