Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here - 1975

 

Written as a tribute to former member Syd Barrett, for many ‘proper’ Pink Floyd fans, it would seem to be an album they don’t revere as much as others. Maybe I’m wrong there, but it certainly as if it wasn’t a favourite of the band themselves, finding it the most gruelling to complete. 

From my point of view, as a sort of non-Floyd fan, I really like it a lot. It is packed full of superb instrumentation, particularly David Gilmour’s guitar work and several outstanding extended instrumental pieces which render the vocals almost unnecessary. I would enjoy it just as much without them, but I have to say that the relatively sparse use of them is really effective. Personally, I much prefer this to Dark Side Of The Moon - don’t shoot me Floyd obsessives! Just the way it comes over to me from considerably my more detached viewpoint. 

Anyway, to the music - Shine On You Crazy Diamond Parts I-V is instrumentally brilliant, when the drums kick in, the bass, the almost early Roxy Music-like saxophone. Excellent. Although over thirteen minutes long it never outstays its welcome, seeming to be only about half that length, so engrossing is its music. The electric guitar solo around half way through is mesmerising, scintillating and any other 'ing' you may care to think of. 

The interesting Welcome To The Machine starts like David Bowie's Station To Station (surely he was influenced by this) and those glorious 'industrial' synth breaks must have had an effect on the output of numerous eighties post punk/new romantic keyboard-dominated, introspective bands. Bass, keyboards and acoustic guitar merge perfectly. This really is a mightily impressive composition - the bass/keyboard interplay near the end is spectacular. For me, as with many Pink Floyd songs, the lyrics are somewhat superfluous. It is about the music as far as I'm concerned, which just as well, as I find Roger Waters' voice and vocal style a little bit grating. 

Have A Cigar has a captivating slow rock drum beat, more fine keyboards and a bit of a funky guitar undertow. It is the most convincing rock number of the album, the equivalent of Dark Side Of The Moon's Money. Actually, just as solid and appealing is the plaintive but simultaneously Wish You Were Here, which is a classic "intelligent rock” muscular ballad. 

The second batch of Shine On You Crazy Diamond is truly superb - wonderful deep rumbling bass throbbing away somewhat menacingly as the keyboards cut and thrust, swirling around like an incense stick's smoke. Then the track gets a bit rhythmic and some catchy drum/cymbal work arrives. The vocals and some killer guitar take six minutes to introduce themselves as we revisit the lyrical/melodic conceits of the earlier sections (I-V) of the song. The funky bass and keyboard (clavinet) bit half way through is breathtaking, and positively Traffic-esque. There is so much going on this track and indeed on all this highly impressive album. The sound quality is great too.

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