Fans who long for a return of THE
Pink Floyd have a treat in store: the new solo album by Floyd’s former guitarist/vocalist David Gilmour.
On An Island would probably be described as experimental if it had been recorded by anyone else, but Gilmour has long since
been there done that and is obviously content with capturing an image of where he is in his life.
Art for Art's Sake
Gilmour is just now turning 60, and is clearly an artist who is comfortable with himself and his craft. Like the newest releases by
Eric Clapton (
Back Home) and
Neil Young (
Prairie Wind) Gilmour’s latest work isn’t notable for its commercial appeal as much as the degree to which it presents the artist doing what he wants to do the way he wants to do it. Having long since paid his dues in the quest for chart success, Gilmour (like Clapton and Young) has produced a very personal, introspective musical work.
Compared to Clapton and Young, Gilmour’s output of solo albums has been less than a trickle. This is only his third, and it has been 18 years since his last one. I take this as another indication that the man has nothing left to prove to anyone, and is happier with a natural evolution than with a quota of album releases.
But Is It Floyd?
This album sounds very much like what I imagine Pink Floyd would sound like today if the group had survived without the legal battles and bad blood that resulted from the noisy 1985 falling out between Gilmour and former Floyd bassist
Roger Waters. Like the best of the early Pink Floyd work,
On An Island has a dreamy, ethereal quality that draws you smoothly track-by-track as if you’re being carried on a gentle current down a smooth river.
Foot stomping rock ‘n’ roll it isn’t. There are lush orchestral interludes, there’s Gilmour taking a turn on the saxophone, there are vocals from a couple of pretty fair backup singers named David Crosby and Graham Nash (Crosby Stills Nash & Young) and there’s plenty of the Gilmour guitar style that will be familiar and comfortable for Floyd fans.
Longtime Floyd fans should like this album, as should anyone who is interested in the evolution of a modern musical style that is firmly rooted in Classic Rock.
Check It Out
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Track List
1. Castellorizon
2. On An Island
3. The Blue
4. Take A Breath
5. Red Sky At Night
6. This Heaven
7. Then I Close My Eyes
8. Smile
9. A Pocketful of Stones
10. Where We Start
