MORE (OST)

Some artists are a natural for soundtracks: TANGERINE DREAM, VANGELIS and, so it would seem, PINK FLOYD. The band recorded this collection of songs and instrumentals for the Barbet Schroeder film, More (they would go on to score another of his films, released as "Obscured By Clouds"). Soundtracks are often a dicey deal, producing on command a pale imitation of an artist's original hue or indulging delusions of grandeur by dressing their sometimes humble muse in orchestral robes. Not so More, which sticks close to the plan established for their studio albums: soporific ballads, psychedelic sandstorms, and eerie instrumental noodling. It's not up to the level of A Saucerful of Secrets -- the band wasn't going to waste their best ideas on a film no one was going to see -- but it is closer to the genuine article than you would expect. The sleepy "Cirrus Minor" and its explosive followup, "The Nile Song", set the tone for the album's calculated desire to lull listeners to sleep only to rouse them with sonic overload. It's these songs and a handful of others ("Crying Song", "Green Is The Colour", "Cymbaline", "Ibiza Bar") that represent More's real achievement. Despite some interesting moments like the avant jazz duet of WRIGHT and MASON on "Up The Khyber" or the eerie journey of "Quicksilver", the instrumentals generally represent filler. Unfortunately, nothing on here aspires to an "Interstellar Overdrive" or "Careful With That Axe, Eugene." Seen as a hybrid of a studio album and a soundtrack, you'll get a better picture of what More has to offer. It's no substitute for the studio albums, but it is a nice supplement to them.