PINK FLOYD - MEDDLE @ 50

 

Celebrating half a century on the planet today is Pink Floyd's sixth studio album, Meddle, which was released on October 31st, 1971. It's an album which represents a bridging period between the early Syd Barret era psychedelic rock band and the prog-rock super-group which would emerge with the landmark release of Dark Side of the Moon in the spring of 1973.

While the group was making definite movements towards a much more accessible sound after the challenging obscurity of the prior two albums, Ummagumma & Atom Heart Mother, they weren't quite settled on the conceptual underpinnings which would form the framework of the albums that came after Meddle. The fact is that there's no overriding theme to integrate this album and it was produced over the course of the preceding year in fits and starts between live performance commitments around the globe. As such, the recording process was often fragmented, drawn out and frequently unproductive. It's actually quite surprising how accessible this album is given that the group indulged in so many esoteric experiments in order to try to spur on their creativity. Most of those ended up yielding very little, like the idea of each member recording their part without any reference to the other member's recording, only a rough outline of what they should play.

Yet, in the end, they managed to craft a lovely and entirely listenable collection of music, one which has become one of my favorite albums in the group's canon. The hooks and structures, while offering an aura of expansiveness, remain grounded and avoid any overt experimental self-indulgences. It has a dreamy sound that's never disturbed by uncomfortable awkwardness.

While the music itself was a rousing success and garnered critical praise, though modest sales, the cover, provided by legendary '70s design house, Hipgnosis, could be considered one of their weakest efforts. Lead designer, Storm Thorgerson, initially suggested a close-up shot of a baboon's anus, but the band wisely (or not?) vetoed that suggestion and instead offered the idea of a shot of an ear underwater, which is what he went with. Storm always felt it was a lackluster effort and considered it his worst contribution to the bands album covers.

Middling cover graphics aside, it's a thoroughly enjoyable listen from start to finish and an album I return to quite frequently when I need a Floyd fix.