THE ENDLESS RIVER

As we all know, Pink Floyd was a British prog band famous for their harmonic classic rock compositions, progressive style and extremely elaborated live performances. It's one of the most influential bands in rock history, as well as one of the most successful, having sold over 200 million copies of their albums. "The Dark Side Of The Moon" has remained in the Top 100 Billboard for over a decade. Led by legendary Syd Barrett, the group had a modest success in the second half of the 60's producing psychedelic rock. With Barrett's departure from the scene, Roger Waters gradually became Pink Floyd's lead songwriter. This phase was marked by the production of concept albums such as "The Dark Side Of The Moon", "Wish You Were Here", "Animals" and "The Wall", all released in 1973, 1975, 1977 and 1979, respectively.

But after the album, "The Final Cut" in 1983, the band broke up. In 1985, Waters declared that Pink Floyd was extinct, but the other members, Gilmour, Wright and Mason, after a legal fight, continued with the band with the official name and pursued recording and performing. But, in 2008, Wright died, ending the dream of a possible Pink Floyd comeback. So, it was in this context that was released what is considered the final act of Pink Floyd, "The Endless River" in 2014.

Thus, meant as a tribute to their late keyboard player Richard Wright, "The Endless River" is the first new Pink Floyd's album in over twenty years, and likely to be the last album, according to David Gilmour and Nick Mason. Pieced together from recordings accumulated from "The Division Bell" sessions, back in 1993, the majority of "The Endless River" is instrumental. However, it's all instantly recognizable as Pink Floyd, as each and every track is permeated by Wright's haunting keyboard work and Gilmore's signature, melodic guitar lines. If you've always liked the more laid back, ambient, and mysterious parts of Pink Floyd, chances are you'll really enjoy what is essentially a reworking and recreation of some of the music from "The Division Bell", by the last two members of the band, Gilmour and Mason.

"The Endless River" sounds like it was made by a band in transition. And in a way, that's pretty much what Pink Floyd was in those days, with only Gilmour and Mason left. Wright plays on these tracks, but he's almost an ethereal spirit here, drifting above, below and alongside the songs with ghostly detachment. He gives to "The Endless River" its familiar qualities, but he also gives to it some purpose and some of its aimlessness. As such, don't go into the album expecting to listen to "The Dark Side Of The Moon", "Wish You Were Here", "Animals" or even "The Division Bell". "The Endless Rive" is subtler, and less inviting. This isn't properly an album of songs so much as it's a true collection of ambient music pieces, sculpted together from leftover fragments of a twenty year old album that, let's face it, it's not really a true classic. Many of the eighteen cuts on "The Endless River" are stitched together so that it all flows together as a fifty-three minute instrumental suite with some separate sections. Unfortunately, it doesn't always come together seamlessly. It's more like a remix recording album of previously unreleased songs that just happened to be assembled by the artists who made the music. It may not be the final that fans wanted from one of classic prog rock's most beloved bands, but as a closing chapter tribute to both their late bandmate and lasting legacy, it's kind of fitting, really.

One of the nice things about "The Endless River" is that you can load the CD into your system, sit back with the drink of your choice, in my case, a great scotch, close your eyes, and let the music takes you on a journey. Granted, that's kind of always been the case with the music of Pink Floyd, but seeing as this one is mostly all instrumental, the guitar and the keyboard lines gently grab you and pull you along for the lengthy ride. Wright's majestic keyboard textures are all over the album. So, as a tribute to Wright, Gilmour and Mason have done a fantastic job here. Many of the tones you can ear hear, will bring you back memories of "The Dark Side Of The Moon", "Wish You Were Here" and "Animals".

Now, a last thought about the front cover of the album. As regrettable as the album's cover may be for some, personally, I like it really. In my opinion, it can provide to us a useful metaphor for the very close relationship between the guitarist and the keyboardist. Gilmour is the punter guiding of the boat and Wright is the cloud upon which he floats. He always was the quiet force behind the band, or the boat, if you want. That leaves Mason as the oar, perhaps.

Conclusion: Beyond "The Endless River" be Wright's swan song, Gilmour and Mason have said that it will be Pink Floyd's last album. "The Endless River" is a nice and honest tribute for a man who was one of the greatest keyboardists of the 70's with an own style. As you would expect from a Pink Floyd's album, it's expertly produced. Any serious fan will no doubt have to have this and should instantly fall in love with what's on display, still it may vary depending on your patience with instrumental music. So, what we have here is a nice, enjoyable, pleasant instrumental album, for the most part, an album that all Pink Floyd's fans can listen too for a while then file away and go back to listening to the real stuff. For me, Pink Floyd, gone out in style and put together a fine tribute to Wright. So, you can't ask for more, really.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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