Mihalis
There's No Way Out of Here
Cry from the Street
So Far Away
Short and Sweet
Raise My Rent
No Way
Deafinitely
I Can't Breathe Anymore
David Gilmour’s self-titled debut solo album is the one that finds most favour with Pink Floyd fans, largely because it’s probably the one, along with 2006’s On An Island, that reminds them most of Floyd.
The album was recorded in the lull following the band’s In The Flesh tour in the same French studio – Super Bear in Nice – where his great Floyd mate Richard Wright recorded his debut solo Wet Dream.
With members of Gilmour’s pre-Floyd band Jokers Wild, Rick Wills (bass) and Willie Wilson (drums) on board, one track that didn’t make the final cut ended up as Comfortably Numb, while Short And Sweet, written with Roy Harper, has strong echoes of Run Like Hell.
Every week, Album of the Week Club listens to and discusses the album in question, votes on how good it is, and publishes our findings, with the aim of giving people reliable reviews and the wider rock community the chance to contribute.
Other albums released in May 1978
- You're Gonna Get It! - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
- Powerage - AC/DC
- Black and White - The Stranglers
- But Seriously, Folks... - Joe Walsh
- Misfits - The Kinks
- Stranger In Town - Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
- Eternally Yours - The Saints
- Heaven Tonight - Cheap Trick
- The Parkerilla - Graham Parker and The Rumour
- Stone Blue - Foghat
What they said...
"Numbers of note include Cry From the Street, with its fully rocked-out conclusion, the sweetly sad So Far Away, one of his best vocal showcases, and the concluding I Can't Breathe Anymore, capturing the recurrent Pink Floyd theme of isolation quite well. While one would be hard-pressed to hum a memorable melody outside of There's No Way Out of Here, it's still a good enough experience for those who enjoy his work." (AllMusic)
"Generally speaking, guitarists turn out to be middling singers with a penchant for instrumentals and some facility for more concise songwriting... As latter-day Pink Floyd fans can tell you, Gilmour has a good voice and does a passable Roger Waters impression. As a guitarist he has few peers, but as a songwriter he’s no Roger Waters." (Progography)
"David Gilmour’s self-titled first solo album was, without a doubt, the best one he did. While not always the most innovative member of the Floyd in terms of composing (lyrics and music), he does do a quality job here of making a rock album. Like any work written solely by Gilmour, this album relies on traditional chord structures and styles. The lyrics are also pretty ordinary, not always even seeming personal to him (guy wants girl, guy can’t have girl), although occasionally with some interesting wordplay." (Classic Rock Review)
What you said...
Evan Sanders: Similar to what I wrote when we recently had a Roger Waters album, David Gilmour’s solo work shows how much Pink Floyd relied on the creative tensions between these two. A couple of songs are memorable, There’s No Way Outta Here and the instrumental Raise My Rent. The rest is middling, even with Gilmour’s silky voice and soaring guitar. I did enjoy his poppier follow-up more, About Face. And neither of these match a listen to Wish You Were Here or Animals. 6/10
Gary Claydon: One of those albums that I've always thought of as an 'easy' listen. Unchallenging with no particular peaks or troughs and, as such, not particularly memorable. For all that, though, it's also a well-crafted album. Excellent musicianship ( as you'd expect from such a consummate player as Gilmour) and very well-produced. There are clear pointers to a post-Waters Floyd.
It's always tempting when members of highly successful bands go solo to concentrate on what's not there rather than what is. Thus, the view is expressed that Roger Waters' albums suffer from the absence of the lighter touch of his bandmates while, in turn, they could do with a healthy dose of Jolly Roger's acerbic wit and curmudgeonly commentary on their own efforts.
But add those 'missing' elements and what you end up with is, basically, Pink Floyd and the whole point here, surely, is not to be Pink Floyd. In that respect, it's largely mission accomplished for Gilmour and proof, if proof were needed, that he wasn't around just to add guitar solos to Waters' increasingly downbeat worldview.
Brian Carr: At one point in my life I really didn’t like Pink Floyd. One of the main things that brought me around was the incredible guitar work of David Gilmour, so it’s really rather surprising to me that I have listened very little to his solo work.
The classic Pink Floyd era for me was their 70s output where Roger Waters came into his own as a songwriter and Gilmour’s guitar was like the tastiest icing on the cake. Floyd’s post-Waters output always seemed like, uh, watered-down Floyd to me, though I’m willing to admit that I may not have listened enough for that to be a fair assessment.
I spent enough time with Gilmour’s solo debut this week to pique my interest. Though I did find myself yearning for more of his soaring lead work, his rhythm playing is excellent throughout. Definitely an album to be added to the library for repeated listening.
Mike Canoe: Before this week I was only familiar with radio regular, There's No Way Out of Here, which struck me as a little too "on the nose" because it seemed to tread the same bleak and bitter path that Pink Floyd was on at the time. Yet this week I learned David Gilmour didn't even write the lyrics!
I hear the beginnings of Run Like Hell in Short And Sweet and So Far Away makes me think of post-Roger Waters' Floyd, not Comfortably Numb, which Wikipedia tells me it should.
I like Gilmour's voice but find myself gravitating to the three instrumentals, Mihalis, Raise My Rent, and Deafinitely. I didn't really get into Gilmour as a guitar player until the past 20 years or so and it's fun to hear him let loose and have fun. Even if, like much of Floyd's best work, it's tinged with melancholy.
