The Police - Outlandos d'Amour

 

Reaction to "Outlandos d'Amour" and the three singles from the album had been lukewarm in the UK when they were released,. I had jumped onto the bandwagon earlier than most though, after having seen them perform "Can't Stand Losing You" and "Next To You" on The Old Grey Whistle Test late in 1978. I was impressed and went out an bought the LP. 

However, I thought it was a patchy album, with the three singles being outstanding, "Next To You" had bombastic punk energy whilst "Truth Hits Everybody" and "Born In The 50s" were catchy but a little lightweight. The other four tracks were forgettable and I had forgotten them. Side One was definitely a lot stronger than Side Two.

The re-release of "Roxanne" in 1979 brought The Police public attention, and they became overnight sensations. Several of the girls in the 6th Form became besotted and arranged to see The Police when they played at the Brighton Dome. By the time I had figured out tagging along would be a good idea, the tickets had sold out !

The Police were considered by many to be New Wave but I felt the label didn't really fit due to the variety of the music, with a strong reggae/ska influence, hints of jazz, funk and pop in addition to some hi-energy. Their obvious technical ability also didn't adhere them to the punk movement !

The breakthrough hit "Roxanne" remains a classic. A song about a boy falling in love with a prostitute, it has some laughter and a bum piano note whilst the staccato reggae/ska plays at the beginning. The song moves to a rock style chorus. "Roxanne, you don't have to put on the red light, those days are over, you don't have to sell your body to the night".

"Can't Stand Losing You" is another song with a reggae/ska verse and a rock chorus. Its apparently about a teenage suicide after the girlfriend has left him. "I see you sent my letters back, my LP records and they're are scratched". The lyrics clearly seem to have been an inspiration for Goyte's "Somebody I Used To Know"

"So Lonely" is my favourite song on the album and again has the reggae/ska verse and a faster rock chorus. It has a free-form reggae bridge "I feel low, low, low, I feel low, low, low" in the middle section and there is a great guitar solo and even a very short burst of harmonica. The song also contains a famous.mondegreen, as many people thought Sting was actually singing "Sue Lawley", who was a presenter on the 6pm News and Features TV show Nationwide at the time, leading to it being played on the programme.

"Hole In My Life" is something completely different to the rest of the album, with a funky/Jazz beat. It reminded me a little of "Hit The Road Jack", but it does goes on a bit too long.  

"Next You" is as close as The Police get to punk with pounding drums, jerky guitar, a frantic pace and wild guitar solo whilst "Peanuts" is not too far behind with fast drums and a frantic, almost tuneless guitar solo, and it sounds like there is some saxophone. Close to the end Sting screams "Peanuts !" a few times. I am not sure what the meaning of this but it comes across as an impersonation of  a street hawker food seller.  "I don't want to hear about the drugs you're taking" 

"Truth Hits Everybody" is an uptempo toe tapper and was better than I remembered and "Born In The 50's" is a song about being a teenager in the 1960s, which Sting and Stweart Copeland were. It has a failry catchy chorus

"Be My Girl - Sally" is a poor medley of a half-finished song by Sting and an Andy Summers poem about a blow up doll spoken over some occasional piano. I couldn't stop thinking of Ivor Biggun.........

"Masoko Tanga" has a ska beat and it sounds like it was mostly improvised. I'm not sure what language the lyrics are in, it could be made up nonsense, but I read somewhere that the title roughly means white reggae. The track did nothing for me and would be quite happy to never hear it again.

In some ways "Outlandos d'Amour" reminded me of Orange Juice's "Rip It Up" album, with a few classics, some dross and an forgettable track in an unintelligible foreign language. However, I rate "Outlandos d'Amour" higher than I used to after listening to it now.

Track Listing :

Side One :

1. Next To You
2. So Lonely
3. Roxanne
4. Hole In My Life
5. Peanuts

Side Two :

1. Can't Stand Losing You
2. Truth Hits Everybody
3. Born In The 50's
4. Be My Girl - Sally
5. Masoko Tanga

Released 1978
UK Chart Position : 6

Singles :

Roxanne ( No 12 - 1979 )
Can't Stand Losing You ( No 2 - 1979 )
So Lonely ( No 6 - 1980 )

Pink Floyd - The Wall

"The Wall" was the last Pink Floyd album I purchased. Like most double albums, I thought it contained some good songs but there was a fair amount of filler, mostly designed as part of the story telling. I was disappointed, especially considering how good their previous three albums had been.

