Pink Floyd Album: “A Momentary Lapse of Reason”

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.

Maybe I belong in Pink Floyd Fan Jail after saying this, but on the day the reissues are released, the first one I sprung for was "A Momentary Lapse of Reason". Basically because it's one that I never bothered to upgrade from cassette until now but also because it's a damn good album too.

"Signs Of Life" leading into "Learning To Fly" is just a great album moment from my youth. "Lapse" was the first Floyd album I remember coming out after being introduced to their old stuff as a youngster. As the tape deck was phased out, so was this album. So I'm listening to it for the first time in a good five years, possibly more.

No, it's not "Wish You Were Here" but it was the Pink Floyd that was around when I was growing up and I very much enjoy listening to this one again.

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.

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.