WISH YOU WERE HERE

I will preface this by saying I am by no stretch a fan of Pink Floyd. I don't think they're bad but I also don't think they're good. Their music comes off as bland as a piece of WonderBread.

Shine On You Crazy Diamond starts off with a couple minutes of spacey sounds. Before a few notes of a bluesy-sounding guitar come in. I'm all for taking multiple minutes of uneventful music to build atmosphere but 4 minutes is too long to accomplish nothing. At the 4 minute mark a few notes of a guitar come, indicating the actual song will start soon. Drums and the rest of the band with a very mellow attempt at a climax. All of this is occurs at a slow tempo. The guitar tries to help out a bit with a brief solo that comes across as boring. The slow moving music sets in once again and picks up around 7:30 when the guitar injects a little life into the piece. It goes from slow, quiet and bored to slightly faster and louder yet still bored. I'm not sure what this piece is trying to accomplish and I don't think the members of Pink Floyd were quite sure what they were doing. A very uninspired sax gets to solo around the 11 minute mark for around 45 seconds. It then picks up a little along with the rest of the band and gets a little better but it still doesn't stray out of the realm of mediocrity. There were parts in the final third of this song when I almost felt like I would get pleasure out of continued listening but those feelings were mistaken.

Welcome to the Machine starts out with mechanical sounds amid a spacey background for 50 or so seconds to build atmosphere. It works here as a few chords get strummed on an acoustic guitar to continue to build atmosphere. Haunting vocals enter with some rather disturbing keys getting played every so often. The vocals seem to provide some sort of warning/pleading in contrast to the highly dark sounds of the instruments. Tension builds for the next minute or two with the keyboards and electric guitar doing most of the work. It's all rather subdued and nothing is too complex which is most likely what keeps the mood so depressing. Vocals return with the same background music. The only main change throughout the song is a sense of urgency portrayed by a VERY gradual increase in volume, with nothing noticeable being done to the tempo. The last minute plays sounds of what sounds like an air raid siren replicated via a Moog, followed by some crowd chatter/laughter.

Have a Cigar is, in one word, funky. The guitar provides that funky sound while the bass and drums give it the beat. The keys don't add to the funk at all but they somehow don't seem out of place. Everything in this song goes as it should with a decent guitar solo starting around the 3:30 mark and going on until the end. It's a nice radio-friendly track that I can't say too much about one way or the other.

Wish You Were Here is a slower bluesy anthem carried almost entirely by acoustic guitar and vocals with the rest of the band entering after the first third. Nothing too adventurous here but it is quite nice to listen to.

Will Shine On You Crazy Diamond part 2 prove to be any better than part 1? Yes although that's not too hard to do. It starts off with some wind producing a bunch of static then in comes the bass to set the mood and remind you of where Part 1 left off. Not too long into the song it picks up right where Part 1 ended, albeit in a slower tempo. Things then pick up after 2:30 or so and I'm finally excited by this song. The vocal section returns which is the same as in Part 1 but it actually sounds like it has purpose this time around. The Crazy Diamond has finally found a purpose. Unfortunately this doesn't last for long and the last few minutes drag out as this song ends with a whimper.

If you find that you don't like the general sound of Pink Floyd, you should definitely stay away from this album. If you like PF, then chances are you probably already own this album and my review means nothing. I will recommend this album though because everyone else likes it so I must be wrong.