Pink Floyd - A Momentary Lapse of Reason

Discussions about Pink Floyd and Solo Official Album CDs and DVDs.

Rate This Album

5 - Best
14
10%
4
30
21%
3
40
28%
2
29
20%
1- Worst
30
21%
 
Total votes: 143

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Annoying Twit
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Re: Pink Floyd - A Momentary Lapse of Reason

Post by Annoying Twit »

David Smith wrote: A New Machine through Terminal Frost (the most boring track ever written) to A New Machine part 2 is probably my least favourite run of songs from any Pink Floyd album. Stunningly bad. If i was Gilmour i would have thought twice about making this my first album in charge of Pink Floyd as it simply doesn't compare to any of the back catelogue barring perhaps the studio part of Umma Gumma. The album just sounds far too periodic and very unfloydian. I'm glad Dave followed it up or we'd have this monstrosity of an album as the final piece in the band's career
IMHO the album only really comes into its own from A New Machine on. And it ends with Sorrow which is IMHO one of the all time classic Floyd tracks. That whole sequence only partially compensates for the first part of the album being a bit patchy, though I like OtTA, and Learning to Fly is listenable.
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Re: Pink Floyd - A Momentary Lapse of Reason

Post by Stilgar »

I like Sorrow and On the Turning Away... and Learning to Fly is catchy... only catchy... I still think AMLOR, as an album, is crap.
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Re: Pink Floyd - A Momentary Lapse of Reason

Post by princessDungan74D »

I admit to liking this album. Its an ok album.
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Re: Pink Floyd - A Momentary Lapse of Reason

Post by Massed Gadgets »

I just can't think of any redeeming quality to this album. Not a single song on it does absolutely anything for me. Bland and boring music. A pity the only time I got to see PF live was on this tour and they had to play the whole bloody thing.
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Re: Pink Floyd - A Momentary Lapse of Reason

Post by zag »

at least it´s not based on a country music !
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Re: Pink Floyd - A Momentary Lapse of Reason

Post by Idisaffect »

1/5
Something important is missing.


This was manufactured like it was a new car.
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Re: Pink Floyd - A Momentary Lapse of Reason

Post by pato26473 »

In connection with Daniel Caux's nice idea, here are my individual ratings for this record:

(4) 01. Signs Of Life
(5) 02. Learning To Fly
(1) 03. The Dogs Of War
(4) 04. One Slip
(4) 05. On The Turning Away
(2) 06. Yet Another Movie
(2) 07. Round And Around
(2) 08. A New Machine (Part 1)
(3) 09. Terminal Frost
(2) 10. A New Machine (Part 2)
(4) 11. Sorrow

Total: 33 / 11: a perfect 3, and that was my vote.

I think this record is the one that triggers the most "love or hate" perceptions among Floyd fans. I accept the idea that many songs of this record have not aged well (they sound very "80s" if you get the idea, like made of plastic), but, as the same time, I think that without "AMLOR", "Delicate sound of Thunder", "The Division Bell" and "PULSE" would have never existed. Gilmour's Floyd never reached Argentina, and I never had the chance of going to any of the shows from those tours, but from AMLOR onwards a lot of people could go to a "Floyd concert" and that would not have happened if this record hadn't existed.

In conclusion, I think this album is more important for Floyd's history because of its role in extending the band's life for seven more years than for its musical content.

What do you think?

PS: Along with Waters' "Several Species", Gilmour's "Dogs of war" is the worst ever Floyd song in my opinion. I can't even let one second of it sound in my speakers. As you can see, .... nobody is perfect!! :)
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Re: Pink Floyd - A Momentary Lapse of Reason

Post by Idisaffect »

pato26473 wrote:What do you think?
I now must give it a 0/5. Truly a piece of shit. Gilmour trades in his integrity for a huge wad of cash. This album proves that many Pink Floyd fans don't know the difference between quality and forgery. A total "sell out". Which was the point, I guess.
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Re: Pink Floyd - A Momentary Lapse of Reason

Post by Stephen »

I quite like Learning To Fly, at least I like it the best of all the tracks on this album. I gave it a perhaps rather generous 2.
Last edited by Stephen on Sun Feb 08, 2009 9:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Pink Floyd - A Momentary Lapse of Reason

Post by danielcaux »

pato26473 wrote:In connection with Daniel Caux's nice idea, here are my individual ratings for this record
:smt017 ....what are you refering to?
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Re: Pink Floyd - A Momentary Lapse of Reason

Post by PublicImage »

danielcaux wrote: :smt017 ....what are you refering to?
http://forum.neptunepinkfloyd.co.uk/vie ... 49#p494649
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Re: Pink Floyd - A Momentary Lapse of Reason

Post by danielcaux »

Oh that! Sometimes my past self surprises me with such a vast amount of anal retentiveness!

