David Gilmour - On an Island
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Artist: David GilmourBrand: Columbia
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2006-03-07
Music Label: Sony
Product features:
- GILMOUR DAVID ON AN ISLAND
- Castellorizon
- On An Island
- The Blue
- Take A Breath
- Red Sky At Night
- This Heaven
- Then I Close My Eyes
- Smile
- A Pocketful Of Stones
- Where We Start
Music reviews of On an Island
Music Review: The Master Of Melody Returns...
Rating: 5 Stars
Well...I was kind of half-heartedly searching for a "beach at sunset" soundtrack for this coming summer, and I do believe I've just found it! It's one of those little prerequisite things that's essential for any self respecting Floridian gearing up for that sweltering heat and sauna-like stickiness inherent to our beloved State. I'd much rather not focus on the god awful humidity, but instead take in that incredible view out there, over the water, and this album's considerable ambience will go a long way towards achieving that end. It's all about atmosphere, folks!
It's also about melody.
David Gilmour is a master at his craft. He is first and absolutely foremost a guitarist at heart, and his own unique command of his instrument is unequaled in today's music scene. We've got myriad great guitarists showboating their talents from Beck to Satriani to Van Halen, fingers-a-blur on the fretboard, but there's nobody that can milk the emotive and melodic side of the instrument the way Gilmour does. He's the ultimate string bender and can easily drop all our collective jaws upon the floor with just one or two notes, which would take any of those speed demons twenty or more! He's in no hurry....and he doesn't need to be. His fingers and tonal quality have always been signature to what's known as "the Pink Floyd sound", and by and large, it was his Strat wizardry that roped in many a newbie Floyd fan, in the first place.
He's also got one hell of a voice, which seems to defy age. His vocal prowess is smooth as velvet, and instantly recognizable....still sounding as fresh now as it did when he was in his twenties. His range is considerable, and to my ear, it hasn't diminished in the least over the years. He sure did belt out "Money" at Live 8 last year, whilst his delivery of "Comfortably Numb" was gorgeous as ever.
With regards to his new album, the Floyd comparisons are inevitable, but I think it would be in error not to judge On An Island on it's own merits. The initial feel of this record comes off as laid back and relaxed - and it is - but there's so much texture and depth to these songs musically, that, as David best put it, one must "listen deeply". This is an exquisitely well crafted album. Obviously, Gilmour's guitar is at the forefront, and it's worth stating that he's ever in tune with the very enigmatic concept of restraint, in allowing the music proper time to "breathe". While the played notes are important, the spaces between them are just as.....particularily in David's style of playing.
And so the album begins, in suitably Floydian fashion with an instrumental track called, "Castellorizon". Named after a Mediterranean island where Gilmour, friends and family enjoy camping out, this track would seem to be the germ of fruition for the entire album. It serves as not only a very atmospheric opener, but also a sound collage of sorts, sampling musical bits of what's to come as the album progresses. As expected, David's guitar figures prominently, with the classic buildup style he's always been noted for. And the seagull effects abound!
The title track begins from nowhere, and is positively soothing with David Crosby and Graham Nash lending superb harmonizing to David's first vocal moments on the record. This piece had to have been recorded on some obscure sunset bathed beach, and it'll take you right there, if you let it! Perhaps the most Floydian of all the tracks here, helped by the familiar washes of Rick Wright's hammond organ playing, it's a real beauty, drifting along peacefully and elegantly. Dave's leads are straight out of his bag of tricks, that wouldn't have sounded the least out of place on the "Wish You Were Here" album.
In terms of vocals, any long time Floyd fan will always sight the songs where David Gilmour and Rick Wright shared harmonizing duties as real high points on the records. Their voices are so well suited to one another, with Rick's being slightly deeper. "The Blue" captures this marriage of voice talent perfectly in a song that saunters along in slight flourishes of piano driven rhythms, giving way to one of David's classic Stratocastor milkings.....one of the best on record.
Gilmour doesn't up the tempo much on this record, and "Take A Breath" is the closest thing to an all out rocker we're going to find here. With eight kids between two marriages, one can't help but have learnt a thing or two about parenting, and this song exemplifies David's take on "hard love fathering". Boot the youts out of the roost at an early age, but not without carefully grooming them for life in the cold, hard world. It's the biggest favor a parent could do for their offspring, which takes tremendous guts, but in it's own way shows real love, and fosters independence, resourcefulness, and spirit. Dave's vicious lead guitar soloing here drives the point home perfectly, as the kids whip the speedboat around in the surf kicking up God's own rooster tail in the process, narrowly dodging channel markers and slow moving, lethargic sailcraft, as the parents sit back watching, mildly amused. Did I mention the mind's eye imagery is really good on this album too?
Between projects, it seems Gilmour has been taking saxaphone lessons. We see the fruits of his labors here in the instrumental, "Red Sky At Night". This pretty piece can best be described as a reworking of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", with the guitar parts replaced by sax....and it really works out. It's a tad short, which is about the only criticism I could level at it, but it segues perfectly into my early favorite track off the album, "This Heaven". This fun song is equal parts blues and jazz, featuring the Hammond work of Sixties talent, Georgie Fame, playfully woven about Dave's immaculate blues driven riffs. Gilmour's just a natural for this type of guitar playing, and he really needs to do an entire album of this stuff, at some point. This is also probably the most positive minded blues song ever recorded.....he's happy and thankful for his blessings in life, as well he should be....and this comes through refreshingly in what would otherwise be a traditionally gritty sounding tune.
