- Product Code: PFRLP7 / 0190295996970
- Availability: In Stock
- € 34.90
-
€ 29.90
- Price in bonus-scraps: 299
Remastered re-release of the seventh full-length studio album by legendary British Progressive Rock band.
The album is based on band's soundtrack for the French film "La Vallée", by Barbet Schroeder. It was recorded in two sessions in France, while the the band were in the midst of touring, and produced by the band members.
The album is noticeably shorter than some of their previous material, and makes heavy utilization of the acoustic guitar. Here, the instrumentals float pleasantly, filled with interesting textures, yet they never seem to have much of a purpose. Often, they seem quite tied to their time, either in their spaciness or in the pastoral folkiness, two qualities that are better brought out on the full-fledged songs interspersed throughout the record. Typified by "Burning Bridges" and "Wot's...uh the Deal", these songs explore some of the same musical ground as those on "Atom Heart Mother" and "Meddle", yet they are more concise and have a stronger structure. But the real noteworthy numbers are the surprisingly heavy Blues-Rocker "The Gold It's in The...", which, as good as it is, is trumped by the stately, ominous "Childhood's End" and the jaunty Pop tune "Free Four", two songs whose obsessions with life, death, and the past clearly point toward "Dark Side Of The Moon". As startlingly advanced as these last two songs are, they're not enough to push the rest of "Obscured By Clouds" past seeming just like a soundtrack, yet these tunes, blended with the sensibility of "Meddle", suggest what Pink Floyd was about to develop into.
Lyrically, the songs center around love, a common theme in the film it was inspired by. The album's only single, "Free Four", was released in the US only.
"Obscured By Clouds" is often seen as a stopgap for the band, who had started work on their next album, "The Dark Side Of The Moon" (1973). The resulting work is often overlooked in the band canon, primarily because of the success of their later material. Nevertheless, the album reached number one in France, number six in the UK and number 46 in the US (where it was certified Gold by the RIAA in 1997), and retrospective opinions from both fans and critics have been positive, with some critics noting the similarities to their later material.
Remastered from the original analogue tapes 180 g vinyl comes with sleeve rounded corners.
Pink Floyd Music Ltd./Parlophone Records Ltd. a Warner Music Group Company, 1972/2016 (PFRLP7 / 0190295996970). Made in Netherlands.
Tracklist:
Side 1
1. Obscured By Clouds 3:05
2. When You're In 2:31
3. Burning Bridges 3:30
4. The Gold It's In The... 3:08
5. Wot's ... Uh The Deal 5:09
6. Mudmen 4:18
Side 2
7. Childhood's End 4:33
8. Free Four 4:17
9. Stay 4:08
10. Absolutely Curtains 5:53
10. Absolutely Curtains 5:53
Total playing time: 40:32 min.