Obscured By Clouds
Commissioned as the soundtrack for Barbet Schroeder's 1972 filmThe Valley,Obscured By Cloudsactually holds up rather well on its own terms. The title track is a trippy, cinematic instrumental that features some searing guitar work fromDavid Gilmour, but full-fledged songs like "Free Four" (which sounds like a morbid inversion ofNorman 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 Cloudshas long been dwarfed byDark 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 theDark Sidetracks "Time" and "Breathe," respectively. In all, it's a priceless snapshot of a band on the verge of immortality.--Dan Epstein