Pink Floyd - "Meddle" Vinyl, LP, Album, 1971 (Harvest)

Either by having too much time on my hands, or boredom or both, I have been like an ant leaving the anthill to find something beyond Syd Barrett's version of Pink Floyd. Which until this year, I knew nothing about, except the fact that Syd is brilliant, and Pink Floyd albums after Syd are shit.  This mind you is from the mind that truly believes that punk rock was zero one, and everything before that needs to flush down the toilet.  My extreme stance I realized now (after 40 something years) may be a tinge too harsh.   

Lately, I have been hitting the second-hand vinyl stores for Pink Floyd, and here is where I found "Meddle."   My conclusion is that after Syd Barrett, Pink Floyd really had problems focusing on a stance or platform to exist without Syd.  The truth is, they did exist and even became more successful after they lost their original songwriter and figure heard.  Although they have commented on Syd in various songs afterward, the fact is Pink Floyd not only became a different band but also with their backs to the wall, even became important. 

The years after Syd, before "The Other Side of the Moon" they sounded like they were making music for soft-porn European films. Which is not a bad thing, because here they took the time to focus on what they want to do after the Syd administration.  "Meddle" to me sounds like a bridge between the Syd years to something slicker in the Pink Floyd later years.   The truth is that they are comfortable making this type of music and what they do is done very well.  "Meddle" has great riffs, and is remarkable in some sort of Booker T. & The MGs groove, which may be something out of my imagination, but Pink Floyd does have a sense of funk and grit.  To me, when hearing "Meddle" it's not too far off from "Green Onions."  There is this almost 'musique concrete' aspect of their music, which is very much in the depth of their pop songs, but they clearly love the aspect of making works that are based on sound.   "Meddle" is a very good Pink Floyd album.  Beyond that, in any sense of direction or movement, this is a fantastic album.  There was life after Syd.  I'm surprised about coming to this conclusion.