David Gilmour released his second solo venture in 1984, following the apparent dissolution of Pink Floyd.
He had released a record on his own in 1978, but About Face is much more accessible.
Gilmour has a stellar band backing him, including Jeff Porcaro (drums), Pino Palladino (bass), and Anne Dudley (synthesizer).
The songs on About Face show a pop sensibility that Pink Floyd rarely was concerned with achieving.
Although the album didn't attract the attention of a Floyd release, several cuts did manage to get airplay.
"Until We Sleep" is rife with shimmering synthesizers and cavernous drums, and "Blue Light" was a minor pop hit, with Gilmour's trademark delay-drenched guitar giving way to a driving, horn-laced rocker.
Pete Townshend wrote two of the tracks: "Love on the Air" and the propulsive "All Lovers Are Deranged." Of course, there's more than enough of Gilmour's fluid guitar playing to satisfy, including the gorgeous "Murder," a gentle acoustic track that explodes with some fiery organ by Steve Winwood and concludes with a fierce coda.
About Face is well-honed rock album that is riveting from beginning to end.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Love on the AirDavid Gilmour, Pete Townshend | David Gilmour | Play | 04:20 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 2 | Out of the BlueDavid Gilmour | David Gilmour | Play | 03:37 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 3 | Until We Sleep (Album Version) | David Gilmour | Play | 05:19 | 12 MB | 0 MB |
| 4 | Murder (Album Version) | David Gilmour | Play | 04:59 | 11 MB | 0 MB |
| 5 | Blue Light (Album Version) | David Gilmour | Play | 04:35 | 10 MB | 0 MB |
| 6 | All Lovers Are Deranged (Album Version) | David Gilmour | Play | 03:15 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 7 | You Know I'm Right (Album Version) | David Gilmour | Play | 05:05 | 11 MB | 0 MB |
| 8 | Cruise (Album Version) | David Gilmour | Play | 04:39 | 10 MB | 0 MB |
| 9 | Let's Get Metaphysical (Album Version) | David Gilmour | Play | 04:09 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 10 | Near The End (Album Version) | David Gilmour | Play | 05:50 | 13 MB | 0 MB |
| 45 mins | 105 MB | |||||
| 0 mins | 0 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sam Brown | Vocals |
| 2 | Vicki Brown | Vocals |
| 3 | Rob Carter | Art Direction, Design, Reissue Art Director, Reissue Design |
| 4 | Andrew Clark | Horn, Performer |
| 5 | Simon Clarke | Horn |
| 6 | Simon Clerk | Horn |
| 7 | Ray Cooper | Percussion |
| 8 | Anne Dudley | Synthesizer |
| 9 | Bob Ezrin | Arranger, Keyboards, Orchestral Arrangements, Producer |
| 10 | Rob Ezrin | Keyboards |
| 11 | Mickey Feat | Vocals |
| 12 | Bob Finn | Producer |
| 13 | Ollie Fitzjones | Assistant, Mixing Assistant |
| 14 | Mark Frank | Assistant, Assistant Engineer |
| 15 | Jill Furmanovsky | Photography |
| 16 | David Gilmour | Composer, Guitar, Primary Artist, Producer, Vocals |
| 17 | Jill Gurmanovsky | Photography |
| 18 | James Guthrie | Mastering, Mixing, Reissue Mastering |
| 19 | Ray Harper | Vocals |
| 20 | Roy Harper | Vocals |
| 21 | Robert Hrycyna | Assistant, Assistant Engineer, Mixing Assistant |
| 22 | Andrew Jackson | Engineer |
| 23 | Andrew Jackson & The Cyc Choir | Engineer |
| 24 | Luis Jardim | Percussion |
| 25 | Louis Jardine | Percussion |
| 26 | Michael Kamen | Arranger, Orchestral Arrangements |
| 27 | Ian Kewley | Keyboards, Organ (Hammond), Piano |
| 28 | The Kick Horns | Guest Artist, Horn, Performer |
| 29 | London Symphony Orchestra | Guest Artist |
| 30 | Jon Lord | Guest Artist, Synthesizer |
| 31 | Roddy Lorimer | Horn, Performer |
| 32 | National Philharmonic Orchestra | Performer, Strings |
| 33 | Steve O'Rourke | Management |
| 34 | Pino Palladino | Bass, Guitar (Bass) |
| 35 | Bob Parr | Mixing Assistant |
| 36 | Joel Plante | Mastering, Reissue Mastering |
| 37 | Jeff Porcaro | Drums, Percussion |
| 38 | Steve Rance | Fairlight, Keyboards, Programming |
| 39 | Mike Reese | Mastering |
| 40 | Tim Sanders | Horn, Performer |
| 41 | Doug Sax | Mastering |
| 42 | Barbara Snow | Horn, Performer |
| 43 | Simon Sullivan | Assistant, Assistant Engineer |
| 44 | Phil Taylor | Equipment Technician |
| 45 | Eric Tomlinson | Engineer |
| 46 | Pete Townshend | Composer |
| 47 | Kevin Whyte | Assistant, Assistant Engineer |
| 48 | Steve Winwood | Guest Artist, Keyboards, Organ, Piano |
| 49 | Kit Woolven | Engineer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |