Meddle

 

    Meddle is a fairly experimental album, at least in terms of its scope for Pink Floyd. The band employs a wide variety of tones and timbres to create a broad array of sounds that really showcases their prowess in the studio. The different ways they're able to use the instruments to make the different sounds for each track is very impressive, having haunting guitar and vocals on One of These Days and Echoes, to the softer acoustic ballads of A Pillow of Winds, the almost tropical carefree sound of San Tropez, the straight blues of Seamus, it's all done so well and really shows the band's talents. To go along with this, the overall production value is very high, and some of the tricks and techniques that they show off (such as delayed guitar riffs, manipulation of vocals on tape, and especially some of the stuff that they do on Echoes, like the *ping* at the beginning or the shepherd's tone near the end) are fantastic and create such a strong atmosphere. My only real complaint is that a couple of the softer songs weren't too captivating for me, but I honestly don't think that that's too big of an issue. The sheer technical mastery shown off alone is enough for a very high score, and it's supported by just plain good rock from Pink Floyd, as you would expect. Overall a great album that is very much worth your time.

    Highlights: One of These Days, San Tropez, Echoes.

Rating: 6/6