Poll: How do you rate Pink Floyd's "A Momentary Lapse of Reason" album?

"The sweet smell of a great sorrow lies over the land......"

The rules for this series: this poll is designed for people familiar with the album in question and with at least some familiarity with some of their other catalog (for comparison purposes). If the poll doesn't interest you, please kindly move on to a thread that does. Please simply consider how YOU would rate the album in question, in comparison with the rest of the Floyd's discography! And as always, a shout-out to member mrjinks for creating all the groundwork for this series.

So, how do YOU rate this album?

Album history: "A Momentary Lapse of Reason is the thirteenth studio album by English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released in the UK and US in September 1987, on the labels EMI and Columbia. It followed guitarist David Gilmour's decision to include material recorded for his third solo album on a new Pink Floyd album with drummer Nick Mason and keyboardist Richard Wright. Although for legal reasons Wright could not be re-admitted to the band, Wright and Mason helped Gilmour craft what became the first Pink Floyd album since the December 1985 departure of bass guitarist, singer, and primary songwriter Roger Waters.

A Momentary Lapse of Reason was recorded primarily on Gilmour's converted houseboat, Astoria. Its production was marked by an ongoing legal dispute with Waters as to who owned the rights to Pink Floyd's name, an issue resolved several months after the album was released. Unlike many of Pink Floyd's studio albums, A Momentary Lapse of Reason has no central theme and is instead a collection of songs written by Gilmour, sometimes with outside songwriters.

Though it received mixed reviews and was derided by Waters, A Momentary Lapse of Reason outsold Pink Floyd's previous album The Final Cut (1983), and was supported by a successful world tour. In the US, it has been certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA."


Tracklist:
1. Signs Of Life 4:24
2. Learning To Fly 4:53
3. The Dogs Of War 6:05
4. One Slip 5:10
5. On The Turning Away 5:42
6. Yet Another Movie/Round And Around 7:30
7. A New Machine (Part One) 1:46
8. Terminal Frost 6:17
9. A New Machine (Part Two) 0:38
10. Sorrow 8:46




Previous polls:
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Currently 517 people have voted, with an average of 4.25.
A Saucerful of Secrets. Currently 329 people have voted, with an average of 3.78.
More. Currently 260 people have voted, with an average of 3.37.
Ummagumma. Currently 412 people have voted, with an average of 3.08.
Atom Heart Mother. Currently 419 people have voted, with an average of 3.71.
Meddle. Currently 392 people have voted, with an average of 4.70.
Obscured by Clouds. Currently 426 people have voted, with an average of 3.89.
Wish You Were Here. Currently 695 people have voted, with an average of 4.77.
The Wall. Currently 818 people have voted, with an average of 4.00.
The Final Cut. Currently 545 people have voted, with an average of 3.09.
Delicate Sound of Thunder. Currently 243 people have voted, with an average of 2.88.
The Division Bell. Currently 453 people have voted, with an average of 3.27.
Pulse. Currently 294 people have voted, with an average of 3.33.
The Endless River. Currently 423 people have voted, with an average of 2.53.

 

Garbage. One of their worst by a long shot.

 

*
A pretty solid effort - worth recommending

 

A so-so album imo. The standouts for me is chillingly, dark and brutal Dogs of War. Then there is the down on my luck, feeling of being on an island isolated from everyone, in a world that he/she belongs Sorrow.

 

I prefer it to Wall and Final Cut so it was a slight return to form.

 

The more I hear it the more I like it. Far better than The Wall and Final Cut. It is cold and emotionless and it sounds like total Floyd.

 

It is one of those albums that hang together as a whole best, rather than hearing them as individual songs. Though there are better songs on Division Bell, there are no bad songs on this album.

 

That final track Sorrow is epic Floyd, Roger or no Roger. But there is too much throw-away eighties boom-boom-tchak on it.

 

I loved this when it came out as it was really the first 'new' PF material I was old enough to buy on release and I was already a huge fan. But it hasnt' held up very well to me; having said that, I still think Learning to Fly and Sorrow are amazing songs and among Floyd's best. I'm not terribly interested in the rest of it though.

 

Same here, almost exactly. I voted "not bad" but I may give it more credit than it's due just because it was pretty much my gateway drug to the rest of the Pink Floyd catalog.

 

Not bad, but overall so-so.
"Learning To Fly", "On The Turning Away" and "Sorrow" are pretty strong.
If The Final Cut is in a way Roger with Floyd as a backing band, this is David's time.
(Even though is one of the weakest albums by the band, it's essential in any Floyd fan's collection).

 

Love the cover design. But musically, their worst by some distance. 'Learning to Fly' is the highlight. Most of side two is the lowlight.

 

sorrow is my favorite cut

 

How is that a good thing? The cold and emotionless quality is why I find it unengaging. That, and the horribly clanking production.

 

The catalog is so strong, this one is lower tier to me. A few good tracks but I can't listen to it front to back without getting bored/disinterested.

 

I voted "a pretty solid effort". If you look at the album song by song, it seems exceptionally solid, however, the album doesn't stick together as well as say, "The Division Bell". It's missing a bit of the cohesiveness that makes Floyd so good. That and the over-the-top 80's sound bumps it down from a top level album. But it's still a great listen (in fact, just listened to it), and almost every cut is fantastic! "Learning To Fly", "One Slip", and "Sorrow" are the stand-outs to me.

 

Refraining from voting on this one, as I've never given this record an honest or extended listen. I do remember hearing "Learning To Fly" on the radio as a kid.

Heard bits & pieces of the other tracks. Really cannot get past the 80's sound.

 

Lower-tier Floyd. I raise it slightly above the dust because of "Learning To Fly" (one of the few post-Roger tracks that actually eschews the sense of pessimism that everyone assumes is Roger's exclusive province) and "On The Turning Away", which is pleasant and mildly stirring in a "Comfortably Numb" sense. The rest of it is terrible. A buncha people desperately trying to make a Pink Floyd Brand album.

 

I do not have any problem with the production. It is austere. It is not a sunshine album. It is rainy days and dark nights. It is a moody album. You have to be in the mood to enjoy it.

 

It has it's moments.
But....Too much of that 80's production.

 

There is some good stuff on here, but I'd have to recommend a bunch of other Pink Floyd albums before I got to this one, so I have to land on "so-so".

 

I take my fave tracks from this and "Division Bell" to make a great album.

 

You mean most of Pink Floyd making a Pink Floyd album. I suppose you said the same thing about the second Pink Floyd album.

Waters isn't Pink.

 

Please post them in order.

 

I loved it when I bought it back in 1989. I had limited expectations and enjoyed it a lot. I though Gilmour had done a great job in making a then-modern record without losing the Floyd vibe.

However, as years went by, I have found it less and less engaging while I would say the opposite about a record like "Animals", for instance.