a second wind

After the departure of Pink Floyd's main singer/songwriter and defacto leader Syd Barret, the band were in a state of flux. Full of highlights to be sure, subsequent Floyd albums were largely hit and miss. And then came Meddle. The opener "One of These Days" rivals any heavy rock song made in the last 35 years, the eerie sound of wind and an approaching storm leading into double tracked bass, heavy percussion and slide guitar, climaxing with the distorted vocal of drummer Nick Mason - "one of these days I'm going to cut you into little pieces". The next few tracks are soothing, pastoral tone poems. A lite jazz number "San Tropez" ( with lyrics mocking the rich rock star life many assumed the Floyd lived, although they hadn't yet, as Dark Side of the Moon was still a few years away ) comes as a bit of a shock to those casual fans used to the "rock" side of the Floyd. Side one closes with "Seamus" , a blues number made even more effective by the sound of a sad, howling dog providing "backing vocals". Side two is where the real journey begins. So much has been said about "Echoes" I think it impossible to add anything useful, or more persuasive, to the argument of its importance and influence. A side long suite, it is the perfect example of a modern rock symphony. Repeated motifs, using different instruments and effects, are sprinkled throughout this 20-odd minute journey. The lyrics are great( read them, they make a hell of a lot of sense ) and the packaging is an art masterpiece. A highlight in the Floyd cannon. Very Highly Recommended.

Behind all those walls

This is where it really all kind of took form for the band after Barrett left and Gilmour stepped in. They became better with Gilmours talents on the guitar than they were with Barretts crazy geniousy. This was one of the more misunderstood albums, after this one theyre style wasnt considered as "weird" anymore as before, and its prevelent in albums which everyone became familiar with such as "The Darkside of the Moon", and "The Wall". This album is all over the place, you have from One of the days, a typical electirc packed guitar rock out Floyd song, to San Tropez, which is a classy beatle like type of song. Then it drips down to Echoes which is a masterpeice if you really sit there and listen to it, it takes you for a ride, all 23 minutes of it. Very good CD but not for everyone, it can change your way of thinking if you get really into it.

Great album, but not for "The Wall" fans

Meddle is one of those albums that just speaks to you, if you know how to listen. Instrumentally wonderful, diverse, and just plain weird, this in my opinion ranks second only to "Atom Heart Mother", another hit or miss album. I usually don't do song by song reviews, but I figure I will try something different in this one. So here we go....



1. One of These Days- This song starts out with a bassline and synthesizer phase and quickly turns into a rockin' instrumental tune. Great use of the pedal steel with overdrive to create a screaming lead sound. Excellent intro song.



2. A Pillow of Winds- Dreamy acoustic number sounds exactly like its title, soft and dreamy. You can almost close your eyes and be taken off into another world where things don't suck as bad as they do here. Love the drone of the vocals, intentionally monotonous.



3. Fearless- Good song, slow standard Pink Floyd beat, but with nice vocal harmonies. Not as good as some others on this album, but good nonetheless.



4. San Tropez- I love this song, and I have no idea why. I'm not a big jazz fan (not because I don't appreciate the skill of the musicians, I just like structured music), so I don't understand why this song appeals to me so much. Definitely a big change from any other Pink Floyd material they have ever done. Nice simple but effective slide solo in middle, jazzy piano at end of song.



5. Seamus- Not sure why this is on this album. Just Pink Floyd being their weird, tripped out selves. I usually skip this song, nothing impressive here.



6. Echoes- Maybe Floyd was trying to make you think the album was over with 'Seamus'. This is one of their most impressive songs in their entire library. Great mood, great instrumentals, and the vocals are just haunting. For a good idea of how they do the instruments in the middle part, check out "Live at Pompeii" and they give you somewhat of an idea. This is the perfect ending to a great album.



