WISH YOU WERE HERE

Wish You Were Here is the ninth full-length studio album by UK progressive rock act Pink Floyd. After the huge commercial and artistic success of their last album Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Pink Floyd released an album that in many ways are different from Dark Side of the Moon but also have some similarities with that album.

The pairing of progressive rock experimentation and more commercial pop sensibility that was initiated on Dark Side of the Moon continues on Wish You Were Here. If you take a song like the title track, however beautiful and enjoyable, it´s basically a commercial pop tune. If on the other hand you take the grand opening track Shine On You Crazy Diamond Part One you´ll find plenty of progressive moments, so Wish You Were Here has a bit of both worlds. I´ve always enjoyed both of the aforementioned tracks and also the eerie synth laden Welcome to the Machine. part two of Shine On You Crazy Diamond which ends the album is also pretty enjoyable while I have never been too impressed with the Roy Harper led blues rock song Have a Cigar. The album overall features some great vocals but the instrumentation is also really great throughout the album. David Gilmour´s guitar soloes are exceptional on the album. I would kill to be able to put as much emotion into my playing.

The production on the album is near perfect. Clean and pleasant. It might be lacking a bit of warmth compared to earlier releases but it´s greatly enjoyable nevertheless.

Wish You Were Here is another high quality release by Pink Floyd. It´s not my favorite album by the group but it´s definitely worth a 4 star rating.