PINK FLOYD OBSCURED BY CLOUDS RARE ORIG '72 HARVEST LP w/SHRINK+STICKER STUNNING

$

36

WE CURRENTLY HAVE  NEARLY 100 LISTED ITEMS

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·      PINK FLOYD - OBSCURED BY CLOUDS - ORIGINAL 1972 HARVEST / CAPITOL RECORDS STEREO LP ST-11078  (NOTE: THIS IS NOT A SECOND PRESSING (1976) WITH A CATALOG NUMBER  SW-11078)

·      ORIGINAL U.S. PRESSING

·      CAPITOL RECORDS, WINCHESTER, VA  PRESSING.

·      ORIGINAL YELLOW HARVEST LABEL WITH GREEN ROGER DEAN-DESIGNED “AMOEBA” LOGO  , SUCH AS THE ONE SHOWN BELOW, FROM OUR PREVIOUS AUCTION

·      THIS IS THE ORIGINAL, AUTHENTIC, FIRST U.S. PRESSING; THIS IS NOT A REISSUE, AN IMPORT, OR A COUNTERFEIT PRESSING.

·      ORIGINAL, THICK CARDBOARD COVER (AMERICAN STYLE)

·      COVER IS STILL IN ITS ORIGINAL SHRINK (CELLOPHANE) WRAP WITH A NIFTY STICKER STILL AFFIXED TO THE WRAP.

·      CLEAN, WEAR-FREE LABELS

·      THICK, HEAVY VINYL PRESSING

·      MATRIX NUMBER IN TRAIL-OFF VINYL (DEAD WAX) ENDS WITH '-F2/-F13'

(►PLEASE SEE THE IMAGE OF THE COVER, LABEL OR BOTH, SHOWN BELOW)

(Note: this is a REAL image of the ACTUAL item you are bidding on. This is NOT a "recycled" image from our previous auction. What you see is what you’ll get.  GUARANTEED!)

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Two steps forward, one step back. After finally getting their act together on Meddle, it would seem more logical for Pink Floyd to try and preserve the momentum by coming up with material for a follow-up rather than doing another film soundtrack. To be fair, that was their original plan, and by the time they recorded Obscured by Clouds, they were already working on a piece that was to become The Dark Side of the Moon a year later. But for some reason they decided to take this soundtrack job first, so off they went to France and came up with enough material for a full-length in a matter of ten days. It shouldn't come as a surprise then that the material on Obscured by Clouds can't compete with that of the albums that surround it, but unlike More, it at least shows a band in control of what they're doing.

Whereas a good portion of More had been filled with perfunctory instrumentals that served little purpose besides accompanying a specific scene in the film, Obscured by Clouds does this only once: The closing "Absolutely Curtains" is little more than a droning atmosphere piece that later segues into an Aboriginal chant recorded for the movie, and it's easily the album's low point. All the other tracks though, both the instrumentals and the sung pieces, are proper compositions that can stand on their own without the film, which isn't to say they're all good. When the band tries to write straightforward songs, the results aren't much more confident or tuneful than similar attempts on More and Atom Heart Mother. Maybe the band simply didn't have the time to come up with better ideas during the album's short recording session, but neither "The Gold It's in the..." nor "Wot's... Uh the Deal?" (and what terrible titles, too!) are able to convince with their half-baked melodies and strained vocals by Gilmour. Waters tries to be clever by juxtaposing the cheerful sing-along melody of "Free Four" with his most cynical lyrics yet, but he goes so far towards both extremes that the end result is an awkward mixture of banality and grumpiness. "Childhood's End" sounds like a dry run for "Time" whose big chorus never comes. "Stay" does have a big chorus, but its dramatic outburst of emotion feels out of place among the casualness of the rest of the song.

The more abstract pieces however are much better. Besides introducing the magnificent sound engineering that graces much of Pink Floyd's 70s output - with a crisp, clear drum sound and perfect instrument separation - the instrumental title track also sounds at least five years ahead of its time thanks to the synthesizer drone that underpins Gilmour's harsh guitar lead. The following riff-rocker "When You're In" (also instrumental) is somewhat simplistic and repetitive, but together the two make for a nice opening sequence. Even better are "Burning Bridges" and "Mudmen", both of which are built around permutations of a shared six-note motif that sounds like it came straight out of Dark Side of the Moon. The former features some gorgeous Gilmour/Wright vocals, while the latter allows Gilmour to let his now fully developed soloing style, where he minimizes the number of notes he plays in order to maximize the impact of each, come to the fore.

Compared to More, Obscured by Clouds is a huge step up, showcasing a more confident band that is able to write distinctive songs even in the shortest period of time. But by 1972, the yardstick by which Pink Floyd's accomplishments are measured had been raised dramatically, and sandwiched between two records as good as Meddle and Dark Side of the Moon, it's no wonder that this album ends up being neglected even by ardent Pink Floyd fans. It offers more good material than any album from their "experimental" phase, and it's perfectly listenable even in its weaker moments, but very little of it rises beyond the level of "pretty good". If you're a big fan of Pink Floyd's use of atmospherics and/or film soundtracks, give it a listen, otherwise skip this one.