"The Wall" is one of the best selling concept albums of all time, and has also been called a Rock Opera. Rogers Waters had for some time been banging on about an invisible wall between the audience and the band on stage during concerts, and this idea was the basis of the story. It is very much Waters' project, with David Gilmour only receiving three co-writing credits, and Richard Wright none at all. The absence of any 10 minute plus magnum opuses was also noticeable.

The plot involves the life of Pink, a fictional rock star ( but loosely based on Waters and former Floyd member Syd Barrett ), starting with the trauma of his father being killed in the war, an unhappy time at school and a dominant mother, then becoming depressed when a star, feeling isolated with a drug dependency, before hullucinating of being a fascist dictator. In the end, the wall he has built around himself has to be destroyed. 

I didn't like a lot of Roger Waters' strained singing on the album, which whilst important for stressing the story line, at times made for painful listening.

One unexpected surprise was that Floyd had the Christmas Number 1 in the UK in 1979, with the very unseasonal "Another Brick In The Wall Part 2" 

The album was turned into a film starring Bob Geldof, but I still haven't got around to seeing it.

Like with "Animals", I bought the book with the sheet music for the album, but the only track I could play was "Outside The Wall".

Looking at track list now, I could only remember how about 10 of the 26 songs went, mostly the proper songs rather than the fillers to keep the story going.

The story begins with "In The Flesh ?", which is not to be confused with the Blondie song of the same name ! There is the faint sound of the melody of the closing track to begin with, then launches into a dramatic rising theme after which the verse is a slow tempo and gives an introduction to what is going to follow. The track ends with the sound of a plane crashing and a baby crying. Together with the reprise its probably my favourite song on "The Wall". 

"The Thin Ice" comes next, starting with piano and David Gilmour's soothing voice, then Roger Waters takes over the singing. "If you should go skating on the thin ice of modern life.... don't be surprised when a crack in the ice appears until your feet".

"Another Brick In The Wall, Part 1" is a slow, sinister version of the hit single.

"The Happiest Days Of Our Life" opens with the sound of a helicopter and a school master shouting "You! Yes, you! Stand still, laddie!" The track's most distinctive feature is the threatening bass lines. "And in the town it was well known that in the night their fat and psychopathic wives would beat them within inches of their lives"

The surprise hit "Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2" has an almost disco guitar riff but is mostly known for the children singing, in London/cockney accents. The song has a nice guitar outro.

"Mother" ends side one. Beginning with just acoustic guitar and Waters' vocal, the instrumentation builds. Gilmour sings the lines of the mother and plays a blistering guitar solo. "Hush now baby, baby don't you cry. Mamma's gonna make all of your nightmares come true. Mamma's gonna put all of her fears into you".

Side two commences with "Goodbye Blue Sky" and a child saying "Look mummy, there's an aeroplane up in the sky !". The song is mostly a pastoral acoustic guitar not too dissimilar to "Grantchester Meadows" and Gilmour provides the vocal.

"Empty Spaces" is a slow track with a marching beat and paranoid vocal.

"Young Lust" is a rock song, reminiscent of "The Nile Song" from "More". I like the organ playing on this. "Ooh, I need a dirty woman". The song ends with a phone call which leads into "One Of My Turns", one of the most interesting tracks on the album. It starts with a groupie talking "Oh my god, what a fabulous room.....you wanna take a bath !" proceeding into a slow, quiet synthesizer and vocal, but midway through it breaks out to a hard rock song as Pink starts to lose it and the groupie decides to flee. "Why are you running away ?"

"Don't Leave Me Now" is another slow number with initially a strained vocal and just keyboards. Eventually the drums and electric guitar come in.

"Another Brick In The Wall, Part 3"is next, a rockier version of part 2. "I don't need no arms around me. And I don't need no drugs to calm me".

The side ends with"Goodbye Cruel World", a sad,slow lament, with just voice and organ.

Side three opens with "Hey You" with an acoustic guitar intro and Gilmour's tender vocal. It has a typical searing guitar solo and the middle section is sung by Waters. "United we stand, divided we fall", and the echo voice at end uses the same technique as used on "Dogs"

"Is There Anybody Out There" begins with radio sounds then the the title being repeatedly spoken. Eventually there is some nice classical acoustic guitar.

