Band: Pink Floyd
Album: Meddle
Released: 1971 by Harvest/EMI Records
Genre: Progressive Rock
1. One of These Days
2. A Pillow of Winds
3. Fearless
4. San Tropez
5. Seamus
6. Echoes
Personnel:
• David Gilmour – guitar, bass on "One of These Days", lead vocals, harmonica on "Seamus"
• Roger Waters – bass, lead vocals and guitar on "San Tropez"
• Richard Wright – hammond organ, piano, vocals on "Echoes"
• Nick Mason – drums, percussion, vocal phrase on "One of These Days"
• Seamus the Dog – vocals on "Seamus"
The Album
Some bands have their signature sound on the debut album and some bands take years to develop their sound, Pink Floyd is one of the latter described bands. Not that the first five albums from Pink Floyd are not good albums, they are. There is just something really special about this 6th album that screams at you “This is Pink Floyd”. Meddle is the first album that truly combines the psychedelic Floyd and the progressive Floyd, a sound which is synonymous to the band. Meddle also contains the longest recording by the band, “Echoes”, which is considered one of the bands greatest masterpieces. David Gilmour’s influence on song structure and experimentation with sound was beginning to define Pink Floyd’s sound, and Meddle would go on to be the foundation blocks for “Dark Side of the Moon”. Side 1 of the album has a wide variety of sounds and moods which are guaranteed to be aural pleasures. Side 2, which is the 23+ minute long song “Echoes”, will either knock you off your feet or leave you thinking the song should have been cut short, either way, “Echoes” leaves prog fans feeling ecstasy.
Speaking of aural pleasure, the album cover is a close up of a human ear submerged in water. Not the most flattering album cover by Pink Floyd, but still fitting to what you find inside the cover. I hope everyone will lend an ‘ear’, and give this album a listen.
The Music
One of These Days ~ is a very spacey and psychedelic instrumental song. Gilmour adds some really great build-up sounds in the beginning of the song. There are some great vocal “grunting and growling” sound effects by drummer Nick Mason. The overall energy of this song is very strong. The song ends with some wind blowing sound effects. A great opener for the album and my favorite track.
A Pillow of Winds ~ a slow, melodic song that adheres to the spacey psychedelic atmosphere which has become the trademark of Pink Floyd. The vocal harmony is beautiful. The song title is perfect for the song, which gives the mood of floating on a pillow………..
Fearless ~ a great acoustic diddy opens the song. This is another song that makes you feel like you are floating with soothing vocals. The song ends with the victory song “You’ll Never Walk Alone” by a crowd at Wembley.
San Tropez ~ An up-beat song, of pop quality even with some strong jazz influence. The piano solo/outro gives you the feeling you have just floated through a ‘big band’ tune on the Johnny Carson show………..
Seamus ~ Starring vocals by Seamus the dog, howling. This song has some strong blues and jazz influence, but seems out of place on the album. A most forgettable song.
Echoes~ The longest song of Pink Floyds entire catalog. If you sat through all 3 video parts, then you are a bigger Floyd fan than I am. Cut out all the pinging noises and other various windy noises, and the song is tolerable. Musically, this song is quite beautiful. The ambient feel is stunning. Gilmour’s solos are fantastic and the same can be said of the keyboard solos by Wright. The song has a constant build up of emotion and mood, then it lets you drift off into a lullaby state…………if you can tolerate all 23 minutes!
Overall, I think this album is brilliant. This album is “Pink Floyd” and what defined them as a progressive rock band. The song structures are very complicated and the musical flow is superb. The only weak track on the album is Seamus .
My rating for overall listening pleasure 4.5/5.
Album: Meddle
Released: 1971 by Harvest/EMI Records
Genre: Progressive Rock
1. One of These Days
2. A Pillow of Winds
3. Fearless
4. San Tropez
5. Seamus
6. Echoes
Personnel:
• David Gilmour – guitar, bass on "One of These Days", lead vocals, harmonica on "Seamus"
• Roger Waters – bass, lead vocals and guitar on "San Tropez"
• Richard Wright – hammond organ, piano, vocals on "Echoes"
• Nick Mason – drums, percussion, vocal phrase on "One of These Days"
• Seamus the Dog – vocals on "Seamus"
The Album
Some bands have their signature sound on the debut album and some bands take years to develop their sound, Pink Floyd is one of the latter described bands. Not that the first five albums from Pink Floyd are not good albums, they are. There is just something really special about this 6th album that screams at you “This is Pink Floyd”. Meddle is the first album that truly combines the psychedelic Floyd and the progressive Floyd, a sound which is synonymous to the band. Meddle also contains the longest recording by the band, “Echoes”, which is considered one of the bands greatest masterpieces. David Gilmour’s influence on song structure and experimentation with sound was beginning to define Pink Floyd’s sound, and Meddle would go on to be the foundation blocks for “Dark Side of the Moon”. Side 1 of the album has a wide variety of sounds and moods which are guaranteed to be aural pleasures. Side 2, which is the 23+ minute long song “Echoes”, will either knock you off your feet or leave you thinking the song should have been cut short, either way, “Echoes” leaves prog fans feeling ecstasy.
Speaking of aural pleasure, the album cover is a close up of a human ear submerged in water. Not the most flattering album cover by Pink Floyd, but still fitting to what you find inside the cover. I hope everyone will lend an ‘ear’, and give this album a listen.
The Music
One of These Days ~ is a very spacey and psychedelic instrumental song. Gilmour adds some really great build-up sounds in the beginning of the song. There are some great vocal “grunting and growling” sound effects by drummer Nick Mason. The overall energy of this song is very strong. The song ends with some wind blowing sound effects. A great opener for the album and my favorite track.
A Pillow of Winds ~ a slow, melodic song that adheres to the spacey psychedelic atmosphere which has become the trademark of Pink Floyd. The vocal harmony is beautiful. The song title is perfect for the song, which gives the mood of floating on a pillow………..
Fearless ~ a great acoustic diddy opens the song. This is another song that makes you feel like you are floating with soothing vocals. The song ends with the victory song “You’ll Never Walk Alone” by a crowd at Wembley.
San Tropez ~ An up-beat song, of pop quality even with some strong jazz influence. The piano solo/outro gives you the feeling you have just floated through a ‘big band’ tune on the Johnny Carson show………..
Seamus ~ Starring vocals by Seamus the dog, howling. This song has some strong blues and jazz influence, but seems out of place on the album. A most forgettable song.
Echoes~ The longest song of Pink Floyds entire catalog. If you sat through all 3 video parts, then you are a bigger Floyd fan than I am. Cut out all the pinging noises and other various windy noises, and the song is tolerable. Musically, this song is quite beautiful. The ambient feel is stunning. Gilmour’s solos are fantastic and the same can be said of the keyboard solos by Wright. The song has a constant build up of emotion and mood, then it lets you drift off into a lullaby state…………if you can tolerate all 23 minutes!
Overall, I think this album is brilliant. This album is “Pink Floyd” and what defined them as a progressive rock band. The song structures are very complicated and the musical flow is superb. The only weak track on the album is Seamus .
My rating for overall listening pleasure 4.5/5.
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