j o n b

I have a really odd relationship with Pink Floyd. I don't really consider myself a fan, the way I consider myself a Yes or Rush fan, but I like every album I have. I just don't have a real motivation for getting any more. I picked this album up because it was on a Top 50 poll of the best progressive rock albums of all time done on the Net a year or so ago. I'm glad I did. Oddly, I was familiar with most of the stuff on here before I got the album. The first hunk of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" and "Wish You Were Here" are both staples of the Floyd live set, and the other two vocal tracks are frequent visitors to local radio. But I'd never heard them all together before. The album is, supposedly, a tribute to original Floyd guitarist Syd Barrett, who basically had a breakdown in the band's early days and has been rather reclusive ever since. The first hunk of "Shine On..." begins with a very lush sea of keys and a melodic and simple synth line on top. This leads to a very effective Gilmour guitar solo that blends into the lyric, about basically how bright Syd was and how he burned out too fast. The thing about Floyd is that their music is never the most technically challenging or complex in the prog world but it is almost always done in such a way that anything more complex would be overkill. "Welcome to the Machine" and "Have A Cigar" are both indictments of the music industry and how this biz side of things work (complete with the classic line "by the way, which one's Pink?") "Cigar" fades to where it sounds like it is playing on a very small transistor radio in the next room. The listener flips around and lands on the opening acoustic chords of "Wish You Were Here," still very distant sounding, and drowned out by a solo acoustic guitar line. Lyrically, "Wish" is one of my Floyd favs, an obvious attempt by Roger Waters to somehow express his desire to Syd that he could join in the success, both critical and financial, that the band was enjoying at the time while doing things on their own terms. It's really an ode to everyone who has ever been chewed up and spit out by the music biz. The album concludes with another long, mostly instrumental, "Shine On...", which somehow doesn't seem to work quite as well as the opening section. I was struck by how well the album hung together, and the story it told without it overtly being a rock-opera type piece. In that sense it has more coherence than Dark Side of the Moon, and in writing for those dearly departed (so to speak), the lyrics have more sincerity than The Wall. A must for any fan of well structured rock music that touches as well as entertains. review by Jon Byrne — undated —

b o b

Back when I was in college, and CDs were still a relatively new invention, a friend of mine who had a fairly nice stereo set up in his dorm room invited a bunch of us over to hear the Wish You Were Here CD he had just bought. All of us were already very familiar with the album, but when he cranked up the volume and that opening keyboard chord came bubbling up from the silence without the usual tape hiss we had all grown accustomed to, a sigh of satisfaction came out of nearly everyone in the room. It's just that kind of an album. Some prog fans seem to be of the opinion that Pink Floyd isn't really prog, or that anything after Meddle isn't really prog, or anything before such-and-such album, etc. But if this disc, with its nearly half-hour long "Shine On", creative lyrics and wall of keyboards isn't prog, then I don't know what is. Perhaps the band's lack of "chops" is what disqualifies them to some people. But for my money, Gilmour says more with the slow four-note theme that begins around four minutes into the first track than most guitar shredders say in an entire album full of hundred-notes-a-second solos. Waters' lyrics manage to tell the story of Syd Barrett, the way the music industry chewed him up and spit him out, and how much the band missed him, all within the space of a few verses and choruses on what is a largely instrumental album. And he keeps things general enough that, while the lyrics definitely apply to Syd, they could also be read however you want to read them. "Welcome to the Machine" and "Have a Cigar" could be about nearly any successful band, and most people who hear "Wish You Were Here" can think of someone from their own lives that it could apply to. A bit of trivia: At the very tail end of the title track, if you listen really closely, you can hear three or four violin notes way in the background. Apparently the band hired some famous violinist (I forget who) [the late Stéphane Grappelli -B] to play on that track, but in the end they weren't wild about the result so they buried it so far back in the mix that it became mostly inaudible. I wonder how the song would have sounded with the violin. I'd say that this is an album that all prog fans should hear eventually, but maybe my opinion should be taken with a grain of salt because I'm a big Pink Floyd fanboy. There's not a single Floyd album that I'd say is out and out bad, and most of them are fantastic. review by Bob Eichler — 8-28-00 —

h e a t h e r

This disc has been pretty well covered by all the other reviewers and the rest of the universe, but since it has been one of my favorites ever since I started to get serious about music, I'm reviewing it anyway. Also, it is the only album remaining from my early-teen collection that I still stick to. "Shine On", which takes up most of the album, is a mood masterpiece, with atmospheric and mellow guitar and keyboards, and occasional flourishes of drama. The reserved drumming and bass also benefit the mood. There's occasional sax, vocals, and cool strange melodic synth lines as well. The guitar style here is epic: linear, slow, smooth, and sparse, with interesting phrases that hold out some notes or emphasize silence. Occasionally, rather than the leads, there are some simple repetitive guitar motifs that are very effective as well. Overall some of my absolute favorite guitar work here, up there with King Crimson material. I think the three songs are also pretty good, but most of Wish You Were Here is primarily instrumental. So, more song-oriented music fans might want to investigate something else, but I have a feeling that most prog fans would appreciate Wish You Were Here a great deal. review by Heather Mackenzie — undated —

