The Show Must Go On! Or, maybe not.
How different would you be if one of your limbs were removed? Here,
Pink Floyd discovers that there is more to being Pink Floyd than simply
having most of the pieces in place. With this album, we are
officially into the 3rd Age of Floyd, where
Dave,
Nick, and Rick
attempt to keep the fire burning. Unfortunately, most of the characteristics
of the best Floyd {CPFS}
are gone (dreamscapes) or reduced
to insignificant roles (ambient sounds),
while the irritating qualities (complaining/whining about someone not there
~ Syd has been replaced by Roger)
seem to be gaining an upper hand. This could have been a great opportunity
for Dave to show off his sweet, ringing guitar soloes, Rick to showcase
an intriguing synthesizer dreamscape, or Nick to give us something new
in the world of synth-drum techniques, but none of that happens.
I think we'd call it "derivative".
Most of the tracks on this album actually are songs,
the concept (if there truly is one)
having taken a seat far in the back. One has to wonder whether the
album title refers to the lapse in reason that led to the great argument
causing Roger to leave the band, or the one suffered when they decided
to record this material. I don't know for sure if the guys (A) needed
money, (B) needed to "create", or (C) needed to prove that they could get
along without Roger, but evidence for all three exists. (If so, they
solved A, arguably tried B, and missed C by a mile.) It did
go to #3 on the U.S. album charts, but most of that was due to their reputation
and a horde of desperately needy fans.
Be that as it may, the result is not terrible, even
if you are primarily an Age 2 Floyd fan
(like myself). I truly enjoy some of this music (though at times
it gets too "Eighties" for my tastes), but I sense an insidious presence
here, and it is not one the Floyd can deal with well. Though I have
many reasons to like him, I feel that Bob
Ezrin helped the remaining Floyd members continue to slide away from
what they had done so well, while telling Roger off. This is poignantly
ironic, since Roger had used Ezrin's talents on THE
WALL (you'll recognize his influence on the really over-the-top
segments, like
The Trial).
The effect Ezrin had on Alice Cooper was simply marvelous (WELCOME
TO MY NIGHTMARE is sufficient proof of the success of that move),
but you can feel the same techniques at work here, and it's just not "Floyd".
He seems to have a way of allowing his creative process to override that
of the band he's producing, and here the group suffers for it. [For
a really disastrous example, check out KISS's SONGS
FROM THE ELDER - even Ezrin admits he screwed that one up.]
Signs of Life is an obligatory
semi-dreamscape that was put here to satisfy Floydophiles (who'd be looking
for one.) It's really too rigid to qualify as a true dreamscape,
and really rather unimaginative. A row boat, mumbled words, some
keyboard chords, and two or three spare guitar licks do not a dreamscape
make. Obviously, the title was chosen to immediately let us know
that the Floyd is ready (and capable) of pulling itself out of stasis
after a 4-year hiatus. It is not
however, proof.
Learning to Fly is
one of the best songs on the album, and one of the tracks truest to the
Floyd modus operandi. Unfortunately, it reveals another trend present
on this album, the necessity of introducing multiple partners for Dave
to "write" with. Maybe he doesn't know any rhyming words, or is limited
in his imagination. For whatever reason, most songs on this album
and DIVISION BELL have
other people helping him get the lyrics right, more evidence that Roger
is missed. This particular ballad
flows pretty well, and the Mission-Control ambients
add just the right touch. {CPFS}
My friend Lydia Mlot chose this song as one for her class' graduation slide
show, because it represented all the hard work done in high school to get
ready for the real challenge. The crashing drums and the ringing
guitar riffs are classic Floyd, and the lyrics are sufficiently poetic
to keep you thinking. {CPFS}
The song went to #70 in the U.S.
And then the wheels fall off.
Accompanied by a crashing, pounding, grinding rhythmic musical disaster
come The Dogs of War. Whomever is this Anthony Moore assisting
Dave in writing this song, he should have been creative enough to recognize
a waste of time sitting right in front of him. This song is consistently
included in lists of "The Worst Pink Floyd Song Ever", because almost nobody
likes it. Besides the unimaginative music and insipid lyrics, there's
not too much to dislike. There is a little gremlin in the back of
my head that says this song was supposed to be a play on Roger's admission
that he was a "dog" on ANIMALS,
but the poetry is so lousy any intended message gets lost when you find
yourself laughing out loud. (That's it, it's a parody! Yeah,
sure.)
