The Album Review Club - Week #191 (page 1286) - Harlequin Dream - Boy & Bear

FogBlueInSanFran said:
See my comment above about production sonics. Add tempos and topic matters too if you want. They’re both “dark” and English. That said, I agree with the first part of your second sentence. I find Pink Floyd’s output uneven but I like it on the whole.
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This was stuck in my head last night a little (I listened to DSOTM in my ears whilst drifting off to sleep, I did this regularly throughout my teens).*

Utilising what I think is one of your phrases of Star gazing / Shoe gazing - I can't think of a better example of this.

I genuinely think of Pink Floyd as musical pioneers breaking barriers and exploring new territory whilst I think the opposite is a fair-ish label for Radiohead.

I don't dislike all Radiohead but similar to you I suspect that their usual persona isn't entirely genuine.

In addition I get what people are saying in reference to the backdrop or the ambience to the album BUT to be fair to Pink Floyd they came from a film score / soundtrack background - they are genuine in their approach to music (if that makes sense).

Not done for show but this is how they have creatively operated and evolved to the point of releasing DSOTM..........

* Does no-one else believe Shine on you crazy diamond belongs on DSOTM!?!
 
OB1 said:
If the cover was on a crap album, it wouldn’t be iconic but I am sure that they could have picked very many alternative covers that would not have been so iconic. I could be wrong but I doubt many people consider the cover of, say, “Thriller”, iconic; I know I don’t.

Can’t say that I have ever tried to pick a favourite album cover. I did love a Roger Dean one as a “kid”, had big postcards of a few on the wall at my University digs.

The cover (the whole package) to the vinyl version of Physical Graffiti is, not surprisingly, up there for me.

WYWH is good but I don’t think I prefer that cover to the prism, even though I what’s in the grooves.
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From memory I don't think I've previously heard any of the your choices before. I'd never heard this all they way through either so I think "classic" albums shouldn't necessarily be avoided. I've heard next to nothing from Rush, Fleetwood Mac, Credence, Led Zeppelin etc
 
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The Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd

The paper holds their folded faces to the floor
And every day the paperboy brings more

While I have read most of the reviews and there's some great commentary on this iconic album, the one common theme is that we're all familiar with this. And I think "iconic" is the correct adjective to describe this release too. I don't mention the first line as a criticism per se, but as is the nature of this thread, things can change and swing quickly. Just remember that in "two weeks time" as the opposite is about to happen. And unlike a current politician who throws that timeframe around without ever delivering, this one will. And as they like to say without ever backing it up, "we'll see...".

There's not much more I can add on the songs here that hasn't already been said, but I will have a few points. First, the creativity and ingenuity of Alan Parsons as sound engineer on this cannot be understated. This is an album meant to be experienced in the whole, as the whole far exceeds the sum of it's parts. While I first heard "Time" and "Money" on FM radio, I didn't 'get this' until I heard the entirety of this recording of how the spoken word that appears throughout the songs, the merging of tracks, and the overall flow of the record happened. Just amazing and surely a study for any band with a similar approach concept album that has come since. Parsons recorded and assembled the iconic clock sounds in "Time". He used tape loops to create other effects like the cash registers in "Money". His approach to all the sound effects and advanced recording techniques (at that time) helped achieve the album's unique and crisp clean sonic quality.

The "spoken word" that runs throughout the album consisted of interviews Roger Waters conducted with people at Abbey Road Studios, including band members, roadies, and studio staff. Most were responses to questions about themes of fear of death, madness, and violence. Those responses were often edited and layered into many of the tracks, most pronounced in "Speak to Me" and "The Great Gig in the Sky". Other famous examples include the roadie "Roger the Hat" Manifold in "Us and Them" and Henry McCullough at the end of "Money". "I don't know if I was really drunk at the time", indeed. For the record, as much as I enjoyed this album, as it was said in Back to the Future: "I don't want to mess with no reefer addicts, okay?".

My favourite track from the album is the one where the sax and David Gilmour's vocals shine and take center stage on "Us and Them", lyrics by Roger Waters and music by Richard Wright. Just a beautiful track to follow "Money", and its here where the themes on the futility of conflict, exploring divisions between groups in war, racism, and social class. I find the critique of the "us vs. them" mentality especially poignant in the times we in the US find ourselves today, and for this reason alone, an album released over 52 years ago especially relevant. Only David can deliver these smooth vocals that sum up this track and album to me:

Down and out
It can't be helped, but there's a lot of it about
With, without
And who'll deny it's what the fighting's all about?

