Obscured By Clouds is the bastard birthed out of wedlock, the prodigious and stalwart second son secondarily subservient to the grand airs of a more successful first sibling. Meddle was great. Dark Side Of The Moon? Best album ever. So it's easy to forget that Obscured even existed, let alone deserved any kind of consideration. Perhaps "Obscured By Clouds," "When You're In" and "Burning Bridges" -- the album's first three scapegoats are to blame. Do I enjoy them? Yes, but can I cite their chord structures on threat of no more Guinness? Not a chance. 'Tis a shame, methinks, because "The Gold It's In The," "Wot's...Uh The Deal," "Mudmen," Childhood's End" and "Free Four" are incredibly meaty, atypical Floydian compositions. Hell, even if you think me a sometimes hack, a sometimes Viennese Quack -- fuck you, Freud! -- please at least listen to tracks 4-8 -- you won't be disappointed. "Stay" is decent enough and "Absolutely Curtains," the album's closer, seems to halt the album to a fairly tepid, bordering-on-miserable close; but all in all, a solid record deserving of placement in the Floydian pantheon. Oh, and as with Meddle, the guitar work is tasty as usual. B+
5 comments:
I haven't listened to this in years. I recall it being rather spotty, but "Free Four" has always stuck with me (perhaps due to its inclusion on Works which I used to keep in the car a long time ago).
Are you gonna review More? I'm looking forward to that one.
I wasn't going to, but I will. I was going to exclude More, The Early Singles and the live albums. But More in a way is an album proper.
I love this album, this is another one that doesn't get the credit it deserves. Wots...Uh the Deal might be my second favorite Floyd song behind Echoes of course. Childhood End is another fantastic song that I can't get enough of. While this may not sound like a typical Floyd album I think it was a nice departure from the sound of Meddle and Atom Heart Mother and a nice lead in to Dark Side.
I've had people describe this as a letdown album from Meddle to Dark Side; I just don't understand why. I mean, they began a slew of four great albums with Dark Side (three if you're Bob). Some bands go through waves and have a great album and then some good ones. Why can't this be one of those? It's a solid album, but too many people write it off just because what came before and after it.
Post a Comment