WISH YOU WERE HERE

Wish You Were Here is a great album; of that, there is no doubt. What's really interesting is the way it manages to be so good despite there being so much wrong with it. Shine On You Crazy Diamond is a heartfelt ode to Syd Barrett which far from being emotive is cold and mechanical - though in a chillingly beautiful way - burying any genuine feeling felt by the band members under layers of synthesisers. Out of context, I can't bear the title track, but as the one shot of warmth in the middle of the emotional desert of the music industry (as represented by Welcome to the Machine and Have a Cigar) and the isolation of schizophrenia (as represented by Shine On), it makes perfect sense. Although the withdrawn and alienating nature of the album probably inspired the punk "I Hate Pink Floyd" movement - the punks always being more drawn to direct and emotionally vivid music - it's also a powerful portrait of the numbing effect of time, distance, and just plain awkwardness on human relations. Five astars.