David Gilmour - On an Island
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Free Music Notes for On an Island
Free Music Review: A real surprise...
Hit: 5 Stars
This is the first David Gilmour album I've purchased - being more of a Pink Floyd fan, but having owned this album for a week now; I can confirm OAI in my opinion is excellent. Yes, it's generally fairly slow paced, but that doesn't make it bad. The people who seem to think Gilmour can't produce a decent song without Roger Waters are in the main, totally blinkered to the waters style of writing. This isn't a Waters or a Floyd album. OAI sounds just great the way it is. Waters penned lyrics would be totally daft on such a beautiful set of musical tracks as these, tracks that all relate to Gilmour's past. Polly may have added most of the lyrics but the music is all Gilmour's - and the music came first.
Gilmour has finally been released from the burden of Floyd to produce music the way he wants to, and that makes OAI a pure pleasure to listen to. It still has the Floyd sound in places - how could it not. But this is a David Gilmour album. Slow sensual songs with wonderful guitar peaks in all the right places. The whole album works wonderfully as a single musical piece, but made up of many different musical styles. Highly recommended to anyone that likes mellow, thought provoking music.
This review was written without any `Robotic loyalty'. Everyone's entitled to an opinion, not just the people who expected something different, and then come back to knock OAI because it doesn't sound like a 29 year old Pink Floyd album that they'd all been wishing for. OAI is David Gilmour, not Pink Floyd.
Free Music Review: Can't wait till I am in the Place he is now, or, How I wish I was There
Hit: 5 Stars
Can you believe I'd actually forgotten this album was coming out? Strange how 12 years makes a difference. I can remember counting down the days until Division Bell was released. I even went to my local cd shop everyday for a week before the album was officially out to try and badger the staff into cutting into their boxes early. But there I was this afternoon in the cd shop, actually looking for something completely different, when I noticed it on the shelf.
That more than anything sums up not only my attitude to the album, but the album itself. As a younger fan, I lived and breathed on Floyd, but as you get older, the urgency lessens. Now I am completely content as I sit at home this evening, listening to this album on repeat. David has created an album that makes me wish that I was, in fact, where he is now. It is an album of subtlety and beauty, musings of a man who knows where he's been, and what he's been through to get there. If he wants to take his time and share his peace with me, I am all for it.
Reviews I have read on the net this evening have constantly harped on his lack of "bite." Yes, it would be nice to see what he and Waters could create now, but at the same time, I hardly need to hear angst and anger from a man of 60. The Rolling Stones tried to do it on "A Bigger Bang," and it came off sounding somehow false and lacking. I don't want to think of myself as being a bitter man at that age. And I'm happy that Mr. Gilmour doesn't believe he needs to be either.
Free Music Review: Get ready to take a journey...
Hit: 5 Stars
Close your eyes and let the soundscape envelope you. That's about the best way to describe listening to "On an island." The beautifully crafted songs carry you all the way to Castellorizon itself, the small island that lends it's name to the opening instrumental. David Crosby and Graham Nash lend their voices to the title track. Gilmour also shows off his sax playing on the track "Red sky at night." Yep..that's him wailing away on the saxaphone. Interesting how his sax soloing sounds a lot like his guitar licks. "A pocketful of stones." is one of the most amazing pieces I have heard in years, it blends great orchestration with very well written lyrics. Famed Polish composer Zbigniew Preisner lends his talent to this disc, his compositions blend seamlessly with David's guitar and vocals. Just when you have been lulled in to thinking the entire album is sedate, "This heaven" comes blasting out in wonderfull bluesey fashion. Some of his best soloing comes in this track. Overall this album is truly a piece of art, not many musicians out there craft anything close to this in terms of sheer quality and attention to detail. This album will never be far from your CD player. Also, Kudo's to David for making this a Carbon Neutral production. A certain ammount of the proceeds go to buying "Carbon offsets" which invest in re-forrestation aswell as clean energy systems to render the CO2 released during the manufacturing of the CD's neutral. This is the first mass released CD in the US to be carbon neutral.Free Music Review: An Absolute Pleasure
Hit: 5 Stars
I am so pleased to have this album in my collection. David Gilmour has been a guitar legend for nearly forty years now, and I don't need to waste my energy or your time chronicalling his epic contributions to modern music. Suffice it to say, with this release, he draws on his vast stylistic background to fuse and meld a delightful range and scope of absolutely stunning music.
Does it sound like Pink Floyd - well yes and no. From the very first guitar note, any fan will readily recognize David's distinctive style of playing and know this is related to much of what came before. That being said, this album is a smoother, more flowing collections of songs that are at once challenging and relaxing. If comparisons had to be made, I would say this album most closely resembles the mellower bits of MEDDLE, particularly on the songs THEN I CLOSE MY EYES and WHERE WE START.
You won't find any driving hard rock songs like ALL LOVERS ARE DERANGED or RUN LIKE HELL on this album, but there are plenty of tasty guitar licks, towering walls of sound and soaring lead passages to satisfy any fan of Gilmour's work.
Lyrically, the songs are tinged with introspection, reflection on the past, deep love and persistent hope for the future. The songs SMILE and WHERE WE START are as beautiful and touching as anything David has ever written.
This is a wonderful album that has been a long time coming. It's an absolute pleasure to listen to from start to finish.
Free Music Review: On An Island ~ Concert Review
Hit: 5 Stars
Radio City Music Hall
NYC ~ 4/5/06
Dear Dave & Co ~
Thank you so much for a truly wonderful evening. It's early in the morning after a night of little sleep so forgive me if my thoughts are a bit hazy.
Last nights performance was remarkable on so many levels. Your new CD, "On An Island" is such a graceful and introspective look at your life and the way you were able to share that intimacy with the audience was incredible. If "Where We Start" isn't the most beautiful song ever written then I don't know what is. I fell in love with the new record last night. As far as the second half of your show, I cannot thank you and the boys enough for your soul shattering rendition of "Echoes". That sir, was amazing...
It would be impossible for me to single out any one song from last nights Pink Floyd material as my favorite performance but "What's Uh The Deal?", "Coming Back to Life" and your signature song and everybody's favorite sing~along, "Wish You Were Here" literally brought me to tears of joy. I was honored to have my son, Matthew in attendance with me last night and to see the look on his face when Rick or yourself sang or when Dick Parry appeared was something that I will truly never forget. Thanks again Dave, not only for this legendary evening of passionate music but more importantly for the lasting memory, forever embraced by a father and son.
Matt and Matthew Parish
Long Island, NY