"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
1. Echoes
Released 1971
UK Chart Position : 3
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