ON THE TURNING AWAY

I know Pink Floyd's 1987 studio release may not be the most satisfactory of it's brethren in the eyes of prog's common man, but I always loved it. For a while even, I found A Momentary Lapse of Reason to be one of my favorite albums of ALL TIME, and very likely my favorite from the band. Well, that was until I listened to Obscured By Clouds, but that's a different story. Back to the album. I loved every track of it, and even heartily excused ones that were less satisfactory than others due to the albums greatness. Of course, there were always the gold tracks, mostly looking at 'Dogs of War', 'One Slip', 'Learning to Fly' and of course, 'On the Turning Away'. Out of those, I'll be looking at the last one, which was probably my second favorite from the album in all.

You can't exactly call it an ode to Pink Floyd, mostly because, well, Pink Floyd is playing it. That might sound odd when I say it, but think about it. This song is less of a real masterpiece and more of a homage made by the band to their 1970's heyday. And, in effect, it's not bad. In fact, the slow beginning and sudden guitar drop signature of Gilmour fits much better than the crazed-waters period (1983). The whole song sounds relaxed, easily played, and sounds like a real treat, especially for a Floyd fan such as myself.

The other track of the single is a live version of The Wall's 'Run Like Hell', which is one of my favorite tracks from the original 1979 release. And this little live version is no exception. It's performed beautifully and effortlessly, although it really isn't enough to buy this as a single. So, this release for me gets a rating bordering on five, but just can't make it. I do highly suggest listening to these songs, especially the former.