A MOMENTARY LAPSE OF REASON

A Momentary Lapse of Reason was the first album I ever owned (I have a vinyl copy of this album that I've had since I was 7 years old) so naturally I feel a little bit sensitive towards the criticism this album gets. Yeah, the image of the band that made A Saucerful of Secrets, Meddle and The Dark Side of the Moon is gone, but the sound of the album still works well, since David Gilmour was the second leading force in Floyd. He was the main man behind "Wish You Were Here" and sang with precision. And he may not have been one of the founding members, but at least he had a couple of good solo albums from 1978 and 1984, and since he and Nick Mason were still getting along, he thought it would be important that Floyd fans should still have something with the name "Pink Floyd" on it. Richard Wright had been out of the band after so many disputes with Roger Waters, but he returned part-time for this album. That's why he has smaller font in the album credits and he's not pictured with Gilmour and Mason in the artwork (he is on the latest CD reissue, however).

The lead-off track, "Signs of Life," is eerily reminiscent of the keyboard intro to "Shine On You Crazy Diamond," mainly because it has an aural keyboard foreground and a bit of piercing guitar. The first sound is somebody rowing a boat on a river, and that sound goes well since the image in one's head could be one of little creatures in a lake. When the guitar steps in, a fox (or any other wild animal) has just stepped near the pond and frightened the little creatures. The guitar, on the other hand, foreshadows what's to come on the next track.

Exploding with a heavy guitar chord and some extreme percussion, "Learning To Fly" is a track based on Dave's personal experiences about learning to fly airplanes (a hobby he picked up in the early 1990's). With a chilly digital keyboard sound, some female backing vocals, electric drums and a bridge with pilot communication, this has to be the strongest track on the whole album. It's the only song from this album that gets radio play as far as I know. The track also has a some huffing and puffing probably from a synthesizer and it foreshadows the next track as well.

"The Dogs of War" is a powerful track, its title taken from a Shakespeare play. With some keyboard strings in the background, Dave explains men who love evil and will put the good to misery. A gut-wrenching guitar solo is played in the bridge and followed up with a bouncy sax solo.

After that forced listen, Dave lets our souls loose with "One Slip." "One Slip" is an atmospheric track with poetic lyrics and was also cowritten by Phil Manzanera of Roxy Music fame. Dave doesn't play much guitar on this track, but the keyboards and Chapman stick (ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Tony Levin!) give this track the force it needs.

If Genesis's "In Too Deep" was cheesy, "On The Turning Away" is a cheese omelette. Dave tries his hand at writing a love ballad (which, later in their careers, has obviously become a staple for nearly every prog band), and he almost succeeds. ALMOST! This track is more mellow compared to other famous Floyd songs and now it feels like Dave wants to make Pink Floyd his back-up band, the way Phil Collins had done with Genesis. The track is redeemed by a piercing guitar solo by Dave (and another one at the end) and a touch of organ by Little Feat's Bill Payne (who played the background keyboards on a similar ballad, Bryan Adams's "Everything I Do I Do It For You" - a better track, by the way) and it does have the energy that dominates this album.

"Yet Another Movie" is a cold, dark track with more poetic lyrics (an usual bit for a Floyd album). With the keyboardic atmosphere, the track almost sounds like it came out of Miami Vice. The instrumental follow-up, Round And Around, does little than use the previous elements.

No, "A New Machine (part 1)" has nothing to do with "Welcome To The Machine," but it is rather a very useless, practically-acapella track with garbage lyrics. The only good thing about the track is the vocal echoing and the subtle keyboards.

But it gets better! Some touching keyboards, a drum pattern, a piano fill and some guitar weeping makes up the body of a lovely instrumental track titled "Terminal Frost." How that title came about I do not know. It might be because of the mood of the track or because that's how Dave originally thought Pink Floyd would end up. The middle eighth is just as gorgeous since it has some wordless vocals and a sax solo. When it fades out, you'll have wept yourself dry just listening to the sheer brilliance of this subtle, visceral and lovely track.

Sadly, "A New Machine (part 2)" ends that gorgeous track and is once again a freeze-dried acapella. I have nothing nice to say about this track other than it is only 38 seconds long. WHAT A BREAK!

Now the album has finally come to the extremes with the last track, "Sorrow". Dave's guitar is slightly distorted and he "recites" more poetry against a subtle, powerful background. This is practically a grand finale since nearly everyone involved is now taking part in this nine-minute closer. The guitar solos on this track are very slick, polished and tight and practically dominate the last few minutes of the track. Come to think of it, the guitars actually sound like the ones on the title track of Genesis' Calling All Stations and this track almost has the feel of One Man's Fool...

Well, I'm sure my review hasn't been very helpful, but at least I've proven my point. I still listen to Momentary Lapse of Reason when I'm in the right mood and/or need a good David Gilmour fix.