j o e

Even thought it was Dark Side of the Moon that stayed on the charts for over 100 dog years, and The Wall that gobbled up all the attention, most hardcore followers of the Floyd consider this album to be the band's truly finest hour, and rightfully so. It is here that the contributions of Mssrs. Waters, Gilmore, and Wright blend together in the most harmonious manner, while reflecting upon the band's past ghosts, namely that of founding member Syd Barrett. In comparing all the Floyd albums saturated with Waters' depressing visions, Wish You Were Here is the one that rings most sincere and least overblown to me. No maniacal screaming or 'loony' laughter, no 'he leadeth me to the slaughterhouse' readings on vocoder, no "The Trial." The message is despairing, but clear, direct, and not self-aggrandizing or self-pitying. Every song on here, whether taken together or apart, is a staple of classic rock radio, whether you like that fact or not. My favorite is "Welcome to the Machine," one of the most incredible works the band ever accomplished from a construction standpoint. Never has a rock song sounded so hollow and effectively zombie-like to me, with Gilmour's octave-separated wail caught like a fly in a spider's web of musique concrete. "Have a Cigar" contains some of Waters' best lyrics and features an unexpected guest vocal from cult artist Roy Harper. Harper turns in a magnificent performance, perfectly capturing the portrait of the Gordon Gecko'd record exec and orgasmically cooing: "Everybody else is just greeeen, have you seen the charts?" and "We're so happy, we can hardly count." I could comment on the anthemic title track and the album's epic "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" as well, but instead I'll keep this reasonably short, figuring most everybody who's a prog rock fan has probably heard this album already. If you haven't, shame on you. This is a magnum opus of rock music in general, not just the prog rock genre; the sort of album that gets made only when the planets are in a certain conjunction. review by Joe McGlinchey — undated —

e r i c

The follow-up to the monumental Dark Side Of The Moon sets a standard which few, if any, bands can match. The challenge and pressure to repeat Dark Side's success was there, I'm sure, but what is most impressive is that this is a great album that is no mere clone of its predecessor. The opening strains of Rick Wright's keyboard for "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" set the tone, creating an eerie mood for Gilmour to add his fluid guitar lines over the top while Waters spins a yarn. The band's effortless-sounding songs have a strange beauty to them, oddly melodic and mesmerizing. You get lost in a Floyd record; it provides an incredible 45 minute escape from the world. I can't think of a band that is better at creating subtleties and nuances that make good songs great. "Welcome To The Machine" has a harsh mechanical feel, and contains some of Wright's most effective keyboard work on record. Unfortunately his contributions to the band would greatly diminish on the next few albums. The nine sections of "Shine On..." all have their own feel, but fit perfectly opening and closing the record. One could argue that the two popular FM radio songs "Have A Cigar" and the acoustic based "Wish You Were Here" are problematic, but again everything just fits perfectly. I admit to usually skipping those tracks due to overplay. Those of us who have listened to Floyd over these many years probably do not put this in the player much anymore, but when the mood hits and you dust these off to listen to, there is no place you would rather be. A classic, and essential to your collection. review by Eric Porter — undated —

b r a n d o n

How many prog fans are out there that haven't heard at least one or two of the pieces on this album? Wish You Were Here was my absolute favorite album for several years, and still occupies a very, very high spot in my hierarchy of Good Music. I generally hate it when people say that so-and-so song is "The Best Song Ever Written", but when people say it about "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", I can understand. "Shine On..." is an incredible piece, all nine parts of it, ranging from gorgeous, lyrical guitar playing over nearly motionless keyboard washes (the modulations are so simple, so obvious, yet so beautiful) to wistful rock-oriented vocal sections to somewhat weirder synth-led instrumental. Beautiful and evocative. Of the rest, well, I'm not the world's biggest fan of "Welcome to the Machine" and "Have a Cigar" - I think Wright's synths are rather too over-the-top, for one thing - but they're not bad pieces by any means. The title track, on the other hand, is an amazing piece, with excellent acoustic guitar playing and even better lyrics. I don't think I've ever heard a better ballad than this one. Although overall it may be too simple for many prog fans, Wish You Were Here is undeniably a classic of whatever genre in which you wish to place it. It is my favorite Floyd effort by far, and I'd recommend it to just about anyone. review by Brandon Wu — undated —