WISH YOU WERE HERE

This used to be another favourite of my teenage years, but it's one of those albums that hasn't grown on me all that well. Of course there are flashes of brilliance, but for the first time, some latent flaws of the Pink Floyd formula become visible.

All instrumental sections of the album are amazing, but they sound less involved then on previous albums. Pink Floyd have lost their edge a bit here. Maybe the focus was too much on the mix and production of the album and less on the actual playing, which might have resulted in the rather clinical sound and detached musicianship. With Animals they rectified this completely.

Another thing that doesn't sit entirely well with me is the actual songs, or should I say the vocals. The chorus of Shine On hasn't a really strong melody and is one of Pink Floyd's few sentimental moments. Given the average rating, I do realize of course that I might be one of the few people on earth who thinks like that.

Also Welcome To The Machine is more convincing for Richard Wright's ground-breaking synth playing then for Roger Waters rather strained vocal. Have A Cigar is a fun but forgettable track and Pink Floyd's campfire moment Wish You Were Here is one that I always skip. On part two of Shine On this album comes alive again. The first 5 minutes are pure magic. The continuation after the short verse and chorus is quite good as well.

Had this been from any other band I would have rated this 4 stars without much further debate, but given this is Pink Floyd I need to round it down to 3 stars in order to keep a bit of perspective on how good their masterpieces Umma Gumma Live, Meddle, Animals and DSOTM are for me.