Pink Floyd's Meddle at 45

[Echoes]

Relative to the recent "Rank the Pink Floyd albums from Best to worst" thread:
Pink Floyd's Meddle celebrates 45th anniversary on October 31 (though some say November 5). We took our name from its central track, the side-long "Echoes." We'll celebrate with that and covers of tracks from the album including performances by Banco de Gaia, Low, California Guitar Trio and Gov't Mule tonight (10/28) on Echoes. http://wp.me/p4ZE0X-7ru

[Jerjo]

I'll try to catch it this weekend if that's the Echoes show my NPR affiliate runs BUT did you say Gov't Mule? I love the Mule but aren't they kind of the antithesis to Echoes type music?

[Scrotum Scissor]

One of their very best, IMO. And strangely it hasn't aged too badly either. Piper has aged, but is ironically still uniquely timeless in its period whimsy. With Animals these are my fave ol' Floyds.

[Paulrus]

The minute I first heard Meddle as a teenager I somehow knew (even ages before PE!) that it would put all those "Are Floyd prog?" discussions to rest. It's been my fave of theirs ever since.

[lazland]

I first heard Echoes in about 1976. I was staying at my aunty's house. My cousin, her son, had, that week, introduced me to Yes, and I fell in love with it. I was watching television alone (to watch some cricket, but it was rained off), and BBC were playing one of those filler progs. It was an ocean scene with boats, and I found out that the soundtrack was Echoes at the end. I was mesmerised, and have remained so by that gem of a track ever since.

[Casey]

In college I used Echoes as my way of TM. Wish I had that kind of time again!

[mogrooves]

Meddle still resonates with me, lo these decades later. Caught them on the Meddle tour in '71.

[Gravedigger]

Ah, the perfect thread to ask a question:
I never really was a Floyd fan, but I like this album. The Gilmour/Wright vocals on "Echoes" is probably my favorite part of the Pink Floyd "sound".
Who is singing the main melody, and who sings the harmony line?

Thanks in advance.

[Mythos]

Echos and Future Days (Can) have sort of the same vibe (for me)...love them both, and I have them together on a CD, along with the Spacious Mind: *"Upon which areas may the circles be drawn"*

*If you are a PF fan (especially pre-DSOTM) you really should listen to this song, I have the 23 minute version, but the 14 minute version on youtube is still pretty damn cool: https://youtu.be/bLfNCVlLP34

[Mister Triscuits]

If you play Pink Floyd's Meddle at 45, you see God.

[JJ88]

For me, Meddle was their best album since Syd Barrett had left the band. There's a lot to like about the preceding albums, but there's a certain aimlessness. Meddle feels much more focussed and tighter.

It's not perfect...'San Tropez' and 'Seamus' are basically makeweights; inoffensive, but makeweights nevertheless. But 'One Of These Days' and 'Echoes'(a contender for my personal favourite Floyd track) remain fan favourites, and the hazy 'A Pillow Of Winds' and 'Fearless' are amongst the most underrated songs in their canon, with David Gilmour at his very best.

[Trane]

For me, Meddle was their best album since Syd Barrett had left the band. There's a lot to like about the preceding albums, but there's a certain aimlessness. Meddle feels much more focussed and tighter.

AHM was the band's best album (whether with or without Syd) before Meddle came out.

[Scrotum Scissor]

It's not perfect...'San Tropez' and 'Seamus' are basically makeweights; [...] the hazy 'A Pillow Of Winds' and 'Fearless' are amongst the most underrated songs in their canon, with David Gilmour at his very best.

Agree with the latter and as concerns "Seamus" (although displaying a "tune" simply on impulse due to the doghowl effect was a fully legitimate expression of 70s whimsy experimentalist spontaneity, IMHO), but not in regard to "St. Tropez", which to me stands up well to "A Pillow of Winds" and "Fearless". "St. Tropez" may appear filler and a lazy gesture now, but the fact is that the melody perfectly reflects the mood of the lyric's theme and temporal colour. St. Tropez (the place) itself was - back then - a harbour for all these British (and sometimes French) underground acts hired in to soothe the newfound countercultural influence enjoyed by jetset middleclassers out to party the modern age along the beaches, and remnants of the once so radical UK freeschool were often to be found amongst the "entertainers"; the Softs, Blossom Toes, Arthur Brown, Fairport, T. Rex, Floyd etc. I think the song captures that spirit of social and cultural confusion pretty darn well for a quasi-jazzy afternoon ditty.

