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Pink Floyd - Animals
***½
The
transitional mid point between the flowing musical majesty of Wish You Were Here and the very depressing more concise songs
of The Wall though not as successful as either LP. The 3 main bitterly allegorical pieces by Roger Waters have their moments
but aren't especially memorable. Worth borrowing but I have enough better Floyd already to make Animals not especially worth
investigating further.
Released - 1977
Acquired by me: 16.5.03 - Borrowed (Library)
Pink Floyd
– Atom Heart Mother
****1/2
Often maligned by the band themselves; Atom
Heart Mother is another excellent Pink Floyd album. Although arguably not quite
up to the level of the “Holy Trinity” of Meddle, Dark Side Of The
Moon and Wish you Were Here that followed it, AHM paved the way for these classics and is superb in places.
The main point
of contention for AHM as far as the band are concerned is the opening, side-long Atom Heart Mother Suite. An instrumental also featuring a choir, violin and brass section
(the last of whom were hated by the band and embittered collaborator Ron Geesin), the Suite has some excellent, melodic
motifs and fine fluid passages. Although not as well structured as later epics
Echoes and Shine On You Crazy Diamond, it is still an ambitious, memorable and worthwhile piece of music well liked by many
of the band’s fans if not the group itself.
The brass and multiple harmonies used on the Suite were also employed
on one of the shorter songs on side two, Richard Wright’s Summer ’68. An overlooked period-piece classic about
a rather sweet and innocent one-night-stand, 68 has a rich symphonic arrangement and is the closest the Floyd ever get to
sounding like the Beach Boys. More typical of the pastoral Pink Floyd sound of
1970 is Roger Water’s acoustic If and David Gilmour’s Fat old Sun. An
acknowledged favourite of its author, FOS begins as sweet, acoustic psychedelia before David launches into an epic, building
electric guitar solo more typical of latter period Floyd.
The above three shorter gems then give way to the 13-minute Alan’s
Psychedelic Breakfast. An instrumental recorded over talking and cooking noises
from engineer Alan Parsons, APB is perhaps an ambient self-indulgence too far though it still include some pleasing musical
passages.
A major album in the often overlooked pastoral period between the Syd Barrett era and massive success of Dark
Side Of The Moon, Atom Heart Mother is an excellent Pink Floyd LP. Although the
band do not remember its arduous recording fondly, it sold handsomely and remains a popular album with the band’s true
fans. Although some may not place it amongst their very best LPs, it is nevertheless
a superb listening experience and is highly recommended.
Acquired by me: 25.9.08
- Present
Pink Floyd - The Division Bell
***½
Some strong melodies and excellent, intelligent and mature lyrics. Some good musical
passages but the music is often over-arranged and rarely beautiful à la 70s Floyd. As
good an album as we can really expect from an ageing group with nothing to prove.
Released - 1994
Acquired by me:
29.10.01 - Borrowed (Library)
Pink Floyd - Early Singles (Bootleg)
****
From
early quirkiness to beautiful textures and excellent musicianship, this bootleg compilation of early non-album A and B sides
includes many great memorable tracks and only a few duff, archetypal B sides. Highlights among the quirkier Syd Barrett penned
tunes include the classic hits Arnold Lane and See Emily Play as well as the flop follow up Apples & Oranges. Richard
Wright's Paintbox and Roger Waters' Julia Dream provide a less madcap more pastoral, psychedelic alternative and the fantastic,
atmospheric, Eastern influenced instrumental Be Careful With The Axe Eugene shows the more textured, instrumental direction
which the group would move towards to produce what is probably their best work of all in the late 60s and early 70s.
Released
- ?
Acquired by me: 31.8.98 - Borrowed (Chris)
Pink Floyd - Meddle
****¼
Beautiful
majestic playing and an excellent sense of timing brilliantly augment the mood and development of Echoes, Meddle's 25 minute
centrepiece. This excellent Floyd album also contains the excellent, exciting instrumental One Of These Days which includes
keyboards and effects way ahead of its time and sounds more like it was recorded in 1991 rather than 1971. A Pillow Of Winds
and the football game sampling Fearless are more quintessentially English with San Tropez adding some more exotic whimsy.
Superb music whose only fault is possibly being easier to admire than love, Meddle very much paved the way for the more cohesive
conceptual follow-up - a rather well known album called Dark Side Of The Moon.
Released - 1971
Acquired by me: 31.8.98
- Borrowed (Chris)
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
****¾
Finally I own one of my favourite albums on CD. Beautiful, gradually developing instrumental
passages, fantastic lyrical guitarwork and sparse, effective, world-weary lyrics and singing. A brilliantly arranged flowing
and cohesive suite of music. An absolute classic.
Released - 1975
Acquired by me: 25.12.01 - Present (Mum)
Presley, Elvis –
Elvis 30 #1 Hits
****
I’m not a big Elvis fan but like his music enough to buy a compilation. Elvis’ 30 Number 1 hits it says on the case.
