OBSCURED BY CLOUDS

"Obscured By Clouds" is the last studio Pink Floyd on my list to review and for good reason. I was never taken with the approach to become a soundtrack artist to a film that nobody has ever heard of. Though Pink Floyd has made the film famous by default the music is not really anything special. The 1972 film is a French snorefest called "La Vallée", directed by Barbet Schroeder.

The music comes down to a psychedelic slice of short pieces with some moments but all rather forgettable. The opening title track is like 'Careful with that Axe Eugene', with some psych guitar and a moderate pace over droning synth. Effective but sounds like Zabriskie Point for good reason.

'When You're In' has a wonderful guitar riff but is too short for comfort. 'Burning Bridges' has tons of organ phrases and a steady pace. Some vocals by Gilmour help to add flavour. 'The Gold It's In The...' has a catchy hook and some interesting singing, though very poppy for the 70s.

'Wot's...Uh The Deal' is a gentle ballad with soft harmonies and Gilmour lulling us off to sleep acoustically driven and sacharinne sugar sweet. 'Mudmen' is an instrumental designed to fall asleep to. A cure for insomnia but well played of course by the band. Wright's piano and vibes are superb and it exists as a fitting tribute to his virtuosity. 'Childhood's End' is heralded by organ and then throbbing bass and guitar. The lyrics are well executed by Gilmour and his guitar soars beautifully. One of my favourites on this album.

'Free Four' features reverberated guitar, droning synths and darkened lyrics, "life is a short warm moment, death is a long cold rest, get your chance to try, in a twinkiling of an eye". The song is another highlight with whimsical melodies and one heck of a brilliant guitar break.

'Stay' is a ballad with gorgeous atmospherics, and a romantic theme about finding a girl for a one night stand. Multi tracked vocals are noteable and a wah-wah guitar over emotional piano.

'Absolutely Curtains' is lifted from the film as an instrumental with a profound New Guinea tribal chant at the end to finish the album on a hyper strange note.

Overall, "Obscured By Clouds" is better than the other soundtrack, the poor "More", but only marginally of interest to non Floyd fans. It has enough going for it to make it worth seeking out but it is not up at the top of the must get album lists for 1972, a very strong year for Prog.

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