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| Released = 2 June 1972<ref name="povey168">{{cite book|last=Povey|first=Glenn|title=Echoes : The Complete History of Pink Floyd|year=2006|publisher=Mind Head Publishing|isbn=978-0-9554624-0-5|edition=New|page=168|accessdate=7 September 2012|chapter=Playing Different Tunes 1972–1973|url=http://books.google.com/?id=qnnl3FnO-B4C&lpg=RA2-PA1973-IA6&dq=pink%20floyd%20obscured%20by%20clouds&pg=RA2-PA1973-IA3#v=onepage&q=pink%20floyd%20obscured%20by%20clouds&f=false}}</ref>
| Released = 2 June 1972<ref name="povey168">{{cite book|last=Povey|first=Glenn|title=Echoes : The Complete History of Pink Floyd|year=2006|publisher=Mind Head Publishing|isbn=978-0-9554624-0-5|edition=New|page=168|accessdate=7 September 2012|chapter=Playing Different Tunes 1972–1973|url=http://books.google.com/?id=qnnl3FnO-B4C&lpg=RA2-PA1973-IA6&dq=pink%20floyd%20obscured%20by%20clouds&pg=RA2-PA1973-IA3#v=onepage&q=pink%20floyd%20obscured%20by%20clouds&f=false}}</ref>
| Recorded = 23–29 February and 23 March–6 April 1972, Strawberry Studios, [[Château d'Hérouville]], [[Hérouville]], [[Île-de-France (region)|Île-de-France]], [[France]]<ref name="povey166">{{cite book|last=Povey|first=Glenn|title=Echoes : The Complete History of Pink Floyd|year=2006|publisher=Mind Head Publishing|isbn=978-0-9554624-0-5|edition=New|page=166|accessdate=7 September 2012|chapter=Playing Different Tunes 1972–1973|url=http://books.google.com/?id=qnnl3FnO-B4C&lpg=RA2-PA1973-IA6&dq=pink%20floyd%20obscured%20by%20clouds&pg=RA2-PA1973-IA1#v=onepage&q=pink%20floyd%20obscured%20by%20clouds&f=false}}</ref>
| Recorded = 23–29 February and 23 March–6 April 1972, Strawberry Studios, [[Château d'Hérouville]], [[Hérouville]], [[Île-de-France (region)|Île-de-France]], [[France]]<ref name="povey166">{{cite book|last=Povey|first=Glenn|title=Echoes : The Complete History of Pink Floyd|year=2006|publisher=Mind Head Publishing|isbn=978-0-9554624-0-5|edition=New|page=166|accessdate=7 September 2012|chapter=Playing Different Tunes 1972–1973|url=http://books.google.com/?id=qnnl3FnO-B4C&lpg=RA2-PA1973-IA6&dq=pink%20floyd%20obscured%20by%20clouds&pg=RA2-PA1973-IA1#v=onepage&q=pink%20floyd%20obscured%20by%20clouds&f=false}}</ref>
| Genre = [[Progressive rock]]
| Genre = [[Progressive rock]] folk rock
| Length = 40:30
| Length = 40:30
| Language = English
| Language = English

Revision as of 22:23, 5 October 2014

Untitled

Obscured by Clouds is the seventh studio album by English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, based on their soundtrack for the French film La Vallée, by Barbet Schroeder. Some copies of the album refer to the film by its English title, The Valley. The cover of Obscured by Clouds is an out-of-focus film still of a man in a tree. The lyrics and music tell the story of one's journeys. The album includes many overlooked songs from Pink Floyd's catalogue such as Childhood's End, Free Four, The Gold It's In the..., and Wot's...Uh The Deal. The album was released in the United Kingdom on 2 June 1972, and a few weeks later in the United States, by Harvest, reaching number 6 and number 46 respectively. A single, "Free Four" was released in the US only.

Overview

At this point in their career, the band had some experience in the production of music scores. They had already scored the films The Committee in 1968 and More[3] and some of Zabriskie Point in 1969. Consequently, Barbet Schroeder contacted the band to make another soundtrack, which they had agreed to do after More had become a success.[4] The band had already started working on The Dark Side of the Moon at this point, having done some basic recording and performed the piece live several times during this period, but work was interrupted when the band travelled to France on two separate trips, either side of a Japanese tour, to write and record music for the film.[5] The album was then mixed from 4–6 April at Morgan Sound Studios in London.[2]

As they had done on More, the band saw a rough cut of the film, and noted down certain timings for cues with a stopwatch. From this, they created a number of pieces that they felt could be cross-faded at various points in the final cut of the film. They weren't too worried about creating complete songs, feeling that any musical piece would be workable without the need for any solos, but nevertheless, under pressure to produce enough material, they managed to create a whole series of well-structured songs.[3] Mason recalls that the sessions were very hurried, and the band spent most of the time in Paris locked away in the studio.[4]

"Free Four" was the first Pink Floyd song to get significant airplay in the US,[6] and the second (after "Corporal Clegg" from A Saucerful of Secrets)[7] to deal with the death of Eric Fletcher Waters, Roger Waters' father.[6][8] "Childhood's End" was the last song Pink Floyd released to have lyrics written by Gilmour while Barret was still in the band. "Absolutely Curtains", the closing instrumental on the album, ends with a recording of the Mapuga tribe, as seen in the film.[5]

During the first recording session in February, the French television station ORTF filmed a short segment of the band recording the album, including interviews with Waters and Gilmour.[2] In a snippet of interview footage that appeared in the 1974 theatrical version (later released on VHS and Laserdisc) and subsequent "Director's Cut DVD" versions of Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii, Roger Waters stated that early UK pressings of the album contained excessive sibilance (a loud high-frequency sound most apparent on "s", "sh", and "t" sounds which often causes distortion). As Waters says in the film during a conversation with George Martin, the sibilant distortion was caused by "a bad cut", meaning it came from a poor quality tape-to-disk transfer during mastering. The sibilance problem was corrected in later pressings.

