1) Time 2) Brain Damage 3) Another Brick in the Wall Part 2 4) Comfortably Numb 5) Breathe 6) Money 7) The Great Gig in the Sky 8) Nobody Home 9) Us and Them 10) Time (The Old Tree with Winding Roots Behind the Lake of Dreams Mix)
I've known about this album for some time but I must admit the main reason I'm reviewing it is as a corollary to Franco's Yes review. As can be glimmered through Franco's review the main problem with the Yes Symphonic album is that the title was slightly inaccurate, what with the songs having symphonic accompaniment rather than being fully done with orchestral instrumentation.
Well this one is a total lie, there's no instruments at all!
Okay that's not true, this one is fully orchestral and I believe is intended to get Pink Floyd fans into classical music, or something. It's also really good! The orchestral instrumentation really gives the music this grandiose, epic feel to it. That's probably due to conductor Peter Scholes getting The London Philharmonic Orchestra to perform on it. And who arranged it but Jaz Coleman, Killing Joke's Jaz Coleman! Based on what I've read he's received some accolades for his Classical work and he does a particularly good job here, taking the Floyd songs and carving them into something distinctively his.
This can have drawbacks though, in that the paranoid and pissy mood of Pink Floyd is somewhat lost. Pink Floyd are a divisive band though so it's possible that with this aspect of Pink Floyd removed and their melodies played in this manner this could be an ideal way to enjoy the disputed genius of Roger Waters. Oh, and there's no lyrics as well. To continue further with this theme one thing that I see Pink Floyd accused of sometimes and that I can sympathise with a bit is that they weren't particularly good melody writers. I'm not going to hold up this album as indisputable proof as to the inaccuracy of this because I don't entirely agree with it and of but this really does make the melodies stand out for me personally. Maybe I'm being swayed by the sweeping arrangements but this album really does feel like something some posh guy could whistle and impress his posh family with. By that I mean it's tuneful.
Another drawback is that the album only features songs from Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall. For the most part the song choice is good and it does make sense to choose from their most famous songs but man an Echoes cover would have elevated this (assuming it didn't suck).
So, how about the song choice? Well it starts off with a great version of Time. The opening in particular is great, with sweeping violin and cool sound effects, than a bit that sounds almost industrial! It settles pretty quickly into a Classical piece. It ends up sounding really sort of majestic, but in an almost snooty authoritative way, but it's varied and can sound pretty dreamy at some points as well, with some tender bits. Brain Damage is interesting as well, having a more whimsical tone than the Pink Floyd original, being quite sprightly and melodic. It could easily be used in a ballet, probably, I don't know, I haven't actually seen any ballet. Money is similarly interesting, sounding like it could have been used in the soundtrack for Brazil (the film, not the country). I should probably elaborate for those who haven't seen Brazil, and because just pointing out instances when songs could be used in a soundtrack is a pretty lazy way to do a review. Well, basically it's mischievous but also weighty, kind of sarcastic almost. Then they screw it up by making it tender and weepy towards the end.
Not everything will make you wish your mother was a piano though, as surprisingly the version of Us and Them is kinda crappy. Well, relative to the rest of the album, I gave it a 7/10 in my notes. And those fucks at Allmusic liked it! In an otherwise negative review! Well that they liked it should be sign enough of its lack of quality.
Oh okay I'll review it.
Well although it is pretty it loses a lot of the uniquely blissed out atmosphere of the original, it feels less individualistic. This would already be enough to make me hold it in lesser regard but parts of it also sound really meandering and uncertain, like the conductor was giving this "oh shit I forgot how to conduct" face and the Orchestra had to compensate. It's definitely nice enough to listen to but it's the closest the album comes to sounding like bland classical muzak.
There's also an unnecessary remix of Time at the end.
Okay another paragraph of songs I like. Personally I like Clare Torry's singing but for those who don't the version of The Great Gig in the Sky here is a godsend. She's replaced by a violin! Has a kind of playfully romantic feel, which is new for Pink Floyd. Breathe has organ playing and a staccato trumpet and it's amusing that something previously so mellow and stones is now a brash and celebratory upbeat composition. Comfortably Numb translates about as well as you'd think it would, which is exquisitely, being moody and with a slightly sinister undercurrent, then it gets really epic when the classical equivalent of the chorus starts playing. It sounds like something that could play when someone accomplishes their life goal, like me writing this not at all repetitive and way overdue review!
Hey, remember how Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2 l was kind of a funky discoey song, well now it sounds like something that could be played by sad poets with their heads hanging down gloomily in gloom. Very brooding with a tender core, with some guitars it could almost be a Killing Joke song!
So, I probably liked this album a lot more than I should. There's something intrinsically cheesy and tacky about converting rock songs to classical music, it feels almost dishonest and ultimately pointless, like remaking sitcoms without the jokes. However I think the highest accolade I can give this album and none which makes those potential criticisms null is that if I had heard this before hearing Pink Floyd, or if these had been original compositions even, I'd still like it a lot. It's tastefully done, conveys a good range of emotions and has memorable hooks
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