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THE REVIEW
"Obscured by Clouds".
Shrouded by the clouds.
"Childhood's End".
It's terrible the moment you realize you're on that shadow line that separates the truest part of you from the age of compromises. Waters, Gilmour, and company must have realized, in June '72, what was happening, that their dreaming and unfortunate friend Syd was truly dying, inside them, inside their music.
"Burning Bridges"
That the bridges that would allow us to go back "are now burning".
"Stay"
So, stay with us, Syd, "help us to end the evening".
Shortly after the release of "Obscured By Clouds" the Pink Floyd released an album that would be among the absolute bestsellers (if not the absolute) in the history of pop music. Some notes (among the most important and the most melancholic) of the forever dead innocence in Obscured By Clouds resurface there, almost evaporated in the morning of a new and radiant day. From then on, Pink Floyd would sell millions of records worldwide and become stars of popular music on a global level.
(To Llewelyn)
"This side of the truth,
You may not see it, my son,
King of your blue eyes in the land
Of blinding youth,
That everything is undone
Under the indifferent skies,
Of innocence and guilt
Before you embark
on a gesture of the heart or mind,
Is gathered and dispersed
In the swirling darkness
Like the dust of the dead"
P.S. 1 - For those who don't like reviews that are too "sentimental": I don't know if this album is, as some say, better than Dark Side of the Moon. What can be said is that many of the ideas of Dark Side (but also of Wish You Were Here) are already present here. For example, in my very humble opinion, Childhood's End (its initial part) can be considered an embryonic marriage between Time and Shine On You Crazy Diamond. Similarly, in Mudmen appear for the first time those guitar solos that Gilmour would use in the future very often, almost to the point of nausea.
P.S. 2: The verses are not mine nor of the Pink Floyd, but are taken from a wonderful poem by Dylan Thomas, the greatest Welsh poet, who unfortunately left us a few years ago.
Cheers.
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Summary by Bot
The review reflects on Pink Floyd's 'Obscured By Clouds' as a deeply melancholic album marking a transitional phase. It highlights the influence of Syd Barrett's fading presence and the early emergence of musical ideas that would define later hits. The album is seen as a prelude to the band's monumental success, embedding poetic and thoughtful lyricism within its tracks.Tracklist Lyrics Videos
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in Cambridge in 1965, known for pioneering progressive and psychedelic rock and for landmark albums such as The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here and The Wall.236 Reviews
Other reviews
By Eneathedevil
"Obscured by Clouds is perhaps the least known long-playing of the English group, the most bland work of the early Floyd production, a work in the shadows."
"Free Four… an unsettling product forced to overshadow all the others due to the strident contrast between musical danceability and lexical harshness."
By Fausto91
Whether one likes it or not, the approach to a certain pop dimension is nonetheless fundamental for the future of the band.
Instrumental passages are by far the most successful: a couple of simple riffs are worth more than a thousand-note solo.
