Obscured by Clouds, Pink Floyd, 1972, :40
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Pink Floyd, before they became the Wall of Bleakness. Could these young lads be... hippies? "The Gold it's in the.." sounds like an early version of "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey." This is the Pink Floyd album that people who don't particularly care for Pink Floyd (me, really) will like. Comparatively brisk songs, with acoustic guitar and standard 1960s rock arrangements, melodic almost, and less of the throaty intoning and ponderous solos that mark much of their later work. "Free Four" is a '60s folk-rock in the style of "Spirit in the Sky," fuzzy guitars and handclaps. The instrumental "When You're In" is not bloated, but lean and crunchy, and mercifully short. "Stay" is like a lounge singer from 1977 tried to write a Pink Floyd song: it's vaguely Pink Floyd, but more accommodating, with a warm, inviting jazzy riff. You know, this may not be the best Pink Floyd album but I think I have found my favorite Pink Floyd album. Favorite tracks: "Free Four," "Childhood's End," "What's… Uh the Deal."
