(Parts I, II, III, IV, V)
(Parts VI, VII, VIII, IX)
| Track: | Rating: | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I, II, III, IV, V) | | | | | |
| 2. Welcome To The Machine | | | | | |
| 3. Have A Cigar | | | | | |
| 4. Wish You Were Here | | | | | |
| 5. Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts VI, VII, VIII, IX) | | | | | |
Wish You Were Here represents a high point in Pink Floyd's post-psychedelia period. Although Dark Side Of The Moon is an excellent album as well, Wish You Were Here is the album which most exemplifies what PF capable of creating with a more purely "progressive" sphere.
Regarding the history of Pink Floyd, Wish You Were Here may very well represent the last time that Gilmour and Waters actually seemed to be collaborators on music in question, not to mention the last time that Wright had a truly substantial role to fill (Mason, not surprisingly, is generally irrelevant). With Animals, Waters and Gilmour began carving out more distinct territories for themselves; with The Wall and especially The Final Cut, Waters had completely taken over the direction of the band. Wish You Were Here, however, actually shows a band working with some sense of solidarity, and benefits as such.
The first appearance of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" is divided into five parts: (i) a late-psychedelic keyboard line (with what appear to be sine waves of some sort in the background) with minor accompaniment from the other instruments, (ii) Gilmour's famous guitar solo, (iii) a more restrained section, featuring a curious bluesy passage by Gilmour, (iv) the lyric-dominated section, (v) the saxophone solo which leads to the next track. All of these sections are excellent. As regards the lyrics, it has become perhaps to convenient by this time to simply fall back on the "they're about Syd Barrett" line -- although Barrett's mental regression was certainly one aspect of Waters's lyric, there may have been other aspects as well. For my own part, I would wish to present the hypothesis that the original lyrics for "Echoes" (which were about a space journey, rather than the undersea journey that the final product depicted) may possibly have made a reappearance here -- certainly, the juxtaposition of Barrett and a distant space entity is not too much of a stretch. One way or the other, though, the lyrics make their point extremely well.
"Welcome To The Machine" begins with a alarm buzzer and industrial sound effects; the intent probably isn't difficult to fathom. The "machine" sounds don't hold up terribly well by today's standards, but that isn't really the point -- and, anyway, the ascending synth riff (and the synth solo towards the end) are the primary strengths of the song. If the protagonist's desires often seem rather prosaic, that was probably the point in Roger Waters's regretful essay on his own developing solipsism.
"Have A Cigar", with vocals by Roy Harper, is the most conventional track on the album, and the weakest (although still good). The lyrics are manifestly about the co-opting of Pink Floyd by faceless record executives, and require no further explanation; one manner which does deserve some attention, given later Pink Floyd developments, is the fact that Gilmour, Wright & Waters all take mini-solos of about the same length towards the end of the piece.
"Wish You Were Here" is among the greatest prog ballads ever written, with a haunting guitar line and lyrics suggesting a dangerous mystery (unquestionably referring to Barrett, in this case) which still have the slightly elusive quality which they possessed on the initial release of the song. A triumph.
The return of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" contains (vi) an overtly progressive instrumental section, (vii) a sudden return to the main lyrical setting of the piece, (viii) an interesting prog-jazz diversion, and (ix) a dark, foreboding keyboard line, with the sine-waves returning (at greater intervals apart, suggesting structural breakdown). It puts the entire album in a proper perspective, and brings an end to a mystery that still hasn't quite been solved.
This is one of the more important progressive albums of the 1970s, and any prog fan who has somehow managed to go this far without purchasing the album is recommended to redeem their situation quickly.
(review originally posted to alt.music.yes on 24 July 1997)