My sincere apologies , oh darling readers, for my having erred. I thought Obscured By Clouds was a proper Pink Floyd release, and not a soundtrack. You could have fooled me -- it doesn't change my opinion of it one bit; I reviewed it as an album as such. Which is how More is to be treated as well, at which it fares far more poorly. This is not to say More is horrible, but that is decidedly average. "Cirrus Minor" starts off decently, I suppose. It's neither innovative nor boring -- just pleasant enough. "The Nile Song" is a traditional rocker -- which is kind of interesting because when do you ever hear a traditional Floyd song? "Crying Song" is soft and subdued; "Up The Khyber" is a staccato piano and organ piece, and it continues on as such, with the exception of "Cymbaline," the album's standout track. Yeah, classic Floyd. "Ibiza Bar" is another rocker and pretty much at track ten is where I become annoyed: bluesy rambling ("More Blues"), noise ("Quicksilver"), more chaotic noise and stupidity ("A Spanish Piece") and a kind of reprise ("Dramatic Theme") of the "Main Theme." It's a soundtrack, for sure; and while it may sound wonderful as a soundtrack in a film (I wouldn't know; I haven't seen it), it's merely mediocre by itself. And that's why it's a C. The intent with More, it seems, was to create music for a film, whereas it seems Obscured was made as an album and happened to be used as a soundtrack for a film.
4 comments:
More is actually one of my favorite Floyd albums (and I know I'm every bit as alone on this one as Jeff is with Atom Heart Mother). It's true that the album is a soundtrack and works like a soundtrack. However, it works as a mood piece that doesn't need an explicit story. "The Nile Song" may seem straightforward, but it's heaviness (and man is it heavy) and drone would later be tapped by many stoner/doom/post metal bands 30+ years later. (By the way, avant-metal band Voi Vod did a great cover of it (as well as "Astonomy Domine")). "Cymbaline" is one of their great lesser known tracks, much like "Fearless." "Green is the Colour" is yet another lost classic on here. True, there aren't a lot of songs that would work as singles, but that doesn't much detract from an album that has found itslef the soundtrack in my head so many times.
I will have to agree 100% that Obscured by clouds was a much better soundtrack. In fact i would say it is the best soundtrack the band ever did. Not only does the soundtrack sound like an album as you said, but the movie "La Vallee"
dealt with very floydian themes.
here is a review i wrote on obscured by clouds
http://www.supersqr.com/pinkfloyd/html/pinkfloyd09.html
Bob,
Don't misunderstand; I don't think an album can't be successful without singles; and I'm not saying it's a bad album either -- it's fairly enjoyable, for the most part. I just hold these guys to higher standards, and don't think the soundtrack format plays to their strengths.
Boggy Creek,
Obscured simply doesn't sound like a soundtrack. I was shocked to find out it was.
I also did not realize that it was a soundtrack at first. I mean compare this to any soundtrack you see for todays films, it is at a much higher standard.
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