PINK FLOYD

Meddle inhabits a strange middle ground in Pink Floyd's discography, sitting between the psychedelic excesses of their early years and the focused songwriting that was about to come. But it's also the band's most pleasant and expansive album, one that leaves you deeply relaxed, if a bit exhausted (which is why I can't give it a higher grade), after listening to it, which is a nice change of pace from the band's usual misanthropic attack. It might not have as many big songs as the following two records, but for what it's worth.

After Dark Side of The Moon, the awesome and one of the most influential albums of the progressive music (maybe a little bit overrated), this is where Pink Floyd found themselves: believing more in the equalization, effects and... believing more in the Pink Floyd name than in their own music. Currently the #4 at the Top Prog Albums here. Sorry, but I just can't understand this. I love David Gilmour guitar playing. But I think this album is a little bit... exageratted. And god knows how it could be a way better. We know it too. We know Animals. Shine On Your Crazy Diamond (both tracks) is something like a hymn. I like it. But after many years living and learning with Pink Floyd albums, I really can't rate it a 5 star song. The songwriting at this album is a formula. It works, but most of the spacey parts are just formula. They could write 500 different albums with similar track and junkie fans would rate it 5/5. Have A Cigar is the worst track, I have that feeling that "I had heard it before" at my first listening. It's a boring track for me. It's not like Gentle Giant formula, that I always find something new. This is like, ah, another pink floyd song, cool. The main track, Wish You Were Here, it's awesome, but I can't listen to this song anymore. Every radio station plays, every guitar boy on the streets or bars are playing this one. Welcome to the machine is the most... 'cyberpunk' track, it's my favorite, but without the effects, it would be very simpleton.

Great album. Have fun.

The songs are good, but they are in no way outstanding. This might as well be the reason for its vast influence on the music world: It was extremely easy to like, progressive mainstream as easy as it gets. In a year, in which Genesis and Yes were far more versatile, innovative, expressive... were releasing albums bursting with ideas and musicality, Dark Side seems rather lush in comparison.

So, yes, this was an important album. But don't mix up historical importance with musical quality.

The highlights are On the Turning Away and Sorrow. Great arrangements, the feeling is just huge on these tracks. Also, the Shine On version available here is good, and Comfortably Numb has never been played better to my knowledge.

The choice of songs could have been a bit better, but that is a matter of taste.

Floyd released two psych-pop singles before this album came out. In general, this album is less poppy and more psych-y than those two singles. Piper was recorded at Abbey Road studios literally down the hall from where The Beatles were recording Sgt. Pepper. The two bands met each other and McCartney supposedly said (paraphrasing here): "They're gonna steal our thunder!" The Floyd used the 'classical' setting in their studio, instead of the 'pop' setting. Not because they thought they were making classical music, but rather because the 'classical' setting offered more options soundwise. Recorded in mono first and later mixed in stereo. Stereo was still fairly new and it wasn't until 1969 that studio people got it 'right' without sounding gimmicky. Generally speaking, albums recorded before 1969 sound better in their mono versions.

"Astronomy Domine" is a now classic intro to a now classic album. Featuring the band's manager Peter Jenner reading the houses of the Zodiac (groovy, man) and some Morse code I think. This track must have seemed very futuristic in 1967. Syd wrote "Lucifer Sam" about his cat. Centred around a guitar line that sounds like a cross between a blues lick and the theme to a '60s spy film. "Matilda Mother" is one of the highlights of the album and shows that Rick was one of the lead vocalists at the time. Apparently there is a section edited out of the song. Great organ solo with trippy mouth noises from either Syd or Waters. "Pow R Toc H" is an instrumental with vocal sounds. Both jazzy and trippy at the same time. Certainly one of the most proto-proggy tracks on the album.

"Take Up Thy Stethoscope And Walk" is the only song solely written by Waters. One of the more rockin' tunes, almost has a Who-meets-Animals sound to it. Waters and Mason were much more energenic here than on later albums. "Interstellar Overdrive" is the band's first classic instrumental. It would be even freakier and longer in concert. You can almost hear the birth of Krautrock here. Syd came up with the main riff after hearing Jenner hum the Love song "My Little Red Book." The band members recorded their parts twice so you are literally hearing two Pink Floyds at once. This is most noticeable in the buildup to the reprise of the main riff. In the stereo version after the riff comes back you hear all the instruments go back and forth.

"Scarecrow" has Rick playing the black keys on his organ to create an almost monophonic synth type of sound. Interesting percussion sounds but the song itself is basically a folk ditty. "Bike" is classic 1960s British psych-pop, but it is more complex than it seems. The time signature keeps changing while the effects at the end are beyond trippy. As great as this album is, it still does not show how creative these guys could be in a live setting. Syd's guitar playing in particular was more 'out there' than what you hear on Piper. By the end of 1967 the band was already dismissing the whole psychedelic scene, saying it was just another bandwagon people were jumping on. They were ready for the next thing...even if no one knew what the next thing was going to be.

What happend to Syd (real name Roger)? Well, he seemed to be fine until they toured the US for the first time. Then people starting noticing that he was acting kinda strange. Although not a diagnosed schizophrenic, Barrett had some mental issues (they say there is a thin line between genius and insanity). He lived with some shady characters that would do things like put LSD in his drinks without him knowing it. Even worse than the acid perhaps was his use of Mandrax onstage. After Piper was released the band recorded some songs that till this day have never been officially released. He stopped playing with the band in January 1968 (both live and in the studio) just after Gilmour joined. His departure was not officially announced until April of that year.

