Obscured by Clouds, Pink Floyd

Continuing the alphabet of albums, O is for old school Pink Floyd.

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."

Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd

It's Finally-Got-Around-to-It-Friday!  Wherein I discover a classic that everyone else already knows about.

Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd, 1973, :42

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Being a Classic Rock Guy from a young age, I’ve heard most of these songs at one time or another (I'm sure "Time" and "Money" are played on the radio at any given point on the globe 24 hours a day), but not all at once, in this order, and probably I’ve never heard the last three tracks. I started listening thinking I knew what my reaction would be: oh, Pink Floyd, not my thing, shoe gazing noodling, this album does have some great songs but it’s way over-hyped. Turned out I was wrong. I revise my opinion. Listening to it all at once, on headphones, in order? This blows your mind, man. I like the spoken word pieces that fade in and out, the chopped and scattered sounds, the way the songs segue into one another — everything, all the “concept album” features that have become so commonplace and trite since. Yes this is a five star album. It definitely sets a mood. “Any Colour You Like” is guitar noodling, yes, but not dreamy, indulgent, psychedelic noodling. It’s an energetic sort of noodling. Don’t forget the headphones! Favorite tracks: “Time,” “Money,” “Us and Them.” Favorite unheard tracks: “Brain Damage,” “Eclipse.”