ON AN ISLAND

David Gilmour is a guitar player, but sadly not a composer. In this album, you may hear gorgeous guitar playing, but the songwriting is somewhat remarkable throughout the whole album, while a bit better than ths songs he wrote in "Momentary Lapse of Reason". The mood in this album is mellow, laidback, peaceful, and happy. You may see it as a happy Pink Floyd without Roger Water's contributions.

The Pink Floyd sound (especially from Floyd's last album) is obvious in Castellorizon as it seems like the usual atmospheric intro with mellow good guitar playing in the style of Wish you Where Here. After the guitar appears, it sounds very good and is connected to On An Island making both a 10 1/2 minute long epic and the highlight of the album. On An Island has that mellow, content feel which differs from Pink Floyd. I like the melodies very much and the guitar soloing is some of his best in the past 25 years.

That was a good first impression, but unfortunately, the rest does not live up to that standard. The Blue is a standard mellow tune with many layers of sound and the usual good extended solo, but the song is a bit unremarkable, tedious, and doesn't change in its 5 minutes. Take a Breath is a good upbeat tune with a good hard- edged guitar riff that is used throughout most of the song, and good melodies, solo, and a soft interlude. The riff is great, but sometimes I wish the guy could not base a single riff for a 6 minute long song. Red Sky At Night is not really a song, but it has a good laid-back sax solo. If Heaven sounds like This Heaven , I would not wish to go there when I die. This song has a terrible melody played on guitar and vocals for its 4 1/2 minutes. The guitar solos is pretty good, but the song is weak. Fortunately, Then I Close My Eyes is a rare highlight in the album: an folk/country instrumental with a good theme and many instruments including the banjo being played. Smile is an unremarkable track that is saved by some fine slide guitar playing. A pockerful of Stones is a good moody piece but the continuous mellow feel is starting to make me lose interest already. Gilmour songwriting is pretty good here as well as his guitar soloing. Where we Start is a very slow and gentle closer to the album with symphonic touches.

So, the album might be enjoyed a lot for Guitar fanatics or people who enjoy listening to extremely mellow music. I like to hear good guitar playing and there is plenty here to be enjoyed, but the super-mellow mood gets boring in the second half.

Highlights: Castellorizon/On An Island, Then I close My Eyes

Let Downs: The Blue, This Heaven

My Grade : C-

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