THE ENDLESS RIVER

Pink Floyd

Psychedelic/Space Rock

3.19 | 1034 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

Let's forget how this album came about, who recorded it, and what its reception was after the release. For what is ultimately important is this: how does it fare after repeated listens?

The answer is, it fares better than you would expect. First of all, there is an undeniable flow to the compositions, which manages to keep the listener's attention and the album in fact seems much shorter than it really is. Taken together, the first three tracks serve as an excellent opener, appropriately mournful and melancholy. The next two 'sides' offer greater variety, then comes the fourth side, which is one of the best build-up pieces I have ever heard, no mean feat considering there is not even a hint of a crescendo: 'Calling' ends in a short but sweet chord progression, 'Eyes to Pearls' holds the mood with its steady wistful motif, while 'Surfacing' is a fitting prelude to 'Louder Than Words', an excellent album (and career) closer. Out of context, the song may not strike as an outstanding piece of music, but it is a hugely climatic release after the masterful approach of the previous three tracks.

What place does the album hold within Pink Floyd's discography, then? Well, most importantly, it manages to bring something new to a classic oeuvre. This is the first truly mood/ambient album of theirs and it has more in common with 'More' than with 'A Momentary Lapse of Reason', ending up as a sort of crossbreed between the former and 'The Division Bell'. It has even more in common with Wright's 'Broken China' (similar division into four parts and an emphasis on mood pieces), which only proves how important Rick's playing was for the band.

Now for the negatives. I am not overtly fond of the more 'funky' (for lack of a better word) tracks, especially 'Anisina' (the 80's sax is just not my cup of tea). Also, 'Talkin' Hawkin'' could do without the sampled voice, which (with my full respect to the Professor) sounds as trite here as it did on 'Keep Talking'. At first I was also quite negative towards both parts of 'Allons' and the lyrics, but these grew on me. Still, these tracks sound good in context and serve as an admittedly welcome change of pace, so no love lost here.

All in all, you don't have to be a Floyd fanatic to like "The Endless River". Quite the opposite, a fanatic may have wildly unrealistic expectations, whereas what we have here is an excellent (almost) instrumental album filled with beautiful playing, heartfelt progressions, and a coherent and convincing mood form start to finish. If you don't dismiss the album from the start, give it a chance.

Glubluk | 5/5 | 2015-9-10

MEMBERS LOGIN ZONE

As a registered member (register here if not), you can post rating/reviews (& edit later), comments reviews and submit new albums.

You are not logged, please complete authentication before continuing (use forum credentials).

Share this PINK FLOYD review

Social review comments () BETA

Review related links

Send comments to Glubluk
Report this review (#1461641)
Buy PINK FLOYD music online with PA partners
Show all PINK FLOYD MP3/Stream
Go to PINK FLOYD page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
Go to The Endless River page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
Search the Forum for PINK FLOYD related discussions