UAWIL #169: David Gilmour - About Face

After Pink Floyd delivered The Final Cut, the 1983 album which would be Roger Waters last with the band, David Gilmour found himself at an impasse. While he had some music ready for a new album as Roger had domineered the writing in Pink Floyd for the last 5+ years, he was unsure of the band's future. And since Roger was working on a solo concept album (The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking) David decided it was time he find out if he could make it outside of Pink Floyd. So he enlisted some heavy hitters like Bob Ezrin (producer), Jeff Pocaro (drums), Pino Palladino (bass), Jon Lord (keyboards), Steve Winwood (keyboards), and Pete Townshend (lyrics) to help him create a solo album for 1984. The result was About Face with some statements on the death of John Lennon (Murder), the US putting missiles in the UK (Cruise) and his relationship with Roger (You Know I'm Right) which would continue to be a source of lyrics for the next two Roger-less Pink Floyd albums - A Momentary Lapse of Reason (reviewed on UAWIL #69) and The Division Bell (UAWIL #168). We're not sure if David was truly looking to break away from the band and become a big solo act or just had pent up anger and music that had to get out. The tour to support the album was more successful than the album itself and it may not be our favorite but there are some bright spots and some riffs that would foreshadow things to come in Pink Floyd. Ugly American Werewolf in London Website Ugly American Werewolf in London Store - Get your Wolf merch and use code 10OFF2023 to save 10% during the holidays! Visit our sponsor RareVinyl.com and use the code UGLY to save 10%! Twitter Threads Instagram YouTube LInkTree www.pantheonpodcasts.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices