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David Gilmour-

Jools Holland / piano

Phil Manzanera / piano, keyboards

Leszek Mozdzer / piano Polly Samson / piano, vocals

Lucy Wakeford / harp

Graham Nash / vocals

David Crosby & Graham Nash / vocals

Chris Laurence / double bass

Alasdair Malloy / glass harmonica

Caroline Dale / cello

Andy Newmark / percussion, drums

Willie Wilson & The Tunemasters / drums

Georgie Fame / Hammond organ

Chris Stainton / Hammond organ

Ged Lynch / drums

Robert Wyatt / percussion, cornet, voices

"On An Island" features the type of music that Pink Floyd and David Gilmour fans have come to expect from the man--there's lots of moody, atmospheric playing, Gilmour's memorable raspy vocals and some of the best material he's written in years. Collaborating with guitarist/songwriter Phil Manzanera of Roxy Music and veteran producer Chris Thomas (The Pretenders), Gilmour has crafted an atmospheric album full of hazy instrumentals and songs that may not rock out the way fans are used to but are still filled with passion and emotion. By the way, if you decide not to buy this locally some retail outlets are offering a bonus disc that includes an additional song. How does this compare to his other solo albums? Well each one represented a different decade in Gilmour's life so they are all quite different and difficult to compare but the quality of the songwriting is top notch here as on those. This effort is a little more focused than his first ("David Gilmour") and a little less commercial than his second ("About Face").

Written solo and in collaboration with Polly Samson (a journalist and writer who wrote some of the lyrics for "The Division Bell" as well as Mrs. Gilmour)providing words on most of the tracks "On An Island" features a wide variety of memorable guest players (Floyd's Richard Wright, David Crosby & Graham Nash on backing vocals, Jools Holland formerly of Squeeze, Robert Wyatt and--surprisingly--guitarist Phil Manzanera playing keyboards). The production by Gilmour, Manzanera and Thomas is atmospheric providing the perfect sonic backdrop for Gilmour to do what he does best--play and sing.

"On An Island" does allows Gilmour to experiment a bit as well with the material but what's most interesting as how emotionally direct the songs are. Clearly no man's an island and that's true of Gilmour as well--he works well with his collaborators building a sonic home on this solo album. The album does have flaws for example the pacing is a bit turgid at times and truly it would have helped to have a solid hard rock number here to break through the haze on the album but overall it's a terrific effort and a worthy follow up to his work leading Floyd and solo efforts. It's a shame we had to wait for so long Gilmour to assert himself on record again but it was well worth the wait. David, don't make us wait another decade! Oh, by the way, happy birthday!