spacematic.net

Just so I don’t look like a total ass for yesterday’s post, I have chosen to post some WORD FOR WORD excerpts from the iTunes Music Store’s customer review section. These nuggets of wisdom were written for David Gilmour’s newest album, “On An Island.” Enjoy yourselves as I exonerate myself from suspected hyperbole! I do this all in the name of linguistic integrity:

“all of the qualities we love about Gilmours musical genious.”

“A thoughtfull and pasion filled body of work.”

“This is now way a good album defently the worse music of pink sense Umaguma I can definataly see why this is bad because waters isn’t writting the music You’ll probably gana have too beg him after this”

“i deffinatly recomend “On an Island’”

“What would expect from David Gilmour?”

“Wow, this album sounds like David Gilmore or something.”

“David Gilmour is truely one of the greatest artisits”

“A ture master”

It is now clear to me that “definitely” is the single most-misspelled word in all the Web. If all these low-wattage keyboard cretins got together and wrote a Rolling Stone review, it would come out looking something like this:

David Gilmore is in now danger of falling out of favor with his fans, nor is he apt to fade from contemtpoary relevance any time soon. His trademark style and flare for enhanting mellodies comes through on his lastest offering, “On An Island.”
Fans of staight-up Gilmour our bound to hail this album as a ture work of genious, but there is a vocal cramp of Pink Floyd fans who will say that this is defently worse sense Waters had no hand in writting the music.
Gilmour doesn’t just dish out melodies this time. Instead, he exspearmints with them, but what else would expect? He is a ture artisit whose pasion, unencumbered by contributary sacrifice, exploids in anthemic magesty. Lush lead lines accenshuate suttel orcestrail arraignments that sounds like David Gilmour or something. This is deffinatly recomended listing. You’ll probably gana have to beg you’re record store to keep this one in stork.

“Roiling Stome”

God forbid.
If you’re interested in hearing what I have to say about “On An Island,” please keep reading. That is, if you weren’t blinded by the crap I just posted above.

The album begins with “Castellorizon,” a charming, yet obscure play of words on the Greek island of Castellorize and the word horizon. A dark, flanging foghorn-like sound reverberates against a gentle plucking of strings and it is immediately evident that Gilmour is going to craft not a song, but a soundscape. Within the first minute, you have a setting in mind.
Bells, rhythmic pulsing and sweeping orchestral lines all combine in what feels like an ethereal, brief homage to the storied career of Pink Floyd. By the two minute mark, Gilmour introduces himself with trademark bluesy charm. But something seems off-kilter here. “Castellorizon” isn’t so much a song as it is an incoherent passage that attempts to be an appetizer for the experience that ensues. Instead, it makes the listener hope the rest of the album isn’t crafted with similar quirk. On its own, “Castellorizon” merely confuses; but when taken into account with the tracks that follow, it is clear that it performs its duty and then quickly gets out of the way.
After “Catellorizon,” the listener is duely rewarded with standout track “On An Island.” For this first true song, Gilmour enlists the assistance of Dave Crosby and Graham Nash, who mix very well with the guitarist’s delicate vocals. If this song were performed a cappella, it would be a lullaby. Then again, the same can be said for most of the album, except for “Take A Breath” and “This Heaven.” Keep in mind, however, that these two tracks only seem heavy-handed by comparison, capping out at what feels like eighty or so beats-per-minute. Clearly, this album is not for those who want fierce, aggressive rock.
The majority of the work consists of what we’ve come to expect of solo David Gilmour. Most of the tracks are pretty, devoid of the dark tinges that haunt similar offerings by Pink Floyd proper. The maintenance of melodic purity is a distinguishing characteristic of Gilmour’s lone efforts, and some say that such maintenance is indicative of a lack of inspiration. But I believe that Gilmour’s music is very much thought-upon as it is being written. The only criticism I have of such music is that it feels “floaty,” and often devoid of conflict. When the majority of an album’s tracks play out in this fashion, it is almost too easy for many listeners to lose interest.
Of course, I am reviewing this album after only three listenings, and I believe that to pass judgment so early is unfair. There is a lot to like in this album, especially for the deep-cut fans of old Pink Floyd. These listeners will find much to enjoy and compare. That Gilmour can resurrect such sounds in a modern studio environment is a testament to his talents, and those of his engineering and production team.
If I were to be held to any comparisons of “On An Island” to a particular “Pink Floyd sound,” I would say that it feels as if Gilmour picked out the most musical sections of “Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast” and expanded those vignettes into true songs. If you are a newcomer to Pink Floyd and have either not paid attention to such songs (or if you simply don’t like them), then you may have a hard time understanding why many fans of the band are lauding this album as a triumphant solo effort.
Such praise by old-guard fans is what prompted me snap to this album so quickly. I possess Gilmour’s previous solo albums “About Face” and “David Gilmour,” and never found much there to spark my interest. His first attempt seemed to contain matierial that was deliberately held back from “Animals,” and “About Face” felt like a desperate effort to set himself apart and prove that he had other ideas about style, more than merely what was expected of him with Pink Floyd. Even though neither album held my attention very long, it wasn’t for my lack of really trying to like them. And that’s where “On An Island” marks a departure in the solo career of David Gilmour, at least for me. Yes, the tracks are slow, and to put a visual spin on the sound, it feels more Monet and less Picasso. But that doesn’t mean it’s not inspired. It all comes down to a matter of personal taste. This isn’t music for regular rotation, and it certainly doesn’t belong in your “Wake Up” playlist. It is music for a certain time and place… perhaps when you are on an island, with some time to sit alone, ponder and simply enjoy. For the especially patient and imaginative, consider this album a budget-price ticket to just such place. –mike