Pink Floyd

The Division Bell

Strong piano-driven effort.

Review Score:

(8/10)
The second studio album without Roger Waters marks the return of Keyboardist player Richard Wright(who Waters fired in 1978), and shows just how important his piano and organs were to Floyd's early success. His piano shares the spotlight with David Gilmour's guitar on several songs. So aside from Roger Waters, the classic lineup has been restored. (A session player named Tim Renwick handles bass duties here.)

The songs:

Cluster One: Ambient instrumental piece, the first of many duels between Gilmour's guitar and Wright's piano.

What Do You Want From Me: Hard driving track with guitar parts reminiscent of Dark Side. A gruff Gilmour fires back at those who have called him a sellout for soldiering on without Waters.

Poles Apart: One of three songs that most likely to bring to mind classic Floyd. Mostly acoustic, with a big solo at the end.

Marooned: Another instrumental duel between Gilmour and Wright. Sounds like something from a movie. Won a Grammy for best instrumental piece.

A Great Day For Freedom: Piano ballad, apparently about the fall from the Berlin Wall.

Wearing The Inside Out: 6.5 minutes of Elton John balladry. Some think it's too mellow, but it sounds quite beautiful. Wright sings on this one. His voice is very ethereal, and the female backup singers on the chorus are icing on the cake. Gilmour gets TWO solos, and Dark Side saxophonist Dick Parry does the intro. And being a Wright composition there's some nice piano work.

Take It Back: Okay, this one sounds an awful LOT like something from Genesis. Why Floyd would want to emulate that particular band is beyond me.

Coming Back To Life: Starts out slow, then goes mid-tempo. Cool opener from Gilmour.

Keep Talking: Another "Classic Floyd" style number, this one has a cameo from Steven Hawking. The female backup singers are back, and there's a bass line reminiscent of Waters.

Lost For Words: Acoustic number about making peace with one's enemies. A rather infamous barb(involving the F word) shows up near the end.

High Hopes: The big epic closer, clocking in at over 7 minutes. Sounds like a cross between Comfortably Numb and November Rain by Guns N Roses.

Pay no attention to the critical lambasting, this is a strong post-Waters effort. The band may have shed the concept album format for more straightforward college music, but with Waters gone they're able to be a band again, regaining the musicianship that was missing in Wright's absence.

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