Well, let's see:

+3 Signs Of Life - I must admit I quite like the fake-SOYCD1 feel this tracks has, but for a 4:00 minutes piece of music not much is happening on it.
+3 Learning To Fly - OK ghost writer pop song.
+1 The Dogs Of War - I think I will stay with just the regular "Dogs". Jambo must be on drugs.
+3 One Slip - OK Tina Turner-esque pop song.
+4 On The Turning Away - We are the woooooorld! We are the childreeeeeeeen!
+3 Yet Another Movie - Well, I enjoy the Vangelis "Blade Runner" vibe of the intro, but this version is missing the Stephen Hawkings commercial monologue.
+0 Round And Around - is this a standalone track?
-1 A New Machine (Part 1) - pretentious "conceptual" filler.
+1 Terminal Frost - :smt015
-1 A New Machine (Part 2) - Again!
+3 Sorrow - Another case of the "Hunting Bears" syndrome, guitar intro 4, proper song 2.

Total: 19/11 = 1.72
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Re: Pink Floyd - A Momentary Lapse of Reason

Post by Sonic Destruction »

When I bought this album, I was just gobsmacked at how many session musicians were on it. I mean, apart from Nick, they had at least two other drummers, both of whom were far more technically gifted than he was. Why did he even bother turning up for anything other than the photo shoot? Rick wasn't even there for the photo, although it was funny/scary to see that his photo had been superimposed on later album covers, a true history-rewriting moment.

Still, never mind who is on it and who isn't; let's talk about the songs.

Alas the few reasonable moments ("Signs Of Life", "Learning To Fly", "One Slip") are sandwiched between stuff which is just filler ("Terminal Frost", "Yet Another Movie"), and tracks which are far too try-hard ("Dogs Of War" - hey let's do a song about how bad war is, the audiences used to love that; "Terminal Frost" - why don't we remake "Shine On" with no words or melody?).

As a Gilmour solo album, this actually works better than "About Face" or "On An Island" but it would have been a whole lot more convincing if he had just released it under his own name, rather than bowing to record company pressure and his own ego.

I still listen to it occasionally though, like once in the last five years!
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Re: Pink Floyd - A Momentary Lapse of Reason

Post by thehumanzoo »

Had David Gilmour released this under his name rather than that of Pink Floyd, then I think that it would have been looked back upon far more favourably. Whilst it is nowhere near as good as either The Division Bell, let alone the 'classic' 72-79 era or however it is generally looked back upon, I certainly do not see this as a <i>bad</i> record, just not one that is Pink Floyd.

I do not particularly enjoy the first four songs: "Signs of Life" is an ok beginning, but it is no more than a Shine On rip-off. The Ballad of Bill Hubbard, Cluster One and Castellorizon are far more effective at doing this. After the first few times of hearing it and finding it quite catchy, I've never really liked "Learning to Fly" that much and do think it is a tad overrated sometimes.

However, I've always had a soft spot for the guitar work on "On the Turning Away", "Yet Another Movie" and "Sorrow" and do enjoy these as standalone songs. Seemingly unlike the majority, I do not think that "Terminal Frost" is bad either: in fact I think that it is one of the better instrumentals.

It is obvious that there is supposed to be some sort of loose connection ("concept") through all the tracks (possibly at the insistance of a record company, but I would not like to escalate speculation about this), however, it clearly did not work all that well. Sadly, in hindsight, this is to the detriment of the album as a whole, which I find quite unbalanced. Sad really, because this is perhaps when Gilmour was at his peak as a guitarist/vocalist.
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Re: Pink Floyd - A Momentary Lapse of Reason

Post by Sonic Destruction »

I agree that the disc would have been looked back upon more favourably if it had been released as what it plainly is, ie a Dave Gilmour solo album.

When I gave it a two, I was rating it in terms of Pink Floyd music. If I was rating them against the music that currently fills the charts, every single Floyd album would get at least 4.5 out of five. However, as "Momentary Lapse" was released as Floyd, I guess it must be rated as such.

I certainly don't hate it, and would rather it have been released than not. However, it is surely one of their least satisfying albums, and I think Gilmour himself would have to agree with that (although then again, he likes "On An Island", so who knows?).