[JJ88]

^I think for me, 'San Tropez' seems to fade out just as it's getting going. That makes it seem slight.

AHM was the band's best album (whether with or without Syd) before Meddle came out.

I can't see that being a widely held view. There's some really great music within the Atom Heart Mother suite, but also some sprawl which hasn't aged so well IMHO. I find 'Echoes' more successful as a side-long suite. The 2nd side is very likeable, however.

[Scrotum Scissor]

^ I love the "Psychedelic Breakfast", the choir parts and the disharmonic electronic snippets of the title work, as well as some of "Summer '68". The rest of it has aged terribly, IMHO. As with Ummagumma I'd still go to great lengths to salute their efforts and pretentions, though.

[Paulrus]

Ah, the perfect thread to ask a question:
I never really was a Floyd fan, but I like this album. The Gilmour/Wright vocals on "Echoes" is probably my favorite part of the Pink Floyd "sound".
Who is singing the main melody, and who sings the harmony line?

Thanks in advance.

Agree that the harmony vocals -- never one of PF's strengths -- are part of what make "Echoes" so special. I'm pretty sure it's Rick doing the main line and Dave providing the high harmony.

There's some really great music within the Atom Heart Mother suite, but also some sprawl which hasn't aged so well IMHO. I find 'Echoes' more successful as a side-long suite. The 2nd side is very likeable, however.

Agreed. IMO the main suite isn't really successful musically, but for 1970 it was pretty groundbreaking. It became a prog rock cliche, but how many other side-long pieces were there at the time? But side 2 is a winner for me. "If" carries on from Water's earlier pastoral pieces like "Grantchester Meadows" and "Julia Dream", Wright's "Summer 68" sort of slots in between "Paint Box" and "Stay", Gilmour's "Fat Old Sun" is his first really successful song (so cool that he played that live recently), and I view "Psychedelic Breakfast" as a lighthearted homage to the Syd era. I dunno... all of side 2 works for me and sets up the commercial and artistic successes to come, right up to Dark Side.

[JJ88]

'Fat Old Sun' has made appearances in Gilmour's set-lists for several years. The rumour was that he wanted it on the Echoes best of as well.

Waters played 'If' in some of solo shows of the 80s, I think.

[LeFrog]

Agree that the harmony vocals -- never one of PF's strengths -- are part of what make "Echoes" so special. I'm pretty sure it's Rick doing the main line and Dave providing the high harmony.

No, it's the other way around : Dave - main , Rick - high harmony.

[Score2112]

For me, Meddle was their best album since Syd Barrett had left the band. There's a lot to like about the preceding albums, but there's a certain aimlessness. Meddle feels much more focussed and tighter.

It's not perfect...'San Tropez' and 'Seamus' are basically makeweights; inoffensive, but makeweights nevertheless. But 'One Of These Days' and 'Echoes'(a contender for my personal favourite Floyd track) remain fan favourites, and the hazy 'A Pillow Of Winds' and 'Fearless' are amongst the most underrated songs in their canon, with David Gilmour at his very best.

100% correct regarding Pillows and Fearless.

[Roth-Handle Studios]

I love playing records at the wrong speed...you can hear a lot of new things like arrangements and details...

// Mattias

[notallwhowander]

What I like about the AHM Suite is that all the elements that would make Floyd a massive success were there. However, it wasn't until "Echoes" that they all really gelled and were arranged in a way that each element flawlessly fell together. The following albums (minus the soundtrack) were a refinement on that kind of arrangement.

[Zeuhlmate]

The minute I first heard Meddle as a teenager I somehow knew (even ages before PE!) that it would put all those "Are Floyd prog?" discussions to rest. It's been my fave of theirs ever since.

The only PF album I have.

[mozo-pg]

Echoes is my favourite PF song. It's amazing live.

[happytheman]

Meddle tops my list.. WYWH comes in a close second..

[XavGel]

Echoes is still a very very strong piece of music. It is coherent, highly adventurous, and possess a great balance between harmonic taste (the minor/major chords transition on the verse are really moving, every time I hear it) and "sound exploration". Very clever, very tasteful, very musical indeed. I love that tune immensely.
I'm also very fond of Summer 68, what happens just before the chorus is really great. It's quite a Wright album in a way. It touches me a lot.