Customer Reviews

A Momentary Lapse of Reason

5 star:		(135)
4 star:		(69)
3 star:		(56)
2 star:		(36)
1 star:		(32)

 

 

This is the first post-Waters album released by Pink Floyd. How good this actually is really depends on who you talk to. Clearly the band lost a monstrous talent when Roger Waters decided to leave. His lyrical and conceptual ideas, as well as his sense for dramatic presentation (both on stage and on record), are unmatched. Pink Floyd became the band that it is in large part because of Waters. Equally responsible for their direction and success, however, is David Gilmour. He is a masterful musician and a brilliantly passionate guitarist who has helped shape the band with his unparalleled playing. Arguably it was Gilmour's emotional guitar and musical talent that gave power to Waters' words. Though noone can dispute the vital contributions both Rick Wright and Nick Mason made to help forge the band (nor founder Syd Barrett who laid the template for the rest to follow), most would certainly agree that Gilmour and Waters have always been the main driving force.

Now where does all this leave A Momentary Lapse Of Reason? With Waters gone, obviously a large portion of the chemistry that spawned such classics as Animals and Wish You Were Here is missing. The band's direction and approach to writing would naturally have to adapt, in much the same way they had to adapt after Barrett's departure. Lyrically the album is weak in spots. It contains no conceptual thread nor does it even begin to approach Roger's level of clever wordplay and stinging sarcasm. The lyrics are more poetic generalities than they are deeply held convictions. That being said, this album is a gorgeous work of music that, in certain ways, harkens back to Wish You Were Here and Meddle. Sounding like neither, but capturing the spirit of both, A Momentary Lapse Of Reason is absolutely a return to form. Without Roger's lyrical genius, Dave wisely focused on HIS strengths and passion: the music. From the chilling instrumental opener Signs Of Life, to the glorious raging darkness of the album's closer Sorrow, this is Pink Floyd in all their musical glory. The album has a dark haunting quality to it, each song moving through several interesting parts that never sound dull or forced. The beauty of this band's sound has always been that it's very visual and evocative. This album certainly delivers that. In particular the last half is one phenomenal stretch of spine-tingling music. Keyboards, drums, bass, and the occasional saxophone blend wonderfully with sinister sound effects to create beautiful soundscapes - and Gilmour's spectacular guitar slashes, cries, whispers, screams, and howls throughout the entire journey. It is a ride worth taking.

As you read through many of these other reviews, it's obvious that alot of people feel very strongly that this is not a Pink Floyd record. I understand but disagree. As much as the band had a right to carry on after Barrett left, clearly the band had a right to continue after Waters. Arguing over the "authenticity" of this album (and all those that followed without Waters) is pointless, as every listener has his or her own idea as to what Pink Floyd is to them. To put it simply, if you feel that the lyrical and conceptual content of Pink Floyd is undeniably the most important aspect to you, then you're probably better off passing this up. At the very least borrow a copy before you buy it. However if the music of this band is what has always moved you, then you're going to love this. Roger Waters may have left, but Pink Floyd remains.

I'm a HUGE fan of Waters as a lyricist, and if there's one point against A Momentary Lapse of Reason, it's the lyrics. But they aren't bad - just not Waters. But there seems to be absolutely no objectivity in many of the reviews here of this album. A few points I'd like to Counter:

1) "This doesn't sound like a Pink Floyd album." - Perform a little experiment: take someone who has never listened to Pink Floyd before and have them listen to Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, and Momentary Lapse of Reason back to back. Now ask them if the albums are by the same group.

2) "This album sounds so obviously eighties." - Next experiment, have the same listener as before listen to Piper At The Gates of Dawn and The Wall and have them try to identify which decade they were produced in.

3) "There's more filler here than good music." - Now that the "new" listener has heard The Wall and A Momentary Lapse of Reason, ask them which album contains more filler.

I prefer A Momentary Lapse of Reason to Animals and The Division Bell, two albums that I think are great. I'm happy to have purchased the remastered AMLOR, because a second criticism that could be aimed at it was that the sound fidelity on the original cd was terrible.

AMLOR contains several tracks that should be considered in any `best of' compilation and many secondary tracks that overshadow those musically. It's a solid album from start to finish songwise and is held together by a soundscape that is lavish and well executed. The filler arrangements of A New Machine Parts 1 & 2 play well in the soundscape, even if they can't be considered proper tracks. This is a great album and should be highly regarded.

I've been a fan since the very first time my dad danced me to sleep to "Cpmfortably Numb." I love The Wall, Dark Side, and all the other recognized greats. I have to say, though, that Momentary Lapse is my favorite. Even without Waters, the group pulls off a stunning ensemble of sound complimented with excellent sound effects, awesome guitar solos, good lyrics (as good as they can get without Waters), and an overall theme that you come to expect from Pink Floyd. A few of the songs could use tweaking- "Dogs of War" comes to mind- but overall I was very impressed. I had expected the band to flop after Final Cut.

