WISH YOU WERE HERE

As amazing as Dark Side of the Moon was, Shine On You Crazy Diamond takes the Pink Floyd sound and composition to a different level. Sonically, this is pretty similar to the previous album; the main difference is the synthesizer being very prevalent, which gives the album a symphonic feel. No doubt this is also their strongest album compositionally, containing some of the bands most consistent work.

Shine On You Crazy Diamond bookends the album with its two parts. Part one starts off with a quiet build-up of synth which eventually leads to a very clean and pristine guitar solo from Gilmour. The sound recedes momentarily before flowing into an instrumental explosion where the whole band starts playing. Gilmour and Wright trade off solos before the first verses. I really love the sound of the synth here; it's very lush and contributes greatly to the overall symphonic sound of the song. The verses are nice, and Roger's voice sounds as great as ever. The sax solo is a tasteful way to end the first part of Shine On, which fades out to segue into the next song.

'Welcome to the Machine' is my favorite of the middle songs. It features a dark melancholic atmosphere, for which Gilmour's vocals perfectly suit. It continues the symphonic trend of the album, with a plethora of synth parts from Wright.

'Have a Cigar' is the weakest song of the album. Still, the guitar is phenomenal, the bass is funky, and Roy Harper's vocals get the job done.

'Wish You Were Here,' simply put, is beautiful. Though rather simple in essence, sometimes it's the simplest ones that make the largest impact. The acoustic guitar and Gilmour's voice is powerful enough, but with the whole band playing the song becomes truly brilliant.

Part two of 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond' closes the album. The structure is mostly the same as part one, with the guitar dominating most of the first half, and synth being prevalent in the second half. I prefer this, over part one, if only because of what happens halfway through. The band goes into a stunning jam with a groovy bass line and some accommodating synth and guitar. The rest of the song is some very atmospheric synth from Wright to close out this fantastic epic.

Wish You Were Here, along with Dark Side of the Moon and Animals represents Pink Floyd at their best. This is the last album before the band cohesiveness begins to fall apart and songwriting duties become less evenly allocated to all members. Regardless, this remains my favorite Pink Floyd albums and one of my favorite albums of all time.

10/10