WISH YOU WERE HERE

Considering the ridiculous expectations Pink Floyd had to reach after Dark Side of the Moon, it's hard to imagine that they could have done better than Wish You Were Here. Musically, the Floyd are bang on form, matching Waters intense brilliance with sublime playing. David Gilmour's guitar work is the best of his career and Rick Wright's atmospheric keyboards provides a "musical colors" for the band to use. Although far more personal than any other Pink Floyd work to date, this album bristles with anger, self-loss, confusion, and hope.

1. Shine on you crazy diamond Part one - has a great synth solo from Rick, great guitar solos from Dave and vocals sung passionately by Roger Waters, the sax at the end by Dick Parry is really good. This song also aims to make a public statement about Barrett's tragic decline into madness. 5/5

2. Welcome to the machine - its use of the VCS3 synth and multiple David Gilmours singing the vocal and nice acoustic guitar touches from Dave as well and nice tympani flourishes by Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason. 4.5/5

3. Have a cigar - is sung by Roy Harper and Dave's guitar work was killer. 4.5/5

4. Wish you were here - a great vocal from Dave and nice acoustic work as well and great keyboard work from Rick also. Surrealistic!5/5

5. Shine on you crazy diamond Part two - The wind at the end of song segues into Shine On...(Parts 6-9) and features this time great lap steel guitar work from Dave and great use of the Moog and ARP synthesizers by Rick and Roger sings the last section of the epic(which only has one verse anyway in part 7) that began the album and continued on side two. Part 8 was a great jazz/blues jam and Part 9 was a somber though beautiful synth solo from Wright. Awesome!! 5/5

Final Note: Overall , "Wish You Were Here" provides a fantastically written tribute to former band leader Syd Barret (in "Shine On.." and the title track), and a crass, sarcastic thumb at record companies (Welcome To The Machine, Have A Cigar). Most bands wouldn't be able to fit both on one record, but Floyd did so, and still managed to maintain complete artistic integrity. Highly Recommended!

5+4.5+4.5+5+5 = 24

24 : 5 = 4,8

Essential: a masterpiece of progressive music

Curiosity: During the Wish You Were Here recording sessions, Syd Barrett just happens to wander into Abbey Road studio while Pink Floyd are mixing "Shine On You Crazy Diamond," a song written about Barrett. At first, none of Syd's former bandmates recognizes the fat, bald lunatic who is compulsively brushing his teeth. Roger Waters and Rick Wright cried when they realized that was Syd Barrett.