ABOUT FACE

This is a decent, if unspectacular effort from the Floyd axe hero himself. For a long time, I preferred this album to his earlier effort, but now I find both are about the same standard. This one seems lighter on the guitar parts, and has a heavier drum sound. (But that is not necessarily a good thing.) The songs themselves are all competent efforts, and Gilmour's voice is unmistakable. Highlights on the first side/half of the album are the opener, 'Until We Sleep', which has excellent vocals and harmonies, but a less impressive drum sound. The keyboards complement the voice well, but have a typical 80's sound to them. 'Out Of The Blue' is the other early highlight, this one sounding more like Floyd than most. The second half, for me, is the better half, with highlights being 'You Know I'm Right', 'Cruise' & 'Near The End'. The latter, in particular, is a strong effort, and a good, if a tad predictable, ending for the album. 'Cruise' has a softer, almost cocktail sounding production to it, with nice, gentle guitar. I can imagine holidaymakers, lying on the beach, drinking while listening to this, even though the lyrics are nothing to do with that type of Cruise! 'You Know I'm Right' is another good song, with nice keyboards to the fore on this. All in all, this is, as I said at the start, decent, if unspectacular, and is subtly different from classic Floyd. Worth a spin or two!