I would highly recommend this album.

If you go through some of the other reviews for this album, you can point out those who side with Roger Waters and those who side with David Gilmour. Setting aside Waters exit from the band and Gilmours song writing abilities, I have come to thoroughly enjoy this album.

As said by a reviewer above, this album is underrated and underappreciated. I suggest to all Pink Floydians that they give this a try without comparing it too much to Floyds past.

Gilmour and crew deserve a chance. AMLOR manages to capture the essence of Pink Floyd nicely without Waters involvement.

15 years later people are still complaining about this cd. Let me tell you, the best thing that could have happened to pink floyd was to have roger waters leave. how long did he think he could exploit syd barrett's dimentia? The work they turned out with waters was fantastic and I loved it but "The Final Cut" proved that things were getting stale. The PF style is obvious on AMLOR but it's missing the oppressive, smothering self pity that Waters injected. This allows them to truly perform and improvise, not just mimic past works. No where in the PF chronicles does anything like "Terminal Frost" appear. Listening to Gilmour trade licks with Tom Scott's sax is a musical feast -- a simplistic tune performed by the musical elite. How about "One Slip" or "Yet Another Movie"? Is there a PF type message there? Well, you have to put down your bong and pay attention but yes there is. I love this cd. I've had to replace it twice because I wore it out but that's the mark of a great work, after 15 years people are still talking about it.

Yes, Roger Waters was a genius behind Pink Floyd and a driving force but David Gilmour was every bit as much the genius that Roger Waters was. He proved that by producing one of my favorite Pink Floyd albums personally and one of their strongest efforts.

1. "Signs Of Life" - One of the biggest things Pink Floyd lost with Roger Waters was a fantastic lyricist. However, as David Gilmour stressed after Waters left, the music has to be balanced with the lyrics and when things get too wordy, it becomes a problem. This was my major problem with The Final Cut personally. Here, Gilmour shows that you don't even need to write lyrics to produce good music. Though this is one of the weaker tracks on the album, it's still a great instrumental opening.

2. "Learning To Fly" - Fantastic. One of the single greatest songs ever written by Pink Floyd. There's a reason why this song still gets continuous radio play to this day and it's because it's a great song. Though the lyrics are strong, Gilmour's guitar speaks almost as loud as his words with fantastic riffs that fit the melody and mood of the song perfectly.

3. "The Dogs Of War" - A highly underrated song with very good lyrics. With the type of lyrics, it's very much a Waters-style track. This song is reminiscent of The Final Cut, however the band manages to balance the music with the lyrics far better.

4. "One Slip" - One of the weakest tracks on the album, that's not a bad thing because it has heavy competition. Though "One Slip" is more reminiscent of the trends in music of the 1980's, it still holds onto that distinct Pink Floyd sound and is a very catchy song/

5. "On The Turning Away" - Some of the best lyrics ever written by David Gilmour, the music is just as good as well. This song is a very deep, powerful song ending in one of my favorite guitar solos of all time.

6. "Yet Another Movie/Round And Around" - Yet another movie, yet another great song. A very strong effort musically, the lyrics are also a strong point. The instrumental ending of "Round And Around" is also very well played.

7. "A New Machine (Part 1)" - Not a real song but the lyrics are very good.

8. "Terminal Frost" - One of the weakest tracks, this one is a nice instrumental but doesn't really go much of anywhere.

9. "A New Machine (Part 2)" - Again, not a real song but the lyrics are very good.

10. "Sorrow" - A fantastic closer to a great album. The lyrics are some of the best Gilmour ever wrote. The music is a fitting end to the album.

When I first heard One Slip from this album many years ago - I immediately thought - what is Tony Levin doing on a Pink Floyd record? What a welcome addition of real talent to David Gilmour and Nick Mason! These musicians all possess that unique style that makes them stand out and be easily recognizable. Combine one of the world's best ever bass players with one of the most talented guitarists and songwriters and you have an enduring classic. Floyd's music really pulls you in on this album - very melodic with the kind of thought provoking lyrics the band is known for. Out of all the Floyd discs, this is the one I have come back to most - a wonderful collection of songs with the added energy and unique talent of Tony Levin to make it the best Pink Floyd disc ever!

