ABOUT FACE

I have been on a Floyd kick with the release of Roger Waters , 'Is This the Life We Really Want', and it is interesting how my opinions on several of the albums have changed. But not this one as I always enjoyed 'About Face'

I am always surprised that 'About Face' has a rather pedestrian rating here on PA. No, this isn't a heavy prog album, but then again in 1984 prog wasn't all the rage and most artists who were well known in prog circles in their past were scrambling to get away from it. David Gilmour is no exception.

No, this is not a Floyd album in that there is no concept running thru it. Its a collection of songs that have a varied musical types. There are pop rock songs, an instrumental track with DG's guitar and orchestra, a couple of hard rock tracks, a nod to country-rock and new wave , a little funk on the albums lead single, a couple of tracks co-penned with Pete Townsend plus a few that will remind you that he is the guitarist of one of the biggest bands on the planet.

The production is big, expansive and will tie 'About Face' to the 80's but I don't have a problem with that. There are no cringe worthy tracks (OK, the lyrics for 'Cruise' may be close) but this is an album worthy addition to any Pink Floyd fans collection. Non fans with an open mind will be surprised. Some will think DG was searching for a style but I think he was trying to expand his base.

Rating this as a 4 star prog album may be a bit high but I do think it is a weak 4 star album when prog albums were very hard to come by.

PS - I can't leave without comparing this to Waters 'Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking' which came out around the same time. There are few conventional songs on Pros and Cons and Waters digs deep into the human psyche during his song cycle centered around a persons dreams during one night. The production is stellar, and at the time it was released, I was a fan of it. But 30+ years later, it doesn't work as well for me anymore. The whispering then screaming wears thin after a while. 'About Face' has a couple of tracks, most notably 'Murder' and 'Near The End' were Gilmour tackles weighty subjects, but one comes away that Rog could have used these to spin it into something else. Anyway, these two albums, and if you take all of the groups solo albums (especially Rick Wrights 'Wet Dream') will show you what each brought into Pink Floyd, and that none of the solo albums reach the heights of the best of Pink Floyd.

PPS - I thought for sure he would have played 'Let's Get Metaphysical' on the 'Live in Gdansk' concert when he had the orchestra there. Oh well, a missed opportunity.