THE DIVISION BELL

The Division Bell is in my opinion the most underrated in the pink Floyd discography. It is perhaps the best album since Animals, as the band emerges from the songwriting dictatorship that plagued The Final Cut, The Wall, and A Momentary Lapse of Reason. Richard Wright is back in the band, and his contribution is very significant this time around. Though the main composing force is still Gilmour, who offers some of his most ethereal guitar solos throughout.

'Cluster One' is a very spacey, atmospheric piece. Wright's opening piano notes are chilling, and Gilmour adds some of his clean, dramatic guitar that is found all throughout this album.

'Poles apart' has a nice acoustic guitar opening which slowly picks up intensity with Mason's drums and some subtle keyboard parts from Wright. There is a weird, spooky "circus-like" instrumental soundscape in the middle which leads to one of Gilmour's best solos.

Beautiful, ethereal, atmospheric; there are a myriad of superlatives that could describe'Marooned.' It's my favorite on the album and also one of the Floyd's best. It's really just one long solo by Gilmour (with a great soundscape by Wright); but what a great solo it is. In my opinion, this song says more than all the other songs on the album with lyrics combined.

'A Great Day For Freedom,' Wearing the Inside Out,' and 'Take It Back' are all decent songs, though there is nothing terribly interesting in their structures. The solo in the first is great, and there is a small synth break halfway through the second that reminds me of Shine On, and really makes me wish there was more! Take It Back is probably the weakest track on the album, but is still good nonetheless.

'Coming Back to Life' opens with a rather bluesy guitar solo followed by Gilmour's vocals and eventually the whole band. The most interesting parts of this song are of course the guitar solos, which are backed by a nice rhythm.

'Keep Talking' is a unique song that makes use of some spoken samples of Steven Hawking and a talk-box solo near the end.

The last two songs form a great conclusion to a great album. 'Lost For Words' is more folky, relying a lot on Gilmour's lyrics. 'High Hopes' is mostly melancholic with a dramatic build-up, along with a sense of resolution in the ending guitar solo, making this an appropriate final Pink Floyd song.

Overall, The Division Bell is a very good way for Pink Floyd to end such a prolific career filled with some of the greatest moments in progressive rock, and music in general.

7/10