Author: Aleš Podbrežnik, Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Gilmour, David
Label: EMI Records
Released: 2006
Length: 51:40
Rating: 3.5/5
Guitar and vocal legend David Gilmour spent the years after Pink Floyd’s live album »PULSE« (1996), when the band really only existed on paper, and right up to their official demise in 2014 with the farewell album »Endless River«, slowly turning into that good-natured, elderly, smiling uncle. As a solo musician he swore mostly by the sentimentality and nostalgic feelings of his countless devotees, even though as a songwriter he really had nothing particularly new or exciting left to offer, having burned through all his best ideas back in his best, younger years. Then again, unlike his former Pink Floyd “fellow sufferer” Roger Waters, David was never exactly a hive of solo activity in his long career, so »On an Island«, released in 2006, was a long-awaited record among the faithful, and only his third studio album.
Sure, David’s 1978 debut was one of the better solo projects by any Pink Floyd member, and »About Face« from 1984 was far from bad, even if in many ways it was a product of its time. But neither of them sounded much like the musical style of his famous band, and that was kind of good, because the guitar maestro was trying to show as much songwriting individuality as he could. In 2006 he opted for a slightly different approach. Unlike on his previous two solo outings, David managed on »On an Island« to at least partly (re)create the ambient magic that defined Pink Floyd in the mid-eighties, when he took the reins of their creative process from Waters. The difference is that most of the compositions on the album, with the exception of »Take a Breath«, are so distinctly light and ambient that even the ladies in fur coats can listen to the record with ease, the ones who sit in the VIP boxes at David’s modern-day concerts alongside their gray-haired partners with fat wallets.
Through most of the »On an Island« compositions, David leans mainly on his trademark ultra-melancholic guitar solos and the many slide guitar tricks that made him famous in his early Pink Floyd years, all played within rhythmically tight and melodically structured arrangements. Of course, David invited a whole legion of old friends to join him on »On an Island«, the standouts being longtime Pink Floyd bandmate Richard Wright (sadly no longer with us), Canterbury scene elder Robert Wyatt, guitar virtuoso Phil Manzanera, original Pink Floyd guitarist Rado ‘Bob’ Close, David Crosby, Graham Nash and Guy Pratt. Most of the lyrics on »On an Island« were (as expected) written by Dave’s partner Polly Samson, who also played piano on one of the tracks and contributed backing vocals.
Melancholic nostalgia for “the good old days” and benevolent sentimentality dominate the entire album, reflecting the inner mood of a man in his later years who has slowly stepped into the so-called third age. David had turned exactly sixty by the time »On an Island« came out. »Castellorization«, the opening instrumental, which Gilmour dedicated to the Greek island where he evidently had a thoroughly enjoyable holiday, features his trademark guitar soloing. The slightly folk-rock-flavored »Smile« is a pleasant instrumental that, with its pastoral pulse and acoustic guitar melody, will remind most listeners a bit of the Pink Floyd classic »Fat Old Sun«. »A Pocketful of Stone« is less reminiscent of Gilmour-era Pink Floyd than of Camel, somewhere around the »Rajaz« period (1999), with the small but important difference that Dave’s voice was always a touch better in tune than Andy Latimer’s. The only track where David shows a bit more rocker energy is »Take a Breath«. Compared with the still-life nature of the rest of the songs, its punchier guitar riff, busier drums and more aggressive vocal approach make it almost a proper hard rocker.
With »On an Island«, an album of distinctly still-life character, Mr. Gilmour invited his followers to a pleasant family get-together and a relaxing break on a secluded Mediterranean island. »On an Island« is a very easy album to listen to, and on the ambient side a gorgeous record with fantastic production, more than suited to unwinding and a restorative nap after a grueling day at work. But even though it occasionally recalls certain highlights of Gilmour-era Pink Floyd, as a whole it’s not quite the masterpiece most of David’s followers were probably hoping for after waiting so incredibly long for his third solo album.
Review no. 2 by: Peter Podbrežnik, date 13.01.2017 (rating 3.5/5)
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Pink Floyd. Maybe the most awkward coinage I could possibly open this review with. This is the band that never officially broke up, yet it’s been ages since it showed any sign of heightened activity. That’s why David Gilmour’s new studio album is a real balm for everyone for whom the Pink Floyd deadness is absolutely unnecessary and unacceptable. “On An Island” is by no means a Pink Floyd album. It’s David Gilmour from head to toe. And yet it’s a kind of Pink Floyd album anyway, since Gilmour wrote it. How do you untangle that?
Clearly I can’t get rid of the words Pink Floyd. “On An Island” proves that, after Pink Floyd, Gilmour is the most Pink Floyd of them all. Waters got stuck somewhere around “The Final Cut” (1983), while Gilmour is making a solo album that comes closest to what we understand by the term Pink Floyd. Whether the seventies or the post-Waters era! “On An Island” is also Gilmour’s return to the style and sound of his solo debut “David Gilmour” from 1978.
Gilmour offers his uniquely recognizable warm vocals and his unforgettable, one-of-a-kind, irreplaceable guitar playing, which is strictly his and nobody else’s. He sings with a clean voice, sophisticated and sensual. In places he pulls the feel straight back through the seventies, right to the “floyd” tracks Green Is The Colour or If, especially where his gentle vocal is accompanied in the background by an acoustic slide guitar. I’m talking about the song The Smile, a nifty “cross” between that “floyd” legacy of the distant past and, say, A Great Day For Freedom (“Division Bell”, 1994). The song isn’t actually anything new, as Gilmour already played it live in 2001 and it’s included on his DVD “In Concerts”. It fits this solo record perfectly, even though it didn’t leave any particular impression on “In Concerts”.
