DELICATE SOUND OF THUNDER

After "The Final Cut", which was in fact the record of a songwriter (Waters), not a group, Pink Floyd melts and Waters does a legal battle, which loses, to prevent Gilmour, Wright and Mason from keeping the name Pink Floyd. And so, under the leadership of Gilmour, the group's discography continues with the return of Wright and the more than good album "A Momentary Lapse of Reason" (1987), dominated by Gimour: composer and singer of all tracks (with the help of the lyricists Ezrin and Carin and McGough, and sometimes other co-authors of the music).

The album is a great success and PF in 1988 make a world tour immortalized by the double live "Delicate Sound of Thunder". In this record we see Pink Floyd machine at work in its full efficiency, with Gilmour, Mason and Wright returned in great shape and helped by some session man (Gary Wallis on percussion, Guy Pratt on the bass, John Carin on keyboards and vocals, Tim Renwick on guitars and vocals). The show, with psychedelic lights, holophonic sound and stage interventions worthy of a theater, is impressive and sees Gilmour as the absolute protagonist: his voice getting older has become even more fascinating, his guitar solos are overwhelming. Ultimately, Gilmour has become a true singer-songwriter, what in PF he has never been, having composed only a few tracks throughout the group's discography. The first record, after the initial "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", executed with precision , includes all songs taken from Momentary Lapse of Reason and the result is excellent: the new songs do not disfigure. They are perhaps more atmospheric than those of Waters but keep the grit and the menacing sound of the last Pink Floyd's albums.

The best rock song is undoubtedly the martial "Dogs of War", worthy of "The Wall", while the melodic pearl is "On the Turning Away", that close the first disc. It is a masterpiece, embellished by the voice and the guitar solo by Gilmour. The lighter song is the single "Learning to Fly"; "Yet Another Movie" keeps the sound slow and heavily punctuated by PF, with guitars feedback effects . "Sorrow" is a guitaristic ballad (perhaps the least beautiful), The sound of the album is mammoth, you can feel that the group has aged and is weighed down with the various session men and singers but what it loses in agility, it gains in grandeur. it is a sound that puts awe, like that of a thunder.

The second disc sees Pink Floyd playing some of their old classics: "One of These Days" (from Meddle), "Time", "Money", "Us and Them" (from Dark Side of the Moon), "Wish You Were Here" (from the homonymous album), "Another Brick in The Wall Part II", "Comfortably Numb" and "Run Like Hell" (from The Wall). Gilmour tries to select songs where he participated as an author, but in two cases, Money and Another Brick in The Wall, he sings two pieces signed by Waters. Some tracks, like "Another Brick in the Wall Part II"and "Run Like Hell", are not very consistent, extrapolated from their context, instead others are very effective and are emotionally warmer, performed live, such as "One of These Days", "Wish You Were Here" and above all the absolute masterpiece "Comfortably Numb" that with extraordinary solo of Gilmour in closing will perhaps become the strong track of PF in concert. Years later, Waters and Gilmour will meet in concert and perform together this wonderful piece, emblem of their collaboration.

This abum had the function to introduce to Pink Floyd teenagers of the eighties like me, and it remains, even in the absence of Waters, a cult Lp, since the group had never previously released an album live. It is a great album, which documents live one of the groups who has made the history of rock even for its incomparable and unique stage performances.

Vote: 9. Rating: Five Stars.