WISH YOU WERE HERE

Everything is in perfect balance on this LP. Roger Water's passion and sarcastic barbs are counterbalanced by David Gilmour's melodious guitar and smooth vocals, Richard Wright's spacey and dreamy keyboards, and Nick Mason's tasteful drumming.

Gilmour composed the short note sequence that would be expanded to become "Shine on Your Crazy Diamond" parts 1 and 2. Instead of recording and presenting the extended suite 'straight through' like they had done with the song "Echoes", Waters proposed splitting it into two sections, using each section as a bookend for a few additional songs to fit the concept and round out the album. Gilmour initially didn't warm to the idea but was out-voted 3 to 1. This is yeat another illustration of - at least musically if not lyrically - a healthy measure of creative equanimity in the band's decision making process.

It seems odd to think back to when this album was released. At the time, I considered myself somewhat contrarian for rating it better than their previous release "Dark Side of the Moon". Years later, David Gilmour and Richard Wright both marked "Wish You Were Here" as their favorite of all the Pink Floyd albums. I'm pleasantly surprised to discover how many masterpiece (5 star) ratings have been registered by Prog Fans in the PA community.