One Slip does not begin
auspiciously (sounding like leftover parts from Bike),
but picks up a little as it goes on. It's an up-tempo rocker with
a good beat, and has just enough rhythm to keep you from thinking too much
about the lyrics, which is a good thing. Once again, the poetry lets
us down. (I know that modern audiences are not as atuned to lyricism
as us "older" folks, but some of this stuff just gets downright ridiculous.)
In the end, it's OK, but unsatisfying beyond the nice beat.
Things begin looking up during
On
The Turning Away. It may be a little trite, but the lyrics deal
with one of the great continuing themes of Rock, "can we turn our back
on those in need?" It seems ready-made for one of those benevolent
organizations. It's a plaintive
ballad with a little better lyrical quality than most of the songs on this
album. (It pains me to say that, since Moore was the "helper" on
this one, too.) The song does prove that Dave has really matured
in his singing, and has a very pleasant voice that we could have used more
of in the old days. Sadly, the extended guitar solo shows none of
his usual imagination.
When you hear the beginning
of Yet Another Movie, you may think that The Dogs of War
are coming back to haunt you, but just sit back and enjoy the sound effects,
it gets better. It has a very haunting quality, and the effects that
are applied to Dave's voice somehow supply more emotion than he usually
gives us. The background ambient sounds {CPFS}
from "Casablanca" are probably the best of this effect on this album.
It's one of my favorites on this album (even though it's a song).
It goes directly into a guitar solo that is untimed, but goes by the title
Round
and Around, though you'd be better off to just think of this as the
ending, rather than a separate piece. (No way it could stand on its
own.)
The next three pieces fit
together, but do not necessarily create a whole picture. A New
Machine, Part 1 consists almost entirely of Dave's synthesized voice
(a pretty cool effect), without really having a melody.
Since it segues directly into the instrumental
Terminal
Frost, you might have thought they'd just call it one piece and forget
about it. Again, the music is too trendy to be truly Pink; in fact,
for awhile you may think a Kenny G cut ended up here somehow. There
are moments when it seems as though it's going to be just weird
enough to be Floyd, but it's always at least a half a bubble off.
(I put that in there for Cheryl.) I will vote it the "Single Piece
of Pink Floyd Music Most Likely to be Heard in an Elevator". [If
you ever get into an elevator and they're playing Welcome
to the Machine from WISH
YOU WERE HERE, exit immediately!] It fades quietly off
into the distance (and not a moment too soon), when we are suddenly "treated"
(note the sarcasm) to A New Machine,
Part 2, which is exactly like Part 1, except for the words.
It now seems totally out of place, since it contrasts so harshly with the
muzak
in the middle. The Machine part of this is undoubtedly a reference
to the song on WISH YOU WERE HERE, except that that
machine (the recording industry) was a much scarier place. Even if
this Machine is still the recording industry, it hardly seems like
a bad place if you can make Million$ by recording this album.
The album closes with Sorrow,
which is appropriately titled if you're feeling bad about some of the songs
in this collection. A friend of mine says you have to end every round
of golf with at least one good shot, so you'll be willing to spend the
money to give it another try. Maybe the band was trying the same
principle here. Sorrow begins with a 2-minute guitar solo
that, while not technically challenging, reminds us a little of some themes
from WISH YOU WERE HERE. We want to hear where
this is going. Well, it's going into another 80's style rhythm, but
we'll forgive them that. (It reminds us that no one since Beethoven
has been able to do so much with a 4-note theme.) It's very similar
to other songs on the album (Learning to Fly, and
One Slip),
but the lyrics are much more poetic than most of them {CPFS}.
It seems to be Dave singing about what he thinks Roger is doing these days,
and it's not a happy picture. Unfortunately, it wasn't fully cathartic
for him, because the next album would be far more consumed by Roger's non-presence.
The guitar solos here seem to have some real feeling and purpose to them,
which is somewhat ironic, because the central section of the tune (where
the dreamscape would normally have gone) just sort of sits around the house
and waits on the next verse to come along.
When it's all over, you have to feel cheated, because
the Floyd you used to know is dead forever, and it seems unlikely that
you'll ever see anything like it again. Change is part of life, and
a force we must accept and deal with, but it can sometimes be a bitter
pill to swallow. If you really like 80's music, like my friend
Mark Mallett does, you'll probably think this Floyd is much better than
the old stuff, but it's not really my cup of tea. I can listen to
it once in awhile, but only after I've heard those classic Floyd albums
20 times each.
