Album Review: "On an Island" by David Gilmour

One of the classiest and most tasteful musicians in all of rock released his third solo album this week. "On an Island" is David Gilmour's first music since 1994's "The Division Bell" with Pink Floyd and his first solo effort since 1984's "About Face".

This disc departs quite markedly from both of those efforts, and his DVD from a couple of years ago, which was quite confusing, at least for me, is no indication of what listeners should expect from "On an Island". This disc is sonically quite emotive and close to a Brian Eno-ish effort while retaining a lot of the "Meddle" through "Animals" vibe of classic Floyd. While each of the songs sound quite different from one another, it is not hard to imagine each of them also fitting in on one of Floyd's albums from '71-'76. Of course, the classic Gilmour soloing is here in spades as well, which is why he has got to get one of my top three guitarists of all time.

If you are looking for something different and a little challenging at the same time, with an atmospheric, textured sound, pick this one up.

Overall rating: 9/10

(Postscript for Floyd fans who, like, me think Roger Waters is a total wanker: Jolly old Rog weighs in on the Middle East here. What a dink.)