WISH YOU WERE HERE

When you can recognize every single song off a certain album without even looking at the cd, or a computer or not even mentioning the band Pink Floyd, you know that certain album is something special.

This album doesn't move. It just plods along at its own pace, and doesn't care if you get it or don't. As in, it's an album that's signature Floyd. Of course, I can't ignore "Shine On", it's filled with ambient soundscapes, awesome solos and laid back jams that I could just listen to on repeat forever. The composition is fantastic, the sound quality is perfect. It's just a euphoric bliss of ooey, gooey, Floyd-y bliss.

I never really took to "Welcome To The Machine". This windy backdrop that sets the tone for the whole song creates a fantastic effect, and it's a fantastic composition, each little piece working the way it should. I just never found myself being a fan of it to listen to. I don't know why, but there's nothing about it that keeps me coming back. I respect it immensely, I just don't rock out to it.

"Have A Cigar" is quite the opposite. It's another jam, filled with grooves and guitar solos that really do have a psychedelic quality to them, and while "Wish You Were Here" isn't like "Have A Cigar" at all, it's still laid-back and a very pleasant song to listen to, a relaxing acoustic driven track to just let your problems fall to the wayside.

To me, Wish You Were Here is one of the most complete albums is the sense that it has an identity that's evident in each and every track on the album, but also has a sound unique from any other album in the band's repertoire. Sure, "Shine On" shares many qualities to that of "Echoes", but if I asked you to remember one or the other of the top of your head, "Shine On" would probably come through first. Perhaps for no particular reason, it just may be that it's written in such a way that was actually catchy and memorable, without you even knowing it.

Perhaps that's why "Welcome To The Machine" also works on this album. To me, it initially looks like a misfit on this small setlist, but when you listen to it, there's just an innate reaction to sing along with "Welcome, my son". There's an odd catchiness to the choruses and verses that seemed to solidify its dominance on classic rock radio stations. Apart from part 2 of "Shine On", I've heard all these songs on the radio.

That to me is the majesty of this disc. It's an album that continues to strike a chord and sing-along mentality to listeners, even while maintaining a signature Floydian sound and even still, trying to push the boundries of musical technique and sound into the world of music ("Welcome To The Machine", the radio samples on "Wish You Were Here"). That to me covers all the bases of a truly great album. It seems to have something for everyone.

That is, unless you don't like Pink Floyd. Then that's your problem, son, you're just missing out.