MEDDLE is one of my favourite Pink Floyd albums, but it's very different from my other three faves, DARK SIDE OF THE MOON, WISH YOU WERE HERE and ANIMALS. This fabulous disc is much more diverse in direction than those that would follow. Roger Waters' anger and paranoia don't yet rule the day; there is profound beauty here, on great, shorter songs like "A Pillow of winds" and "San Tropez," while the whimsical track "Seamus," with its barking dog, actually reveals a sense of fun!
Such emotional variety would be notably absent on later releases; not that those albums are any less indispensable for that! I whole-heartedly agree with earlier reviewers who enjoy the power and psychedelia of "One of These Days" and the epic "Echoes." Those ARE essential examples of the sound fans normally associate with Floyd.
Yet "Fearless" is not only one of my favourite Pink Floyd songs, it's also uplifting: "I will climb that hill in my own way, and every day's the right day...
." In closing, fellow Floydians, after blasting "Sheep," "Money" or "Welcome to the Machine" you can kick back and relax to the oft-overlooked gems on MEDDLE. Don't just program in "One of These Days" and "Echoes" -- enjoy MEDDLE in its glorious, multi-faceted entirety!
Posted Friday, January 09, 2004, 21:02 EST |
One can not accuse Floyd to have formula and repeat it. This another completely different album , quite distinct from every other ones. Very few bands managed to rework their sound so thouroughly with each passing album and still maintain their personality and distinctive edge!
! Just with that feat, Floyd is incredibly progressive. Echoes is a masterpiece on which everything has been said (read the other reviews for it, I cannot up the ante) but the first three tracks on side 1 are also gems.
One Of These Days is one hell of an innovative track and Mason kicks butts in it and Gilmour just flies over the booming water bass lines. I am more reserved for the last two tracks which can be considered as fillers. Posted Tuesday, February 03, 2004, 10:24 EST |
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".
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