Pink Floyd – The Division Bell (1994)

I'm sure that I've mentioned that my interest in Pink Floyd waned after Animals, was non-existent by the issue of The Wall, and this album really wasn't on my radar by 1994.

But, as is the mantra on this blog, for a couple of quid in a charity shop, I'll give it a go.

The penultimate Floyd album of original material, it's clearly now driven by Dave Gilmour. Dealing with themes around communication (a coded message to the estranged Roger Waters?), it came out to mixed reviews from the critics, and number 1 in the charts endorsement from the record buying public worldwide. In catching up with it, albeit 30 years late, it's really not bad at all.

There are a couple of excellent songs, up there worthy of consideration alongside the best regarded of the band's extensive output. Poles Apart is a gentle, strong Gilmour song, which flows beautifully, while Take It Back is a lazy rocking tune, immensely enjoyable. In a similar vein, but less impactful, is What Do You Want From Me, and there are a few more ordinary - Keep Talking, remarkable only for the use of Stephen Hawking's work from a BT advert (I had thought that the song came first, but apparently not; A Great Day For Freedom starts as a limp ballad, building to a reasonable crescendo and most of the others are average tunes perked up a bit by Dave Gilmour's trademark floating guitar solos.

Rick Wright's final (and first since the bridge on Money) vocal appears on a song he wrote with Anthony Moore, and it really isn't a very good song or performance.

It's probably difficult to distinguish this from a Gilmour solo album of the time, such is his dominance of the sound and songwriting, but as long as your expectations are limited and not led by mid 1970s memories of the band's sound, there's a lot to enjoy here.

Link to full album

3* - a couple of excellent pieces which really remind of the Pink Floyd sound