The Floyd-Hole: Every Pink Floyd Album - Part 14

 THE DIVISION BELL - REVIEW

Cluster One starts the album in veritable silence for the first minute or so, with only the faint sounds of wind and crackling static. As the actual music comes on - gradually, slowly - and I find it very peaceful; lightly-touched piano and electronic humming, mostly. Some distant guitar sounds make this sound mournful and introspective, like the soundtrack they'd play during an emotional part of the movie Blade Runner or something. It has a distinctly '80s sound of synth and sad guitar, like a bunch of PF's work at this time. I was expecting some kind of swing or drop into something a bit more intense, but it never came. I could use this song to meditate, I think - it's just super relaxing.

The next track, What Do You Want From Me, has a funky, almost pornographic vibe, complete with what I call "wavy bass". The signing is potent and heavy, like a rock ballad, which cuts deep into the funky vibe and veers it more into gospel or rock opera territory. This sounds more like a PF song, like something from their golden age. The choir, the echoed singing, the slow build and slow burn - all very standard at this point, which unfortunately equates to "not especially memorable" in my books.

Up next is Poles Apart, kicking off with some acoustic and steel guitar and deep, longing lyrics. It has a vaguely country vibe, which isn't new for PF but it's certainly rare for them. I wonder if this style of "Heartland rock" is PF legitimately trying to break into the country music demographic, or if it's all just more musical experiments. I'm leaning towards the latter as the sound effects come into play - circus sounds, for whatever reason. Very out of place, especially afterwards when the song picks up in pace and leans even harder on the country vibe than before. This song is all over the place, yet somehow manages to sound same-y. Very strange piece.

Marooned follows, opening with seaside noises of gulls and waves and gentle electronic plucking sounds. This is purely an instrumental track, and a very soft one at that. Like Cluster One, this one is a very relaxed, almost meditative track, but it also has the quintessential '80s Miami Vice-style electric guitar sound. It's like they took the first two album tracks and mashed them together; at the very least we can say it's a thematically appropriate choice for the album. It's a 3.6 roentgen song -  not great, but not terrible.

A Great Day For Freedom begins lyrics-first, a true rarity. The singing and lyrics are quite wistful, and the song overall sounds depressing, especially since the predominant instrument is a sad-sounding piano. More '80s guitar, more distant choral echoes; more of the same thing. The vibe perks up slightly at the chorus, but overall I come out of this one feeling lower than going in. Not a big fan.

The next track, Wearing The Inside Out, begins with some smooth saxophone and overtones of jazz. Some slow bongos make the song feel both festive and relaxing at the same time. The whole feels a little "tribal", but in a very relaxed way, like if the "tribe" were taking a smoke break or something. The slightly out-of-place synthesizer shows up halfway through to lend a very space-y sound to the song, reminding us that we're listening to PF here. The singing throughout is soft and sweet, though the actual content of the lyrics are comparatively harsh and simplistic. The guitar solo (and the whole song in general, to be honest) is a touch bland for my tastes. I feel like this whole album is working to put me to sleep at this point.

Take It Back follows, leading in with some plucked electric guitar and more of that "Heartland rock" countrified sound. I could imagine this song played in the background of a Chevrolet truck commercial; it's certainly the most radio-friendly of the album's tracks. The singing even sounds faintly reminiscent of those types of artists at the time - very "Spingsteen-esque", so to speak. On the whole, the song's energy feels low (like most of this album), which is jarring since the singing sounds like it's trying (and failing) to bring big energy into the song.

Coming Back to Life is next, though the name is misleading - there's no life to be found here, only more morose guitar sounds, depressing synth sustains, and mournful singing to keep me fast asleep. At least, that's what I thought until the jaunty step up at nearly 3-minutes in; the song flips a switch to a more upbeat sound as the drums and electric guitar step up and bring in some much-needed energy. Still has the same '80s sound we hear throughout the album - that sort of echoing singing and distant electric guitar that brings to mind scenes from Top Gun or The Breakfast Club. While certainly more upbeat than its contemporaries, this track doesn't salvage the sleepiness of the rest of the album.

Keep Talking begins with space-y sound effects for that classic PF sound, but then transitions into a flat, almost corporate muzak sound, like something played during a '80s/'90s tech demo. The singing clears up the vibe a bit, but if this were an instrumental, it'd feel more at home in a training video or something. It's peppered with what sounds like sound bites from Stephen Hawking - an odd choice, but it kind of works and adds to the corporate aesthetic (though I doubt that's what PF was going for). The fact that this song has a synth solo as opposed to a guitar solo sort of compounds the effect. I hear some talkbox in there - I guess PF wanted to bring out some old toys for this song, but it works well.

Up next comes Lost For Words, which begins very softly and again feels like one of those "meditative" songs this album has in spades. When the acoustic guitar joins, it blends the meditative style with that Heartland style almost too perfectly, which I think could round out the album quite nicely. Unfortunately, the meditative aspect falls away shortly thereafter, leaving only more of that countrified sound that PF loves to play lately. Sound effects halfway re-ground us in the reality that yes, we are listening to Pink Floyd, and no, you didn't put on Garth Brooks by mistake. An F-bomb dropped in there sort of ruins the country aesthetic though - I don't really know what to make of this song. It's fine, I guess, if you like country music in your Pink Floyd.

High Hopes finishes off the album with ringing church bells in a hallmark of PF style. I'd hoped the album might end with something upbeat and perky, but this song is nearly the complete opposite - more gloom, more darkness, it's practically funeral music. There are marching drums and Spanish guitar that you'd expect to amp the vibe of the song, but alas they do almost nothing to bring any kind of energy. This is the longest track on the album and so I was half-expecting a switch partway into something more upbeat (like with Coming Back to Life), but no, PF was insistent on finishing on a downer of a note in this one. In classic form, it ends with a weird voicemail recording sound bite thing.

Overall: This is probably the most depressing, most sleep-inducing PF album I've come across. The energy is low and slow, despite genre-switching all over the place between relaxing/country/morose. There's just nothing memorable or exciting here, nothing to keep me coming back for more or even to hum to myself in my head. This whole album is a masterclass in being depressed. I recognize that sadness is an emotion and that PF likes to play emotional music, but doing a whole album of it just seems like a bad idea. The shoehorned country sound in this album doesn't help matters much. Overall, not a great album if you're in a good mood.