ABOUT FACE

I'm quite surprised at how low the ratings for this album have been. Released in response to the hiatus in Pink Floyd, About Face reveals that Gilmour not Waters was in fact the Floyd master of melody. While the album lacks Waters' biting lyrics and an omnious concept, it more than makes up for it with a wonderful variety of musical styles, melodious vocals, and of course soaring guitar licks. Every track on the album is good and a few songs most notably Murder and Near the End are great. Pete Townshend contributes heart wrenching lyrics to Love on the Air and All Lovers Are Deranged both of which are complimented with Gilmour's powerful musical personality. Certainly not known for his lyrical abilities, Gilmour does manage himself to pen moving lyrics such as Murder which expresses Gilmour's sorrow and rage toward the assassination of John Lennon. Out of the Blue and Cruise display Gilmour's fear and disapproval of nuclear proliferation, and You Know I'm Right reveals his frustration and irreconsiliable differences with his former band mate Roger Waters. However, the album's best feature is the music itself particulary Gilmour's emotional guitar solos. The climax of the album most appropriately appears at the end with Near the End. Not only is the song itself hauntingly beautiful, but Gilmour's acoustic and electric guitar soloing at the end of the song is simply epic and ranks among the best fret work he has every done which is saying a hell of a lot. While it is not quite as good as Gilmour's solo debut album(a neglected classic) nor is it as progressive as Pink Floyd was in the early 70s, About Face is still an excellent rock album flowing with as much or even more melody as most any Floyd album. Highly recommended.