| CD Reviews Last updated: 12.9.05 Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here Tracklist: 1.Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Pts. I-V) (13:32) (Gilmour/Waters/Wright) Part I (0:00-3:56) Part II (3:57-6:28) Part III (6:29-8:43) Part IV (8:44-11:10) Part V (11:11-13:32) 2. Welcome To The Machine (7:33) (Waters) 3. Have A Cigar (5:24) (Waters) 4. Wish You Were Here (5:16) (Gilmour/Waters) 5. Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Pts. VI-IX) (12:29) (Gilmour/Waters/Wright) Part VI (0:00-4:41) Part VII (4:42-6:05) Part VIII (6:06-9:05 Part IX (9:06-12:29) Total: 44:14 Total: 42:50 Introduction: Hot off the success of their previous masterpiece, Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd released their follow-up album, Wish You Were Here in 1975. The album contains three songs that are a tribute to former band mate Syd Barrett, which includes the epic �Shine On You Crazy Diamond�, split into nine parts and across two tracks, and two songs that attack the music industry. The album art is also very well known; it features two men in business suits shaking hands. The man on the right is on fire. Supposedly, he represents Syd Barrett. Synopsis: �Shine On You Crazy Diamond� is comprised of nine parts. Parts I through V are in the first track, while the remaining four are on the fifth and last track on the album. Part 1 begins with an ambient introduction consisting of mysterious-sounding synthesizers, as well a quiet guitar solo by Gilmour. Part I slowly builds up to Part II. Part II introduces percussion into the song. Gilmour plays memorable guitar chords and also plays another great solo. Part III is very keyboard heavy, consisting of a keyboard lead, and then a third solo by Gilmour. Part IV introduces vocals into the track. Waters has the lead vocal position, with backup vocals sung by Gilmour and Wright, along with some session musicians. As you probably already know, this song is dedicated to Syd Barrett, the ex-lead vocalist and guitarist of the band who grew increasingly unpredictable and thus had to be released from the band. The very first lyrics in the song consist of: "Remember when you were young/you shone like the sun/Shine on you crazy diamond/Now there's a look in your eyes/like black holes in the sky", clearly referring to Barrett. Part V contains a saxophone solo by Dick Parry, who played on �Money� on the Dark Side of the Moon album. Afterwards, the song starts to fade, then segues right on to the next track. �Welcome To The Machine� is one of two songs on the album that are not a tribute to Barrett, but are instead about the music business. The song features heavy use of synthesizers, which create a surreal and psychedelic effect. David Gilmour has lead vocals on this one. He sings with great emotion and does a really great job on the song. �Have A Cigar� is also about the band�s thoughts on the music industry. The song is probably the only track that doesn�t have an ambient feel to it. Much like �Money� on Dark Side Of The Moon, it�s basically a straightforward rock song. However, this doesn�t hurt the song or album in any way. The song features a memorable bass and guitar riff, along with some great keyboard work from Wright. Roy Harper, a British singer, sings the lead vocals in the song. Remember �Hats Off To (Roy) Harper� by Led Zeppelin? Yeah, that�s about him. Anyway, Roy does a great job at singing the lyrics that bitterly attack and mock the record industry, which includes the popular line �Oh by the way, which one�s Pink?� �Wish You Were Here� was a huge hit for the band. Its memorable acoustic guitar riff, paired with excellent lyrics and vocals make this song one of the best on the album. The song fades to the sound of wind, and then slowly transitions into the last track on the album. Part VI of �Shine On You Crazy Diamond� is completely instrumental. It contains a memorable bass line, as well as an excellent guitar solo (probably the best on the album) by Gilmour, and lots of synths by Wright. Part VII introduces Waters on vocals once again, which is preceded by a guitar solo by Gilmour in which he plays the main part of the chorus. It�s very cool to hear. Lyrics include statements to Barrett, such as: �Nobody knows where you are, how near or how far/Shine on you crazy diamond�. Part VIII has some consistent drumming and medium tempo bass line, with adequate use of keyboards, which then goes into the final section, Part IX. The last part contains a lot of keyboards, which close the song with a pleasant organ part. Highlights: �Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Pts. I-V)�, �Wish You Were Here�, �Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Pts. VI-IX) Overall: After the massive success of Dark Side of the Moon, many were probably left wondering if Pink Floyd could produce another excellent record. Well, they did. Wish You Were Here is among the best of the Pink Floyd discography and is a must-own album. Final Score: A+ Any questions, comments, submissions, or anything related to the site should be e-mailed to me: shadowdragonxx [at] hotmail [dot] com. Don't take anything from the site without permission. |
| Wish You Were Here Album line-up: Roger Waters � Bass guitar, VCS3, Vocals David Gilmour � Guitars, Vocals, Lap Steel Nick Mason � Drums, Percussion, Tape Effects Richard Wright � Keyboards, Vocals, VCS3 Additional Personnel: Dick Parry � Saxophone on "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" Roy Harper � Vocals on "Have A Cigar" Venetta Field � Background vocals Carlena Williams � Background vocals Release Year: 1975 Label: Capitol Produced by: Pink Floyd |
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