Review Summary: Oh you are gonna reacquaint with these old great musicians once more, this time at the studio.
Gilmour´s stepson Charlie hanged up the telephone on Pink Floyd´s manager. That´s the last thing we heard in a Pink Floyd album. It seemed like closure to all of us.
Several years after, we hear Wright talking: "We´re certainly an unspoken understanding". A new Pink Floyd record is on everywhere´s shelves.
In order to understand (and enjoy) this work we need to know a bit about how it was created. Back in 1993/94, the three active members of the band were crafting the former last PF´s work, The Division Bell. It was the first time they were working AS A REAL BAND since 1975, with everyone sharing and contributing. When it was concluded, they left like 20 hours of jam session recordings unused.
Years later, Mason and Gilmour revisited that material (Gilmour driven by curiosity, Mason because he always believed) and started to pick up the best moments of that recordings. Of course, they realized how much they miss Wright (since he died on 2008) and how important he was to the overall sound of Pink Floyd. Long story short: they released The Endless River as a tribute to Richard.
Nostalgia and love for the band apart, how does The Endless River sound?
One thought you need to have in mind while listening to this record: The Endless River is not a regular album, full of worked and crafted songs. No, you won´t find tracks like Time or Dogs or Run Like Hell (though, one track may make you think of this one). And to be honest, it was impossible for them to do that.
I mean, one way to craft songs and spark music creativity is by jamming. A band jams and record the whole session. Then they listen to it, find out good moments to work on and develop that little tunes into a full song.
The Endless River is more or less something like that: a recorded jam session. They couldn´t go trough the next step because that would mean to diminish Wright´s performance and playing.
So, think of The Endless River as an invitation from Gilmour himself to assist one jam session with him, Mason and Wright. You sit in the corner, still and quiet, fearing that one movement of yours will distract those amazing musicians.
If you picture that, you´ll enjoy this record. There are glimpses of greatness here. Wright is more like a painter. He creates landscapes with his keyboards, like in The Lost Art of Conversation. You feel how the music world mourns his departure.
As for the drumming, there is a big difference between a regular PF record and this one: In TDSOTM for example, Mason´s choices are minimalists (and worked amazingly). Now, while jamming, he does more rolls and fills and stuff. Great. Listen to Sum and Skins if you regard Mason as high as i do.
And Gilmour. I think i´m gonna lose objectivity in this review from now on. His musical sensibility is unbelievable, always spot on. There are no long solos like on Comfortably Numb. There are more like subtle brushes of notes you just know those come from Dave´s fingers.
Closing number Louder Than Words (its only fully shaped song) is good, but not near their best stuff, and as a closing track to all PF discography, it performs poorly.
In conclusion, this is an enjoyable record when you consider all its surrounding. But now, be quiet, they return to the studio for one more session. Just listen.
