ABOUT FACE

I know that parts of this album feel shlocky and trite but no one can argue that David Gilmour has a gift for creating moments in music that are so gut-wrenching that they seem to transcend time and space, and this album provides no detraction or exception to that legacy. As a matter of fact, I would argue that David's capture of earworm melody, witty turns of a phrase, and hyperbolic guitar solos are all present throughout this album. I have never thought less than "excellent" of this album since I bought it when it came out if only for the excellent sound production and the benefaction to the human race yet another of those iconic guitar solos on the album's final song, "Near the End." There are no bad songs, we only find ourselves wishing for a little more because of his recent collaborations with the Floydian quartet--looking for an album of 20 or more "Comfortably Numb"-like guitar orgasms. Instead we were given a sampler of David's songwriting, messages in his own words. There's a lot of music here that sounds like the pop art that other top artists were producing at that time (Like Jackson Brown, Don Henley, and Robert Palmer) but "Until We Sleep" ought to satisfy the prog heads looking for Floydian stuff and maybe "Out of the Blue" and All Lovers Are Deranged" as well. My other personal favorite is the Todd Rundgren-like "You Know I'm Right": great melodies, great hooks, and Michael Kamen's magic touch. (I'm a sucker for well-orchestrated rock music.)

"Yes," he says, adrenaline still pumping after yet another run through of the album, "The album may not be essential, but it is not just good: it's an excellent addition to any prog rock music collection.