"Nobody Home" has more radio sounds, a melancholic piano and vocal, and strings for final two verses "I've got a little black book with my poems in, got a little bag with a toothbrush and a comb in, when I'm a good dog they sometimes throw me a bone in".

"Vera" is another slow number with strings, acoustic guitar and organ. "Vera, what has become of you, does anyone else in here feel the way I do ?"

"Bring The Boys Back Home" has military drumming and a choir/crowd scream the title. It ends with a phone ring tone and "Time to go !" then "Is anybody out there ?"

"Comfortably Numb" closes side 3 and is one of Floyd's most popular numbers.It was covered by The Scissor Sisters and was a top 10 hit in the UK for them. The chord progressions are from "So Far Away" on Gilmour's solo album. The verse is sung by Waters and the chorus by Gilmour. The guitar solo is also reckoned by many to be one of the best recorded by Floyd.

The ah-ah and ooh backing vocals of "The Show Must Go On" have a Beach Boys feel to them and the track has a jaunty piano, Gilmour provides the vocals.

"In The Flesh"is a reprise of the opening track but with a choir and with different lyrics. "I've got some bad news for you sunshine, Pink isn't well and stayed back at the hotel and he sent us along as a surrogate band, we're gonna find out where you fans really stand. Are there any queers in the theatre tonight, get them up against the wall. There's one in the spotlight he doesn't right to me, get him up against the wall. That one looks Jewish, and that one's a coon, who let all this riff-raff in the room ? There's one smoking a joint and another with spots. If I had my way I have all of them shot". I doubt lyrics such as these would be written today...........

"Run Like Hell" is mid-paced stomping rocker, with the guitar part taken from "Cry From The Street" on David Gilmour's solo album.

"Waiting For The Worms" has similar backing vocals to "The Show Must Go On", a slow pounding drum. and a voice regularly spoken through a megaphone inciting the forthcoming riot. "Would you like to see Britannia rule again ? All you have to do is follow the worms".

"Stop" is only 31 seconds, with just a strained vocal and piano.

"The Trial" co-written by producer Bob Ezra, is a Gilbert and Sullivan or music hall style courtroom scene. The vocals are all by Waters but with different accents for each character ( Scottish, Cockney & Northern England ) "The evidence before the court is incontrovertible, there is no need for the jury to retire"  then "Tear down the wall !" A stunning track !

The story closes with "Outside The Wall" with a mournful clarinet intro played over the sounds of the wall being blown up. It's the quietest song on the album but has a beautiful melody. Waters recites the lyrics whilst a children's choir sings them.  

Overall, "The Wall" sounded a great deal better than I remembered and I ended up really liking the album, and didn't think there were any fillers ! My favourite songs were "In The Flesh", "One of My Turns", "Hey You" and "The Trial" but I don't think there is a bad moment on the album. 

Track Listing :

Side One :

1. In The Flesh ?
2. The Thin Ice
3. Another Brick In The Wall, Part 1
4. The Happiest Days Of Our Life
5. Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2
6. Mother

Side Two :

1. Goodbye Blue Sky
2. Empty Spaces
3. Young Lust
4. One Of My Turns
5. Don't Leave Me Now
6. Another Brick In The Wall, Part 3
7. Goodbye Cruel World

Side Three :

1. Hey You
2. Is There Anybody Out There ?
3. Nobody Home
4. Vera
5. Bring The Boys Back Home
6. Comfortably Numb

Side Four :

1. The Show Must Go On
2. In The Flesh
3. Run Like Hell
4. Waiting For The Worms
5. Stop
6. The Trial
7. Outside The Wall

Released 1979
UK Chart Position : 3

Singles :

Another Brick In The Wall, Part Two ( No 1 - 1979 )

 

 

Pink Floyd - Animals

 

"Animals" was the first Pink Floyd album to be released after I had started following them. In the build up to its release, Nicky Horne on Capital Radio played a six-part The Pink Floyd Story, with the final episode broadcast a couple of nights before the album went on sale, and included the with the whole album being played. I bought "Animals" within a week.

"Animals" had already hit the national headlines in the weeks before it was released, as the giant inflatable pig that was being used to take photos at the Battersea Power Station broke loose of its moorings, causing disruptions to aircraft on arrivals at London Heathrow Airport !