This should be a suitable Best Of but of course it isn’t…
Number 1 Hits only includes songs which made
it to the top spot in the UK or US. Therefore we get relatively minor songs historically
such as Don’t and A Big Hunk O’Love and naffness such as Wooden Heart rather than great songs like Blue Moon,
Suspicion and most tragically of all Always On My Mind. The Pet Shop Boys got
to number 1 with the last song - doesn’t this make it count…
It’s not all woes of course as there’s
also plenty of good music here. Some of my favourites include the rocking (Marie’s
The Name) His Latest Flame and One Night, brilliant late 60s comeback which is Suspicious Minds and ballads Are You Lonesome
Tonight? and Can’t Help Falling In Love. Schmaltzy yes but gloriously so. The sparse instrumental arrangements and clear production are also big plusses for
me.
Elvis 30 #1 Hits is a good package with interesting song-by-song comments on the liner notes. A worthwhile purchase though I wish I had checked out the other Elvis compilations first!
Acquired by
me: Bought (25.3.04)
Primal Scream - Vanishing Point
****½
Superb tuneful ambience and 70s style funk on this largely instrumental
album which is genuinely subversive and dangerous unlike most 90s music. The best and most compelling album Ive heard in the
last year with fantastic haunting musical passages and sparse lyrics both influenced by the bands struggle to come off hard
drugs - something I can relate to with my less dangerous but still damaging sleeping problems. The more conventional rock
songs are generally less successful but its still a masterpiece.
Released - 1997
Acquired by me: 17.9.01 - Borrowed
(Library)
Prodigy - The Fat Of The Land
***¼
A couple of classic songs and some excellent musical arrangements by Liam Howlett.
The highlight is the genuinely menacing Breathe which is much more musically interesting than the semi cartoon punk of Firestarter.
The cartoon aspect is the very much the downside of this album. Good musical work is often hampered by awful repetitive lyrical
puns which turn the band into stupid Essex-boy caricatures of themselves. A shame as much of the music on this album is excellently
composed and arranged.
Released - 1997
Acquired by me: 25.7.98 - Bought
Pulp –
Hits
****1/2
In most musical scenes, there’s an act who have been around
for a while but still manage to become a major part of the movement. For the
Baggy scene at the turn of the 90s it was James and for Britpop it was Pulp. After
10 years of Peel sessions and independently released records, the band signed to Island with a new sense of purposes. Within a couple of years they were one of the biggest and best bands in country. Frontman Jarvis Cocker finally achieved the fame he had sought for all those year
though it ultimately proved to be a big disappointment…
This compilation chronologically collects together all the
singles the band released for Island with the exception of Mis-shapes which some band members now detest for reasons best
known to themselves. It starts with the catchy, sexually seedy singles from the
His’n’Hers LP before continuing with the epic Common People. One
of the defining songs of the 90s, Common People’s true story of a rich girl trendily pretending to be poor is not dissimilar
to Bob Dylan’s Like A Rolling Stone with both songs having a similar historical resonance within the context of their
decades.
Following on from Common People are the other singles from Pulp’s biggest album Different Class including
the beautiful Something Changed, a rare purely romantic moment amidst the sex, spite and politics elsewhere. All seemed to be going swimmingly well for the band on the surface though Jarvis found the fame he had
sought for so long to be a major disappointment.
Pulp finally re-emerged a couple of years later with This Is Hardcore,
the ultimate anti-Britpop LP. Resolutely uncommercial for such a major act, it
now stands as a leading artistic statement. It took the fourth release from the
album, the glam-tastic Bowie-esuqe Party Hard for the band to release an obvious single.
Prior to that we had a poignant song written from the viewpoint of Jarvis’ estranged father with whom he’d
recently been reunited, an excellent song about helping the aged and the slightly tedious title track about watching porn. Mostly good worthy stuff though not the hook-laden chart-friendly songs the band’s
more mainstream fans and Island were looking for…
After a long break, Pulp returned in late 2001 with their final
album We Love Life. A more optimistic LP with several song using metaphors from
the joys of nature, it includes the brilliant Sunrise. Released as a double A-side
single with Trees, Sunrise has an extended, uplifting coda – thrilling semi-psychedelia and possibly the best section
of music the band have ever produced. It’s also free of the kitsch, bleeping
synths so beloved of the band as is the final, previously unreleased track on Hits, Last Day Of The Miners' Strike.
With
a harder rockier sound, Miners’ Strike shows that Pulp had plenty more mileage left in them. Taking an extended break after refusing a much-reduced new contract from Island, it now looks unlikely
that they will take the stage as a unit again though individual collaborations will continue.
A great shame though Hits is an excellent worthy epitaph to their legacy.
Released:
2002
Acquired by me: 16.2.06
(Bought)
Pulp - This Is Hardcore
***½
Difficult LP dealing with Jarvis Cockers disappointment with the fame hed sought for
so many years. Not as immediate or strong melodically as their previous albums, it deals with unfashionable issues with dignity.
An honest, artistic statement.
Released - 1998
Acquired by me: 30.1.02 - Borrowed (Library)
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