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I'm writing this recollection of having first listened to PINK FLOYD: THE ENDLESS RIVER last night, at 9:00 pm Mountain Time, at home, after dinner, with my wife and 21 month old lunatic, Zane, for no one but myself. Number one, the soothing instrumental music suited Zane's sense of play very well, he did groove to it you could easily tell. That was a trip, just thinking that here we are in the year 2014 and my baby boy is actually listening to a brand spankin' new Pink Floyd album. How cool is that. Let's get down to bidness, shall we. Please keep in mind this is strictly a "first impression" review, having only listened to the album once.
Let me begin by stating that the first three tracks--that is, Side 1 on the 2LP vinyl--are worth the price of admission alone. The album literally begins with the absolute smoothest possible Gilmourian guitar solo. It arises from the aether of Floydian dreams undetectably, it is that delectable. I literally experienced an out of body moment as my soul itself was lifted from its host cells and dispersed into the atmosphere one microtone at a time, until the rising steam of ambient music coalesced into the legendary tone of the one and only David Gilmour. A more beautiful beginning to the album I could not possibly have expected. A few minutes in and I recognized the slightest of old motifs that David has expressed as recently as his last solo album, On An Island. I remarked that "this is what Gilmour has been trying to say for the last couple of albums," and reached over to see what the song title was. "Things Left Unsaid." There you go. Did I nail it, or what. I eased back into our comfortable sofa and just let the exquisite guitar tones and subtle harmonizing of the music sweep me away into a realm that only Eno and Fripp had ever dared to take me to before: The Equatorial Stars. I couldn't help but observe, "Oh my god...this is beyond Fripp & Eno...". An immeasurable period of time later...Side 1 came to an end. I never once caught where the second or third songs began. Things Left Unsaid... It's What We Do, and Ebb and Flow. I laughed to myself that the second song is pretty much the same title as one of the better Korn songs from their last album, The Paradigm Shift. What We Do. Heh. (On a related note, the penultimate track "Surfacing" is the same as a Slipknot song.) This is alright, I thought to myself. With immense satisfaction, I got up and walked over to the stereo, lifted the plastic hood off the turntable, flipped the record over, and began playing Side 2.
Side 2 has four tracks: Sum; Skins; Unsung; Anisina. This side flowed smoothly much as the first side, each song blending into the next rather well. To tell you the truth, the same can be said for Side 3 (which features seven tracks), but not Side 4: that's where the endless stream of ambient Floyd music gets rudely interrupted by the final track, the deplorable "Louder Than Words," which comes across not unlike a slap to the face, but more like a middle-finger subtly extended toward their former bandmate, Roger Waters. Think I'm reading too deeply into it? Think again. Where does Gilmour get off allowing his wife to pen the lyrics (dreadful lyrics, really) to the final Pink Floyd song? Polly Sampson here is worse than Yoko Ono. [Note: I don't believe Yoko broke up the Beatles; they did it to themselves. I'm happy for David and his "Muse". I just think the lyrics here are a tad saccharine and subpar to the quality expected of Pink Floyd.] Could it be his quiet revenge against Waters, who forced the entire band to release THE FINAL CUT? ("That'll show that misogynist...") "It's louder than words / this thing that we do / the way it unfurls / it's louder than words /the sum of our parts / the beat of our hearts..." etc. It's disingenuous, is what it is. Gilmour is getting the last jab in, here. And it puts a damper on the majestic, perfectly beautiful instrumental Floydian music that graces the first three sides of the album. He just couldn't resist slipping that in. AS IF it wasn't Roger Waters whose integral contributions to all their best-selling albums WASN'T as necessary as that Fat Old Son, Gilmour himself. Louder Than Words is my one real complaint about the album. Not only does an otherwise perfectly suitable final album of reverential Floydian passages end on a jarring note--but that note seems to suggest, with its title "Louder than Words", that not only are "words" unnecessary, but that they can do without their former bass player, lyricist, and acerbic bandmate Roger Waters. Because throughout the album, there are several spots which are clearly begging for Roger Water's vocals of incisive lyrics. As a matter of fact (I'm not kidding, here) there were at least two distinct spots on the album where I swear to God I thought I actually heard the ghost of singing begin, like I said, no joke. It startled me from my slumped posture on the sofa. I practically got goosebumps. One of those spots, I MYSELF almost conjured the proper lyric! I was that close to the heart-beat of Pink Floyd. In that moment, I could picture Roger sitting in his easy chair, giving the album his cursory listen, and I just know that he himself could easily have filled in those EMPTY SPACES that are actually palpable throughout the album with his own words. He could have whispered or croaked them softly, as soft as an eider-down, and that my fine friends would have been colossally "louder" than ANYthing Gilmour's wife could state about the band. In fact - it would merely have secured the keystone stroke of genius the album could certainly have benefited from. As for the majority of the instrumental music on this album, I have to say it is certainly a stroll down memory lane, capturing several nods toward old albums. Anyone listening carefully can hear the 'Welcome to the Machine' reference towards the album's start. Well THE ENDLESS RIVER doesn't shy away from evoking many old Floydian passages; there's a few Dark Side Of The Moon references in there, along with some ANIMALS and other keynotes of their classic career. I could even see how this might be considered either a distraction or even a potential fault in the record--I can already hear detractors screaming that it's too derivative; but for me, all those signature moments worked in the context of an extended long playing post-rock deconstruction of what the music of Pink Floyd used to be. While listening to the gorgeous, haunted, quicksilver ambiance of all these new tracks, I never once thought to myself "Division Bell," and that is to the album's eternal credit.
