Luck and Strange Review

By Jack LeJeune

              David Gilmour’s newest solo album, Luck and Strange, was just released on Friday, September 6, nine years after his most recent studio album, 2015’s Rattle That Lock. The question that remains to be seen, though, is if it will add to Gilmour’s legacy as one of the best guitarists in rock and roll or if it is just a weak attempt to match the releases of rival and former bandmate Roger Waters as they both enter their eighties.

David Gilmour: In The Flesh

            But who is David Gilmour, anyway? Originally from Cambridge, England, David formed the unsuccessful band Jokers Wild in college, where he also met Pink Floyd founders Roger "Syd" Barrett and Roger Waters. In 1968, as Barrett was becoming increasingly erratic and unreliable, Gilmour was invited to join the band as a supplemental guitarist. After Syd was formally removed from the band, Gilmour became lead guitar, and bassist Roger Waters became the singer and composer. Gilmour’s guitar was arguably just as distinctive as Waters’ voice, and David would compose most of the band’s iconic riffs and solos. However, after years of bad blood between him and the rest of the band, Roger Waters dissolved the band in 1985, stating it to be “creatively spent.” After a lengthy lawsuit and worsening relations, though, Gilmour would re-form it with keyboardist Rick Wright and drummer Nick Mason to release three more albums, the last in 2014. Gilmour has had a successful solo career since his first album in 1978, with five studio and two live albums, and he has produced several artists, like Great Gig in the Sky vocalist Kate Bush.

The Songs:

According to a Rolling Stone article, published last spring as part of the initial media announcement for the album, most songs were written by acclaimed writer and wife of David Gilmour Polly Samson, who has been writing with him since The Division Bell. The album is “written from the point of view of being older; mortality is the constant,” according to Samson. Her work greatly contributes to the quality of the album because David’s forte has always been guitar, not lyricism. While some of his writing is good and memorable, listening to the Pink Floyd album A Momentary Lapse of Reason, the first album after the split with Waters, may illustrate this gap in his skill set. Additionally, the article mentions that the producer for the album, Charlie Andrew, was constantly challenging Gilmour’s usual methodology of songwriting, which was “just so good for me because the last thing you want is people just deferring to you,” which becomes evident in how much the album.

David Gilmour with his wife, Polly Samson

From his Instagram, @davidgilmour

The album, in my opinion, has no “low points” where the album drops, and I immediately want to skip the song, but it still has its ups and downs. My least favorites are the eighth and ninth tracks, “Sings” and “Scattered,” which are at the end of the album, since “Yes, I Have Ghosts” and “Luck and Strange – original barn jam” are considered bonus tracks. They are still not bad, and the guitar work in “Scattered” is characteristically solid, but I feel like they meander on too long, like they are trying to fill up space and fill a time quota on the album. It is because they are the two songs that place the greatest emphasis on Gilmour’s voice. Do not misunderstand me; his voice is appealing, and it’s impressive that he’s still great at 78 years old, but I believe the main problem is its inflection. Pink Floyd and David Gilmour have a reputation for making songs of extended length (with several over 10 minutes and more than one longer than 20), but the key, I think, is variation. “Sings” and “Scattered” both feature little more than Gilmour’s guitar and voice, and it’s the same voice for the entire song: a smooth, somewhat weary, straight delivery without much emotion or intensity. Admittedly, it’s hard to say much about the two transition tracks, “Black Cat” and “Vita Brevis,” so I won’t try.

The rest of the album is of notably greater quality, or at least not as lacking as the last two. Of special note to me are, first, the two tracks that feature Romany Gilmour, David’s daughter. “Between Two Points” is sung entirely by her, and her voice is perfect for the song; wistful, a little weary, and clear. The song itself is very appealing in its structure, as well as constantly building on itself. At first, just a guitar, Romany, and her harp, then slowly bleeding in percussion, backup humming, and string instruments. Then, after an introspective bridge with only vocals and strings, everything returns, even louder now for its absence, as echoing secondary vocals add emphasis to the final lines before some echoey, almost mournful guitar closes the song. It is evocative and very fitting for the album. The other song that she contributes to is “Yes, I Have Ghosts,” which may well be the best song of the album relegated, puzzlingly, to the category of “Bonus Track.” A slow, sorrowful song, it is almost comparable to “Wish You Were Here,” about how when we lose people in our lives, they don’t always die; they just leave us. Even if you think you have gotten over the loss or leaving of someone, you carry their ghost along with you, where you see flashes of them in others, flashes which blind you to the present while you reminisce.

Romany’s voice adds a haunting double effect to the lyrics, like she is one of David’s ghosts, joining him in his song of mourning. The guitar, too, is solemn and bare, picking out notes one at a time, as it can only muster so much energy in its sad state. The final song of particular note is “Dark and Velvet Nights,” a song I can only describe as a return to the Pink Floyd “glory days.” It features a driving bass and drum beat, with dramatic, trilling organ chords and the use of guitar as a second vocalist. It also includes a very catchy four-note guitar stinger at the end of most verses and a four-note percussive phrase that is very sonically pleasing, sounding like hundreds of people stomping their feet in unison. It would fit right in as a “lost song” written in 1977 or ’78 that never got the attention it needed back then to make it onto an album proper.

Gilmour performing with his daughter, Romany

From his Instagram, @davidgilmour

The rest of the songs,  “Luck and Strange,” “The Piper’s Call,” and “A Single Spark,” are all pretty food, but they fail to stand out as much, in being worse or better than others. They feel like Division Bell songs, both in (guitar) sound and lyrics. It is hard to say much more than that; they’re perfectly decent songs.

Something that may be important to do when reviewing this album is to compare it to Gilmour’s past solo work. Which, funnily enough, is rather difficult to do, because Luck and Strange is unique to David Gilmour’s career. His first two, David Gilmour (1978) and About Face (1984) were like he was still composing for Pink Floyd, and the tracks that went on these albums never got used by the band. Rattle That Lock (2015) sounds like he was trying to release a “return to form” album, playing like it is the seventies again. I suppose On an Island (2006) is the best comparison since it features more acoustic guitar and introspective lyrics than the others, but that would not account for the more driving songs like Dark and Velvet Nights. This removal from his previous work is likely due, in some part, to producer Charlie Andrew’s challenging of Gilmour’s original perceptions and methods for making his music. I suppose, in the end, the album is most comparable to a career revue. A thorough reexamination and reinterpretation of his material, now that Pink Floyd is done and, in all likelihood, so is he. A silver capstone to put atop the tower of his life’s work.

The Summary:

            In the end, Luck and Strange is a good album with some strong songs, some weak songs, and some boilerplate. While boilerplate is often used to disparage things, in this case, I am using it neutrally or even positively. Boilerplate is necessary! It is a base from which one jumps off into new, unknown territory. Side A was a nice baseline, from which Gilmour departed for Side B, for compelling songs like “Yes, I Have Ghosts” and stale, trite songs like “Scattered.” To give the album a rating, I say Side A is a 7/10, and the best of side B gets 9/10, and the worst gets 4.5/10. Overall, it is a good album, with a few draggers made up for by its bangers-8/10. Give it a listen!

Thanks for reading, and as always, keep rocking, you crazy diamonds.

-Jack LeJeune