David Gilmour - About Face

A step outside Pink Floyd.

Nice to hear what the real driving force behind Pink Floyd can do solo. Gilmour's guitar work has always been exceptional, but it really shine in some of the truly "rocking" tunes from this disc. If you like "Floyd" without Waters (and that's not difficult for me), then you'll love this disc. July 1, 2008

About Face

David Gilmour's second solo effort, About Face, leaves something to be desired. It's nowhere as interesting as his first release. About Face peaked at #32 on the charts. There weren't any singles from the album that cracked Billboard's Top 200.

The album opens with "Until We Sleep", easily the best song on the album. It's really the only song that rises above the average. There's a kind of urgency within the song that makes it a dynamic effort."Murder", among almost every song here with the exception of "Cruise", is an average effort; Gilmour does present us with a decent lead. It's the tempo change in the last third of this song that saves it. "Love on the Air" is co-written with Pete Townshend (The Who) that's a mellow song. It sounds like it could have been an outtake from The Wall. "Blue Light" could be the next best song. It has horns in it which gives it a sort of feel of being mainstream or R & B. A very unusual effort by him. "Out of the Blue" is a slow song that has some good lyrics. "All Lovers Are Deranged" is also co-written with Pete Townshend. It's got some decent lead passages but not what we normally expect from him. "You Know I'm Right" has some lyrics that will make you stop & think a little bit. This song is probably among the three best on the album. It sounds a little more like what we've come to expect from him. It has some horn sections in it that eventually gives it a little bit of a jazz tone. "Cruise" is easily the weakest song of the album. It's the closest thing to pop on the album; the last fourth of it turns to reggae. This just doesn't fit very well into the Gilmour song catalog. "Let's Get Metaphysical" is an instrumental. Is it a statement from Gilmour toward Olivia Newton-John who had a hit two years previously titled "Physical"? I don't know, there's nothing similar about them, my guess would be that Gilmour is telling us that there's a higher plane that we can reach. The album closes with "Near the End" . Gilmour treats us to a very good acoustical lead in the final section of the song, he then switches to an electric lead that's very subtle production switch.

The remastering is excellent, a vast improvement from the original. The booklet doesn't have any liner notes but lyrics to the songs are included. The band he uses is completely different from his first solo project. Jeff Porcaro (drums) was a highly respected drummer & was in Toto. Pino Palladino (bass) played with many artists. Ian Kewley (keyboards) performed with Samson. Guest artists abound & include Steve Winwood (piano & organ), Anne Dudley (synthesizer)(Art of Noise), Bob Ezrin (keyboards co-producer), Louis Jardine (percussion), Ray Cooper (percussion) & Jon Lord (synthesizer) (Deep Purple).

May 29, 2008

A must have....

A must have, not DG's best album, but something ost worth listening to....

Produced after PF-TFC, and it's just before AMLOR, so it's in between both of the breaking points in the mid 80's PF.

If you like DG, you will enjoy it a lot. April 24, 2008

It's ok.

While this solo album of David Gilmour is a far cry from Pink Floyd's works and in some ways not as good, David makes this album with his voice and guitar-playing. It's good to hear David, the songs are "different", I must say, but listenable. I guess my feelings about this album are mixed, I think 3 stars is adequate for it. If you are a die-hard DG fan, you'll definately want this, this is not so much for the casual fan. February 20, 2008

Far from Gilmour's Best

Workmanlike and seldom-inspired, this album finds David Gilmour unsuccessfully attempting to capture the mid-1980s mainstream rock bandwagon. Some artists could pull this off, like Robert Palmer and ZZ Top. Gilmour can't, and as a result his voice sounds harsh and his solos seem frentic and unfocused throughout. The mix is buried in that heavy reverb that so much of 80s pop over-used, and except for "Love on the Air," there's almost nothing that holds up to repeated listening.

I strongly suggest passing this over in favor of "David Gilmour," which is Gilmour's first and best solo album. Listening to that nearly perfect albumn again after listening to this only reinforces what a superior collection of songs the earlier album was. Unless you have a strong fondness for 80s corporate rock done by-the-books, I can't imagine anyone listening to this often.
February 16, 2008

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