Waddle

Overall Album Score: 8.8 out of 10

Pink Floyd takes their boring, classical-rock from Atom Heart Mother and transforms it into a more listenable and enjoyable album. Most notably, their 23-minute track, "Echoes" is mighty and grandiose track that doesn't get boring for one mere micro-second. They're not quite to the point where they're making elaborate, and deliberately calculated albums like Dark Side of the Moon, but they're getting quite close. The end of this album even sounds like it was rewritten for their classic.

Though I appreciate these tracks, the bossa nova "San Tropez" and the blues "Seamus" seem to stick out in ways that are soooo non-prog. But anyway, who cares? If the songs are good, then there's no problem.

The opening track is mightily interesting to hear develop. It's an instrumental, which allows your mind to concentrate on the music and not all that distracting singing! (Ooo!!!) The two previous songs, "Pillow of Winds" and "Fearless" are calming (and marginally dull) soundtrack-like numbers. They're perfect to sit back and soak in like musical sunbathing, but maybe not so much if you're paying direct attention to them. Although they certainly have their interesting aspects. ... Albums don't get so high of a rating just for being good background music, you know.

Overall Album Score: 8.8 out of 10 (Pink Floyd delivers a calming, effective soundtracky album. Cool.)

Average Song Score: 8.9 (Nice songs from beginning to end... Although they're by no means perfect. "Echoes" is definitely notable.)

Album Tilt: 8.5 (A tad on the inconsistent side with the addition of the bossa nova and blues track. They're not unwelcome though.)

Artist Rating: 9.0 ("Echoes" is enough to get you talking.)

Track Reviews

One of These Days 9/10

This album is so proto-Dark Side of the Moon that this first track, "One of These Days" even takes awhile to begin. We hear wind sound effects slowly come up, and then a calculator rhythm guitar starts to play. Then, they slowly bring in some synthesizers. And, um, drums and electric guitars after awhile! All of this sounds deliberately planned, which is what this mid-career Pink Floyd specializes in. Mid-way through the track, this idea stops, and they deliver some horribly distorted electric guitar that sounds like they were playing it in front of a huge fan. They're still playing around with sound-effects, and they produce something weird and crazy. Then, they rock out fully with a regular beat, guitars and (the weird thing) some reverse cymbals. At no point here do they sing, so this is great for people who love instrumentals.

A Pillow of Winds 8.5/10

There's singing on it, but this seems like more of a soundtrack song than even the previous! I love the calming, soothing atmosphere. It's so effective that it would probably assist you with your bowel movements if you need it! (Eww...) The songwriting doesn't capture me nor impress me, but this is quite a song to just sit back and soak up.

Fearless 9/10

This seems like a stronger composition compared to the previous two although the boringness factor sets in. Before you pelt me with stones, please note that I find this song entertaining. But it's not exciting or overly gorgeous or anything... All that said, this is calming and I think it's tremendously well played. Again, this is just a good, calming song to sit back and soak up. That seemed to be the purpose of this album!! There are a few interesting touches in the production, but not nearly as much as "One of These Days." The end features a huge crowd singing something and whistling. Perhaps that was recorded on their tour...

San Tropez 8/10

A bit of tropicana (bossa nova?), which is something that might surprise you. The genre is generally calming but it lacks the whole soundtrack feel! Oh well, it's not as out of place as you might think. I like the melody, and the instrumentals (and a nice slide guitar interlude). The nicest piano solo ever. I know someone who would go nuts listening to it, because it's a one-armed-man piano solo, but it seems to work here.

Seamus 8/10

This is a hilarious bit of blues. Why is it hilarious? They insert funny sound effects of a yelping dog. Thankfully, this track is slightly more than two minutes long, because that's just about as much as I could take from this.

Echoes 20/20

Ah, here's the real masterpiece from this album! That's good news 'cos this is twenty-four minutes long, and it'd be a shame if that was their worst track... Here is their sprawling, prog-rock masterwork that can be compared to other impossibly long tracks from the same era. Normally, I'd sit here and try to describe the whole thing for you, but I'm not in a great mood for that. I do know that this track continues to be calming and deliberately calculated. Fans of Dark Side of the Moon are definitely going to want to hear this, because this sounds very much like a "foreshock" to that release. The rock 'grooves' are calming but they're usually catchy and do well enough to keep my ear engaged. I can't not mention the guitar solos, which are very interesting. Those ghoul-noises in the middle are spooky --- maybe this isn't a great song to listen in the dark. Well, that whole section sends shivers down my spine!! There's an electric guitar here that even sounds like a shreiking ghoul... freaky. Pink Floyd was always good for those kind of strange instrumentals. The last half does sound like they actually rewrote it for the final track of Dark Side of the Moon, and it sounds nearly as good here. Prog-rock geeks probably know this whole track by heart! Maybe you should, too!!

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