Upon first listen, "Then I Close My Eyes" comes across somewhat disjointedly, with Dave sounding positively folkish, playing a middle Eastern(I believe) stringed instrument called the cumbus. This gives way to an almost lullabyish sounding instrumental, featuring Caroline Dale's lovely cello and Robert Wyatt's cornet interfused with glass harmonica, and Dave's ever so delicate guitar.
At this point, back on the beach, the alcohol induced power nap takes place, only to be pleasantly skitted away by the soft seabreeze that is "Smile", one of Gilmour's finest vocal performances, ever. This one had it's public premiere a few years ago, during David's Meltdown concerts, and little has changed since....a good thing! A love song to his wife, Polly, who shares lyric writing duties throughout, this is obviously one contented couple, enjoying eachother and life. We should all be so fortunate!
The magnum opus of this great record is, without doubt, "A Pocketful Of Stones". This is, if you like, the "High Hopes" of On An Island....only a tad softer. This is sophisticated musicianship and songwriting, which showcases, amongst others, Lucy Wakefield on harp, Alasdair Walloy on glass harmonica, Chris Laurence on upright bass and the orchestral arrangements of Polish conductor, Zbingniew Preisner. Preisner's stately orchestrations are featured throughout the record, but in this track in particular, the results really stand out to a stunning degree. Dave's subdued leads on guitar compliment and top off everything to perfection. This is one sweet track that finds our beach totally drawn into darkness by this point.
The walk home is "Where We Start". An appropriate ending to a finely realized album, and a song that wouldn't have been out of place on Atom Heart Mother. In fact, the majority of the album's songs seemed culled from the pre Dark Side albums of AHM, Meddle, and even Obscured By Clouds, with a touch of Wish You Were Here and Division Bell thrown in for good measure.
Don't go into this expecting to have your socks rocked off....it's not happening. The louder moments are few, but this is anything but "boring", as some other reviewers have stated. What we have with On An Island is a fine, seasoned musician giving us a musical snapshot of where he happily resides, at the moment. Beautiful, sensuous, finely produced and intricately detailed music is what you'll find in David Gilmour's new solo record.
One last thing....the packaging on this is outstanding....nicely binded, with attractive, stylish artwork throughout, and interesting photos of David and family....a labor of love, indeed.
Go get this, if you haven't already....and hit the beach!
Shine On....
Description of On an Island
UK pressing. In the 40 years since Pink Floyd burst on to the London scene, initially as part of a vibrant underground that included folk, jazz and experimental musicians, its members and ex-members have released solo albums. These have ranged from Syd Barrett's psychedelic songwriting to Roger Waters' misanthropic wails, via Nick Mason's odd, but musically interesting Fictitious Sports, basically Carla Bley's 1970s band with a different drummer. On an Island is Gilmour's third album, and the first since About Face, released in 1984. EMI. 2006.David Gilmour?s solo career hasn?t exactly been creatively restless; this is but the third album by the Pink Floyd guitarist, and first in 18 years. But that seemingly lackadaisical career ethos hasn?t prevented Gilmour from producing some of his finest work here, an album whose soaring, lyrical guitar lines will be familiar to Floyd fans, yet one also blessed by often surprising nuances and delicate musical textures. Gilmour?s Division Bell collaborator Polly Samson is credited with most of the writing, helping conjure a moody, texturally rich "island" that?s as much musical as it is personally and lyrically metaphorical. "Castellorizon," the impressionistic opening instrumental collage, presages much of what?s to come in subtle ways, with Gilmour?s emotionally-charged guitar lines climbing into realms usually staked out by contemporary Jeff Beck.
Gilmour?s choice of collaborators is equally compelling, from the evocative orchestrations of Polish classical modernist Zbigniew Preisner and expected contributions from Floyd (Richard Wright and proto-Pink mate Rado "Bob" Klose) to a host of guest turns that span both decades and styles: Georgie Fame, Phil Manzanera, Jools Holland, Caroline Dale and Robert Wyatt. The title track is graced by the stately harmonies of David Crosby and Graham Nash while the instrumental "Then I Close My Eyes" spins a hypnotic, bayou-meets-boho ethos where Dale?s gentle cello lines meet the melancholy cornet flourishes of Wyatt to challenge the very notions of genre itself. "This Heaven" finds Gilmour in unexpected R&B territory, weaving playful riffs with ?60s London scenester Fame?s Hammond organ and finding its lyrical spirituality in simple, personal intimacy, a subtext that wafts through the upbeat airiness of "The Blue" to the spare "Smile," spinning a surprisingly romantic elegy that co! mes satisfyingly full circle on the closing "Where We Start." No man may be an island, but Gilmour has nonetheless crafted a rewarding artistic oasis on this, his finest and most gently personal album. -- Jerry McCulley
Recommended David Gilmour & Pink Floyd
 David Gilmour David Gilmour |  About Face David Gilmour |  Dark Side of the Moon Pink Floyd |
 Wish You Were Here Pink Floyd |  Meddle Pink Floyd |  The Wall Pink Floyd |
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