Pink Floyd: Obscured By Clouds - Music From La Valée (Vinyl LP)

The last in Pink Floyd's series of 1970s film-inspired works, Obscured by Clouds, like much of the band's music, has a cinematic feel. In retrospect, however, the album sounds like a warm-up for - or even a collection of high-quality outtakes from - Floyd's next and greatest record, Dark Side of the Moon. The opening title track is the sort of proto-ambient music that Pink Floyd helped pioneer and, with its spooky slide guitar, sounds uncannily like some of Eno's work with U2. After another instrumental, the album takes a more traditional, song-based turn and the next seven tunes cover a dizzyingly diverse array of styles. There is stomping, Grand Funk Railroad-style hard rock and gentle ballads like 'Stay' and 'Burning Bridges' (which recalls Hendrix's 'Little Wing'). 'Childhood's End,' a funky psychedelic number, sounds like a work-in-progress version of Dark Side's 'Time.'

David Gilmour, especially, is on top form. Whether creating Robert Fripp-esque soundscapes or blistering Clapton-style blues solos, Gilmour always plays for the song, effortlessly walking the thin line between guitar hero and ensemble musician. throughout, the band weaves a beautiful, yet decidedly un-flashy, tapestry of sound that makes for a subtle, varied, and ultimately essential Pink Floyd album.