David Gilmour - About Face

Back in '84 both Roger Waters and David Gilmour put out solo albums. David's record dropped first and a month later Roger, who had enlisted Eric Clapton, released The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking. If people were expecting to settle the Waters / Gilmour debate, all the solo albums did was give the people little flags to plant in one camp or the other ... often both. I had both albums, and frankly I never really gave Roger's release more than a cursory listen ... although over the years it has grown on me. Over time both albums would be certified Gold by the RIAA in the states, but sales were nowhere near what Pink Floyd delivered - even The Final Cut went double platinum.

Roger wanted to be Roger, and David it seemed was trying to stay relevant. About Face spent a lot of time on my turntable back in '84. In hindsight a few of the songs on the album haven't aged that well, and even David himself stated that listening now the album has some great moments but it's too '80s for his current tastes. Fair. I'd go one further, it was an uneven album but the good stuff was so good that it didn't matter, and as far as I was concerned it absolutely crushed his '78 self titled solo album.

The good bits, and boy howdy they still resonate with me. "Murder" with Pino Palladino's fretless bass work and Jeff Porcaro's drums that usher in David's guitars is still awesome and this is still one of my favourite songs ever. "Out of the Blue" is probably the most Pink Floydesque song as it is textured with Michael Kamen's orchestral arrangements ... Mr. Kamen would work on both Roger's and David's solo albums. It's a wonderful song.

The slow mid-tempo burn "Cruise" is so good. The other is "Near the End" that closes out the album. While it isn't the best song on the album it's the best song on the album. I love the opening line:

And when you feel you're near the end
Will you just turn it over and start again

That was an easy one ... yes, more often than not I'd get up and start it again. What really put that song over the top was the guitar solo that he composed to play the song out ... I love a song that ends with a solo. The way David starts out with an acoustic guitar and then as the solo builds he slowly transitions to an electric guitar and it's honestly so subtle that unless you're paying attention it's a wicked bit of musical slight of hand. It doesn't hurt at all that the lead in track is a monster instrumental.

There really aren't any clunkers, and depending on my mood "All Lovers are Deranged" puts a grin on my face, and other times it sounds like a muddy mess. I also really love the groove the band lays down on "You Know I'm Right" but there are sections in the song where it just seems to collapse under its own weight. All this tells me is that David was trying stuff and didn't feel restrained trying to colour within the lines of what could be perceived as Pink Floyd. In short this was still a solo record from a guy who seemed to be missing his old day job. It must have felt weird. 

I always thought it was strange that after this one it was literally radio silence for a few years from both Roger and David. It would be Roger who'd be first out in 1987 with Radio K.A.O.S. an album I loved at the time that has honestly aged poorly. It would be David would would return as Pink Floyd, enlisting Nick Mason (my CD only had a picture of David and Nick) and Richard Wright as well as producer Bob Ezrin. A Momentary Lapse of Reason would be a massive hit, selling over 10,000,000 albums worldwide.

I still really like so much of About Face, and if it sounds like an '80s album so what? HE RECORDED IT IN THE '80s! Who knows where David would have gone musically if he'd continued trying to plant his own little flag. I suspect the answer lies within the tracks of the post Waters Pink Floyd albums. 

At the time I always took the album's title to be a wink and a nod to the music direction David wanted to take after Pink Floyd ... now it doesn't hit me the same way and feels like he's giving the answer to what he's about to do after this solo record.