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Rating:
One could say that this album is the last true testament of the "live" and vibrant music of Pink Floyd. Or at least I consider it as such because the various compilations released afterward: Echoes, The Best Of, the live of The Wall, Is There Anybody Out There?, I find them purely commercial operations (was there a need?! meh!) and they do not belong to recent history, while Pulse does, even though 10 years have passed since its publication. Obviously, a separate discussion needs to be made about their (brief) yet historical appearance at the recent Live 8 in London.
Live released shortly after the last studio album The Division Bell, which, I am sorry to say, was not much (except for a few highlights), this Pulse has an excellent collectible, emotional, and musical value for fans. The part concerning the manufacturing is well thought out, the booklet is really nice, complete with many photographs from the corresponding tour, and the typical "collectible" live packaging, made of cardboard that "ages" over time through use. In this aspect, however, I must admit, Is There Anybody Out There? is even more captivating.
Regarding the musical contents, what can be said that hasn't been said already? Excellent, although with slightly less flavor compared to the past, but what can you do, at the time of its release Pink Floyd already had a glorious past and nearly 30 years of career behind them, and this is certainly not the proof of their artistic consecration. Pulse is a double CD, and on the first, we find great hits of the group from Shine on You Crazy Diamond, Another Brick in The Wall and even Astronomy Domine, plus other tracks from the already mentioned The Division Bell. The second CD contains all (and I emphasize all) of The Dark Side Of The Moon performed live, plus Wish You Were Here, Comfortably Numb, and Run Like Hell, which in recent years has undoubtedly become the song with which to conclude their concerts. The live versions obviously have a touch of modernity (except for the more recent tracks, which were practically born that way) due in part to the fact that we are in 1995 and that Pink Floyd is certainly not what they were in the '70s and in part to the richness of arrangements and musicians they carry with them, along with the inevitable and massive stage set that has always made their shows unique.
The live is perfect, and the corresponding video cassette entitled in exactly the same way, (recorded on 20/10/94 at Earls Court in London) delivers quite an emotional punch if you are devoted fans of these rock heroes, now 60-year-old gentlemen. Sure, watching vintage videos of the group certainly has another emotional effect, but this remains, as I said before, an excellent (and undisputed) testament to their artistic longevity.
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
02 Astronomy Domine (04:19)
Lime and limpid green, a second scene
A fight between the blue you once knew.
Floating down, the sound resounds
Around the icy waters underground.
Jupiter and Saturn, Oberon, Miranda
And Titania, Neptune, Titan.
Stars can frighten.
Blinding signs flap,
Flicker, flicker, flicker blam. Pow, pow.
Stairway scare Dan Dare who's there?
Lime and limpid green
The sounds surrounds the icy waters underground
Lime and limpid green
The sounds surrounds the icy waters underground.
04 Learning to Fly (05:16)
Into the distance, a ribbon of black
Stretched to the point of no turning back
A flight of fancy on a windswept field
Standing alone my senses reeled
A fatal attraction holding me fast
How can I escape this irresistible grasp?
Can't keep my eyes from the circling skies
Tongue-tied and twisted, just an earth-bound misfit, I
Ice is forming on the tips of my wings
Unheeded warnings, I thought I thought of everything
No navigator to find my way home
Unladened, empty and turned to stone
A soul in tension that's learning to fly
Condition grounded but determined to try
Can't keep my eyes from the circling skies
Tongue-tied and twisted just an earth-bound misfit, I
Above the planet on a wing and a prayer,
My grubby halo, a vapour trail in the empty air,
Across the clouds I see my shadow fly
Out of the corner of my watering eye
A dream unthreatened by the morning light
Could blow this soul right through the roof of the night
There's no sensation to compare with this
Suspended animation, a state of bliss
Can't keep my eyes from the circling skies
Tongue-tied and twisted just an earth-bound misfit, I
05 Keep Talking (06:53)
For millions of years mankind lived just like the animals
Then something happened which unleashed the power of our imagination
We learned to talk
There's a silence surrounding me
I can't seem to think straight
I'll sit in the corner
No one can bother me
I think I should speak now
I can't seem to speak now
My words won't come out right
I feel like I'm drowning
I'm feeling weak now
But I can't show my weakness
I sometimes wonder
Where do we go from here
It doesn't have to be like this
All we need to do is make sure we keep talking
Why won't you talk to me
You never talk to me
What are you thinking
What are you feeling
Why won't you talk to me
You never talk to me
What are you thinking
Where do we go from here
It doesn't have to be like this
All we need to do is make sure we keep talking
Why won't you talk to me
You never talk to me
What are you thinking
What are you feeling
Why won't you talk to me
You never talk to me
What are you thinking
What are you feeling
I feel like I'm drowning
You know I can't breathe now
We're going nowhere
We're going nowhere
07 Hey You (04:38)
Hey you! Out there in the cold
Getting lonely, getting old, can you feel me?