When all is said and done, after just one listen, I can say I am inordinately pleased with ninety-four percent of The Endless River. (Louder Than Words represents just six percent of the whole if you consider it is but one of eighteen tracks.) I'll say this in parting. I could listen to all seventeen instrumental tracks over and over and over for the rest of my life, and not really get sick of it, I don't think. The music has that distinct signature Floyd sound which is absolutely irreducible. No guitar player on earth before or since has managed to capture that mercurial tone which Gilmour has mastered over a lifetime of playing. This music is untouchable on many levels, and I have no doubt David Gilmour will take that vintage sound with him to his grave. In the end, I can only feel gratitude tinged with echoes of regret that David and Roger couldn't work out their differences. Differences which were integral to their whole Gestalt. The old classic Pink Floyd truly were a quintessential example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. As a lifetime Floyd Casualty myself, I pay no heed to the groans and complaints I hear every now and again from the eaves that their post-DSOTM albums were somehow "subpar" to the early Syd Barrett era stuff. I'm one of the few who truly appreciate both eras, and if anything prefer the latter era up to and including the seminal album THE FINAL CUT. That 1983 album will forever remain in my mind's ear the true and definitive "final Pink Floyd album," the naysayers be damned. I mean that with all my heart and every fiber in my being. THE FINAL CUT is the darkest triumph of concept albums and serves as the perfect resounding note on which to end their career--if you ask me. Yet A Momentary Lapse Of Reason was a brilliant sonic conception in its own right, and to this day serves as the greatest example of a live concert I myself have ever had the good fortune to witness. The Division Bell...not so much.
In conclusion, The Endless River is light years ahead of The Division Bell. It's just too bad Gilmour had to get that last nasty little dig in with Louder Than Words, a song one may consider being anything from just "okay" to "cringe-worthy", depending on one's taste or mood, I suppose. Without that song, the album really is an Endless River of really nice sounding instrumental and ambient set pieces, all merging together into one beautifully expressive homage to a classic career. Some of Gilmour's guitar playing is so sublime as to escape description altogether; that is truly "louder than words," right there. For having dared to add that final generic song, I personally would suggest they should have titled the album A FLOYDIAN SLIP, instead--because that is exactly what it is. 4 out of 5 stars.* (Make that 5 out of 5. Status revised after several listens.)
~ *I'm back, after having listened to The Endless River at least five more times. And guess what. Not only does the song Louder Than Words sound better in my ears, I can even appreciate the message underlying the lyrics, despite or perhaps because of how jarring they are. I am leaning towards awarding this album the five stars it probably deserves. What a retrospective of their past and present, and not only that, all the music on the album is exquisite, revealing itself in layers one listen at a time, the way it should be. If you've read this far thank you for putting up with my initial "first listen" review, above. The Endless River is the perfect capstone to a legendary and divided career. Thank you David Gilmour, Polly, and Nick Mason for bringing this gift to our ears. Thanks to Rick Wright and may you rest in peace on the other side. Thanks to Roger Waters for being an integral keystone player during all those classic epochs the band has enjoyed throughout its storied career. And thanks to Syd Barrett the dreamer at the fulcrum of it all. Shine on you crazy diamonds. Words fail to capture the legacy, and I applaud this brave swan song for having done so, with difficult to express lyricism, down to the final note.
~One of your biggest fans since about 1970, Shaun
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Seller was great
My album was shipped immediately and delivered on time .. my album arrived in prefect condition and packed very well . The vinyl is flat, clean, thick, and it’s definitely 180grams . I like this album,most people don’t know exist or don’t care,to me it’s similar too Wish you were here without lyrics.. Dave’s guitar is somber and emotional.. I’m not saying it’s as good as WYWH, I’m saying it’s similar. All in all it’s a really good listen for any Pink Floyd fan.
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- Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2014
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- AlexanderReviewed in Belgium on March 1, 2024
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thank you very much!Alexander⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Reviewed in Belgium on March 1, 2024
Great music from yesteryear.
Very good sound quality.
Delivery very, very fast - 2 days to Belgium
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- Randy HardingtonReviewed in Canada on November 29, 2014
A Beautiful album for the true fan!