Obscured by Clouds was the second Pink Floyd album to feature the VCS 3 synthesiser as stated by EMS Archives.[9] Mason also plays electronic drums on this track.[4]

After recording had finished, the band fell out with the film company, prompting them to release the soundtrack album as Obscured by Clouds, rather than La Vallée. In response, the film was retitled La Vallée (Obscured by Clouds) on its release.[4]

Release and reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[10]
Robert ChristgauC[11]

The album's cover was, like several other Floyd albums, designed by Hipgnosis. It is a photograph of a man sitting in a tree which has been taken out of focus to the point of complete distortion. The album was released in the UK on 2 June 1972 and then in the United States on 15 June 1972, both on Harvest. The album reached number one in France,[12] number six on the UK Albums Chart,[13] and number 46[14] on the US albums chart (where it was certified Gold by the RIAA by 1997).[15] In 1986, the album was released on CD. A digitally remastered CD was released in March 1996 in the UK and August 1996 in the US.

Live performances

Pink Floyd opened some shows in 1973 with an extended jam based on the pairing of "Obscured by Clouds" and "When You're In", accompanied by smoke and a light show.

"Childhood's End" is the only other song from the soundtrack to find its way to the stage. It made several appearances in Europe starting on 1 December 1972 and at the start of the band's March 1973 tour of North America, usually with an extended instrumental passage.

"Wot's... Uh, the Deal?" saw revival as part of David Gilmour's set list during his 2006 solo tour. One of these performances features on Gilmour's 2007 DVD Remember That Night and also the vinyl version of his 2008 live album Live in Gdańsk.

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
1."Obscured by Clouds"Gilmour, WatersInstrumental3:03
2."When You're In"Gilmour, Waters, Wright, MasonInstrumental2:30
3."Burning Bridges"Wright, WatersGilmour, Wright3:29
4."The Gold It's in the..."Gilmour, WatersGilmour3:07
5."Wot's... Uh the Deal?"Gilmour, WatersGilmour5:08
6."Mudmen"Wright, GilmourInstrumental4:20
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
7."Childhood's End"GilmourGilmour4:31
8."Free Four"WatersWaters4:15
9."Stay"Waters, WrightWright4:05
10."Absolutely Curtains"Wright, Mapuga tribeInstrumental, chant by Mapuga tribe5:52

Personnel

Pink Floyd
Additional personnel

Sales chart performance

Year Chart Position
1972 French Albums Chart 1[12]
1972 UK Albums Chart 6[13]
1972 Billboard Pop Albums 46[14]

References

Footnotes
Citations
  1. ^ Povey, Glenn (2006). "Playing Different Tunes 1972–1973". Echoes : The Complete History of Pink Floyd (New ed.). Mind Head Publishing. p. 168. ISBN 978-0-9554624-0-5. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
  2. ^ a b c Povey, Glenn (2006). "Playing Different Tunes 1972–1973". Echoes : The Complete History of Pink Floyd (New ed.). Mind Head Publishing. p. 166. ISBN 978-0-9554624-0-5. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
  3. ^ a b Manning, Toby (2006). "The Albums". The Rough Guide to Pink Floyd (1st ed.). London: Rough Guides. p. 164. ISBN 1-84353-575-0.
  4. ^ a b c d Mason, Nick (2004). "There Is No Dark Side". Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd (New ed.). Widenfeld & Nicolson. p. 164. ISBN 0-297-84387-7.
  5. ^ a b Povey, Glenn (2006). "Playing Different Tunes 1972–1973". Echoes : The Complete History of Pink Floyd (New ed.). Mind Head Publishing. p. 155. ISBN 978-0-9554624-0-5. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
  6. ^ a b Manning, Toby (2006). "The Albums". The Rough Guide to Pink Floyd (1st ed.). London: Rough Guides. p. 165. ISBN 1-84353-575-0.
  7. ^ Mabbett, Andy (1995). The Complete Guide to the Music of Pink Floyd. London: Omnibus. ISBN 0-7119-4301-X.
  8. ^ Mason, Stewart. Song review at AllMusic. Retrieved 4 July 2011.
  9. ^ Hinton, Graham. "EMS: The Inside Story - The Users". Electronic Music Studios. Retrieved 4 July 2011.
  10. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Album review at AllMusic. Retrieved 4 July 2011.
  11. ^ Christgau, Robert. "Album: Pink Floyd: Obscured by Clouds". Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  12. ^ a b "Infodisc - Pink Floyd - Obscured By Clouds". www.infodisc.fr. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
  13. ^ a b "Pink Floyd UK Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  14. ^ a b Billboard chart peak position at AllMusic. Retrieved 4 July 2011.
  15. ^ Record Research (advertisement). Billboard magazine. 15 March 1997. Retrieved 6 September 2012.
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