Review Summary: The Floyd follow up Meddle with a superb, underrated album that gets bogged down with some weak instrumentals.
Obscured by Clouds is a fitting title for the final Pink Floyd LP before their launch to superstardom. This album is lost in the brilliance of the Pink Floyd discography, stuck between two of their strongest efforts, Meddle and The Dark Side of The Moon. While this album fails to capture the full Pink Floyd sound, it exhibits their growing maturity as musicians, composers, and songwriters. Truly an underrated effort.
Obscured By Clouds: This track, the first of the two opening instrumentals is driven by a slow moving synth while Gilmour weaves a simple guitar line on top. This track was recorded as a soundtrack piece and is really nothing special. (2.5/5)
When You're In: Another instrumental, When You're In opens hard with the sound of Nick Mason's drums, this tune is a bit more of a rocker, with Richard Wright playing a rock organ, but overall a dull track that really doesn't belong on a Pink Floyd LP. (2.5/5)
Burning Bridges: This is the first song to feature singing on the album, and has always been one of my favourites. This song has the signature spacey feel of early Floyd, complete with lyrics soaked in symbolism and mystery: Bridges burning gladly/
Merging with the shadows/ Flickering between the lines. Wrights organ and Gilmour's guitar as well as their brilliant vocal harmonies give this track that physcidelic, space rock feel that Pink Floyd would become famous for. (4/5)
The Gold It's In the...: This track is a rocker in the vein of Nile Song or Young Lust. This is really Gilmour's song from front to back, his guitar work is excellent and he lets loose on a blistering solo. The lyrics here are wonderful again, full of imagery and tell a fun story of sorts. A very underrated track. (4.5/5)
Wot's... Uh The Deal: A stunning acoustic tune, this one opens with a quiet fingerpicked guitar and Gilmour's voice. In my opinion these lyrics are the best Waters ever wrote. Instrumentally, lyrically, vocally, this song is amazing. I don't know how to say anything more than that. If you listen to one song from this album make it this. (5/5)
Mudmen: Another instrumental, this is the best of the 3 on Obscured by Clouds. This is a very relaxing piece, and the band builds off of Wright's piano melody, keeping it slow but interesting. All the members are contributing here. This song fits the album and works much better than the first 2 instrumentals. (3.5/5)
Childhood's End: Time's little brother, it carries on the underlying theme of aging that has been present throughout the album. After a minute long intro played by Wright this song hits its stride. Once again Gilmour delivers Water's lyrics perfectly. This song competes with Wot's... for the best song on the album. (5/5)
Free Four: Musically this song feels like an early 60s pop tune mixed with synth drones and Keith Richards style guitar licks. Lyrically this song is the darkest on the album, juxtaposing the upbeat feel of the music. The death of Water's father is mentioned here for the first time. This is the first track to feature Waters on vocals. (4/5)
Stay: This is Wrights song, with his piano being the dominant instrument. Gilmour is using some type of wah effect on his guitar. The lyrics detail a one night, possibly with a groupie. Wright's vocals suit the song well. Very slow, but a nice way to wind down the album.
Absolutely Curtains: The album closer, and the strangest song on this LP. Wright's keys and Mason's drums are the main instruments here and they create the perfect background for the chanting of the Mapuga tribe. How much you enjoy this track depends largely on your state of mind. (4/5)
Overall I highly recommend people give this album a try, especially if you are bored of the more popular Floyd albums. It isn't their best album, but it has some excellent individual tracks that deserve a listen.
