THE DIVISION BELL

Gilmour, Mason and Wright remained of the Pink Floyd money making machine. The best thing about this album is Pink Floyd were able to take it on the road to produce some of the best of their tours since The Wall. The music sounds similar to that on Momentary Lapse of Reason, very accessible rather than progressive. The melodies are infectious and easy to sing to for the live performances. The songs focus on many themes as usual, but they are still harping on about old Syd with songs such as Keep Talking. The lapse or complete lack of communication is the key theme, seen primarily by the striking cover art of two mute souls conversing, an optical illusion from the dark ages that works well for an album cover.

The tracks are quite famous now as they appear on live DVDs such as Pulse. My personal favourites are the cynical What do you want from me, A great day for freedom, Take it back, Coming back to life and Keep talking. The latter track features a convincing voice over by genius paraplegic scientist Stephen Hawking. The best song on the entire album is undoubtedly the atmospheric haunting High Hopes. This track is quintessential PF with a startling bell tolling effect and very emotive performance by Gilmour. The majestic closing section is an incredible performance by the band. The film clip promo was brilliant and seen in the live shows on the circular screens.

There are some strange tracks that never rang well with me such as the lengthy Poles apart, that is perhaps too long and drawn out. Marooned is also a strange one but sounds great as background music. Overall this was a huge album at the time and the last studio album for the band before they became a live act only. It is definitely one of the better PF albums of recent years and a fitting way to bow out of the studio recordings.