OBSCURED BY CLOUDS

An unsung hero of the Pink Floyd discography this album stands alone better than they had done before it. You do not have to watch the film to appreciate this fine album, or even think of it as a soundtrack because the songwriting, musicianship and lyrics are perfect from start too finish.

The heavier songs The Gold It's In The... and When You're In are not typical floyd but Gilmour's guitars on the tracks are perfect and rare gems for anybody who is a fan of his guitar work. The album really is a prelude to the Darkside of The Moon you really can hear throughout these guys finally clicking together as we had briefly glimpsed on Meddle we see them in full flow on this album.

This album is also one of the finest performances Richard Wright ever gave, his vocals on Burning Bridges and Stay and his amazing keyboards on Mudmen and mystical use of the VCS3 synthesiser on the title track add so much atmosphere to the album and showing how much Rick Wright is a defining part of Floyd and was really beginning to re-establish himself in the band.

Overall this album features every aspect of Floyds music we had seen on the first albums and every aspect we would see in the next few albums, hard rock songs, ballads, a country/folk influenced Roger Waters song (similar to San Tropez from Meddle) in Free Four and the highlight of the album, a classic prog song in Childhoods End, which really is a forgotten classic of not just Pink Floyd but all progressive music.