David Gilmour has not been a prolific solo artist since his first self-titled release in 1978. "Rattle That Lock" (2015) represents his fourth solo album in 37 years. As a member of Pink Floyd, "The Division Bell" was issued in 1994 but it took 20 years for the next release which consists mainly of unreleased recordings from the Division Bell sessions. I found Pink Floyd: The Endless River (2014) to be a charming set of mainly instrumentals but for those fans expecting more Pink Floyd type songs on "Rattle That Lock", they are likely to be disappointed. These are David Gilmour songs crossing a wide variety of musical styles that are not reminiscent of Pink Floyd.

My first impression of this Blu-ray release is the strikingly beautiful packaging. The contents include a guitar pick, poster, post card, two book replications (Rattle That Lock lyrics plus liner notes and second, John Milton’s Paradise Lost, Part II), and 2 slipcases for a CD and Blu-ray respectively. Everything is housed in an artful box making it a classy package. Of course, the music and audio quality are the determining factors for this release but this box set is sumptuous.

The loose theme running through "Rattle That Lock" is a day in one’s life. The songs have a reflective mood and captures David Gilmour looking backward at the past (perhaps people or events) and the music often has this sense of longing with some intonations of melancholy yet accepting in manner. The impression lyrically and musically is that Gilmour, aged 69, is contemplating his mortality as life winds to a conclusion.

The opening track “5 A.M.” is a wonderful instrumental with the signature David Gilmour Stratocaster guitar sound and the tonality in his guitar technique is singularly expressive in it’s eerie, haunting quality. Gilmour plays distinctively on three instrumentals numbers (“Beauty” and the closing track “And Then…” are the other two) but his skilled guitar work is splashed liberally over most of the tracks. One could say this is a 'tasteful' guitar based album and be right on the mark.

The title track “Rattle That Lock” is an excellent mid tempo rock song with a nice swing to it. David Gilmour’s raspy vocals are energetic and passionate. The backing vocals by Mico Paris and Louise Marshall are noteworthy but it is the Liberty Choir directed by MJ Paranzino that gives this recording a cavernous church-like quality in the music. And Gilmour adds this muscular guitar break in mid-song that is played impeccably.

“A Boat Lies Waiting” is a splendid and touching ballad with sparse instrumentation as David Gilmour is joined by the gorgeous harmony vocals of David Crosby and Graham Nash in a tribute to the late Richard Wright and band mate in Pink Floyd. Other songs, however, are of a lesser quality as Gilmour exhibits a variation of musical styles in “Faces of Stone” (avant-garde/cabaret) and “The Girl With the Yellow Dress” (inflections of jazz), but these good songs lack strong melodies. Herein lies the issue from my perspective: the album sags slightly on the weight of some songs that do not rise above ‘good‘.

I choose to listen to "Rattle That Lock" in multi-channel 5.1 DTS Master Audio 96 kHz/24Bit. It was engineered and mixed by Andy Jackson and David Gilmour. One conclusion: the recordings and surround sound are state-of-the-art. The extraordinary audio produced in 5.1 is what makes you appreciate the superiority of surround over stereo. The sound has a warm, natural quality and all channels are well balanced with vocals and instruments showing exceptional clarity and detail. Interestingly, the vocals are not placed in the centre channel (except very briefly in “A Boat Lies Waiting”) and these vocals always maintain a flawless continuity in the placement and movement between front and rear channels. The soundfield is incredibly immersive. It is a magnificent 5.1 mix.

If a day in one’s life is often pedestrian, I look to music to give me some special moments and bring forth meaning to a daily existence. Alas, "Rattle That Lock" does have it’s moments but others weigh on the times of excellence that left me in want of something a touch more fulfilling. David Gilmour’s superb guitar work helps immeasurably but "Rattle That Lock" lacks a few more truly great songs to move it to the next level. On the other hand, the 5.1 surround sound is as close to perfection as one can imagine placing it at the very highest level.

Copyright © 2015 Rick Kosmick and HRAudio.net

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