Pink Floyd - “More” (1969)

At the risk of being repetitive, but again it was my older brother's albums which led me to Pink Floyd. As a child, his records The Final Cut and The Wall were heard on the stereo in the living room regurlarly. I found them really good but as a 10-year-old I had no idea about who Pink Floyd were or the music they had created earlier. I remember the feeling of surprise when I, as a 14-year-old on Rhodes (vacation with my parents), found a tape with Pink Floyd and a recording called More. I had never heard of it but took a chance and bought it, especially as it was quite cheap. Looking back, I understand that the countless tapes that were for sale almost certainly were pirated versions. But I was blissfully unaware of this at the time, even if the knowledge problably wouldn’t have made any difference.

With a feeling of excitement, I listened to the tape at our return home and found something completely different than The Final Cut or The Wall, it was druggy and psychedelic, it was different and not least, it was good. I got an insight that a new world was waiting to be discovered. What or how many titles Pink Floyd had created I did not know, but I understood that there was likely a lot more to find. Exciting! This world is still one I often find myself in as I hold Pink Floyd as one of my favorite groups.

More, PF's third album, is a soundtrack to a French film with the same name, directed by Barbet Shroeder. I am a bit suspicious towards soundtracks as they often consist of unfocused mood music, and without the images the music can be rather formless and lacking in character. More offers a pretty wild mix of music. The opening song, and one of my favorites - Cirrus Minor, starts with birdsong which I find creats a harmonious but a bit melancholy mood. A guitar slowly fades in and then Roger Water’s singing continues the theme of melancholy. The song ends with a few minutes of beautiful, floating keyboard chords that I found as a teenager incredibly beautiful. And the birdsong returnes into the song. Nice! When I lied down on the floor, closed my eyes, it felt almost as I lifted off the ground. I still think it's a very beautiful part of the record.

But this album also offers some songs that have to be defined as hard rock or Heavy Metal (The Nile Song and Ibiza Bar). These two tracks are according to me and many others the 'heaviest' songs PF did. In addition, we also have some beautiful songs of the quieter type, more or less acoustic, which actually belongs to some of PF:s better songs, for example Green Is The Colour. Then there are also a number of songs that might fit better in a film than on a record. Instrumental tunes that are relatively close to the more psychedelic music excursions PF did in their first years (Careful With That Axe, Instellar Overdrive). Personally I have always had a hard time with these songs, frankly. I think some moderation is called for concering the lust of musical experimentation! An exception on More concerning the instrumental songs is Main Theme, a really cool song that was/is so suggestive that it for some reason made me suspect that the band members used drugs (psychedelic music used to make me think like that. Maybe I still do).

Well, despite a diverse album with some lows (but equally high peaks) I give this album an ‘OK’. The great thing about the wild mixture of styles is that the records doesn’t get boring. It can also be mentioned that this was the first album PF recorded without Syd Barrett. After a few years I bought the album on vinyl.

Finally, I may also mention that the album made me extremely curious about the film, rumors said that among other things it contained heroin addiction and LSD trips! Irresistible themes. At this time, the 80s and then the first half of the 90s, it was often a challenge to get hold of obscure movies. Actually, it was not before Internet's entry into my life I finally found it and ordered it from a movie site. The film was actually not very good even if it contained those erlier mentioned themes. The album is better.

Favorite Songs

Cirrus Minor

Green Is The Colour

Main Theme

 

Tracklist

Side A

1. "Cirrus Minor"  5:18

2. "The Nile Song"  3:26

3. "Crying Song"  3:33

4. "Up the Khyber"  2:12

5. "Green Is the Colour"  2:58

6. "Cymbaline"  4:50

7. "Party Sequence"  1:07

 

Side B

1. "Main Theme"  5:27

2. "Ibiza Bar"  3:19

3. "More Blues"  2:12

4. "Quicksilver"  7:13

5. "A Spanish Piece"  1:05

6. "Dramatic Theme"  2:15