Pink Floyd - Obscured By Clouds

7.5 - England - 1972

An unusual Floyd record in that for this soundtrack to the Barbet Schroeder film La Vallée, they appear to have just cut loose and had some fun in the studio.  Indeed, “Several Species Of Small Furry Animals…” aside, fun is often an absent component from the Floyd canon.  The tunes themselves range from layered synth drones to slow ballads to country-rock-ish numbers.  Of the latter, “Free Four” acquits itself well by marrying an utterly cynical Waters lyric (“The memories of a man in his old age are the deeds of a man in his prime / You shuffle in the gloom of a sick room and talk to yourself 'til you die”) to a jaunty acoustic backing, and the oddly titled “Wots … Uh The Deal?” is a great obscure deep cut with some nice piano from Richard Wright.  The hard rock aping “The Gold It’s In The…” is rather dire, and the Wright-sung ballads are somewhat questionable. That said, the most excellent “Childhood’s End” and “Mudmen” are worth the price of admission alone.