Before Dark Side, Pink Floyd Had to Learn to Build a Song — Meddle Is Where They Figured It Out

Pink Floyd’s “Meddle,” the band’s sixth studio album, came out in 1971, and it marks the point where the band stops drifting and starts building. It runs 46 minutes across six tracks, and it is the record where the group’s studio experiments finally turn into songs. The band’s lead guitarist takes over as the primary voice, and the pieces that will shape Dark Side of the Moon start to fall into place here.

Side One, Track by Track

“One of These Days” opens the album with a low, deep line running under a spoken line pushed through some kind of effect. It is dark, tight, and one of the best things the band ever put to record.

“A Pillow of Winds” eases the pace. It is quiet and patient, built on gentle guitar, and it shows the band can hold a mood without needing volume to do it.

“Fearless,” which weaves in “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” is the high point of the first half. The many voices singing worked into the ending is a strange, effective touch that turns a personal song into something shared.

Then come the two tracks that get grouped together because neither one asks for much attention on its own:

• “San Tropez” — a light, pleasant turn that gives the ear a rest.
• “Seamus” — a blues piece built around a dog’s cry, the album’s one true oddity.

Neither song hurts the record. Both just sit quietly next to the bigger statements around them.

Echoes and the Turn Toward the Next Record

Side two is one song: “Echoes,” at 23 minutes and 31 seconds. It is the album’s center of gravity and the clearest sign of where Pink Floyd is headed next.

The track moves through long, open passages of sound, a pinging note that opens it, and a middle part that drifts into strange ground before returning to song form. One review called Pink Floyd “masters of texture,” and “Echoes” is where that skill gets shown at full length. The song does not just fill side two — it points directly at the sound the band will chase on the album that follows.

Verdict

“Meddle” is not a neat album. It has a novelty song about a dog and a light instrumental turn sitting next to a 23-minute epic. But that mix of moods is part of the appeal — this is a band figuring itself out in real time, and getting it right more often than not.

“Echoes” alone would make this record worth hearing. The three other strong cuts around it — “One of These Days,” “A Pillow of Winds,” and “Fearless” — make it essential.

album review · classic rock · Echoes · Meddle · Pink Floyd