Wednesday, December 31, 2014

The New Pink Floyd Album


I don't normally review music on this blog.  I am big music fan, but not a fan of reviews, because opinions about music are entirely subjective, and why is one subjective opinion any better or more useful than any other?  (And, perhaps more importantly, there isn't much music being released these days that I like.)  

I am making an exception, though, because Pink Floyd has released a new (and final) album, and Pink Floyd is one of my top three all-time favorite bands.  

The Endless River consists largely of tracks composed and recorded with late keyboardist Richard Wright during the sessions for their previous album, 1994's The Division Bell.  New material was added by guitarist David Gilmour and drummer Nick Mason. (In case you're not up on current events, I'll inform you that bassist Roger Waters has not been involved with the band since the early Eighties, with the exception of one brief reunion performance.)

The Endless River is not as good as classic Floyd from the Seventies, but it is a very good album. In places I find the music to evoke the sounds of Wish You Were Here and Meddle, as well as David Gilmour's first solo effort. But my biggest impression is that, being almost entirely instrumental, and largely ambient, the album doesn't so much sound like Pink Floyd as it does the ghost of Pink Floyd, haunting some abandoned London recording studio late at night.

And, beyond this, I can't help thinking that, in our current horrible world of Sam Smith, Meghan Trainor, Nicki Minaj, and Justin Bieber, The Endless River might just be the ghost of good music in general. 

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