Obscured by Clouds [Vinyl]

1972 again saw the band collaborate with filmmaker Barbet Schroeder to create the soundtrack to the film  La Vallee, becoming the band’s seventh studio album Obscured By Clouds.  The new Discovery version presents the original studio album, digitally remastered by James Guthrie and reissued with newly designed Digipak and a new 8 page booklet designed by Storm Thorgerson.

 

The ‘Discovery’ collection: 14 Remastered Studio Albums

Since 1967 Pink Floyd have produced one of the most outstanding and enduring catalogues in the history of recorded music. All 14 original Studio albums have now been painstakingly digitally remastered by James Guthrie (co-producer of The Wall), and are reissued with newly crafted packaging and booklets created by the band’s long-time artwork collaborator Storm Thorgerson.

‘Discovery’ albums are designed as an introduction to the artist, with all booklets including full album lyrics.

Commissioned as the soundtrack for Barbet Schroeder's 1972 film The Valley, Obscured By Clouds actually holds up rather well on its own terms. The title track is a trippy, cinematic instrumental that features some searing guitar work from David Gilmour, but full-fledged songs like "Free Four" (which sounds like a morbid inversion of Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit in the Sky"), and the folksy "Wot's...Uh the Deal" are the real highlights of the set. Essentially a transitional work, Obscured By Clouds has long been dwarfed by Dark Side of the Moon, the album which came immediately after it. In fact, the funky "Childhood's End" and the ethereal "Burning Bridges" could well be dry runs for the Dark Side tracks "Time" and "Breathe," respectively. In all, it's a priceless snapshot of a band on the verge of immortality. --Dan Epstein