Richard BodinMeddle is a pivotal album in the history of Pink Floyd. The sound remains very psychedelic but already hints at the electronic experiments of The Dark Side of the Moon. This album consists of six tracks, one of which takes up the entire B-side by itself.
An apocalyptic One of These Days opens the album. A kind of infernal, psychopathic machine that dreams of only one thing… “One of these days… I’m going to cut you into little pieces.” This is the same track where Mason, completely unleashed, loses his drumstick in the Pompeii arena. You can already hear, in the sound, the beginnings of the experiments that would lead to The Dark Side of the Moon.
What follows is a radical change of atmosphere that somewhat tempers the excitement of the opening track. A Pillow of Winds and Fearless, very soothing, recall tracks like If or Cymbaline, folk gems from their previous albums. However, the inclusion of You’ll Never Walk Alone, the anthem of Liverpool Football Club supporters, used to illustrate the last verse of Fearless, feels out of place. The last two tracks on Side A serve as a kind of interlude. They’re amusing but not exactly memorable.
Finally, the second side arrives… and here comes a 25-minute track slowly taking shape. Enter Echoes. This track is a best-of in itself. It encapsulates all the best of Floyd without the sometimes overly grandiose aspects. Psychedelic, free-spirited lyrics talk about an albatross flying over waves. The incredible part is that you believe it—you can feel the waves, a vague sensation of soaring height. You’re floating… The music gradually builds in intensity. Gilmour’s guitar produces prehistoric screams, plunging you into a full-blown hallucination. The music becomes a perfectly controlled sonic magma. Celestial voices then complete the tableau. It’s reminiscent of Careful with That Axe, Eugene or the final theme from Zabriskie Point.
When the record ends, it’s hard to resist the urge to play it again, if only for Echoes. Because if Meddle is essential, it’s primarily because of that track.
