Pink Floyd - Obscured By Clouds

[my breakfast.]

I think Gilmour's solo on Childhood's End is much better than any solo on TDSOTM.

Better than solo on Time?

Yes. To me the solo on Time is buried behind a lot of effects. On Childhood's End the solo is almost clean, just a bit of overdrive and some reverb. On Time there is fuzz and phaser and I think you can hide a lot of mistakes that way. The solo on Childhood's End is lyrical by comparison.

[Jimi Dean Barrett]

Oh... you mean this album isn't the start of their classic 70's trilogy?
You could have fooled me!
Free Four has a humour I wished we had more of from the band and the whole thing is so relaxed and focused why didn't they give themselves more punishing deadlines? True it doesn't attempt to bend or re-define Pink Floyd and to sometimes I think of it as the DSOTM dress rehearshal. How sweet the sound of a coasting Floyyd and it's more fun and rocks harder than 'Animals' for me at least.

[Idisaffect]

4/5

Obscured by Clouds Great opener. I love the vibe. It gives the impression that something of significance is about to happen and sure enough, something significant does happen: Pink Floyd's 7th studio album.

When You're In Alright! A soundtrack album with 2 intros! Who else but pink floyd would do that? Gentle Giant? I don't think so. Yes? No! Procol Harum? hahaha. Maybe Slade would do it but it would be an accident.

Burning Bridges When Ted Nugent said "Let pink floyd get mellow!" he was thinking of this track.

The Gold It's in The... I really like the guitar on this track. Great Gilmour vocal. Pink floyd singing party lyrics? That would be rare.

Wot's... Uh the Deal I loved this long before Gilmour resurrected it. I thought it was a nice choice. Unexpected. Waters is emerging as a great lyricist here.

Mudmen (Wright, Gilmour) Instrumental . Length: 4:20 What more do you need to know?

Childhood's End My favorite track. I think it's Gilmour's best solo songwriting effort along with Fat Old Sun and Murder. The comparisons to Time seem off. It really doesn't sound that much like the song Time, if you pay attention. This song should be resurrected.

Free Four Waters trying for that Syd Barrett whimsical sound. He can't really pull it off but who can? I'm glad he figured it out and developed his own thing. People don't talk enough about the fact that San Tropez, this song, Granchester Meadows, and Brain Damage are the result of Waters being heavily under the influence of Syd's The Madcap Laughs, musically. I'm talking about the chords and melodies. Even certain lyrics. Obviously, his later lyrical themes were still Barrett influenced (in a different way) but in this era his actual tunes were very Barrett like.

Stay Or, leave. Either way. I'm indifferent.

How often does Gilmour use a wah wah peddle?

Absolutely Curtains Run film credits.

[mastaflatch]

nice review, Idisaffect! your analysis of Mudmen made me laugh (because it is spot on).

maybe it's been noted before in this thread but Mudmen sounds like an extrapolation on Burning Bridges main theme amirite?

also, Free Four is - to me at least - a very important track for this band at this point of their carreer. the playful beat of the verses and their plain melody are cool and as Idisaffect wrote, it could show some kind of Barrett influence but the main points of this song are the lyrics and the intrumental breaks that point to what's ahead for Pink Floyd: ruminations about the meaning of life and death, allusions to Waters' dead father, the pressures a r'n'r artist can feel and of course, an emphasize on Gilmour's towering solos, a huge distinctive sound that is no longer burried in the mix or sounding uncertain. Gilmour shows a lot of confidence on this album as far as the guitar parts are concerned. i mean, the bootlegs from the early 70s surely display his chops but before OBC, i always feel like he's chasing his new-kid syndrome in the studio.

anyway, it's a fun album, nothing here is five star material IMO but everything is pretty pleasant to hear (save for Stay - what a painful listen it is for me. i really dislike everything about this song - maybe not the piano parts though. and let's admit that Gilmour doesn't wah very good.) maybe it's one of the few Floyd albums that could have its songs sold separately on iTunes.

