WISH YOU WERE HERE

So, where to begin? "Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Part One)" begins the album quietly with Wright's synths and Gilmour's finger picked guitar, a relaxing ambient opener. After a while it leaves this section into a much jazzier guitar solo. Soon the famous "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" chorus is sung. But I won't waste time listing the many sections of this song. All you need to know is that it combines Floyd's psychedelic roots with jazzy motifs and Gilmour's classic guitar; producing a deserving tribute to Syd Barrett, the album's concept, and (combined with part two) the best song they ever made.

As "Shine On" fades out, you can hear vibes of a breaking down machine, sounding stunningly like my printer. This very soon develops into a devastatingly powerful, dark lament about young people trying to be different and rebellious, doing things you shouldn't like taking acid and eventually becoming just part of a machine ? by trying to break from the machine; much like Syd Barrett, in fact. Some of the best lyrics are here - "What did you dream?/That's all right we told you what to dream" - something only Floyd could think of.

"Have A Cigar" continues the album, opening with a surprisingly bluesy riff. It evolves into a jazz-rocky number with vocals from Roy Harper. It is probably the most fun, lively and enjoyable song on the album (not counting "Shine On"), and yet it's my least favourite song. Still an excellent achievement ? after all, it's on this album.

The penultimate track, "Wish You Were Here", was the first song I learnt on the guitar (I was originally just a pianist, I started playing the guitar quite late), and is very special to me. Opening with the guitar apparently recorded through Gilmour's radio, that slowly develops into a calm, reassuring and somewhat thoughtful ballad, with elements of folk that had not really been seen with Floyd before. It's concept is quite clear lyrically. One of my favourite ever songs by Pink Floyd.

Lastly - "Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Part Two)". I won't write that much, as if I did it would be very much the same stuff that I wrote for part one. I will say, however, that it is like a more fun, faster, jazzy song than part one, with less ambient influences (apart from the fade out, that is). If I had to separate the two parts of "Shine On", I'd say part two is better and more enjoyable.

So ? conclusion! Something I like to put in my reviews to help with my deciding on what rating I should give it are my two personal requirements for a five star album:

1. The songs must all be excellent.

2. It must work brilliantly as an album.

Number one is fine. I have said that I prefer some songs to others, but that does not mean they are not all excellent.

Number two I don't have to speak for. Just listen to the album, and you'll know I'm right.

Well, that's it. Not very long by my standards, but it's very difficult to describe the greatest albums of all time. I only ever gave Duke, my favourite album, a rating.

So, the final verdict is... five stars!

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