Further, I also have Pink Floyd to thank, largely from this album and their catalog in the '70's for helping to inspire my favourite Manchester band, Doves. This is quite evident in their shared appreciation and approach to atmospheric, spacious, and melancholy soundscapes, alot of that heard on this album and WYWH. I also have a big appreciation for the braveness and stunning vocals shown by Clare Torry and the music by Richard Wright in recording "The Great Gig in the Sky", a risk and decision that not many bands would have taken on. Then or since. It is only one of three Pink Floyd songs to feature lead vocals from an outside artist. I agree with @GornikDaze on this that the unspoken vocals are both stunning and beautiful.

Over on the Playlist Thread, I had nominated "The Human Condition" as a topic, but none of these tracks made that playlist. Maybe this was too obvious, but that is what this whole album is about to me, and why it remains held in such high esteem. Yes, I like it more than WYWH, because as good and as poignant as that album was for the band to make about them and Syd, this album in other ways is meant to touch us all. The themes here like death, greed, conflict, insanity, and the passage of time all touch on the Human Condition in one way or another. The "dark side" of such refers to the pressures and anxieties of modern life, the obsession with material wealth, societal madness, and the fear of death and insignificance. And in that way, this album always delivers what it set out to do on the whole on the struggles of existence. I'll argue that now more than ever, it resonates to point out what is needed, and hopefully to keep a few more of us sane in an insane world. It's a 9.5/10 for me for that reason, as a paperboy in the 1970s, delivering the news back then, with those lyrics always resonating with me.
 
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Whilst I've succumbed in the past to winding up the occasional overly po faced PF fan, the reality is had I been old enough to be into 'serious' music at the point this came out I might well be very attached to this album too. However, I wasn't and I'm not.

That means though I can appreciate it's many virtues I personally find some aspects less convincing. On the good side: The ambition is clearly praiseworthy and easy to forget with the passage of time. The production is impeccable and that it still sounds great today speaks volumes. The dynamics are often extremely good and I suspect beyond the long form/movements nature of the two sides, are why people view it as an 'orchestral' piece. There are many individual moments and passages of high quality throughout.

However, I've never been convinced by the apparent concept, especially lyrically. A few things bother me. Firstly I think there are some internal contradictions, now you could argue that's the nature of life but I think it's a function of trying to cover too much with the lyrical skills that they have. I don't find the ground they cover very cohesive. More problematic for me though is I can't shake the fact that it's through the lens of a by this time successful band and to me that makes it less relatable and a little bit self absorbed. A track like On the Run I have no problem at all with what some might see as arty farty noodling; it's the fact that the feeling of agitation it then generates seems quite specific to people living a particular lifestyle and also contradicts some lyrical aspects of Time. It's not their fault, it's an authentic perspective for them just less authentic for me. It just means that when some fans talk about this album as if it's the musical equivalent of the Summa Theologica I really don't get it.

For me, it's ambition probably works as much against it as it does for it. In trying to cover as much ground as it does, it dilutes it's impact. So I find myself feeling if I want to think about mortality I'll listen to Revelator; if I want some interesting borrowed chords I can get more of that in other genres etc etc.

All that said it deserves to be lauded as an important release even if it's not a personal favourite. We get back to the old connundrum of objective scoring based on qualities and subjective based on personal impact. At which point 7/10 seems like a reasonable compromise.
 
Black&White&BlueMoon Town said:
The Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd

The paper holds their folded faces to the floor
And every day the paperboy brings more

While I have read most of the reviews and there's some great commentary on this iconic album, the one common theme is that we're all familiar with this. And I think "iconic" is the correct adjective to describe this release too. I don't mention the first line as a criticism per se, but as is the nature of this thread, things can change and swing quickly. Just remember that in "two weeks time" as the opposite is about to happen. And unlike a current politician who throws that timeframe around without ever delivering, this one will. And as they like to say without ever backing it up, "we'll see...".

There's not much more I can add on the songs here that hasn't already been said, but I will have a few points. First, the creativity and ingenuity of Alan Parsons as sound engineer on this cannot be understated. This is an album meant to be experienced in the whole, as the whole far exceeds the sum of it's parts. While I first heard "Time" and "Money" on FM radio, I didn't 'get this' until I heard the entirety of this recording of how the spoken word that appears throughout the songs, the merging of tracks, and the overall flow of the record happened. Just amazing and surely a study for any band with a similar approach concept album that has come since. Parsons recorded and assembled the iconic clock sounds in "Time". He used tape loops to create other effects like the cash registers in "Money". His approach to all the sound effects and advanced recording techniques (at that time) helped achieve the album's unique and crisp clean sonic quality.

