Pink Floyd

Released in 1971, Meddle stands as one of Floyd's most satisfying records, the first to combine truly spaced-out rock with strong commercial appeal. Highlights are the horror-comic opening cut; a 20-minute excursion into "Across the Universe" titled "Echoes"; and what is perhaps the band's finest moment, "Fearless."

Pink Floyd has finally emerged from the Atom Heart Mother phase, a fairly stagnant period
in their musical growth, marked by constant creative indecision. They tried to cover for it
by putting a particular series of subliminal sound effects on the Atom Heart LP, and by
dragging in huge, unwieldy brass orchestra sections to their concerts. Nothing short of
disaster on both counts. Their new album. Meddle not only confirms lead guitari... More >

Not bad. "Echoes" moves through 23:21 of "Across the Universe" cop with the timeless calm of interstellar overdrive, and the acoustic-type folk songs boast their very own melodies (as well as a real dog, rather than electronic seagulls, for sound effect). The word "behold" should never cross their filters again, but this is definitely an improvement: one eensy-weensy step for humanity, one giant step for Pink Floyd. (Grade - B-)