 (EXCERPT FROM AN ANONYMOUS ONLINE REVIEW)

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·      CONDITION:

·      THE RECORD

 (IMPORTANT NOTE: unless otherwise noted, ALL records are graded visually, and NOT play-graded!; we  grade records under the strong, diffuse room light or discrete sunlight)

(a)         WE GRADE THE VINYL  AS  NEAR MINT. Some VERY LIGHT AND SUPERFICIAL abrasions – mostly sleeve scuffs -  are (barely) visible, but are probably inaudible,  and do not affect visual integrity or beauty of the vinyl. The original luster is very much intact, and the vinyl shines and sparkles almost like new.

(b)         The record is pressed on a beautiful, thick, inflexible vinyl, which was usually used for the first or very early pressings. Usually, the sound on such thick vinyl pressings is full-bodied, vivid, and even dramatic. Do not expect to obtain such a majestic analog sound from a digital recording!

(c)         Of course, this is a full-bodied ANALOG recording, and not an inferior, digital recording!!!

·                          THE COVER

COVER IS STRONG NEAR MINT,  STILL IN ITS ORIGINAL ►SHRINK WRAP  (A SMALL PIECE OF SHRINK WRAP IS MISSING)

The following flaws or imperfections are noted on the cover:

-       Cover shows JUST A HINT of yellowing on both sides, apparently from aging. (nothing significant)

NO OTHER VISIBLE FLAWS OR IMPERFECTIONS ON THE  COVER

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POSTAGE & SHIPPING:

We offer three postage rates for domestic orders: USPS Media Mail, USPS Priority Mail and USPS Express Mail and three rates for international shipments:  USPS First Class, USPS Priority International Mail, and USPS Express International Mail (in a small number of cases, we will, at our discretion and for purely technical reasons, substitute First Class Mail with eBay's Global Shipping, which is fundamentally the same service at about the same cost). INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMERS PLEASE NOTE: WE RECOMMEND (BUT DO NOT INSIST) that you select USPS International Priority Mail when making a payment.

INTERNATIONAL POSTAGE rates vary from one region of  the world to another. For SPECIFIC international and domestic postage rates, please click on " Shipping, returns, and payments" tab in the header of our listing.

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CRITICALLY IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

(A) All orders valued at $50.00 or more will be shipped fully insured against loss, damage or theft by ShipCover, eBay's contracted insurer, at our expense (B) Yes, we do combine items into a single shipment; in order to enable this feature, the winning bidders should WAIT until their last item of interest ends and ONLY THEN make a payment. Doing otherwise will result in multiple shipments to the same customer and forfeiture of multiple shipping charges already paid. (C) Because we do not play-grade our items, we do not know how the purchased item will play on the buyer's equipment. We can only make reasonable inference on the record's playing condition based on its visual appearance. (D) This seller will NOT cancel erroneous, frivolous and prank bids. The bidders can do so on their own, by visiting eBay's Site Map, then clicking on Bid Retractions link. (E) This seller does not specifically grade or describe certain items, such as: shrink (cellophane) wrap and accompanying extras (inserts, booklets, etc.); however, the presence of these items WILL be noted and accompanied by the gallery photo(s). (F) Please do not submit any bids on our items if you have insufficient user history. (G) Other than in very rare justified cases, failure to pay for the item you won amounts to a fraud and will result in a permanent ban on bidding on our future listings. (H) We will NEVER deliberately, knowingly or willingly provide a false, deceitful or misleading information.

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OUR REFUND POLICY :

WE OFFER UNCONDITIONAL MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE (POSTAGE INCLUDED) WITHIN 30 DAYS FROM THE RECEIPT OF THE MERCHANDISE, NO QUESTIONS ASKED; STILL SEALED ITEMS MUST BE RETURNED SEALED IN ORDER TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR A REFUND.   NO EXCEPTIONS!

FINE (BUT IMPORTANT!) PRINT

 (1) The year indicated in the title bar is the year of the original release,  NOT necessarily the year of the actual pressing; for the actual generation of the pressing, please see our item description (top section, the text in red letters). (2) Please do NOT bid based on the title bar, subtitle bar or item specifics box alone; instead, please read the entire description before bidding; (3) Absolutely NO order cancellations after the auction closes. ever, under any circumstances. We can ONLY cancel bids before the item closes. (4) We are unable to provide matrix-, stamper- or other pressing  information in the final 24 hours of the auction. (5) All disagreements and miscommunications can be - and will only be - solved in a civil and mutually respectful manner; please avoid puerile, offensive, abrasive or menacing language (6) This seller will accommodate all reasonable requests and - unless seriously molested - is generally a flexible, pragmatic and agreeable person.

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