I also bought a book with all the sheet music for the album, and was actually able to play "Pigs On The Wing" on an acoustic guitar, but I wouldn't be able to do that now ! 

My father was working in Berlin at the time, and managed to get a ticket for me for the tour date in Berlin in the Deutschlandhalle, and the internet shows the date was Saturday January 29th, 1977. My seat was in the upper balcony but had a restricted view, so I didn't see much of David Gilmour. "Animals" was the first half of the concert, followed by "Wish You Were Here", with "Money" being the encore. Both albums were played in their entirety. 

"Animals" contained three songs over 10 minutes long, sandwiched between two short versions of "Pigs On The Wing". At the time I thought it was the best Floyd album to-date, especially the outstanding guitar playing throughout. The album is loosely based on George Orwell's Animal Farm but instead of being a criticism of Soviet Communism, its anger was at capitalism and the state of British society in the mid 1970s.

"Pigs On The Wing ( Part One )" opens the album, a short tender acoustic song at just one minute 24 seconds long. It sounds a little old fashioned, with just acoustic guitar and vocals.

The 17 minutes long "Dogs" takes up the rest of side one. It begins with an urgent acoustic guitar intro before Gilmour's vocal come in. The bass, drums and organ come in for second verse followed by a trademark guitar solo. The mid-section has a slower pace, with the guitar motif leading into slow acoustic guitar and the sound of dogs barking. A burst of drums leads into another guitar solo and electric piano, then the vocals return, but with a different melody, and the final "dragged down by the stone" line is repeated through a vocoder over just organ and more dog barking. The final section has dog whistles over a synthesizer, and gradually the opening acoustic guitar riff returns and Waters sings before a reprise of first guitar solo leading into second guitar solo. Waters also sings the lengthy coda.

Some pig grunts start the 11 minute long mid-tempo rock song "Pigs ( Three Different Ones )" which opens side two with the intro being a repeated electric keyboard motif, during which the bass, then then the electric guitar join. Waters sings the verse but the chorus is vocal through a vocoder. There is a lengthy slow break between the second and third verses. Eventually the electric keyboard motif returns before the third verse, and th outro is a blistering guitar solo. The three pigs are businessman in general, Prime Minister Mrs Thatcher and morality campaigner Mary Whitehouse, who attracts the use of the f-word. 

"Sheep" has bleating sheep sounds over a slow jazzy electric piano intro before becoming an up tempo driving rock number with Waters on vocals. The mid-section break has the repeated vocoder "stones" from "Dogs" before a slow rising guitar solo then the fast pace briefly returns but then suddenly stops to leave just the bass and some keyboards and a parody of psalm 23 through a vocoder. The song then returns for another verse with and a great guitar piece for the outro and more bleating sheep to finish.

The album closes "Pigs On The Wing ( Part Two )" similar is similar to to part one, and the same length but has different lyrics. 

Listening again to "Animals" it remains a fantastic album. 

Track Listing :

Side One :

1. Pigs On The Wing ( Part One )
2. Dogs

Side Two :

1. Pigs ( Three Different Ones )
2. Sheep
3. Pigs On The Wing ( Part Two )

Released 1977
UK Chart Position : 2

 

Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here

 

"Wish You Were Here" was the long awaited follow-up to "Dark Side Of The Moon", released in September 1975. Being late to jump on the Floyd bandwagon I purchased my copy sometime in the summer of 1976, and thought the album was at least on a par with Dark Side, if not better.

I really liked David Gilmour's guitar playing on the album, ranging from the tremendous different blues flavoured licks on "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", to the rock hero playing on "Have A Cigar" and the crisp acoustic guitar sounds on "Welcome To The Machine" and "Wish You Were Here". Richard Wright's keyboard playing throughout the album was also fantastic, as were the lyrics, some of the best written by Roger Waters.

It is often reported that the central theme of this album is one of absence, most notably that of former band member Syd Barrett, who left the band after suffering mental health issues after the release of Floyd's debut album, and the 26 minutes mostly instrumental nine part opus "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" is a homage. "Shine On" is the main substance of the album, which sandwiches the three other songs on the LP. 

The album came inside a black plastic wrapper, of which mine was discarded after a couple of years.

I was fortunate enough to see Pink Floyd play the entire album in Berlin in January 1977 as part of the "Animals" tour, "Wish You Were Here" comprised the second half of the show.  

