ZABRISKIE POINT (OST)

This is the album that determines if you are a true Pink Floyd fan or not. If you didn't know about this album before, then you still have a little more to learn about PF. If you did know, about it, then you probably know that the main album has 2 otherwise unavailable PF tracks on it plus 1 renamed track. But, not only that, if you get the 1997 re-release, you get a bonus disc with 4 more tracks that were previously unavailable that were written for the movie, but unused because of some issues between the band and the director. That is enough for the true PF fan to already know about and the PF music lovers to get excited about.

So, overall, is it worth it to search this out? Well, if you love the music the PF produced in the era between the departure of Barrett and "Atom Heart Mother" then this is definitely worth your while to check it out. The main feeling of the entire album (which also has some instrumentals by Jerry Garcia and other songs by other bands) is a very folky/psychedelic feeling. The songs for the most part are decent and enjoyable, but other than only a few of the PF tracks, there is not much progressive rock to talk about here. I only want to talk about the PF tracks here because I feel that is why most people on this site would want to check this album out.

"Heart Beat, Pig Meat" is the first PF track (and 1st album track). It is mostly psychedelic sounding but consists of an interesting percussion pattern with some ambient electronics flowing in and out and also a lot of what sounds like old soundtrack music clips from old movies thrown in here and there throughout the track. The next PF track is #4 on the album and it's called "Crumbling Land" This is a decent track with harmonic vocals that almost sound like what you would hear from a folk band like CSN&Y, so it fits into the feeling of the album. However, the ending gets somewhat spacey just so that you are reminded who this really is. The last track on the main album is also the last PF track and it's called "Come in Number 51, Your Time is Up". This is really not an original track in that it is very much like "Careful With That Axe, Eugene", so yes, it's psychedelic.

On the bonus disc, you get another vocal track called "Country Song" which sounds very similar to the music from "More", very mellow at first with a electric guitar joining in on the last part of the track. Nice track, but nothing really outstanding. Then you get "Unknown Song" which is a mellow full band instrumental, mostly acoustic sounding. "Love Scene Number 6" is a very nice blues instrumental which is a welcome change of pace for PF and then the disc closes with "Love Scene Number 4" which is simply Rick White on piano, nice and relaxing, but again nothing really outstanding here.

As far as the rest of the album, if you like folk rock with a little psychedelia mixed in, it's a pleasant listen. On the bonus disc, the other 4 tracks are Jerry Garcia pretty much noodling around on an acoustic guitar, so nothing too exciting there.

There was another track that was later released on a PF box set called "Fingal's Cave" which is a mellow psychedelic track. There were also two other tracks that were not released on any album that I am aware of called "Oenone" (on "The Tree Full of Secrets" bootleg and another psychedelic track) and "The Violent Sequence" (on the "Violence in Birmingham" bootleg and is a beautiful piano piece, much nicer than "Love Scene Number 4" and why it hasn't been released on a proper album, I don't know).

So, I guess it all depends on how curious you are and how big of a fan you are as to whether you want to look into locating this album. I can't consider it anything that is groundbreaking but it is pleasant like I said before, so give it a 3 star rating.