Luck and Strange - David Gilmour - First Impressions

My thoughts on the new solo album by David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, Luck and Strange. The album contains tracks like The Title Track (featuring Richard Wright on keyboards) The Piper's Call, Dark and Velvet Nights, Between Two Points (featuring Romany Gilmour on vocals) and the finale Scattered with a signature Gilmour guitar solo. Here are my first impressions of the album. #davidgilmour #albumreview #luckandstrange #pinkfloyd #soloalbum #guitarsolos David Gilmour is of course the guitarist and singer for Pink Floyd. He took over for their original leader Syd Barrett in 1968 joining the lineup of Roger Waters on bass, Richard Wright on keyboards and Nick Mason on drums. His first album with the band was A Saucerful of Secrets. He would contribute to albums such as More, Ummagumma, and Atom Heart Mother (the later would include his composition "Fat Old Sun.") 1971's Meddle was a turning point for the band, featuring the epic "Echoes" which Dave and Rick sang together, with Roger's lyrics, and classics such as "One of These Days." This was also the time when they filmed the landmark movie Live at Pompeii. The 1972 soundtrack Obscured by Clouds would include another solo composition by David called "Childhood's End" and he would collaboration with Roger and Rick on tracks like "Mudmen" and "Wots Uh the Deal." But 1973's Dark Side of the Moon was the album that made Pink Floyd a household name. With Roger taking over the lyric department and collaborating with Dave and Rick on the musical side of things, David's soulful voice and burning guitar made songs like "Time" and "Money" rock and roll classics. Their live shows would also start becoming more spectacle driven with light shows, projections and flying pigs! 1975's Wish You Were Here remains David's personal favorite Floyd album, the acoustic title track remains one of the most loved tunes while the epic "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" (dedicated to Syd) emerged from Dave's iconic 4-note guitar arpeggio. 1977's Animals found Roger emerging more as the dominating writer, though Dave contributed the epic "Dogs" and continued to add unforgettable solos to songs like "Pigs." It was after this tour that Dave released his first solo album in 1978 simply titled David Gilmour. Highlights included "There's No Way Out of Here," "Short and Sweet," "Raise My Rent," and "I Can't Breathe Anymore." But back with Pink Floyd, tensions were high as Roger and David had intense arguments and Roger fired Rick. Still The Wall was released in 1979 with David's contributions "Run Like Hell" and "Comfortably Numb" being highlights, the later being referred to as one of rock's greatest guitar solos. Tensions continued on 1983's The Final Cut which featured no Gilmour compositions, so he released his second album About Face in 1984, a more commercial sounding record with songs like "Blue Light" and "Murder." Roger left the band (but not without suing his bandmates) leaving David to take up the reins as band leader (with Rick rejoining) for A Momentary Lapse of Reason in 1987 and The Division Bell in 1994. The later showed a return to form with songs like "What Do You Want From Me," "Marooned," and "High Hopes" with lyrics by his wife Polly Samson. After a decade of little activity, aside from a final Pink Floyd reunion with Roger for Live 8 in 2005, David released his third album in 2006, On and Island. It was met with great reception thanks to songs like the title track and "The Blue" (another favorite guitar solo). His tour would be the last with Richard Wright who died in 2008. The final Pink Floyd album The Endless River would be dedicated in his honor. 2015 saw the release of Rattle That Lock, featuring the title track and "Today." During his tour, he would return to Pompeii for a live album. Now in 2024, he has returned for his 5th solo album produced with Charlie Andrew and featuring Guy Pratt, Steve Gadd and many star players.