MEDDLE

I'm torn between this and the very first Pink Floyd album as my favourite. The genius of Barrett pervades that first LP, but the rather amateurish playing and recording jarr a lot, though I still prefer it to the technical excellence of Dark Side, a moment when the band became commerically-massive, but lost something of it's dark soul.

What finally swings it for me is the long suite of music on the other side (in more ways than one) called Echoes. This is a wonderful piece of atmosphere making, one that Syd himself would have been proud of. It contains so much that is subtle as well as powerful, for me this is Floyd's finest moment, though much else they did was interesting. If the record here was the same on the B side as the A side, it would be pretty poor by comparison, the first side is very uninspiring. It has its moments, but not enough of them, it struggles for shape and definition. Then comes that marvellous suite of music, and all is forgiven. A must for any serious collector.