A MOMENTARY LAPSE OF REASON

This album is often reviled, but I find it to be wonderfully inventive, awash with varied arrangements, strong performances from Gilmour and his cohorts, lots of very Floydian sound effects, and all based on a fine set of songs with plenty of attack and aggression, something that would begin to fade from his repertoire in future years. The opening three tracks are as good as anything Floyd have done, from the extended languid instrumental intro Signs Of Life through the classic Learning To Fly with its 'elephant' guitar and evocative lyric, to the much maligned The Dogs Of War. Add in album closer Sorrow and you have a set of classic modern rock songs, Pink Floyd style.

Most older fans bemoan the passing of Roger Waters, and it is clear the lyrics lack his bite and the sound has changed, but for this album Gilmour was still hungry - for success, perhaps for adulation, and to receive credit that maybe he had lacked in the past. It may have had a difficult genesis, but the result is a superb piece of modern stadium rock.