MEDDLE

Even though Meddle serves as apart of the pivoting point in the band's career, it contains standouts even when compared to their following albums (generally seen as their classics). "Echoes" is undoubtedly much more famous than this album, and it's ON it!!

"One of These Days" was a great choice for the album opener. It's a heavy jam, considering the men playing it. Possibly the closest thing to metal PF ever came. The idea doesn't go anywhere and ends with wind that drifts into "A Pillow of Winds". An alright tune, yes. Logical, because it contrasts from the tone of the opener. The song has a few key changes into minor and back to major. It's the main section that begins the song and returns 2/3 of the way through that'll captivate. The organ chords and simple melody lift up and resolve while sounding a D# over the E chord (major 7th) that gives this tune its sort of lift to the listener. It's a decent track.

"Fearless" is also relatively light. Defined and clearly driven by scaling upward on the guitar, it's just catchy. Nothing more to really go into about this one. It seems like it's supposed to move one a bit more than "Pillow" was meant to, but it's just relaxing again. The song also ends with fade-out into chanting? I'm not gonna question it.

So far there aren't many captivating melodies and harmonic moments to pull you under the spell of Meddle (or under the water and into the ear of, uh.... Ya know what, forget that thought). San Tropez is along the same lines. Acoustic guitar and piano offer for some deviation in timbre from the previous tunes. It's also short but also uses a few harmonic choices that intrigue. It's short. "Seamus" has barking. The song deserves no more words than that.

What partially has your attention at the first tunes just spirals downward into boredom for many. It's hard to wait for "Echoes", which is already a very mellow, even though gorgeous gloom, but it still sounds great by the time you reach it. The journey there is just okay. Only the opener deserves most of your attention. Other than that, we don't have any "bad" songs other than the dreaded "Seamus". If I were to average out these songs' quality, I'd probably come up with 3.0 or 3.5 at best, but all the tracks in context of an album just don't cut it. Unless you don't mind things keeping very tame and simple, Meddle is not for you.