This album comes in for a lot of stick for some reason - I can't quite fathom out why though. OK, so it isn't "Dark Side Of The Moon" but "A Momentary Lapse Of Reason" is still a good album all the same and, despite the rantings of the "Roger Waters is all things to all men" camp, it is as much a Pink Floyd album as any other. Put it this way, it's a whole lot better musically and far more listenable than the dismal "Final Cut", the last Pink Floyd LP with Roger Waters (or should that be the first Roger Waters solo LP?). And it's also better than any of Roger Waters solo stuff - which is a joke, quite frankly. Sure, Roger Waters was a visionary but he wasn't God. This album demonstrates that Pink Floyd could and would go on without him. Also, there is evidence here that Dave Gilmour is capable of wirting some cracking rock tunes - the awesome "Learning To Fly", the industrial "Dogs Of War" and stunning Celtic-flavoured "On The Turning Away". Who cares if Roger Waters isn't on it? This is the most under-rated Pink Floyd album of all and I think that's a real shame. Sure, as some reviewers have noted, it has a very 1980s sound to it and to many so-called fans this was not welcomed. But so what? Good music is good music and in any case they would have been ridiculed if they'd tried to bring out a 1970s-sounding LP in 1987. After all a band cannot stay entrenched in one decade forever even if that decade saw their best of their output. Go buy "Dark Side" of "Wish You Were Here" if you are new to the Floyd, but I would agree with one reviewer who has already said that this makes a sensible 3rd or 4th Pink Floyd purchase.

This album polarize most Pink Floyd fans, I really don't understand why. This is pure Floyd, and while it's true that is not on the level of Dark Side, Wish You Where Here or Animals, much of the music in the album is wonderful. Without R. waters the band lost much of the conceptual views of the past, but here Music is what is all about, not lyrics, but nevertheless THERE IS a clear concept in this album, specifically side 2 from Yet Another Movie. Some say that this is a Gilmour solo album, I don't agree; just listen to About Face, Gilmour's solo effort before this album, and you will notice the difference, this is a Pink Floyd album in its own right; songs like Sorrow, Yet Another Movie and On the Turning Away are as good as any classic Floyd song. So don't pay attention to fans that think that Roger Waters IS Pink Floyd, they are so wrong as the ones that once thought that Syd Barret was Pink Floyd. Pink Floyd is (or was?) a band that explored all its possible incarnations, from psychedelia and space jams to heavenly crafted rock that then converted in songs of angst, paranoia and dispair. This album just shows another excellent side of the band and a refresh from the previous album that was way too heavy and personal -but very good anyway, as all Floyd. And to anyone who says that there are outside musicians, I say: in The Final Cut, there was no Richard Wright to play keyboards, he was repaced by two guys and Nick Mason did not play drums in one song, he was replaced by other two guys; nobody complains about it, so why complain here?

(...) A MOMENTARY LAPSE OF REASON was the first Floyd album after MEDDLE that I did NOT buy. When it was released, I had been deeply immersed in classical music, mostly the late Romantics, for about five years. I had been very disappointed with THE FINAL CUT, and I had thought that I had just outgrown "art" rock for real art.

God do I regret that decision! It was more than a decade, as middle age nostalgia was setting in, before I started listening to Pink Floyd again and gave this CD a chance. I played it every day for months, then shelved it, then brought it out for more months of daily play.

In short: I love this CD.

First, I love its oft-maligned "sound": rich, layered, grand, symphonic, but always in very good taste.

Second, I love the warmth and subtlety of David Gilmour's voice, always the the voice of Pink Floyd for me. In no other recording does he use it so expressively.

Third, and most importantly, there are wonderful songs here: "Signs of Life" is a meditative instrumental opening. "Learning to Fly" is sublime in its combination of loping, heavy, earthbound music and with soaring voices and a wonderful melody in the chorus; it did not make much of an initial impression, but on the second listening I was hooked; "The Dogs of War" is surging, shattering blues, with a coiled rattlesnake tenseness, biting lyrics, and magnificent guitar and sax solos. It is the "Money" of MOMENTARY LAPSE. "One Slip" is a richly layered uptempo song with a melody that slowly insinuates itself until one is hooked. "On the Turning Away" is my very favorite. The melody is instantly catchy, instantly moving, and very, very English. Even though I do not share the sentiments of the lyrics, I cannot resist their beauty. And the guitar solo is one of Gilmour's greatest ever, up there with his greatest on "Comfortably Numb." "Yet Another Movie"/"Round and Around" is another mesmerizing track with evocative, melancholy lyrics and searing guitar. This is night music, music with an interstellar spaciousness. "A New Machine" parts 1 and 2 is weak, but mercifully brief, framing "Terminal Frost," which is one of Pink Floyd's very best instumental tracks: incredibly tight, incredibly slick, with a beautiful melody that is alternately soaring and wistful. The final track, "Sorrow," is a truly grand finale, a song about regretting lost youth and lost innocence, both of the individual facing death and of civilization cut off from nature, paved over, fenced in, and drowning in its own pollution--moral, cultural, and industrial.

This is grownup music, and I am glad that I finally grew into it.