DAVID GILMOUR

During a break between Pink Floyd albums, David Gilmour brought in Rick Wills and Willie Wilson from his former band Joker's Wild and worked on his first ever solo album. The result was this collection of nine rock songs, many showing a bit of a proggy touch, with the focus of course on Gilmour's guitar work and vocals. It's quite a departure from Pink Floyd, but the music is quite enjoyable and skillfully composed.

It's often interesting to hear the first solo albums of members of prominent bands to get a feel for what they contributed to that band and their writing style. Gilmour's first solo album clearly shows he is an effective songwriter and composer. Every song on this album is a delight to listen to, not an ounce of filler. The instrumentals are very catchy, showcasing Gilmour's wonderful guitar work.

If you're interested in acquiring any of Gilmour's solo output, this debut is where to start as it is the best of the three he has done thus far (as of 2007). However, if you're expecting something like Pink Floyd or something clearly in the progressive rock genre, you might be disappointed as Gilmour's approach on this album is chiefly with song-oriented rock tracks. Nearly all of them do show some "progressive tendencies." Still, this album is just a delight, as each song is intellectually inspiring and well constructed. Overall, in the prog rock scheme of things, I consider this good, but not essential, thus three stars. If this were rated as a rock album without considering any relation to prog rock, easily four stars.