Rattle That Lock

Sadly, David seems to have lost his sweet voice. It's strained and unpleasant. I really couldn't get past this to just hear the melody.

The album opens and closes with Dave Gilmour's flowing, soaring, emotion-evoking guitar work that is his hallmark -an aural atmosphere infused with David's signature sound that only he can create which is instantly recognizable by anyone who is familiar with his master's touch on that instrument. Though David's voice has become as familiar to us (and comforting) thru the decades as his guitar work, it's not his vocals that is his standout talent, it is his gift with the guitar. It's that unique aural atmosphere he creates with the instrument he so giftedly works that he is most recognized for worldwide. The masterful touch of David Gilmour's hands on a guitar is an irreplaceable treasure that will be deeply, sorely missed in the music world when he is gone. As I mentioned above, on this album, the first song (5 A.M.) and the last (And Then...) primarily showcase Dave's signature guitarwork. The bulk of the album -the 8 songs between the 1st and the last feature his vocals as much or more than his guitar talent. And though I was hoping it would be the other way around, to my satisfaction I found that I more quickly started enjoying this album than I did his album "On An Island". OAI took me quite awhile to really plug into and begin enjoying. Regarding Pink Floyd's final swan song album "The Endless River", I found some real standout gems there -some deeply moving music. I have read in a few of these reviews where some others have felt otherwise, but for me, "The Endless River" album is really very good listening that I plugged into and was enjoying strait away. I also happen to be one whose favorite music in my huge library comes from the Pink Floyd albums, "A Momentary Lapse Of Reason" and "The Division Bell". In my book the music and melodies and guitarwork and lyrics of those 2 albums combined to make genuine masterpieces!

felt I was slipping into 'dancing in the dark" but he has the best toning and pace from any guitarist. Don't expect pink Floyd, expect a journey don't start here but end here. he has the best silences in music I have ever heard. maybe he is a Buddha.

I enjoyed ‘Rattle That Lock’ immediately but was not thrilled with the rest of the album at first. After letting the album run through several times under different circumstances, I have really learned to like it very much. If you are expecting the power and scale of Gilmours voice from Floyd, give him a break, he’s 69! That said however, he sounds great and really gets the emotion into the music.

There are so many reasons why this album is horrible. David became world famous for his guitar virtuosity and also his wonderful unique voice, both of those sometimes soft, lilting and ethereal, sometimes powerful, pounding, and soaring. He is, on this album, searching for the former, and totally neglects the latter. But that’s not why we pay for Gilmour CDs and concert tickets. We, I, want more of the latter! He has lots of the high wailing straining notes, “Shine On..” style, and some efforts at soul searching ballads. And that’s it. No hard rock, no virtuoso rills up and down the frets with flying fingers, no power chords, no wailing feedback. None. If you’re looking for that, don’t get this album. Go back to at least “The Division Bell” where there is some of that to hear. Even “On an Island” has “Take a Breath” with that rock essence. Instead you get the song “Rattle That Lock”, which upon listening through twice, I thought, “This is something Hall and Oates would do in like 1988.” The lyrics in this and the other songs are full of clichéd metaphors. The lyrics ramble, and the melodies follow suit. Song three feels like he’s going somewhere musically, it goes into a straining, single-high-notes-at-a-time solo, and then it mysteriously fades away to the end. And I felt like…the song wasn’t finished. What a strange time to fade-end the song. Bad. It gets worse! One of the songs, #3 I think, is pure Michael Buble. That’s right, a soft crooning pop ballad. YES. If Gilmour wanted that, fine. But I truly think his solid fan base DOES NOT. It’s not classic or prog rock, it’s not what he’s best at, or known for. There are clarinets on it for crying out loud! Clarinets! There are some interlude instrumentals like what Floyd and Gilmore have done before, wailing single high notes flittering, but they are gutless, and meander off into a fade with no sense of emotion or direction. Maybe like other artists of the classic rock generation, age brings the softer side, and less of the taut gut-reeling power. I could not connect, nor could I see a connection to the songs that followed. It gets worse. “The Girl in the Yellow Dress” is JAZZ, folks. JAZZ, with saxophones. Not rock sax like on Money or Shine On… Jazz sax. Admittedly some sax solos in Floyd songs were jazzy (Money), but within the context of progressive rock attitudes. Not in this song. It’s pure jazz sax. And in this one, the drummer uses BRUSHES. Not brushes like Densmore used rock-style on “LA Woman”; jazz swishy brushes on the snare, like Buble, or Sinatra, or Bennett. THIS IS NOT THE DAVID GILMOUR I LOVE. Then the album ends with some flair-less solo passages that fade into nothing, like what this album’s affect will be on your memory. All the lyrics apparently come from the same poet who set him up with “On an Island”. They’re bad.--melodramatic, clichéd metaphors, rambling, or just plain weak. Rhyming dictionary look ups that seem so elementary. And they gave nothing for Gilmour to work with. These are not rock lyrics. And David knows that-obviously likes that. So he didn’t make a rock album. Maybe he has something going on internally he needed to express. Fine. Do a CD. Warn us what kind of music is on it. Don Henley recently did that with the “Cass County” release; he warned us it was country music. But then don’t make us pay hundreds of dollars to see the shows and perform this drivel to audiences who think they are seeing a Gilmour rock show. Bruce Springsteen did separate tours for his acoustic needs and his folk rock urges. You knew what you were paying for. I got this CD for free AFTER buying the tickets to the shows. Now I have tickets to three L.A. area shows I may not want, because I’m not sure he’s not going to perform the whole album on the tour, like he did with On an Island. I don’t want to sit through an hour of David Gilmour pop and jazz before he plays the good stuff. Most of “On an Island” was tolerable. To me, IMHO, none of this album is. It’s so disappointing. After nine years, this is the best he could give us. I would have preferred that something like this CD come out after 4 years of rest. Then a good ol’ rock album a few years after that. That’s what Neil Young and the Boss do. This CD is best for an acoustic tour with a warning in advance. I did not like U2’s album pushed on iTunes two years ago because throughout I felt like there was nothing for The Edge to do. There was no rock power, no songs for Edge to show off his amazing talents. I thought maybe he could power them up in the live shows. And boy did he deliver. I don’t feel Gilmour did anything to show off his guitar skills, and I can’t see David powering up Hall and Oates-Michael Buble pop, and Tony Bennett coffee house jazz in concert.

David Gilmour does it again!

Thank you Mr Gilmour for this great album ☺️

Listen to it several times it grows on you you can tell if you like a cd if it leaves you wanting more this will definitely leave you with that feeling good songs on here 5am is a intro rattle that lock is one I did not like at first but now I like it a lot in any tongue is the best track on the cd great song yellow dress not so good not for me all the other tracks are solid songs I give it the 5 stars because it will get played a lot and only dislike 1 song and sound recording on this is great hope this helps

Nobody wants to give it too much praise. I understand that. When it finally clicks with the listeners, we will certainly find it to be underrated. And it wouldn't be the first time David Gilmour was involved in something with that nature.

This is by far a classic album that breaks boundaries but it's a well balanced album made by a legendary guitarist. With a good producing team.