Meddle
1971
Harvest Records
I've always found Pink Floyd's Meddle to be their first real masterpiece (and the site would say the same). After all, the album was released in 1971, years before Dark Side (1973), WYWH (1975), Animals (1977), and The Wall (1979) were recorded. I was actually, in my first inquisitions in the whole sound of Pink Floyd, sort of confused on what to do for the album. I mean, I had never heard of it prior, back when all I had was The Wall to introduce me to the band, so I didn't know what to think. Nonetheless, I purchased the album shorty after hearing the great respect many people had for it. I listened to it excitedly, since it was my second only purchase from them.
Afterwards, I was speechless. I was blown away by the pure skill the band showed on this release, especially with the instrumental of 'One Of These Days'. It astonished me how such an early release of a band could be so masterful, without these guys having tried as much as other bands. That was before I knew that the band had learned what they shouldn't do and should continue to do extremely quickly, and were able to easily produce a masterpiece such as this. This release also marked the turning point for Pink Floyd whole sound change from floaty space-rock to more solid, workable material. It definitely got Pink Floyd on the charts with something like the 24 minute long epic of 'Echoes', widely regarded as the song that changed the band forever. So what about my thoughts? I thought, overall, that this album was exactly how people described it; a colorful masterpiece.
The album, even though it is a lot more progressive, couldn't totally shake off the Barrett days quite yet. A song that reminded me heavily of it was 'Seamus', which, in my opinion, didn't really need to be put on the album due to it's nonsensical attitude and extreme brevity, was very reminiscent to the work of Barrett on The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. But aside from that, there are some neat psychedelic ditties on here like 'Fearless' and 'San Tropez', both of which are really cool songs that are great for casual listening. The latter I would say, is a unique gem for the Pink Floyd collector, with it's bouncy, lighthearted attitude, and dare I say it, indie like qualities? I shiver at the thought, but I suppose there's no other way to describe it. As stated before, the opener of 'One of These Days' marks the heaviest song since More's 'The Nile Song' and 'Ibiza Bar'. It is really cool track, centerpieced by a bass riff being set through a 'delay unit', causing it to have a double bass effect. Combine this with some really awesome drumming from Mason and great usage of synthesizer, and you've got a real great piece of Pink Floyd music.
While the rest of the album is pretty typical to Pink Floyd, they are all overshadowed by the behemoth epic of Echoes, which is the second longest song in PF history (next to Atom Heart Mother (23:42)). It finishes off the album with a huge firework that was heard all around the world. Starting in with a single and iconic staccato keyboard key being played for a time until it shifts into a more complete sound. Synth comes in to take over and after some time, the song changes into a more recognizable piece. Let me just say, this song did influence Pink Floyd in a variety of different ways, especially with the art-sy use of synthesizer and melodic space-rock guitar riffs that people know from Dark Side of the Moon. Not to mention that this album features beautiful lyrics and vocals that you could hear on their later concept albums. Towards the third quarter, the song shifts several times, from going back to floaty and then to a hard beat that was on 'One Of These Days'. It overall ends with the original sound and goes out with a bang. A real moving experience. Dare I say, you could listen to 'Echoes' as it's own album and still be quite satisfied.
Overall, this album is, in a way, an underrated masterpiece. Perhaps more known by Prog fans and critics, but it is less known to those PF newbies out there. I highly and warmly suggest that any progressive rock fan take a shot at this great work of art if you haven't already.
2016- The Frying Pan & Thatcher
Originally written for Prog Archives on 12/22/2014.
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