Meddle

Performer: Pink Floyd
Engineer: Peter Brown; John Leckie
Producer: Pink Floyd
Distributor: EMI Music Distribution

Notes: Pink Floyd: David Gilmour (vocals, guitar); Richard Wright (vocals, keyboards); Roger Waters (vocals, bass instrument); Nick Mason (drums, percussion). MEDDLE was the first album to hint at the musical identity that would define Pink Floyd in the mid- to late-'70s. Whereas prior releases like UMMAGUMMA and ATOM HEART MOTHER announced the presence of new singer/guitarist/songwriter David Gilmour, MEDDLE represents the band's Gilmour-influenced evolution toward a sleek, epic, spacey sound. In "Echoes," an ambitious 23-minute soundscape, the pinging of a synthesizer greets the listener before Gilmour's warm, open guitar and gentle crooning gives way to a repetitious, workmanlike rhythm. From here, the music fades into an abyss of whale calls and eerie sonic reverberations. Elsewhere, Floyd dabbles with straightforward cocktail-hour jazz ("San Tropez") and a twisted slow blues ("Seamus"). But it is "One of These Days," MEDDLE's opening track and lone radio staple, that truly previews things to come. Roger Waters's bass, played through a Binson echo unit, establishes the song's manically hypnotic groove, as Richard Wright's synthesizer bursts in and out, Nick Mason's off-kilter drum fills get tossed around, and Gilmour's guitar dive-bombs through it all. These varied sound effects, packaged in a song that clocked in at less than six minutes, were a precedent for the masterpiece that was two years away: DARK SIDE OF THE MOON.

Rolling Stone (1/6/72, p.70) - "...not only confirms lead guitarist David Gilmour's emergence as a real shaping force with the group, it states forcefully and accurately that the group is well into the growth track again..." Q (10/94, p.137) - 3 Stars - Good - "...The four were at their most collectively prolific at this time..."

From their first Syd Barrett-led psych-pop record to their concept albums and elaborately presented live shows of the 1970s, these space-rock pioneers reached unprecedented heights of commercial and aesthetic success. Their '73 opus, DARK SIDE OF THE MOON, remained on the album charts for an astounding 14 years, making it one of the best-selling records ever. Even after the departure of main conceptualist Roger Waters following 1983's THE FINAL CUT, Floyd continued to release albums well into the '90s, with David Gilmour leading the band.

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