Castellorizon is a four-minute instrumental that opens the record and, as expected, has Davids “moody” soloing woven into it. If it compares to anything, it’s vaguely the opening of “A Momentary Lapse Of Reason” (1987), though miles away. Definitely, and even though it’s not Pink Floyd. It’s simply made in such a way that you instantly know, and no mistake: “This comes from one of the “floyd” heads!” Which head that is doesn’t take long to guess. The title track the intro flows into is simply a masterful continuation. Drifting through the sky and floating in the moonlight. Everything is calm, everything is at rest, the moon is shining, the silhouettes of trees glisten in its radiant light, and David Gilmour’s island appears. “Let The Light Surround You!”, as if the voice were coming from heaven. A psychedelic gem. Exactly like Floyd, only from the pen of Gilmour. Straight into the vein! The title track instantly bathes a true “floydian” in that magic, the magic David conjures so effectively. The solo in the middle, tender, gentle, fragile,…. Maximally soft, and then melancholic once more in the outro, a slight whiff of High Hopes? The strict control of the guitar sound, the master of the “pull off” and of tremolo control, flows spontaneously through the entire record. David develops whole palettes of melodies from a single tone. Every note has an important place, a very important one. The solo in The Blue is one of those perfect perfections, and again in Take A Breath. And again and again,… The man is anything but wasteful with his notes, Steve Vai, take note!
What Gilmour brought over from Floyd and tied to his own record looks something like this. A simple “sample” repeating with a “delay” seems completely innocent at first, sometimes even too innocent. It slowly gets masterfully refined, with perfect feel, bit by bit, melody on melody, until it grows into a flawless perfection, an impeccable union of classical and rock in perfect symbiosis, with a maximally filled-out sonic picture. Red Sky At Night, with its saxophone in the opening, carries a real Vangelis “Blade Runner feel”. Gilmour, master of atmosphere! That suddenly morphs into This Heaven, a song built on a “walking blues” foundation, the “feel” again outstanding but completely different, the Hammond working wonders in the background, not to mention the “bluesy clean” bursts of Gilmour’s guitar. The moods keep flipping upside down and landing back on their feet, over and over. “On An Island” is that unpredictable record that keeps surprising you throughout. You never know what’s hiding behind its shore.
The songs are accompanied by fantastic orchestral arrangements that build a grandiose atmosphere throughout. For example, A Pocketful Of Stones. It’s incredible how unexpectedly Gilmour breaks this song open and takes us somewhere in the middle straight to, no, not “A Saucerful Of…”, don’t worry, heh, heh, heh,.. but to the start of the seventies (the record “Meddle”).
Where We Start is a true masterstroke when it comes to picking the right closer. The composition strongly recalls the opening of the record with the title track together, but the melody is different, and the “feel” is very similar to the beginning of the record. The circle is slowly closing, the story is complete. Gilmour is once again rocking in the boat of his notes, with his unique “slide” guitar and “steel pedal” playing. There are simply no words that would do for a review of this record. Every time you listen to “On An Island”, completely different feelings wash over you. “On An Island” really is a drift among the stars. It’s not hard at all to picture a fairytale mood draped in flawless moonlight, oar strokes on a resting river, on a night where silence is the master. In that moment these unique sounds take you over and carry you far, far away. The record is transcendental and carries esoteric effects, a real relaxation massage for the little brain. Falling asleep to it is, simply, a blink away.
Gilmour did what we all quietly expect from Pink Floyd, but for the latter the story is over. “On An Island” is a Pink Floyd serial, even though it’s not a Pink Floyd album. It’s a true David Gilmour solo album, which can only sound “gilmourian” and in no other way. That’s it! The vocals, the guitar, the grasp of music in a completely personal way that only Gilmour has. Dec is a genius, and given the track record of its creator and its perfection, the record is the record of March 2006, and I can probably say right away, the record of the year! A top-class psychedelic masterpiece with exceptional melodies and mighty moods, and in its unique polish and perfection it has no equal. To fully enjoy “On An Island” you absolutely must switch off your “ratio” while listening. So please don’t do what this review does! Don’t analyze while you listen, just surrender to the music and let it carry you beyond the horizons of logic. Become part of Gilmour’s endless horizon!
Review no. 1 by: Aleš Podbrežnik, date: 06.03.2006 (rating 4/5)
Lineup
David Gilmour – vocals, guitar, bass guitar, percussion, piano, Hammond organ, electric piano, saxophone, bass harmonica, cumbus
Guy Pratt – bass guitar
Robert Wyatt – percussion
Andy Newmark – drums, percussion
Jools Holland – piano
Phil Manzanera – piano, keyboards
Leszek Mozdzer -piano
Polly Samson – piano, backing vocals
Caroline Dale – cello
Ged Lynch – drums
Willie Wilson & The Tunemasters – drums
Lucy Wakeford – harp
Chris E. Thomas – keyboards
Georgie Fame – Hammond organ
Chris Stainton – Hammond organ
Graham Nash – backing vocals
Crosby, David & Graham Nash – backing vocals
Chris Laurence – double bass
Alasdair Malloy – glass harmonica
Production
David Gilmour,Chris Thomas & Phil Manzanera
Tracklist
1. Castellorizon (3:54)
2. On an Island (6:47)
3. The Blue (5:26)
4. Take a Breath (5:45)
5. Red Sky at Night (2:51)
6. This Heaven (4:24)
7. Then I Close My Eyes (5:27)
8. Smile (4:03)
9. A Pocketful of Stones (6:17)
10. Where We Start (6:46)
