David Gilmour New Material with Dr Alex Patterson of The Orb

[nosaj]

Is David sick? His face looks kinda thin, don't you think? You can see his skull bones behind his skin. I hope he's OK.

He is in his sixties!! It is kinda normal to start seeing the bone structure appear pronounced in older people...I said older, not old.

[Damn!t]

Full album to listen HERE.
I'll have to buy it tho.
It seems to be a nice litlle sweet candy for audiophiles... mmm.

[mastaflatch]

no reply??? Gilmour's all over the place on this! it's a great chill-out album and a great headphones treat

[Jacek]

Arrived in the mail today, gave it a listen - sounds really good! Only complaint would be that there didn't seem to be enough Gilmour there for me, but probably (in light of the above post) I wasn't listening close enough. Even the non-Gilmour parts are enjoyable, though.

Waiting to get a new pair of good headphones (soon, hopefully) before trying out Disc 2 and its 3D sound features.

[espio13]

When the album started, I was enjoying it for a while...then it got really techno on me and gilmour just vanished for what seemed like a lifetime. I love when he comes in though with the acoustic and slide and then it goes to a trippy sitar part with some slide. after that though, the album pretty much goes down hill and gets really techno. I didnt like the fact that it always seems like theyre gunna have some epic peak with some bad ass guitar solo, and then it just never happens. the whole album is generally a tease if your into gilmour and not the orb. if you like the orb, then you'll probly really enjoy this though. i give it a 6 out of 10 personally

[nosaj]

I know what you mean espio13...

I still have to listen to it a few more times, but it does feel as though Gilmour never quite kicks in fully...could grow on me.

I liked the Orb in the 90s, but lost interest by about 2003 (that goes for all "techno" music for me...it is so 1996 )

I wish they had added the actual track Chicago to this release.

[Felix Atagong]

I posted a review on my unfinished project's blog, but my main opinion is that this is ambient for the masses, not bad, but not very good either compared to The Orb's early material (I listened to Into The Fourth Dimension this morning and it still blows your mind after 20 years).

All in all this is more a Youth solo product issued under the name The Orb to boost sales figures. LX Paterson said in a BBC interview (yesterday?) that David Gilmour jammed for about twenty minutes and then hesitated for nine months whether he was going to give his blessing or not.

I do have to agree that this is the best Orb record of this Millennium so far, but just like The Dream from a couple of years ago (and also a cooperation between Youth and LX Paterson) this is a pretty average album. Not pretty average as in 'pretty average' but 'pretty' here and there and 'average' here and there.

Felix
atagong dot com

[czgibson]

I got this yesterday and I've been enjoying it for most of today. It's probably heretical to say it, but for the first few minutes I thought Gilmour's guitar was getting in the way a bit too much; there are times early on when he really doesn't play with the kind of economy that he usually does. "Sitting and jamming for twenty minutes" could be the explanation there, although once things had progressed I really enjoyed the treat of getting a chance to hear Gilmour playing almost uninterrupted for nearly fifty minutes! In all, the album floats along nicely without many big climaxes, which is basically the way things are done with the Orb.

It's often hard to get a guitar part to mix well with an electronic backdrop, and while there are two or three blues scale licks that seem out of place, I think they've pulled it off here for the most part. To me, the more spacy Gilmour gets, particularly with the slide, delay or volume swells, the better it works. I can't see a way that full-on epic rock solos would have fitted in here, just as they wouldn't have fitted on Dub Side Of The Moon - reggae and ambient just don't seem to work that way.

Overall, I think it's a moderately brave move from Gilmour to add his playing to a project like this, and it's pretty much a dream collaboration since we've all been able to hear the Floyd influence in the Orb's work from day one. I can't see this album getting deleted from my iPod for a long time to come.

Any word on "Chicago"? It might have been good to have it a bonus track. Has it been released anywhere yet?

EDIT: Just seen the thread on "Chicago" with the video link. I quite enjoyed Gilmour's contribution, but the full track doesn't deserve a place on Metallic Spheres.

[Mokum69]

..then it got really techno on me ...............the whole album is generally a tease if your into gilmour and not the orb.

I take it when you say techno , you really mean ambient Ye ?

That's probably why in the title it has the word ''Featuring'' and not ''And'' .
It is an Orb album it just features David Gilmour , that's all .

[JackRegan]

Is David sick? His face looks kinda thin, don't you think? You can see his skull bones behind his skin. I hope he's OK.

Then Roger must be really sick.

[nosaj]

I get that it is an Orb album, but that featuring David Gilmour is quite prominent AND it has that "Voice and Guitar of Pink Floyd" sticker on it...yet, it would appear there is something to the 20 minutes of jamming and The Orb simply mixed bits where and how they wanted, BUT, Gilmour gets a fair amount of writing credit in the liner notes...

I guess I was expecting a "Collaboration", which this does not appear to be.

Anyway, I am going through a major Jimi Hendrix phase right now (again!), so having difficulty getting into this album. I don't like it, but I don't dislike it.

[Mokum69]

You know what , I kinda get where your comin from.
When I first heard it I was like , so is this it ?
Now I love it.
I would say however it is definately a slow burner , and the 360 mix is wicked.

[paul10]

I listened to this a couple of times and reluctantly came to the conclusion that I must be getting too old to appreciate this kind of music. Very boring is how I found this album, and I think it’s fair to say that I was very disappointed with Dave Gilmour’s contribution. I didn’t hear anything new, anything different or anything technical in his playing, it just seemed to me that he was taking the easy route and just noodling along to a backing track, playing stuff he could play in his sleep with no sign of a spark anywhere. I have heard some earlier Orb material which I found to be much more dynamic and listenable than this one. That might have something to do with the fact that co founder Jimmy Caulty (previously one half of “The KLF”) had so much input originally, until he handed the Orb over to Alex Paterson around 1990. This is one of those albums that I think could have perhaps benefited with some Roger Waters type of dynamics. As espio13 pointed out, you think it’s building up to a climax and then it doesn’t happen and just fizzles out. I expected more, or at least something different from one of my favourite guitarists, but he just don’t deliver in my book.

[JackRegan]

Still waiting it, damn Amazon delivery did not arrive yet. International mail is a joke.

[Sonic Destruction]

I got my copy (single disc version) in the mail yesterday, and played it this morning. After reading the various reviews, and fansite comments, my expectations were not really that high (ie. this ain't gonna be another "Wish You Were Here" or "Dark Side"), but I have to say I thought it was pretty good, and definitely worth the money.

It is certainly a whole lot better than "On An Island", but I guess comparison is unfair since this is an Orb album with some Gilmour samples on, as opposed to a Gilmour solo album. having said that, the guitar parts certainly add a new dimension to what would otherwise be fairly annoymous ambient noodling.

Anyone who likes ambient techno would probably want to give this a listen; anyone who is wanting "Comfortably Numb" or "Sheep" guitar solos had best proceed with caution.