Pink Floyd- Wish You Were Here

I have an excess of Pink Floyd albums waiting to be reviewed, so let's get another of their big ones out of the way. After The Dark Side of the Moon catapulted the Floyd into international stardom, they went through ideas about what they wished to do with the follow up. One idea tossed around was making an album entirely out of sound effects from household objects. That fell through, and instead they opted for a more straightforward album similar to Dark Side. As a result, Wish You were Here came about, released in 1975. This album's central thematic ideas include an attack on the music industry, and a tribute to their old band mate, Syd Barret, a victim of schizophrenia. Both of these tie in to the isolationist ans existentialist themes prevalent on Dark Side.

Waters, Wright, and Gilmore got together and wrote the 25 minute "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" (Pink Floyd's longest song), divided into 9 parts. The first 5 open the album, while the last 4 close it. Part one is a trippy and sparse synthesizer workout. For parts two and three, the guitar and drums come in to add some bombast to the sound, foreshadowing Animals and The Wall while remaining distinctly Dark Side. Part 4 sees the vocal tribute to Syd, and Part 5 has a great Sax workout. The other portion of the A side of the record is the haunting "Welcome to the Machine". The band opts for a totally alien, disjointed, and dehumanizing feel as the lyrics attack the record industry. Both great songs.

Flip the record, and you'll get treated to "Have A Cigar." While not really all that prog in terms of structure or attitude, this anti-corporate track is amongst Floyd's best for it's fun guitar and bass riffs. The title track comes next. Incredibly famous for both funerals and guitar lessons, it's a reflective acoustic guitar solo, and one of the best known Floyd songs. Then, we close out with the last 4 parts of "Shine On". Parts 6, 8, and 9 are a mix of themes from parts 1 and 2, and Part 7 reprises part 4.

There's a story that after not seeing the band for 8 years, Syd showed up to visit during the sessions for his tribute album. Like Barret, Wish You Were Here conveys an empty world wherein everyone is pushed into a corner and can't function. At times clastrophbic, and at times as open as the vaccum of space, Wish's music perfectly matches its lyrical message in a wonderfull marriage of music.

Another Masterpeice from the Floyd. 9.5/10.