I recently posted my favourite albums of all time for 50 days straight during the lead up to my 50th Birthday on 9th June. This particular album I speak of today, topped my personal chart.
This final album from my 50 favourites just creates the most beautiful 44 minutes that you could ever spend listening to recorded music. 5 tracks which fuse together to make one of the most sublime of progressive rock journeys ever.
Following on two years after “The Dark Side Of The Moon” completely changed how the world looked at music, “Wish You Were Here” grabbed that same baton and ran with it, bringing with it a much more coherent structure and more accessible musical direction.
The opening track “Shine On You Crazy Diamond was written around and pays tribute to Pink Floyd’s co founding band member Syd Barrett who left the band in 1968 and subsequently passed away in July 2006 after removing himself from public life for 35 years. The ambient synth intro and guitar build up to this song is the stuff of rock music folklore and the mellow, uplifting vibe to the song is beautiful.
The next track drops and even though it doesn’t appear in any of the critics top 10 Floyd songs, “Welcome To The Machine” is one of my favourite songs from their entire catalogue. To follow that you have the funky guitar driven masterpiece “Have A Cigar” which is almost like a strange interlude for 5 minutes before the inevitable happens with what’s remaining.
I defy anyone to listen to “Wish You Were Here” and not feel a little emotion. Like I have spoken of quite a few times in my rundown, the mark of a true song is the power to create an emotion for a lifetime of listeners, regardless of how many times it has been listened to. This is one of those songs that does this and which means so much, to so many people.
So, I can’t 100% lay claim to this record as being my total and absolute favourite of all time, I think to make such a statement would almost be impossible as it has changed many times over the years based on current circumstances. I base this particular choice as being top of the pile as I have listened to it hundreds of times over the years and it always creates a series of very profound different emotions within me that very few others do.
I’ll state it one more time for the record. Pink Floyd are the finest band to have ever graced a record or a stage.
