Released in 1971,
Meddle was the album that is widely credited as the source of Pink Floyd's future sound, mainly from the 23 minute epic Echoes. Made up of six songs and a few different genres, this album serves as a fairly decent Floyd record and pretty good album overall.
The first track,
One of These Days, starts with about 20 seconds of silence, until a static type effect lightly begins. This leads into a wonderful bassline, and every now and then a twangy sound. This continues for about a minute or so, and then some cymbal crescendos and other slight effects are added to the mix. Later, some tom work is added, while a guitar is sort of wailing in the background. About halfway through, everything stops and a pulsing sound fluctuates volume. Effects are added, and then Nick Mason adds the distorted, electronic sounding vocals with "One of these days, I'm going to cut you into little pieces." Now things go into overdrive with cymbals singing, guitars screeching, and keyboards plinking. A little solo from Gilmour, and some key work from Wright, and then the song just sort of stops and fades away.
Next is
Pillow of Winds, a slower song. It starts with some guitar strumming. Some soothing vocals come in from Gilmour, and just add to the easiness of this track. "When night comes down, you lock the door/The book falls to the floor" says Dave as he strums his strings some more. The guitar eventually gets a little higher pitched as keys highlight the notes. Mason's hi-hats come in and the band plays away, still continuing the slow pace and mellow mood. The vocals make a return and "Sleepy time when I lie/With my love by my side" is softly sung. Afterward, the music continues and then eventually fades out. This is one of the slowest songs and, as a result, is easy to relax to.
Fearless is up next, and begins with a strummed guitar, which brings the band in. They just play for a bit until vocals come in with "You say the hill's too steep to climb/You say you'd like to see me try." Again, Gimour's vocals are very soft and soothing. Then everything goes away, with some keyboard remaining and Dave's singing. This moment is very relaxing. This leads into the opening tune, until it softens up a bit, and then returns with some strumming. "Fearlessly the idiot faced the crowd smiling" brings back the vocals. Soon thereafter, the soft interlude returns, with lone keyboard, cymbals, and vocals. They then make a triumphant return, going back to the opening lick, but this time it seems more enthusiastic. Strings are strummed, cymbals go crash, and then towards the end, there's some crowd chanting something. The music fades away, leaving just the horde and their chanting. I'm not sure what it is, but they seem to enjoy doing it. This chanting ends the track.
San Tropez starts off with guitar and drums. Piano joins, as well as Waters' vocals. This song has a different feel to it, and is part of the middle two 'drifter tracks', which venture into different sounds as opposed to the rest. After some vocals, there's a little solo of something that sounds kind of like Hawaii... if that makes any sense. Everything goes back to the way it was and vocals come back. "Makin' for a date for later by phone/And if you're alone I'll come home" leads into a nice piano solo from Wright. This is what brings up the quality of the track, as it goes on for a decent amount of time. Eventually, the song fades away while in the middle of the piano.
Seamus is up next, and is also the shortest track, as well as my least favorite. There's some dogs howling and Gilmour singing about a dog named Seamus. After the vocals, theres some guitar with a slight hint of piano along with a bit of more howling. This continues a bit, until a longer howl, along with the fade out of instruments, ends the track. This seems more like just filler, and the record would've been better off without it. Definitely not one of Floyd's best tunes.
Finally, there's the 23 minute epic,
Echoes. It starts with a high-pitched pinging, almost like sonar. Soon, some other little noises join in the background. Keyboard joins in and then some guitar, followed by Mason's drums. A few seconds of jamming, and then they mellow it out with the twanging of guitar and the pulsing of keys. The drums join again with some toms and crashes, until mellowing again. "Overhead the albatross hangs motionless upon the air" marks the entry of some slow vocals by our buddy Gilmour. The mellow tunes continue as vocals march on as the keyboard gets slightly more frantic until vocals disappear and the band jams a bit. Mellow time again, as Gilmour's voice makes a return. "No one flys around the sun" marks the jamming session again. Soon after, there's a guitar solo while Mason bashes his skins. This goes on for a bit as the strings squeal louder and louder, until about seven minutes in it transfers to the great instrumental part with a nice bassline, good drums, and more string twiddling. Notable here is Wright's key work, chiming in over top of guitar with an almost organ-type sound. This goes on for a bit, until Gilmour plucks away some more. After about four minutes into this part, a howling type noise comes in as the instruments fade away. This leads to high-pitched squealing, thanks to Gilmour's effects laden axe. After a bit, this goes to lone keyboards, and occasional squeaks. Eventually, guitar makes a comeback along with Masons percussion work. The band goes back to the mellow music that began the song as vocals make a return. "So I throw the windows wide and crawl to you across the sky" signal the return of jamming, as the band goes at it. After a bit of that, the mellow-ness returns, with a keyboard solo from Wright as Mason's ride keeps time. This fades out with a howling wind taking it's place, which then fades out to end the song and album.
Overall, this is a pretty decent album. It's got good music, vocals, and lyrics. It wouldn't be at the top of a Pink Floyd list, but it would make a worthy addition.
Meddle should contain at least a track or two anyone could enjoy, and for those who enjoy later Floyd, there's always the epic
Echoes.
[+] Pros
(+)The music is usually mellow and relaxing
(+)Vocals are great throughout
(+)
Echoes
[-] Cons
(-)Doesn't compare to Floyd's later works
(-)Middle section of
Echoes could've been done without
(-)
Seamus
[?] Perplexing
(?)What the hell is that on the cover? Is that a nose? You been diggin' for gold, Roger?
Tracklist
1. One of These Days -5:57 (Gilmour; Mason; Waters; Wright)
2. A Pillow of Winds -5:11 (Gilmour; Waters)
3. Fearless -6:08 (Gilmour; Waters)
4. San Tropez -3:43 (Waters)
5. Seamus -2:15 (Gilmour; Mason; Waters; Wright)
6. Echoes -23:29 (Gilmour; Mason; Waters; Wright)
SCRUPLES
