MEDDLE

I don't consider "Meddle" a masterpiece in the same level as the four releases that succeeded it. I think that the album is still uneven, with a few weak moments. But there's no doubt that it's the point when PINK FLOYD turned from a very interesting band to one of the best of all time.

The main reason for my saying that is this record's last track, the fantastic "Echoes". This is the first taste that we would have of the band that gave us "Shine on you Crazy Diamond". David Gilmour's trademark, narcotic, celestial guitar melodies and solos make their first true appearance proper. This long epic also announces the arrival of a force never before heard in music. Atmospherics and notes flowing in the space were the new focal point, not kinetic energy. All the magic that was to come in the next albums was already here.

But this time around, the rest of the album has also several brilliant moments. The opener, "One of these days", is just a majestic crescendo piece with a constant idea being developed dynamically from a starting point in the deep corners of our minds to a sudden explosion driven by psychedelic rock. Like most of the previous album, "Atom Heart Mother", this track is vocal-less, purely instrumental. And we really wouldn't have it otherwise. "A Pillow of Winds" is ethereal, pastoral, with Waters-Gilmour's glorious hallucination-inducing voices striking with delicacy over soft sounds coming from above the clouds. "Fearless" is a more straightforward rock piece, with an interesting riff and with some bluesy- overtones. It's a very soothing song, very pleasant.

"San Tropez" is, in my view, the weakest link in the "Meddle" chain. It sounds a little like THE BEATLES, a little like THE DOORS, psychedelic but rather irrelevant. "Seamus" is another low point in the album, a boring guitar-and-vocals dirty little song that thankfully lasts only a couple of minutes. After this, the sonic world of "Echoes" is unleashed upon us, and we can be certain that the Monster has been created. Many have tried to sound like them, most every band sounds "floydian", but there's only one PINK FLOYD, and here it appears in all its glory.

If only for the superb "Echoes" and the fantastic "One of these days", this album deserves recognition as one of PINK FLOYD's best. A few weak tracks stop it from getting 5 stars from me. Nothing would stop the next four glorious albums. And in "Meddle" we get an excellent sneak preview of those.

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