WISH YOU WERE HERE

After perfecting their style on Dark Side of the Moon and getting a huge success out of it, Pink Floyd delivers a slightly slower but sonically deep album (dedicated to Piper-era front man Syd Barrett) book-ended by the classic 'Shine On' tracks that flow seamlessly through bluesy space rock sections and some of the most delicate arrangements from the band so far, as well as some of guitarist David Gilmore's most memorable soloing. Another standout is 'Welcome to the Machine', a long acoustic number fused with incredible immersive keyboard textures from Richard Wright, and a distinct electronic pulse that give the song a icy edge. The title track and 'Have a Cigar' (featuring Roy Harper on vocals) are strong tracks as well, and even have a very interesting transition between them when the very last part of 'Cigar' literary drops into a radio before someone switches channel to the intro for 'Wish You Were Here' and starts playing along with it on acoustic guitar. A very solid Pink Floyd album and there's very little to dislike, and stands along Animals, DSotM and Meddle as their strongest album.