This album is not for the fan of the radio-friendly Pink Floyd, but more the experimental Floyd. Highly recommended.

meddle is amazing

the review is one of pink floyds peak work the equisite drumming and persevering guitar of David Gilmor makes the first track equisite . The album stays amazing up until the last second of the last song when the album stops .The variation of music in this album really carries the mood of pink floyd changing and alternative the only thing better than this is led zepplin
all in all i think the album is one of pink floyds best (appart from the division bell) you should go out and buy this album immediately

thank u thank u very much

My Favorite Floyd Work, In Near Perfect Quality

First off, Echoes is one of my favorite songs of all time. It's a slowly starting and medium paced song (drawn out to the 23 minute mark) that is just amazing. It starts out with quietly sounding sonar piano sounds and guitar, going through the introduction, then the guitar tears through the song and just takes off, but in perfect coordination with the rest of the instruments. It's almost as if the guitar starts playing something different from what the other instruments are playing, but listen to the song a few more times and you'll see that it fits so well. You will definitely feel a need to listen to "Echoes" many times, it's something that just doesn't get old. The lyrics are kind of sparse given the song's length (like most Floyd songs, this is an instrumental with lyrics, not a pop-song with a refrain), but there is one line that just sticks to my mind "Strangers passing in the street/ By chance two separate glances meet/ And I am you and what I see is me." It always makes me wonder what were they thinking when they wrote that. There is a point before the ending that slows down to really creepy sea-bird sounds. Sounds like an insane albatross in heat. If the band left this 4 minute section out, the song wouldn't be any worse off and I sometimes fast-forward through it if I've got someone else (a non-Floyd enthusiast) in my car listening (they usually are a little scared by this part of the song). However, after a while, it sort of grew on me to the point where I have come to appreciate this part as an essential part of "Echoes." The ending is fantastic, with the guitar slowly gearing up to sear through your head one triumphant time with the sonar piano backing at just the right places. At the end of the track, there's an overlayed wind sound and the instruments slow to a halt. Always leaves me wanting more. The songs "One of These Days," "Fearless" and "Pillow of Winds" are all great songs too. Cool chord work in "Fearless." Almost blues, more country-like guitar picking in "Pillow of Winds." "One of These Days" really rocks at the end. "Seamus" and "San Tropez" are bearable, that's all. The good news it that the bad moments total less than six minutes of the album. "Seamus" (2:12 minutes) is an uninspired number that merely showcases Rick Wright's "talking" dog that punctuates every other own-beat with a shrill bark. "San Tropez" (3:40 min) is kind of like an effortless country romp that sounds as though it was conceived as a transition between the beautiful acoustic strumming of "Fearless" and the yipping dog sounds of "Seamus." I can't, for all I listen to Meddle, come to like either "San Tropez" or "Seamus."

A word on MFSL gold discs: The issue of Meddle that you find stocked in stores under the Capitol label comes from a machine that reads from tapes that are copied from copies of the copy of the master tape. Actually, I have no idea about the specifics, but the end result is the same: the characteristic hiss from an old, decomposed tape that overlays every minute of the CD. It's on all the standard aluminum CDs out there and it's more pronounced the older the album is. What Mobil Fidelity Sound Labs did was to make a copy from the original master tape. They proceeded to remaster this and make it even better until they put it on a gold CD and called it an ultradisc. New, they run in the hundreds (yes I said triple digits) of dollars. Some believe that they are worth this. I will not say that I would pay $200 for a CD. However, I would pay the $30-60 they go for used. Keep in mind that they sold for $200 new, so the original owner isn't likely to have spilled soda on this CD or dropped it on gravel or something.

When I first got mine (used), I was blown away. The tape-hiss is GONE. Turn it up all the way and all you hear are the instruments, no accompanying "Ssssssss" AT ALL!!! The highs are more defined and much crisper for this reason. The experience is like listening to music in a car with the sunroof open for all your life and suddenly the sunroof is closed. The lows, while not lower, are less mushy (not that they were very mushy at all to begin with, but there is a slight improvement nonetheless). This CD is worth the $30-60 you pay for it used, especially if you hate the tape-hiss as much as I do.