A MOMENTARY LAPSE OF REASON

A new era, a new beginning, a new album after Waters left the band. "A Momentary Lapse of Reason" marked a considerable change in Pink Floyd's sound, now with Gilmour as the "new leader" after all that ego-battles etc., which makes people think that this was actually a Gilmour album and not a Floyd one. Here, besides the three Floyd members (Gilmour, Wright, Mason) several musicians contributed with some songs, people such as Tony Levin or Bob Ezrin added their grain of sand.

This album was released in 1987, and the 80s sound may be evident in some passages, that is another thing I believe people don't really like from this album. This record consists on eleven songs and a total time of 50 minutes approximately, where you will listen to a new face of this iconic band, dinosaurs of progressive rock (and rock in general).

The Gilmour-oriented sound can be appreciated since the very first track, because that unique guitar is the element that catches your attention in "Signs of Life", an instrumental introduction that will lead you to probably their most successful (commercially speaking) single in the new era. "Learning to Fly" is a catchy melody which I like, but that has a clearly different sound spiced with that 80s background, placing it in as a loved/hated song between fans.

With "The Dogs of War" we can listen to a dark atmosphere, a grey and obscure tone that actually can be appreciated in the whole album. The use of backing vocals is also a constant element, used in this song as well as the most of them. "One Slip" is a nice track with good bass notes and great percussion arrangements, however it is not an outstanding or truly memorable track, of course, in my opinion.

A much better one is "On The Turning Away", which is my personal favorite here. It is a very well composed song with several cool elements, wonderful lyrics, once again cool bass lines, great changes in mood and rhythm and in general a very clever track. Later, with the "Yet Another Movie" and "Round and Around" combo we can have a nice time, with dreamy atmospheres, slow-tempo rhythms that constantly progresses.

The weakest moments on this album (and I dare say in the entire Pink Floyd discography) is that two-part-song entitled "A New Machine", which is Gilmour speaking, well singing, with a kind of robotic sound. Both parts are short, and useless in my opinion. They are separated by one track, "Terminal Frost" which is a cool instrumental song that shines on a little bit after those darker and sad moments.

Finally, "Sorrow" which objectively might be the best song of the album, saves what seemed to be a weak album ending. This track is pretty cool, full of textures and colors, emotional changes and wonderful guitar riffs. It is also the longest composition here. A Momentary Lapse of Reason is not a bad album at all, in spite of those weaker moments and the change in their musical direction, I like it and enjoy listening and even singing to their songs. It surely does not belong in my top Floyd albums, but I would not put it as their worst either. My final grade will be three stars.

Enjoy it!