Released: 1975
Tracks: Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I – V); Welcome to the Machine; Have a Cigar; Wish You Were Here; Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts VI – IX)
Best track: Shine On You Crazy Diamond (all of it)
Track to skip: none
The streak of excellent Pink Floyd albums continues. I still think this album is too short, maybe it’s because it’s just 5 songs (with Shine On bookending the album), but I wish it could go on for another 40 minutes or so. This is a really great album and I’m not going to argue with anyone who says it’s better than Dark Side of the Moon. I think it’s just a smidge under, but it doesn’t really matter. I personally think both this and Dark Side are essential stuff so I enjoy them both.
Shine On You Crazy Diamond is the best song on here and the rest are good too. I’m tired of commercial radio playing Have a Cigar and Welcome to the Machine to death. They’re good songs of course, but I just get sick of hearing them every time I turn on the radio. I know that, honestly, this whole album has a history of huge radio play, all the songs. Like any good album (not a ‘collection of songs’) this album screams for you to listen to it front to back, all at once. It’s a very whole and complete album.
David Gilmour’s guitar playing is especially good on the first part of the title track. The entire band keeps improving as musicians, but Gilmour is the one I happen to notice the most. He’s playing and singing with such an extreme amount of confidence on here. Honestly, this is just a great album, all of it.
Rating: 96
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