The "spoken word" that runs throughout the album consisted of interviews Roger Waters conducted with people at Abbey Road Studios, including band members, roadies, and studio staff. Most were responses to questions about themes of fear of death, madness, and violence. Those responses were often edited and layered into many of the tracks, most pronounced in "Speak to Me" and "The Great Gig in the Sky". Other famous examples include the roadie "Roger the Hat" Manifold in "Us and Them" and Henry McCullough at the end of "Money". "I don't know if I was really drunk at the time", indeed. For the record, as much as I enjoyed this album, as it was said in Back to the Future: "I don't want to mess with no reefer addicts, okay?".

My favourite track from the album is the one where the sax and David Gilmour's vocals shine and take center stage on "Us and Them", lyrics by Roger Waters and music by Richard Wright. Just a beautiful track to follow "Money", and its here where the themes on the futility of conflict, exploring divisions between groups in war, racism, and social class. I find the critique of the "us vs. them" mentality especially poignant in the times we in the US find ourselves today, and for this reason alone, an album released over 52 years ago especially relevant. Only David can deliver these smooth vocals that sum up this track and album to me:

Down and out
It can't be helped, but there's a lot of it about
With, without
And who'll deny it's what the fighting's all about?

Further, I also have Pink Floyd to thank, largely from this album and their catalog in the '70's for helping to inspire my favourite Manchester band, Doves. This is quite evident in their shared appreciation and approach to atmospheric, spacious, and melancholy soundscapes, alot of that heard on this album and WYWH. I also have a big appreciation for the braveness and stunning vocals shown by Clare Torry and the music by Richard Wright in recording "The Great Gig in the Sky", a risk and decision that not many bands would have taken on. Then or since. It is only one of three Pink Floyd songs to feature lead vocals from an outside artist. I agree with @GornikDaze on this that the unspoken vocals are both stunning and beautiful.

Over on the Playlist Thread, I had nominated "The Human Condition" as a topic, but none of these tracks made that playlist. Maybe this was too obvious, but that is what this whole album is about to me, and why it remains held in such high esteem. Yes, I like it more than WYWH, because as good and as poignant as that album was for the band to make about them and Syd, this album in other ways is meant to touch us all. The themes here like death, greed, conflict, insanity, and the passage of time all touch on the Human Condition in one way or another. The "dark side" of such refers to the pressures and anxieties of modern life, the obsession with material wealth, societal madness, and the fear of death and insignificance. And in that way, this album always delivers what it set out to do on the whole on the struggles of existence. I'll argue that now more than ever, it resonates to point out what is needed, and hopefully to keep a few more of us sane in an insane world. It's a 9.5/10 for me for that reason, as a paperboy in the 1970s, delivering the news back then, with those lyrics always resonating with me.
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Brilliant! Finally somebody agrees with me about the vocals… my faith in humanity is restored
 
OB1 said:
Never pick an album for the points. My best points score was a complete surprise to me.

DSoTM is a great choice and may have inspired my next pick. I have a fairly long list, in my head (must write it down), of albums that I would like to review. I have picked several off with my pieces on different years but you don’t find out much about what people think of those albums doing that. As demonstrated earlier in the thread, one of those was DSoTM so this pick is extra interesting to me.

I also find it a quandary whether to pick a widely recognised classic because I am sure not everyone wants to listen to something that is very familiar for their weekly homework. I am quite happy to do that; although I did not listen to DSoTM this week but it is not long since I gave it a few spins when working on my review of it.

Just spotted Mancitydoogle’s comment about DSoTM as a pick being a little obvious - and therein lies a problem, that I shall ignore.
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I love this thread, trying to guess the album of the week and then reading the reasons for nominating a particular album and then of course listening to it then reviewing it.However my greatest joy is discovering something new that I really enjoy .there have been a number of occasions when this has happened J J Cale, Frightened Rabbit,Shelby Lynne,
The Manchester Orchestra to name but a few.Then there’s albums I would never had listened too for various reasons , other times it’s albums I know well like this one which allow me to reminisce and enjoy an album I might not have heard for a long time.It all adds to the richness of the thread and people’s different views and opinions.
 
Coatigan said:
Thanks, I was torn between a couple albums, after gornik's nomination kinda fucked mine. But one of them is from one of those years so that has decided it. I might surprise you guys with a pop album. With synths!
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Excellent, we've not had a soundtrack album and Dirty Dancing will do nicely I think.
 
