David Gilmour-About Face (1984)


 

Artist: David Gilmour

Title: About Face

Label: Columbia

Format: LP

Cat #: FC 39296

Year of Release: 1984

Country and Year of Edition Issue: US 1984 Pitman Pressing

Listed Condition: VG+/VG+

Sell Date: 3/7/21

Sell Price: $9.99

Discogs Last Sold: 2/22/21 $5.99 VG+/VG

Low: $5.00 VG+/VG+ 6/17/18

Median: $9.00

Average: $10.68

High:  $20.00 NM/NM 1/24/21

Current low price: $3.18 F/Generic; $5.00 F/VG, $7.61 VG+/VG

Current Number on Sale at Discogs: 50

Have/Want: 2173/144

Where Sold:  Miami, FL

Time it took to sell: 4 years

Where and When Bought: Worcester, MA when it came out new either Strawberries or Al Bums

Gwiz-gau Letter Grade: B

Sad To See It Go: No

When About Face came out a year after the final Floyd masterpiece The Final Cut, I was in "everything released by Floyd I must own" phase.  Rog did Pro & Cons, Gilmour did this, then Rog put in his notice and the divorce was full on.  About Face played the Orpheum in Boston for a 2 night stand, but sadly I missed it.   In fact, I never saw Gilmour solo until about 5 years ago at Madison Square Garden.

When About Face was released, I considered it solid 4-star album.  I was a bit more forgiving of the wretched poly-rhythms of "Until We Sleep" or the "everybody sucked in the 80's," horn-laden "Blue Light."  The Pete Townshend pair "All Lovers Are Deranged" and to a lesser extent "Love On The Air" were memorable.  "Murder" was a fine Gilmour melodrama.  But it lacked the Waters self loathing bite.   Gilmour is a passive, reflective observer.  "When it was done you threw down the blade" vs "I never had the nerve to make the final....cut."   Gilmour passively reflects on an actual killing.  Waters lyric seems a bit darker, full of regret.  Listening to this now didn't elicit the same pleasure points as the first self-titled solo album .  But it wasn't as god-awful as On An Island.  I really dislike that album.

The all star cast is a whos who of Brittania.  Aside from Townshend, Roy Harper does vocals, Steve Winwood plays organ and piano.  Floyd helpers Michael Kamen conducts and Bob Ezrin produces.  The late Toto drummer Jeff Porcaro drums.

Many thought this and Gilmour were "slight" works around more important Floyd albums.  I rank About Face somewhere between A Momentary Lapse of Reason and The Division Bell.  Way beneath David Gilmour and way above On An Island and The Division Bell.  Twin turd towers those two.  One can bitch and moan about Waters for whatever reason they like, but the fact remains, he helped make that band important.  

A disturbing thing about the About Face cover is how YOUNG middle age Gilmour looks.  Clearly forever young is not possible, but I still consider this record "later period."  Perhaps it is the START of the "later period."  The dissolution of Floyd before everyone knew it.  

What we thought was a toss off was, in fact,  a blueprint for reduced significance for decades to come.

Disturbing to think about it.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bob Dylan-Blood On The Tracks (1975)

Image
  Artist:  Bob Dylan Title: Blood On The Tracks Label: Columbia Format: SACD Cat: CH 90323 Year of Release: 1975 Country and Year of Edition: US 2003 SACD Promo sticker over barcode Sell Price: $12.20 VG+/VG+ 7/15/24 Discogs Last Sold: 7/7/24 NM/VG+ $8.99 Low: $3.00 Median: $11.63 Average: $12.38 High: $27.00 Current low price: $1.99 F/G+, $9.98 VG/VG+ Current Number on Sale at Discogs: 27 Have/Want: 334/242 Where Sold: Ypsilanti, MI Time it took to sell: 11 years Where and When Purchased: promo Gwiz-gau Letter Grade: A+ Sad To See It Go: No "I came in from the wilderness, a creature void of form..." "And when finally the bottom fell out I became withdrawn..." Bob's public precursor to his own divorce has taken a strange turn in the public narrative over the years, whether reflecting domestic tranquility or turbulence.   Beyonc é  might tell you she flips pancakes or boils an egg to Blood On The Tracks on a Sunday morning.  Jakob Dylan might rail that ...
Read more

The Byrds-Live At The Fillmore-February 1969 (2000)

Image
  Artist: The Byrds Title: Live At The Fillmore February 1969 Label: Columbia/Legacy Format: CD Cat #: CK 65910 Year of Release: 2000 Country and Year of Edition Issue: US 2000 Listed Condition VG+/VG+: hole punch in UPC Sell Date: 5/6/24 Sell Price:$3.75 Discogs Last Sold: 4/25/24 $7.87 VG/VG Low: $1.75 Median: $4.24 Average: $4.28 High: $7.87 Current low price: $2.50 Current Number on Sale at Discogs: 30 Have/Want: 524/45 Where Sold:Charlotte, NC Time it took to sell: 12 years Where and When Bought: early aughts not sure where in NYC Gwiz-gau Letter Grade: A- Sad To See It Go: No One of those releases that looks great on a shelf, but it took me 24 years after buying it to get around to paying any attention to this excellent live recording.  I guess that means I should force myself to read David Fricke's liner notes as well.  Sweetheart Of The Rodeo came out August 30, 1968 only 8 months after The Notorious Byrd Brothers and Dr. Byrds and Mr. Hyde came out a week before ...
Read more

Bob Dylan-Bob Dylan (1962)

Image
  Artist: Bob Dylan Title: Bob Dylan Label: Columbia Format: LP Cat #: PC 8579 Year of Release: 1962 Country and Year of Edition Issue: US 1970's reissue Listed Condition VG/VG+ Sell Date: 5/2/24 Sell Price:$8.93 Discogs Last Sold: 3/5/24 NM/VG+ $9.00 Low: $3.98 M/VG+ Median: $12.49 Average: $12.81 High: $24.99 M/NM Current low price: $12.00 Current Number on Sale at Discogs: 16 Have/Want: 285/176 Where Sold: Minneapolis, MN Time it took to sell: 9 years Where and When Bought: Worcester used That's Entertainment mid 80's Gwiz-gau Letter Grade: A Sad To See It Go: No "You're No Good!" the 3 year old Reverse Collector proclaimed to his mother.  "David! That's an awful thing to say!  Go to your room!"  I was just saying what was on the cover of the Bob Dylan song list on the album I had.  I was a fluent reader by age 3, as opposed to simply memorizing text my parents read to me when I was 2.  I understood the concept of "Good" and "Ba...
Read more