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The men of Pink Floyd have always taken their time, turning out stately epics at a less than hectic clip. Accordingly, 22 years separate ON AN ISLAND from ABOUT FACE, the previous solo album by Floyd axeman/singer David Gilmour. On the latter, Gilmour was still trying to distance his own sound from Floyd's, but with that band mostly a memory in 2006, he was free to honor its legacy, much as Paul McCartney's later albums acknowledged the Beatles' work.
The template for ON AN ISLAND seems to be tracks like "Breathe" from DARK SIDE OF THE MOON. The mood is an overwhelmingly mellow, spacious one, with Gilmour's trademark double-tracked vocals and plangent, liquid guitar tones flowing gracefully across almost exclusively slow-to-mid-tempo arrangements. But with Roger Waters missing from the equation, there's a notable lack of misanthropy in Gilmore's lyrical sentiments. The themes are more in keeping with the life of a fabulously wealthy elder statesman of British rock: placidly philosophical, with a luxurious air that finds its parallel in the elegant layers of guitar and keyboard lines that color the album in shimmering pastel shades.
Photographers: David Gilmour; Jeremy Young ; Sandra Kamen; Harry Borden.
Personnel: David Gilmour (vocals, guitar, saxophone, piano, electric piano, percussion); David Gilmour; Polly Samson (vocals, piano); Richard Wright , Crosby & Nash (vocals); Rado Klose (guitar); Lucy Wakeford (harp); Caroline Dale (cello); Leszek Mozdzer (piano); Chris E. Thomas (keyboards); Chris Laurence (double bass); Willie Wilson & The Tunemasters, Ged Lynch (drums); Alasdair Malloy (glass armonica); Ilan Eshkeri (programming); Graham Nash (vocals); Robert Wyatt (cornet, percussion); Phil Manzanera (piano, keyboards); Jools Holland (piano); Andy Newmark (drums, percussion); David Crosby.
Recording information: Astoria, NY; At Home; British Grove; EMI Abbey Road Studios, London, England; Gallery Studio.
Q (p.121) - Ranked #45 in Q Magazine's "100 Greatest Albums of 2006" -- "[The songs] demonstrated the Floyd leader's mastery of the reflective vocal and grand guitar showdown..." Uncut (p.108) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he tone is oceanic and the mood contemplative, with Gilmour's keening guitar lines soaring across cloudless skies, hitting with extraordinary clarity notes that can usually only be heard by dogs." Mojo (Publisher) (p.p.88) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[A] hugely sensual work, its prevailing mood one of Zen-like calm."
Not Pink Floyd I am happy to find this CD is not a take on Orginal Pink Floyd Material. It
is damn good but very brief. I belive he could have done more.
Terrible Tony Submitted by tony9345 (Montgomery, TX) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo 1 of 1 found this helpful.
Great Cover, that's it... This was the hottest release of the current year for me. I have been waiting for some new Gilmour work since the 2002 DVD (In Concert).
Well this is a non-inspiring cd that reminds little if any of the past of David Gilmour, and has nothing to do with the latest Pink Floyd releases that he led.
All the songs are slow and melancholic, with random touches of nostalgia, but only placed there on purpose so as to remind us of the glorious past...
I would rather prefer not to have this cd as it really made me sad. I realised that some things may not come back. I will cherish all these fantastic works of the past that never seem to age, and I would humbly propose that you do the same. Submitted by Lefteris (Athens, Greece) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo 1 of 1 found this helpful.
Too laid back for me... Unquestionably Gilmour with some enjoyable, signature guitar work by the man...but for me the disc lacks vitality, it's a little too laid back for its own good. But that may have been the point. Either way, don't expect Pink Floyd (the opening track is as close as it gets to that, IMO). Submitted by stevehaycock (Kuwait City) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo 1 of 1 found this helpful.
No more please! I was really looking forward to this disc's release. I thought that an artist of this standing would, after all this time, have something excellent to offer. Especially given his refusal to reignite Pink Floyd after Live 8 because he wanted to focus on this. So what have we got? A perfect blueprint for how an artist should know when they've done enough and have nothing left to give. Why don't these people know when to retire? This load of self indulgent twaddle does nothing and goes nowhere. It plods from the start and keeps on plodding. I can find nothing to recomment spending your hard earned cash on here. Even my wife asked me to turn the disc off as it was so boring. If Gilmour wants to write this kind of inane rubbish, he should keep the recordings on his own computer and be forced to listen to it himself. Even his guitar playing, always a joy on Floyd albums, sounds forced and lacking fluency. It's time to give it away Dave. Leave us wanting more and don't tarnish a hard earned reputation with these way below standard meanderings any more, please! Rated with one star because I can't give it any less. Submitted by Lindsay (Perth, Western Australia) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo 1 of 1 found this helpful.
sit back and relas this is not the type of album you play in your car to get you in the mood to go to work. It is the type of music you need to sit down and listen to after work when you need to clear your head. Good music. Submitted by steve (ohio) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo
Not Pink Floyd
No more please!
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