[Jacek]

This is one of my all-time favorite Pink Floyd albums, and easily my favorite from this era. I strongly prefer it to Dark Side, as a matter of fact; I think the fact that it was recorded so hurriedly gives it a big edge over its occasionally overwrought follow-up. This is pure Floyd right here - and they produced a masterpiece without any bells & whistles, just four brilliant musicians with a deadline.

My favorite song on here is a toss-up between Wots... uh the Deal and Childhood's End, but it's a very tough call as I think every track is spectacular. Free Four is one of my favorite Roger tracks; the contrast between the happy-go-lucky tune and the extremely dark lyrics makes for one helluva great song.

I could go on & on & on about how much I love this record.

5/5

[Hudini]

This is one of my all-time favorite Pink Floyd albums, and easily my favorite from this era.

This had to happen sooner or later.

Welcome to the forum BTW.

[Damn!t]

100 ljudi, 100 ćudi.

[Hudini]

100 žena, 200 sisa!

[Damn!t]

Haha!

[Jacek]

This had to happen sooner or later.

Welcome to the forum BTW.

Haha, thanks. It's true, though! Meddle takes second - and Echoes is not only my favorite Pink Floyd song, but my favorite song period - but I think OBC is a stronger album as a whole.

100 ljudi, 100 ćudi.

Czech?

I'm Polish-born myself.

[Hudini]

100 ljudi, 100 ćudi.

Czech?

Serbocroatian actually.

[Wolfpack]

I've bought 'Obscured By Clouds' this week. I think the songs are much, much better than how they were recorded. Most vocals of Gilmour and Wright sound as if they're yawning and desperately want to sleep. Mason's drumming is terribly lame.
For example, a song like 'Burning Bridges' really sticks to my head as a good song. But when I play the album, the magic is gone. Then I only hear a dreadful band ruining it.
I think 'Free Four', with Waters singing, is a fresh shower. As if he's the only one who isn't stoned.
I can't imagine that people think of 'More' as a worser album. (I think 'More' is one of the best post-Barrett albums. But this is another topic.)
Anyway, just my opinion.

[Jack Wolf]

Obscured By Clouds

1. Obscured By Clouds: This is a fairly good album opener. Slightly dark and brooding. - 7.5
2. When You're In: A decent but repetitive instrumental that needed some extra pazaz. - 6.0
3. Burning Bridges: A superb song with great vocals and some excellent whining tones from the instruments. - 8.5
4. The Gold It's In The...: An alright rock song, nothing special. - 6.0
5. Wot's...Uh The Deal: An exceptional song with great lyrics, just awesome. - 8.5
6. Mudmen: A really solid intrumental track with fantastic guitar work. - 8.0
7. Childhood's End: Another exceptional song with great lyrics to boot. I love it! - 8.5
8. Free Four: A great song with an upbeat melody coupled with some serious lyrics concerning death! A nice combination and quite humurous too. - 8.0
9. Stay: A really beautiful song with some funky guitar work, just great. - 8.0
10. Absolutely Curtains: An ok album closer that was two minutes too long. Could have done without the chorus at the end. - 6.5
11. Album Artwork: One of Pink Floyd's weakest album covers. Seems a bit uninspired but it does fit the title of the album adequately. - 5.0

Final Score: 7.3 (out of 10)

Final Word: This is a very solid album with some great pieces like "Childhood's End" and "Burning Bridges". Caught between the greatness of "Meddle" and "Dark Side Of The Moon", this album tends to be overlooked and underrated. Though I have to admit that this album does lack power and intensity, I still think it's absolutely essential and holds up very well on its own.

[Jimi Dean Barrett]

Final Word: This is a very solid album with some great pieces like "Childhood's End" and "Burning Bridges". Caught between the greatness of "Meddle" and "Dark Side Of The Moon", this album tends to be overlooked and underrated.

Indeed! You may say the brilliance of this album is... Obscured?

[Mike Eder]

My favorite post Syd LP. Great all the way except for the very medicorce Absolutely Curtains