Part 1 of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" is perhaps an appropriate beginning with a slow mournful synthesizer before the guitar plays the individual notes of the motif. Part 2 introduces a new motif guitar then the drums, bass and organ come in. Part 3 consists of a slow mini moog followed by a guitar solo accompanied with an organ.

The vocals arrive in Part 4, which has accompanying female backing vocals, but it's Dave Gilmour's guitar playing the melody that is the highlight. "Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun, shine on you crazy diamond. Now there's a look in your eyes, like black holes in the sky"

Part 5 features Dick Parry on saxophone and the time signature changes as the pace increases mid-way through. The sax fades out and segues into "Welcome To The Machine" and the throbbing sound of a machine. A single strum of an acoustic guitar is eventually played after which Gilmour's vocal enters. The song has an acoustic guitar break then synthesizer and strings before the second verse and more synths to finish. I don't think there is any drumming on this track. "What did you dream ? It's OK were told you what to dream".

Side two opens with "Have A Cigar", which has a guest vocal by Roy Harper, who I had previously known for being an English folk singer. Its a mid tempo rock song, written by Roger Walters about the greed and cynicism of the music industry and the allegedly true story of an record label executive asking "By the way, which one's Pink ?" There is a guitar and organ intro before Harper starts singing "Come in here dear boy, have a cigar". There is a trademark Gilmour guitar solo, and the track concludes with a guitar solo  which is abruptly interrupted as the music reduces in volume to a tinny, radio-like sound then the sounds of someone moving between stations on a radio. This effect is used as a transition to the title track, with initially the same treatment for the intro acoustic guitar.

"Wish You Were Here" is acoustic ballad and is considered by many to be one of Floyd's most popular songs. It was famously covered by Ed Sheeran, with Nick Mason on drums, during the closing ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics. The outro of the song is the acoustic guitar lines, piano, and winds for a fade out leading in to the next parts of "Shine On". "We're just two lost souls swimming in a fishbowl, year after year"

Part 6 of "Shine On" features more moog over a throbbing bass line, before the guitar and drums eventually take over. Part 7 is a reprise of the the vocals whilst part 8 has a plucked electric guitar intro before electric organ, piano and bass join with a Jazz like feel. Electric guitar and synthesizer then take over.

"Shine On" closed with a funeral like synth over piano for Part 9, and finishes with a short, slow excerpt from "See Emily Play" as a final nod to Syd Barrett.

Listening to "Wish You Were Here" again, I now think it is a much better album than "Dark Side Of The Moon", with every second of music being brilliant, whereas there are some duff moments on "Dark Side". It is now my favourite Pink Floyd album. 

Track Listing :

Side One :

1. Shine On You Crazy Diamond ( Parts 1 to 5 )
2. Welcome To The Machine

Side Two :

1. Have A Cigar
2. Wish You Were Here
3. Shine On You Crazy Diamond ( Parts 6 to 9 )

Released 1975
UK Chart Position : 1

Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon

I was late jumping onto the bandwagon as I only purchased Dark Side Of The Moon in 1976, around three years after its release. It was my second Pink Floyd album, after the Relics compilation that my brother had left in the house after he moved out.  

There can't be many people over a certain age who hasn't owned a copy of The Dark Side Of The Moon at some point, or at least heard the whole album. At one time it was the best selling album in the world of all time, but is now down to fourth, having been overtaken by Michael Jackson's "Thriller", AC/DC's "Back In Back", and a perhaps surprisingly, the Soundtrack to the film "Bodyguard". Global sales of Dark Side are estimated at over 45 million, and it moved Pink Floyd firmly into the megastars category.

Dark Side set all sorts of records for the number of weeks in the charts. Although it spent only one week at number one in the USA, it was in the Billboard 200 chart for 15 years, and kept making sporadic appearances thereafter. In the UK it is the best selling album never to reach number one, and had a similar longevity in the album charts.

No singles from the album were released in the UK, although an edited version of "Money" was released in the US and reached number 13 in the Billboard singles chart.  

One innovative feature of the album was the inclusion of a number of spoken voices during several tracks. These were taken from interviews with roadies and other people in the recording studios at the time, and some of the best are repeated below in the description of the tracks. It was also the first Floyd album to have the lyrics printed on the album cover, as well as having female backing vocalists and a saxophone player.