I think it's fair to say that The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd has passed the Blue Moon test with flying colours. Let's dig into the stats.
  1. It got 20 votes, which whilst not a record is a very good participation level.
  2. It finished with an average of 7.80, which from a such a high number of votes is one hell of a return.
  3. That's good enough for 4th place in our table, narrowly missing out on the top 3.
  4. It scored two perfect 10s and two very close at 9.5. Given that all four of these ultra high scores were from regular contributors says it all.
There were also some very good reviews and lots of discussion, as well as one story from @journolud that brings it home what music means to people. Thanks to @GornikDaze for a brilliant nomination.

Now over to @Coatigan for this week's album.
 
Black&White&BlueMoon Town said:
The Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd

The paper holds their folded faces to the floor
And every day the paperboy brings more

While I have read most of the reviews and there's some great commentary on this iconic album, the one common theme is that we're all familiar with this. And I think "iconic" is the correct adjective to describe this release too. I don't mention the first line as a criticism per se, but as is the nature of this thread, things can change and swing quickly. Just remember that in "two weeks time" as the opposite is about to happen. And unlike a current politician who throws that timeframe around without ever delivering, this one will. And as they like to say without ever backing it up, "we'll see...".

There's not much more I can add on the songs here that hasn't already been said, but I will have a few points. First, the creativity and ingenuity of Alan Parsons as sound engineer on this cannot be understated. This is an album meant to be experienced in the whole, as the whole far exceeds the sum of it's parts. While I first heard "Time" and "Money" on FM radio, I didn't 'get this' until I heard the entirety of this recording of how the spoken word that appears throughout the songs, the merging of tracks, and the overall flow of the record happened. Just amazing and surely a study for any band with a similar approach concept album that has come since. Parsons recorded and assembled the iconic clock sounds in "Time". He used tape loops to create other effects like the cash registers in "Money". His approach to all the sound effects and advanced recording techniques (at that time) helped achieve the album's unique and crisp clean sonic quality.

The "spoken word" that runs throughout the album consisted of interviews Roger Waters conducted with people at Abbey Road Studios, including band members, roadies, and studio staff. Most were responses to questions about themes of fear of death, madness, and violence. Those responses were often edited and layered into many of the tracks, most pronounced in "Speak to Me" and "The Great Gig in the Sky". Other famous examples include the roadie "Roger the Hat" Manifold in "Us and Them" and Henry McCullough at the end of "Money". "I don't know if I was really drunk at the time", indeed. For the record, as much as I enjoyed this album, as it was said in Back to the Future: "I don't want to mess with no reefer addicts, okay?".

My favourite track from the album is the one where the sax and David Gilmour's vocals shine and take center stage on "Us and Them", lyrics by Roger Waters and music by Richard Wright. Just a beautiful track to follow "Money", and its here where the themes on the futility of conflict, exploring divisions between groups in war, racism, and social class. I find the critique of the "us vs. them" mentality especially poignant in the times we in the US find ourselves today, and for this reason alone, an album released over 52 years ago especially relevant. Only David can deliver these smooth vocals that sum up this track and album to me:

Down and out
It can't be helped, but there's a lot of it about
With, without
And who'll deny it's what the fighting's all about?

Further, I also have Pink Floyd to thank, largely from this album and their catalog in the '70's for helping to inspire my favourite Manchester band, Doves. This is quite evident in their shared appreciation and approach to atmospheric, spacious, and melancholy soundscapes, alot of that heard on this album and WYWH. I also have a big appreciation for the braveness and stunning vocals shown by Clare Torry and the music by Richard Wright in recording "The Great Gig in the Sky", a risk and decision that not many bands would have taken on. Then or since. It is only one of three Pink Floyd songs to feature lead vocals from an outside artist. I agree with @GornikDaze on this that the unspoken vocals are both stunning and beautiful.

Over on the Playlist Thread, I had nominated "The Human Condition" as a topic, but none of these tracks made that playlist. Maybe this was too obvious, but that is what this whole album is about to me, and why it remains held in such high esteem. Yes, I like it more than WYWH, because as good and as poignant as that album was for the band to make about them and Syd, this album in other ways is meant to touch us all. The themes here like death, greed, conflict, insanity, and the passage of time all touch on the Human Condition in one way or another. The "dark side" of such refers to the pressures and anxieties of modern life, the obsession with material wealth, societal madness, and the fear of death and insignificance. And in that way, this album always delivers what it set out to do on the whole on the struggles of existence. I'll argue that now more than ever, it resonates to point out what is needed, and hopefully to keep a few more of us sane in an insane world. It's a 9.5/10 for me for that reason, as a paperboy in the 1970s, delivering the news back then, with those lyrics always resonating with me.
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That’s a wonderful review mate.
 
Clue.

Had Ahab had two wives of his, maybe instead of Stockholm we'd today be calling it Samarian Syndrome.
 
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