Momentary Lapse of Reason Review

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(More customer reviews)Pink Floyd's triumphant comeback (their 13th studio album) entitled A Momentary Lapse of Reason was released in September of 1987.
The album was the first without original member bass player/singer/lyricist Roger Waters whom acrimoniously split from his bandmates in 1985.
For years, many thought that 1983's aptly named The Final Cut was the farewell album of Pink Floyd's but singer/songwriter/guitarist David Gilmour, drummer Nick Mason (although he plays on half of the disc because his playing was underestimated by Waters and wasn't until the Momentary Lapse tour where he played better again) and the late great keyboard player Rick Wright (as a salaried musician nonetheless) along with co-producer Bob Ezrin and session bass player Tony Levin spent eight months recording the album at David's houseboat studio the Astoria in London and at various studios in London and L.A. (where they relocated after Roger's lawyers threatened legal action) with many people doubting the Floyd being relevant without Waters.
However, when I (as an 11 year old boy in 1987) first heard the first single "Learning to Fly", I was in reassured that Floyd was back in a big way. When my father brought home the album for me shortly after its release, I was amazed on how superb this album was.
It was in fact David Gilmour whom sang most of the classics from 1969 to 1975 before Waters went on his ego trip for the next three discs (no disrespect to those last three albums (the underrated Animals, the epic The Wall and the somewhat bleak The Final Cut), I like all of Floyd's work and am an unbiased die-hard fan). The songwriting burden nestled now on David's shoulders (he wrote all of the music and gave credit to those who came up with small ideas but he isn't confident in writing lyrics hence other people help with the lyrics).
The instrumental opening "Signs of Life" dated back to a riff that first emerged in the Animals era and a great instrumental. The aforementioned "Learning to Fly" follows and was a great song. The ominous "The Dogs of War" is next and featured one of David's best guitar solos and Carmine Appice was on drums on this track. We then segue into "One Slip" which is another great song and was co-written by Gilmour with Roxy Music guitarist Phil Manzanera and is where the album got its title. The poverty and injustice anthem "On the Turning Away" is one of Floyd's best songs and was another rock radio smash upon release.
"Yet Another Movie" and "Round and Around" kicked off the album's second half and reminded me musically of Wish You Were Here era Floyd and is killer. The "A New Machine (pt.1)"/"Terminal Frost"/"A New Machine (pt.2)" medley though they are separate tracks are spellbinding. The best track on the album was the closing "Sorrow" which goes back to the old epics of the past clocking in at close to 9 minutes.
The Momentary Lapse album was well received when release as it hit #3 on the album charts in the US and #1 on the CD charts here in the US. Also, the album sold over 5 million in the US alone to date and proved that the Floyd could survive without Waters. Also, the band embarked on a tour that would go on for three years and be documented on the album/video Delicate Sound of Thunder.
In 1997, the album was re-mastered and re-released. Then it was re-released again in October of 2005 with a new remaster thanks to James Guthrie and Joel Plante who remastered this album and it sounds better than either the 1987 or 1997 CD issues. Now in 2009, Capitol Records acquire the licensing rights to this album and just re-released the CD with its 1997 remaster and booklet.
Highly recommended!

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Reissue of this 1987 album from the Rock legends. This 1997 remastered version, available now through EMI, was theband's first release after the departure of Roger Waters and features David Gilmour along with Floyd members Nick Mason and Richard Wright. Also features musical assistance from Tony Levin, CarmineAppice and Jim Keltner.

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