I’ve grown up with Pink Floyd pretty much most of my life. From being put to sleep by Wish You Were Here as a small child, to the rebellion that is The Wall, to being, as a teenager, overcome with surprise when I found they had released Momentary Lapse of Reason while on holiday in the Cotswolds. Then along came Division Bell, its echo ringing for twenty one years before finally being brought to an end by an Endless River.
Many people make the statement that they believe that they were born too late. This album makes me feel like I was born 20 years too late. By the time I realised how much their music means to me, Pink Floyd were already imploding. By the time I really started to appreciate almost two decades of their work, they had already split up. And just as I began to appreciate those first steps, ‘Arnold Lane’, ‘See Emily Play’, and the rest..........they stopped.
Fast forward 21 years and they are back. There are snippets of their past in here. David Gilmour’s bluesy, almost mournful at times, guitar licks dotted throughout. There are continued experiments with new and creative musical landscapes. It wouldn’t be Pink Floyd without them. But if you are expecting David Gilmour’s distinctly raw vocals, you may be in for a bit of a disappointment. Apart from the one track, they really don’t make much of an appearance, my one and only disappointment about the album.
I should feel happy about this album’s long, long, long awaited release. And in most ways I am. But one thing spoils it for me, it’s pretty clear this is Pink Floyd’s swan song. And so the twenty years too late point comes up. I don’t know how much longer I will live, twenty, thirty more years, more or less. But one thing’s for sure, it’s sad knowing there may be no more releases like this. I will, at least, have their back catalogue to listen to. It just won’t be the same.
So I think it is important to appreciate now, enjoy what you have, it doesn’t last forever.
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