The album showcased the band's increased maturity as writers and performers, and it contains two beautiful pieces of music contributed by Richard Wright, in "Us And Them" and "Great Gig In The Sky",  as well as some tremendous rock songs in "Money", "Time" and "Breathe". Clare Torry was belatedly given a songwriting credit for "Great Gig In The Sky" in recognition of her wordless vocals being a significant component of the track. 

Side One begins with "Speak To Me" which is just over one minute long. It starts with the sounds of cash registers, then voices, a screaming female before the tranquil opening of "Breathe ( In The Air )" comes in with a gentle guitar, dreamy synthesizer and slow drums.

"On The Run" is a synthesized beat and drumming, with hurried footsteps, what sounds to be airport tannoy announcements, and ends with an aircraft crashing.

"Time" opens with the sounds of clocks and alarms going off. It has a long intro, with mesmerisng keyboards, dramatic electric guitar and drums, before David Gilmour's vocals. Unusually for Floyd there are female backing vocals for the chorus and the song has a searing guitar solo. The track seques nicely into "Breathe ( Reprise )", which is short and played with the same instrumentation as "Time".

The side closes with "Great Gig In The Sky", commencing with a slow piano and smoothing slide guitar after which the the improvised wordless vocals of Clare Torry enter, building to a crescendo before an emotional slow finish. "I am not afraid of dying, anytime will do".

"Money" starts with more ker-ching of cash registers and jangling coins and then an unusual 7/4 time signature bluesy bass riff, then keyboards, drums and guitar before Gilmour's great vocal. Another Floyd first comes with Dick Parry's saxophone solo, after which the time signature reverts to something more standard with another outstanding guitar solo as Floyd show how they can rock. The song finally catches its breath with the final verse, and the fade out voices include the comments "I certainly wasn't irate", "He was cruising for a bruising" and "I don't know, I was really drunk at the time"

"Us And Them" is a sensitive piano and organ piec with  more sax, though this time very sensual. There is another big chorus with female backing vocals. "if you give them a short sharp shock, they don't do it again"

"Any Colour You Like" is a psychedelic instrumental which leads nicely into "Brain Damage", a song about madness. It has the first vocal from Roger Waters on the album, over a slow strummed electric guitar for the verse, and a rising chorus with more female backing vocals . The lyrics "and if the band you are in starts playing different tunes, I'll see you on the dark side of the moon" is an obvious reference to Syd Barrett. It leads into "Eclipse" for a short coda to finish the album, which closes with the words  "There is no dark side of the moon, in a matter of fact, it's all dark".

Track Listing :

Side One :

1. Speak To Me
2. Breathe ( In The Air )
3. On The Run
4. Time
5. Breathe ( Reprise )
6. The Great Gig In The Sky

Side Two :

1. Money
2. Us And Them
3. Any Colour You Like
4. Brain Damage
5. Eclipse

Released : 1973
UK Chart Position : 2

 

Pink Floyd - Obscured By Clouds

 

"Obscured By Clouds" was the second soundtrack produced by Pink Floyd for a Barbet Schroeder, this time the film "La Vallee". Like "More" I haven't seen "LA Vallee" either !

I thought this was one of Floyd's better albums, with the tracks generally being short, and there was nothing more than 6 minutes, so none of the lengthy self-indulgent pieces ! I liked nearly all of the songs, but thought the four instruments were fairly average. The album didn't receive the acclaim it deserved, partly because "Dark Side Of The Moon" followed shortly after, and took Pink Floyd to a whole new level.

"Obscured By Clouds" is a three minute long instrumental, with electric guitar lines over futuristic synths and heavy drums

"When You're In" has the same tune as "Obscured By Clouds" but is faster and with organ rather than the electric guitar, and even heavier drumming. It's also half a minute shorter.

"Burning Bridges" features a gentle dreamlike organ, with shared vocals between David Gilmour and Rick Wright. There is a tender guitar solo leading into slide guitar break.

"The Gold It's In The...." is heavy rock and has a great guitar solo. Making film soundtracks seemed to give Floyd the freedom to write rock songs, as there are two heavy tracks on "More". "Well, you go your way, I'll go mine. I don't care if we get there on time. Everybody's searching for something, they say, I'll get my kicks on the way"

"Wot's....Uh The Deal" is a change of pace with acoustic guitar, floating organ and a gorgeous tune. The song has a lengthy piano break and steel guitar before the final verse. "Someone sent the promised land and 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 and where you been?"'Cause there's no wind left in my soul and I've grown old".

