06-12-2002, 08:21 AM
Listened to Atom Heart Mother today and it struck me that Gilmour isn't so prominent in an obvious way as he is on other albums. Maybe because of the great bass/keyboard playing from Waters/Wright respectively, and Geesin's orchestral stuff, the album did not rely too heavily on guitar solos, as some albums e.g. Division Bell, Wish You Were Here have.
However, where Gilmour does play on AHM, he is excellent and adds a subtle texture that I believe is necessary to make the album sound believable as a top-notch PF release. His understated, simple solo on If is perfect, and the song Fat Old Sun, one of the few he wrote completely by himself, though often dismissed by Americans as "the worst kind of whimsical English folk" is at the end of the day, a pleasant song. Fans of Gilmour should not dismiss AHM off-hand, as I suspect many may have done. A few more plays and it might really grow on you.
However, where Gilmour does play on AHM, he is excellent and adds a subtle texture that I believe is necessary to make the album sound believable as a top-notch PF release. His understated, simple solo on If is perfect, and the song Fat Old Sun, one of the few he wrote completely by himself, though often dismissed by Americans as "the worst kind of whimsical English folk" is at the end of the day, a pleasant song. Fans of Gilmour should not dismiss AHM off-hand, as I suspect many may have done. A few more plays and it might really grow on you.