MEDDLE

Your head'll appreciate "Meddle". It's here that PINK FLOYD nearly perfects their soporific soundscapes, aptly described in "A Pillow of Winds." What makes "Meddle" different from its predecessors is the distilling of a signature sound. "One of These Days" could pass for "Dogs", "A Pillow of Winds" for "Pigs On The Wing", "Fearless" would be revisited on "One of These Turns." However, by the time Animals and The Wall were released, the band had hermetically sealed themselves off from everything but an idiosyncratic sound. "Meddle" by contrast is still experimental, finding time for a delightfully Kinksian turn through "San Tropez", an ill-conceived throwaway like "Seamus" or the side-long electronic voyage of "Echoes." It's this last track that often captures the most attention on "Meddle", though it had more of an influence on TANGERINE DREAM than PINK FLOYD, who never wrote another song like it. Unfortunately, "Meddle" doesn't feature a lot of technical flash; Richard Wright's keyboards and David Gilmour's guitars are relatively understated (in fact, GILMOUR and Wright seem to challenge one another on "San Tropez" to see who can come up with the most restrained solo). It would be tempting to call "Meddle" a transitional album between their more experimental past and the sonically rich future, but it's not that simple. Better to think of this as the band's first epic recording. As much as I enjoy some of the band's early psychedelic triumphs, it's the occasionally lean and muscular attack of "Meddle" that allows WATERS' cynical wisdom and GIMOUR's biting guitar to shine.

If you're looking to get into the pre-"Dark" days, definitely buy this album before meddling with "Umma Gumma" or "Atom Heart Mother".