The CD Odyssey continues. Some days I'm excited to write a review, and other days I just want to get on to the next record. The bottom line is that almost three years ago I signed up for this little jaunt through my music collection, and I'm going to keep faith with my former self and see it through.
Also, it's kind of fun.
Disc 390 is…A Momentary Lapse of Reason
Artist: Pink Floyd
Year of Release: 1987
What’s Up With The Cover?: A beach full of beds, that's what's up. I remember when my brother bought this record on vinyl back when it came out how much he liked the cover. It is pretty cool, especially when you realize that in 1987 they didn't have the CGI to believably fake a beach full of beds - someone went out and laboriously put all those beds out there for real, so that they could take a picture. Nice.
How I Came To Know It: As noted above, my brother bought this record when it came out, and I borrowed it off of him and taped it. When it came out on CD in 1997, I bought it and I've had it ever since.
How It Stacks Up: I have five Pink Floyd albums. Pink Floyd makes pretty good records, so the competition is pretty stiff. I'll say this is 4th or 5th best.
Rating: 4 stars
"A Momentary Lapse of Reason" is a very smooth and relaxed sounding record for being birthed in anger. It was Pink Floyd's first album since Roger Watters had messily left the band, amidst legal threats and accusations about who got to call themselves Pink Floyd, and who got to play what songs in concert.
It is strange therefore, that the album comes out so smoothly. The songs are gentle on the ear, with atmospheric, almost soundrack-like synthesizers and rolling drums. Throughout, is the steady presence of David Gilmour's emotive guitar, which someone manages to avoid being wrecked despite a dangerously large helping of saxophone in places.
I'll give Gilmour full credit for his ability to make ambient sound so interesting, but he gets a big assist here - from Bob Ezrin. Yes, that Bob Ezrin - the man that helped make Alice Cooper the great musician that he is. Ezrin co-produces "A Momentary Lapse of Reason" and also co-writes the first two tracks, one of which ("Learning To Fly") was a modestly successful hit.
I love the way Ezrin gets the best the Watter-less Pink Floyd can muster on this album, without sacrificing their signature sound. He is a great and under-appreciated collaborator.
The highlight of the album comes right in the middle, with the five star song, "On the Turning Away." "On the Turning Away" is an anthem of compassion - a call to arms for the human race to finally show some true empathy with itself. I've listened to this song hundreds of times, including three times in the last two days, and it consistently moves me and motivates me. It begins:
"On the turning away
From the pale and downtrodden
And the words they say
Which we won't understand
Don't accept that what's happening
Is just a case of other's suffering
Or you'll find that you're joining in
The turning away."
Whether this song is about helping less fortunate nations, or just noticing the down-and-out on your own street corner is irrelevant. It is about accepting an active role in being human. The song only has four verses, separated by a lengthy and perfect instrumental interlude. The interlude sets you on a reverie of all the times you may have turned away, when you should have held fast, and then the final verse comes back and hits you right between the eyes:
"No more turning away
From the weak and the weary
No more turning away
From the coldness inside
Just a world that we all must share
It's not enough just to stand and stare
Is it only a dream that there'll be
No more turning away."
I like the rhetorical way the song ends, leaving the question to be answered by the listener, through their actions. When in doubt, it is always a good move to trust your audience to go and figure it out on their own.
Sadly, the record is not as pitch-perfect throughout. Songs like "Dogs of War" which I loved when I first heard it, now feel like a pale and preachy imitation of Bob Dylan's masterpiece "Masters of War." "A New Machine" parts 1 and 2 start to explore artificial intelligence (I think) but are snippets of songs that aren't fully developed.
Also, while "On The Turning Away" and a couple other tracks distinguish themselves, many others just sort of hang in space, seemingly wanting to connect with each other into a larger mood piece, but unable to find the right glue that holds the whole record together thematically.
It is missing an overarching vision that my other Pink Floyd albums have. Ezrin helps them hold it all together musically, and Gilmour is a genius in his own right but the record is ultimately missing the visionary of the band - the departed Roger Watters.
Much like Watters' 1992 effort "Amused To Death" (reviewed back at Disc 115) doesn't come together without Gilmour, "A Momentary Lapse of Reason" also falls short.
Because of the brilliance of "On the Turning Away" and how it has always spoken to me, and the overall quality of the compositions and production, I'm still going to have "A Momentary Lapse of Reason" edge ahead of "Amused To Death" into four star territory, but it could have been so much more.
Best tracks: Learning To Fly, On The Turning Away, One Slip.
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