Although Piper has not aged the greatest, it was an influence on later space rock and Krautrock. There are some that even today praise Barrett but think little of the group he founded. He appears on about half of the next album and sitting in the vaults of Abbey Road is a version of "Let There Be More Light" that features both Barrett and Gilmour. Floyd would go on to become more experimental before becoming a household name; Syd would go on to make some of his own unique guitar-and-vocal based music before getting bored with making music at all. Both Floyd and Barrett would never make an album like this again. Historically significant and one of the better albums of 1967, I give this 4 stars.

Well, the album starts with heartbeats... the beginning track "Speak To Me" features no instrument, but only samples of the other tracks to come. Clock's ticking... Slot machine working... A man complaining about being mad for so many years... For me, "Speak To Me" brings a quick look over the album's innovative ideas.

"Breathe" is a relaxing and great song, represents birth IMO. Very nice combination of guitars and keyboards. The lyrics are the key to this song..."All you touch and all you see, is all your life will ever be...". A warning, maybe?

"On The Run" is a strange track, synth heavy. I always had an issue finding out what this track means. The first thing flowed in my mind, was rushing in doing stuff. But the next song says something differently. Still, this song is powerful.

"Time" starts with the clocks ticking.A very catchy melody, again the lyrics are very important. One of my personal favorite songs, with Gilmour executing one of his sweetest guitar solos. The title and lyrics says it all about this wonderful song.

"The Great Gig In The Sky" is just WOW! Richard Wright doing some excellent piano work, and Claire Torry's vocals fit perfectly to this song. Highlight of the album. This one represents the fear from death, as in line "And I'm not frightened of dying... anytime will do, I don't mind..."

"Money" is the album's lead single, recorded in an odd 7/8 signature. The slot machine beginning, the "I was in the right" part at the end and the sax-guitar solo is the highlight of this song. The song's title says it all, again.

"Us And Them" is a very sad song. Saxes, Guitars and Pianos are awesome on this one. The lyrics are about war, and political issues, maybe? A very beautiful song. "'Haven't you heard, It's a battle of words!' The poster bearer cried"

"Any Color You Like" is my favorite song from this album. Very pleasant. A sweet, short instrumental track with a GREAT keyboard and guitar solo. This song deals with the lack of choice humans have in a society.

"Brain Damage" and "Eclipse" are the two final tracks of the album, lunacy and death, the last straw in one's life. Once again the tunes are just great. The lyrics on brain damage are also telling the story of Barret, and how he sadly turned slowly mad. "Eclipse" is one of the best album-closers of all time. The last line..."But the sun is eclipsed by the moon" and the heartbeat, mark the end of a journey, a life, an album.

Overall: Solid 10/10. A true masterpiece, and the first album that got me into Prog, It's hard not to enjoy this album.

Pink Floyd never made a bad album in my opinion. Each of their albums have their own unique qualities, and this includes OBC. While the album has some pretty boring tracks, there are enough classic tracks to make the album a worthwhile experience. The greatest songs on the record are "Stay", "Wots...Uh the Deal" and "Burning Bridges". "Stay" is an excellent ballad that is instantly recognisable as being written by Rick Wright. This track has a slightly "early Genesis" feel to it, particularly in the brief instrumental section after the chorus. "Wots...Uh the Deal" is a classic David Gilmour track that he played in his Royal Albert Hall concert. My possible favourite track on the album is "Burning Bridges". This track is probably the most proggy track on the album, moving in waves of sound.

While this album may not be the greatest in Pink Floyd's unblemished discography, it is worth a listen for fans of early Pink Floyd.

The guitar slowly is covered by a noise of helicopter in flying, we hear noises of playing and shouting children when suddenly, a voice appears from the bottom of your surrounding (speakers): " You, Yes You ? " A note of bass then begins The Happiest Days Of Our Lives: prelude to the biggest success of Floyds, Another Brick In The Wall Pt2. The shock is very real, Pink Floyd is not any more the same, the group smoothing 1970s became a real group , mature, capable of absorbing several styles (here the disco). But, in spite of the fame of this piece, I consider it personally as a piece absolutely dispensable, one of the least good pieces of the album.

A bell of telephone is listened, follows the voice and the acoustic guitar of Wawa, Mother ends the face A of the album in a piece in accents Country music ? In spite of a laborious starting up, piece begins has to take off from the tune, when Gilmour joins the dance. The sound stops and I am obliged to get up and to change the face of the vinyl.

The silence breaks and an acoustic guitar is listened, followed by the voice of Gilmour. Goodbye Blue Sky is doubtless one of the most trivial pieces of the album, but he remains pleasant. Empty Spaces follows who in spite of the absence of What Shall we Do Now arrives has to transport the auditor in the anxiety. It is followed by the hard rock Young Lust and there, we approach the perfection, a powerful piece, which in the kind competes with AC / DC or other groups of this kind. The powerful voice of the guitarist isn't for nothing, this piece will be one of the most good during the lives of 1980 and 81 to become an explosion of 5 even 6 minutes, a real slap which unfortunately does not last for a long time, a voice of phone director being too fast heard.

A door slams, then a dialogue begins ? " Oh My God! What A Fabulous Room!! ", a tablecloth of synth arrives, then the voice ? " Day After Day, Love Turns Grey ? " One of My Turns begins as one ballad, suddenly, within one second, everything tips over: the sound makes more furious, Toilets begins roaring, noises of broken glass are listened. The piece re-calms down and a door tires out ?

Arrives then what is doubtless the worst piece of the album:Don't Leave Me Now, The piece begins very badly, in unbearable synthetic basses before falling over to a big nonsense, and then it is long, but then length ?