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.