An enjoyable album while not necessarily reaching the level of artist's manifesto.
John Davidson: As with most groups, the individual players' efforts and side projects are less interesting than their collaborations with their friends/enemies/rivals.
I cant think of many side albums that beat the output from the original band (though Peter Gabriel and Neal Morse come closest).
So it is with David Gilmour's first solo outing. What made Floyd work for me is the mix of aggression and mellowness, often in the same songs as the lyrics and music build around a theme.
This album sounds more like offcuts, all yin and no yang with the trademarked melancholy vocals and beautiful, mournful guitar work that Gilmour brought to Floyd, but none of the acerbic wit and cynicism that Waters brought to the table. The absence of Rick Wright's deft touch is also keenly felt, further reducing the textures of the music.
It's not bad, but compared to Wish You Were Here, Animals and The Wall this is bland stuff. I'd sooner listen to any of them (or Echoes, Dark Side Of The Moon or even The Division Bell, which it mostly resembles) before I played this.
Robert-Averkios Antonsen: Brilliant album, I've been listening to it for years.
Nigel Mawdsley: Although I appreciate Pink Floyd's music I must admit that I am a 'Best of' compilation listener.
Having said the above I was pleasantly surprised by the David Gilmour album. On initial play the compositions are very good and well crafted. It is definitely an album that deserves future plays as the more it is played the more this listener will certainly enjoy.
Adam Ranger: Anyone in any doubt that Roger Waters was not the only creative genius in Floyd should listen to this album.
Musically there are a few songs that are the genesis of Comfortably Numb and Run like Hell. The wall was released a year after this album came out.
This is my favourite Gilmour solo album and I think his best. Lyrically he is not as strong as Waters. This is more apparent in later albums, where sometimes you are just waiting for those guitar phrases and solos to come along.
With this album, the lyrics aren't too bad, but it is the music that stands out. The guitar is very much at the forefront as you would hope. From a guitar maestro. Blues, rock, ambient chill... it's all here in glorious sonic perfection.
Listening to it again several times, it grew on me more. His best solo studio record.
Philip Qvist: Not so long ago we reviewed Amused To Death, now it's Dave Gilmour's turn to pick up a review. While Roger Waters could be viewed as the chief songwriter for Pink Floyd, there is little doubt who was the chief musician in the band - and that's not a slight on Rick Wright either.
While Amused To Death was a case of a host of musicians coming in to fulfil Roger Water's ambitions, Dave Gilmour was more than happy to just bring in Rick Wills and Willie Wilson to fill in the rhythm parts, while he handled most of the other instruments on his debut album. And even if our man Dave's lyrics were not the greatest, hence the three rather good instrumentals, this album does prove that he can more than hold his own in the songwriting stakes.
I see a lot in common with this album and The Division Bell and that's not necessarily a bad thing. However as I pointed out when reviewing Amused To Death, Pink Floyd the band was greater than the sum of its parts - and it also shows here.
I see Amused scored just under a 7 by this group, and I suspect David Gilmour the album will get a similar score. However, I do know which album I would prefer to listen to again - and it isn't Amused To Death. A very enjoyable choice for this week.
For good measure, I also listened to his latest album, Luck And Strange - highly recommended.
Greg Schwepe: Having played the heck out of The Wall, then The Final Cut (and how prophetic is that title now, knowing how the band history played out?), I needed something to fill my “Floyd Void.” That first came in the form of Gilmour’s second solo album, About Face. Bought it, really liked it. Then later that year while in my local record store as I was flipping through the “G” section; “Oh, David Gilmour’s first solo album…why hadn’t I bought this earlier?” “Floyd Void #2” now in hand.
David Gilmour begins with what would since become the norm for all his solo albums; a guitar instrumental, this one in the form of Mihalis. And so begins what is a great collection of songs.
After that introduction comes There’s No Way Out of Here which is probably my favourite song on the album, which comes with all the Pink Floyd hallmarks; memorable acoustic and electric guitar parts, lush female backing vocals, oh, and did I say a memorable collection of short Gilmour guitar solos.
Cry From The Stree” contains a raunchy guitar riff and more distinctive Gilmour-ish guitar.
This album was released between Animals and The Wall and has a very Animals-ish guitar tone. Almost as if Gilmour unpacked his pedal board from the Animals tour when starting to record this and just said “OK, off we go, I’ll just use this stuff…” A few of these songs certainly sound like they could’ve ended up on Animals.
Raise My Rent and Deafinitely are two more instrumentals filled to the brim with “I can tell whose guitar that is by the second note” Gilmour guitar staples. Spacy and distinctive.
I Can’t Breathe Anymore ends the album with loud Gilmour guitar. And though I’m not sure when all the behind-the-scenes Pink Floyd drama actually began, could that title and the lyrics describe what was coming down the pike with the band? Who knows!
Because I’m a Pink Floyd fan and wanna-be David Gilmour guitar player imitator, I’ve since bought every one of his solo albums (in addition to the Gilmour-led, Water-less Pink Floyd albums) to soak up everything Gilmour.
But would the casual music fan find David Gilmour a good listen? Sure. Decent group of songs put together by a highly skilled musician who had been part of some memorable albums before this solo endeavour. I also find it interesting that I don’t think any songs from this album have been played on his most recent solo tours, which is a shame. 8 out of 10 on this one for me.
Final score: 7.61 (54 votes cast, total score 411)
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