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My standard disclaimer where tribute albums are concerned is that the concept if dodgy on its face, and that it rarely succeeds. But for every rule here is an exception, and I\u2019m holding in my hands the most recent example thereof. Pink Floyd\u2019s Wish You Were Here<\/i> is a monumental album, one best not messed with. But the assembled artists \u2013 well-known names all \u2013 take on the task with aplomb, not merely phoning it in as so many are wont to do.<\/p>\n
Steve Hackett playing David Gilmour\u2019s searing, soaring leads on \u201cShine on You Crazy Diamond (Parts 1-5)\u201d is in fact a superb idea. He takes things in his own direction while remaining true to the spirit of the original. And because Geoff Downes is tasked with creating the song\u2019s core by sticking close to Rick Wright\u2019s keyboard work, he does a fine job with it. Mel Collins adds some nice flute work that fits into the overall arrangement. Geoff Tate\u2019s vocals are a bit over-the-top, but in the context, they work.<\/p>\n
\u201cWelcome to the Machine as performed by an instrumental duo of Rick Wakeman and Tony Levin is inspired. And Todd Rundgren\u2019s multi-tracked vocals make sense.<\/p>\n
I wouldn\u2019t have thought of Steve Stevens (Billy Idol\u2019s foil) for \u201cHave a Cigar,\u201d but he does well. Patrick Moraz lays down tasty synthesizer lines. And they\u2019re supported by an unexpected rhythm section: Rat Scabies (The Damned\u201d and Jah Wobble (PiL). James Labrie\u2019s vocals are spirited.<\/p>\n
The title track is given a fairly reverential treatment, and that\u2019s only fair. Taking it other places is likely ill-advised. Edgar Froese\u2019s keyboard and acoustic(!) guitar work from Joe Satriani blend nicely. Triumph\u2019s Rik Emmett sings. \u201cSOYCD 6-9\u201d features an entirely different lineup than the first part. This time it\u2019s Zombies keyboardist Rod Argent, Steve Hillage on guitar (another excellent bit of casting), Bootsy Collins(!) on bass (and \u201cspacebass\u201d) and drummer Ian Paice. Argent sings.<\/p>\n
The \u201cShine On\u201d tracks are easily the best things here, but \u2013 shocker! \u2013 there\u2019s nothing embarrassing about this project. The vocals many not be to every listener\u2019s taste, but the personnel choices are inspired, and the performances balance an honor of the source material with flights of instrumental showmanship. If you care to own just one album tribute, Still Wish You Were Here<\/i> may well be your best choice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My standard disclaimer where tribute albums are concerned is that the concept if dodgy on its face, and that it rarely succeeds. But for every rule here is an exception, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21310,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,56,62,65],"tags":[1705,2047,2228,2413],"class_list":["post-21309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-release","category-prog","category-rawk","category-review","tag-pink-floyd","tag-steve-hackett","tag-todd-rundgren","tag-yes","cat-49-id","cat-56-id","cat-62-id","cat-65-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21309"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21309\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26569,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21309\/revisions\/26569"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}