"Mudmen" is another instrumental, with slow piano and organ to begin with, before the guitar solo.

Side two opens with David Gilmour's "Childhood's End" which is a mid paced rocker with a standard guitar solo. It's most notable for the sharp organ motif.

As the title suggests, "Free Four" has a shouted intro of "one, two, three, four !" and is the only Roger Waters vocal on the album. The song has upbeat acoustic guitar and handclap but despite the jolly nature of the music, it is a song about death. "The memories of a man in his old age are the deeds of a man in his prime. You shuffle in gloom of the sickroom and talk to yourself as you die".

"Stay" is piano dominated and has vocal from Rick Wright but its fairly dull and inconsequential, and reminded me a little of the sort of number Steely Dan might churn out.. Like Wright's "Summer of '68" on "Atom Heart Mother", its a song about a one-night stand "I rise, looking through my morning eyes, surprised to find you by my side. Rack my brain and try to remember your name to find the words to tell you good-bye"

The album closes with "Absolutely Curtains" which is a slow organ instrumental reminiscent of "Main Theme" on "More", before ending with the chants of the Mapuga Tribe taken from the film.

Listening to "Obscured By Clouds" now, my opinion of it being a good album remains unchanged.

Track Listing :

Side One :

1. Obscured By Clouds
2. When You're In
3. Burning Bridges
4. The Gold It's In The....
5. Wot's....Uh The Deal
6. Mudmen

Side Two :

1. Childhood's End
2. Free Four
3. Stay
4. Absolutely Curtains

Released 1972
UK Chart Position : 6

 

Pink Floyd - Meddle

 

"Meddle" was the second to last Pink Floyd album acquired as I accumulated their back catalogue in the mid-1970s. By the time I purchased the LP I had already heard "One of These Days" and the first section of "Echoes", but not all 23 minutes of it. The other four songs were new to me, and my feelings at the time were that they were OK but nothing special.

"One Of These Days" is nearly all instrumental apart from Nick Mason's spoke line "One of these days I'm going to cut you into little pieces". Dominated by two bass guitars and the sound of wind to begin, there is a toe tapping beat, stark one note keyboards, before eventually the drums and slide guitar come in. It's heavy for Pink Floyd and not an indication of the mellow music to follow but its my favourite track on "Meddle".

I had forgotten how "A Pillow Of Winds" sounded. It 's a soft acoustic love song, with a gentle acoustic guitar, slide guitar and a tender vocal from David Gilmour. Listening to it now it came across as a little dull and I've already forgotten it again.

"Fearless" is a pretty song which has a country tinge to it but is spoiled by the coda of Liverpool fans signing "You'll Never Walk Alone". There is a beautiful slow chorus and a nice rising riff. "And I'll climb the hill in my own way, just wait awhile for the right day. And as I rise above the tree line and the clouds, I look down, hear the sound of the things you said today".

"San Topez" is a lightweight jazz style number sung by Roger Waters, most notable for a slide guitar solo and Richard Wright's extended piano playing for the outro.

"Seamus" is a blues number with a dog howling. It was amusing for the first couple of listens but becomes grating after that. The piano playing is nice but the dog gets on my nerves. Clearly a joke gone wrong !

"Echoes" takes up all of side 2 and starts with submarine sonar pings, before the keyboards and soft electric guitar a la "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" come in with the main melody. Gilmour and Wright share the vocals. After two verses there is a big guitar solo and around the 7 minute mark it becomes funky until around 11 minutes when noises from the worst parts of Ummagumma are introduced. The unbearable noise continues for 4 minutes before a celestial organ and the sonar ping returns. The piece gradually rises in urgency with the bass and drums before a majestic guitar burst leads to a third verse, after which there is a gentle guitar and keyboard outro out over the sounds of wind and the ping. 

Listening to "Echoes" now it probably should have been left as a seven minute song, and I'll be happy if I never heard the minute eight minutes again !

Track Listing :

Side One :

1. One Of These Days
2. A Pillow Of Winds
3. Fearless
4. San Tropez
5. Seamus

Side Two :

1. Echoes

Released 1971
UK Chart Position : 3