Obscured By Clouds (1972) 


 

  1. Obscured By Clouds
  2. When You're In
  3. Burning Bridges
  4. The Gold it's in the...
  5. Wots...Uh the Deal
  6. Mudment
  7. Childhood's End
  8. Free Four
  9. Stay
  10.Absolutely Curtains

 

This is the other Pink Floyd soundtrack album. Not exactly a household name, and for most fans, not much more than a footnote. Like its predecessor More, it was composed for a film that most people haven’t seen—something called La Vallée, if memory serves. But unlike that first foray into film scoring, Obscured by Clouds feels more refined. The performances are tighter, the production is better, and the songs—while still written to fit a movie—feel more complete.

That’s not to say the album is bursting with memorable moments. It still carries the limitations that often come with soundtrack work. The music here was designed to fit scenes and moods, not necessarily to stand alone as a cohesive record. Because of that, the album lacks the larger-than-life ambition or sonic experimentation that became Pink Floyd’s trademark. At times, it sounds downright normal—which is a strange adjective to use for this band, and not always a flattering one.

Still, there are some nice surprises. Tracks like Wot’s… Uh the Deal and The Gold It’s in the… are among the most straightforward songs the band ever recorded. The latter even rocks a bit—at least by Floyd standards. But therein lies the paradox: when Pink Floyd goes “straight,” something feels missing. It’s not that these songs are bad (they’re not), but they don’t quite resonate in the same way that their more atmospheric material does.

Fortunately, there are a few moments where that old Pink Floyd magic creeps in. Mudmen is a solid instrumental that channels some of David Gilmour’s signature guitar brilliance. It wouldn’t sound too out of place nestled somewhere on Meddle. The album closes with Absolutely Curtains, easily the most Floydian track on the record. It’s moody, drifting, and quietly epic. You could imagine it fitting in nicely on one of their later, more conceptual albums. It’s a bit of a hidden gem—too bad it’s buried at the end of a mostly overlooked soundtrack.

Obscured by Clouds isn’t a major moment in the Pink Floyd timeline, but it does show a band with a growing sense of focus and maturity. They’d soon harness these qualities to make one of the greatest albums in rock history. In hindsight, this album plays like the calm before the storm—steady, low-key, and full of promise.


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