Hey you! Standing in the aisles
With itchy feet and fading smiles, can you feel me?
Hey you! Don't help them to bury the light
Don't give in without a fight.
Hey you! Out there on your own
Sitting naked by the phone, would you touch me?
Hey you! With your ear against the wall
Waiting for someone to call out, would you touch me?
Hey you! Would you help me to carry the stone?
Open your heart, I'm coming home
But it was only a fantasy
The wall was too high as you can see
No matter how he tried he could not break free
And the worms ate into his brain.
Hey you! Out there on the road
Always doing what you're told, can you help me?
Hey you! Out there beyond the wall
Breaking bottles in the hall, can you help me?
Hey you! Don't tell me there's no hope at all
Together we stand, divided we fall.
''{spoken} [Click of TV being turned on]
Well, only got an hour of daylight left. Better get started.
Isn't it unsafe to travel at night?
It'll be a lot less safe to stay here. You're father's gunna pick up our trail before long
Can Loca ride?
Yeah, I can ride... Magaret, time to go! Maigret, thank you for everything.
Goodbye Chenga.
Goodbye miss...
I'll be back''
09 Sorrow (10:47)
The sweet smell of a great sorrow lies over the land
Plumes of smoke rise and merge into the leaden sky:
A man lies and dreams of green fields and rivers,
But awakes to a morning with no reason for waking
He's haunted by the memory of a lost paradise
In his youth or a dream, he can't be precise
He's chained forever to a world that's departed
It's not enough, it's not enough
His blood has frozen & curdled with fright
His knees have trembled & given way in the night
His hand has weakened at the moment of truth
His step has faltered
One world, one soul
Time pass, the river rolls
And he talks to the river of lost love and dedication
And silent replies that swirl invitation
Flow dark and troubled to an oily sea
A grim intimation of what is to be
There's an unceasing wind that blows through this night
And there's dust in my eyes, that blinds my sight
And silence that speaks so much louder that words,
Of promises broken
10 High Hopes (07:52)
Beyond the horizon of the place
we lived when we were young
in a world of magnets and miracles.
Our thoughts strayed constantly
and without boundary
The ringing of the division bell had begun.
Along the long road and on down the causeway
Do they still meet there by the cut?
There was a ragged band
that followed in our footsteps
Running before time took our dreams away
Leaving the myriad small creatures
trying to tie us to the ground
to a life consumed by slow decay.
The grass was greener.
The light was brighter.
With friends surrounded.
The nights of wonder.
Looking beyond the embers
of bridges glowing behind us
to a glimpse of how green it
was on the other side
Steps taken forwards
but sleepwalking back again
Dragged by the force of some inner tide.
At a higher altitude
with flag unfurled
We reached the dizzy heights
of that dreamed of world.
Encumbered forever
by desire and ambition
There's a hunger
still unsatisfied
Our weary eyes still
stray to the horizon
Though down this road
we've been so many times.
The grass was greener.
The light was brighter.
The taste was sweeter.
The nights of wonder.
With friends surrounded.
The dawn mist glowing.
The water flowing.
The endless river.
Forever and ever.
11 Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2 (07:06)
The opening quote is from the 1933 light heavyweight boxing match between Max Baer and Max Schmeling
We don't need no education
We don’t need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave the kids alone
Hey! Teacher! Leave us kids alone!
All in all it's just another brick in the wall.
All in all you're just another brick in the wall.
We don't need no education
We don’t need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave the kids alone
Hey! Teacher! Leave us kids alone!
All in all it's just another brick in the wall.
All in all you're just another brick in the wall.
Spoken:
'Wrong, Do it again!
Wrong, Do it again!
If you don't eat yer meat, you can't have any pudding.
How can you have any pudding if you don't eat yer meat?
You! Yes, you behind the bikesheds, stand still laddie!'
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