PINK FLOYD - Meddle 1971

Before 'The Wall' and 'Wish You Were Here' and even 'Dark Side of the Moon', Pink Floyd were experimenting. In 1971 they headed to the studio with no real plan, and for a while their efforts were known as 'Nothing, Parts 1-24', but eventually what came out was 'Meddle'.

It's often referred to as a sort of bridging album from their earlier Sid Barrett type stuff toward the more 'Pink Floyd' sound fully developed in 'Dark Side of the Moon'.

I love everything on this album. Side one has 5 tracks starting with 'One of These Days' .. mainly instrumental with only one line of lyrics .. Nick Mason's altered voice growling "One of these days, I'm going to cut you into little pieces."

The sound of a breeze segues into 'A Pillow of Winds' which is possibly the nearest Pink Floyd ever got to a love song.

'Fearless' is a great song - I could almost hear it slotting into any later album. What makes it stand out even more is that there's a recording of the Liverpool Football Club supporters singing 'You'll Never Walk Alone' playing over the end of the song to fade-out. Because of that, Rodgers and Hammerstein get a credit on a Pink Floyd album !!

'San Tropez' is "a jazz-inflected pop song with a shuffle tempo" and side one ends with 'Seamus', which is a bit of a throwaway, but it features Humble Pie singer Steve Marriott's dog howling throughout. David Gilmour said later "I guess it wasn't really as funny to everyone else [as] it was to us".

They would use animal sounds on their 1977 album aptly named 'Animals'. 

Then there's Side 2. The whole of side 2 is just one piece .. 'Echoes' at just over 23 1/2 minutes long.

We are now in fully recognisable Pink Floyd territory. I'm not going to analyse it, it's on YouTube for anyone to listen to.

All I will say is this. In 1972 I was living back home with my parents in Mount Isa for a while. Dad and I both did shift work at the mines. I was home, he was sleeping. I played 'Echoes' probably a bit too loud.

Instead of getting a bollocking, after it finished Dad came out and said .. "I was half awake and half asleep and heard your music and I drifted off and felt I was walking on the moon."

So .. I think this album gave my Dad his one and only drugless trip !!