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