THE DIVISION BELL

After the return with A Momentary lapse of reason, Pink Floyd was back with all his power. At that time, Rick Wright was a permanent member again and Gilmour seemed to felt free from the extra musical issues which affected him in the previous album. By this way the album is far better than its predecessor and Pink Floyd returned to their true roots. The music is not so progressive but transmits a progressive feel all the time, which increases in the several instrumental sections. Seems to return to the times of Dark side of the moon or Wish you were here, and the main reason is the presence of Wright in the songwriting.

The album opens with a fantastic instrumental in which Gilmour and Wright develop a great counterpoint between keyboard and guitar. A Pink Floyd classic. What do you want from me is the second track and is not between the highlights of the album, but is even good, with a notable electric guitar intro. Poles apart is a really good one. The section that follows the flat keyboard interlude is great. Gilmour shines with his voice and then gets into a superb guitar solo. The album continues with another instrumental called Marooned, composed by Gilmour and Wright. Ominous and dark, but melodic, the track connect us with the legendary Echoes. A great day for freedom is a typical Floyd ballad with a catchy chorus and a felt guitar solo at the end. Wearing the inside out is one of the other highlights. Composed and sung by Richard Wright, the song transmits a pure Pink Floyd feel. Depressing, nostalgic, a bit psychedelic, a perfect Pink Floyd sound. The voice of Wright is perfect and the track has all the ingredients that Wright can bring: keyboard and guitar solos. Take it back was composed by Gilmour and Bob Ezrin and carries the music to a pop side. It's a good track with a U2 feeling. Coming back to life has a superb guitar intro, in which the musical motive seems to take parts from the Gilmour soloist track Let's get metaphysical. The rest of the track is good but not excellent. Keep talking is one of my preferred. Written by Gilmour and Wright again, the track is based on Waters-like guitar pattern and has a great instrumental interlude with a great keyboard solo by Wright followed by a guitar one. Lost for words tries to be a Wish you were here clone, but can't reach this legendary song. Good but no more than this. The album closes with the another highlight, High hopes. Based on an heavy acoustic guitar sound the song increases its strength until a climax ending with a superb electric guitar solo. The video clip of this track is just anthological, and permits appreciate the overall meaning of the track, and of the album. You can feel the essence of Pink Floyd there, the combination of green fields, nostalgia, madness and this underlying violence.