PINK FLOYD, Obscured By Clouds (NEAR MINT)

	£		28
	$		37

ARTIST: PINK FLOYD

TITLE: ‘OBSCURED BY CLOUDS’

FORMAT: VINYL LP

YEAR OF 1ST RELEASE: 1972

PRESSING: 1ST

LABEL: HARVEST

CAT. NO: SHSP 4020

MATRIX NO. SIDE A: SHSP 4020 A-2

MATRIX NO. SIDE B: SHSP 4020 B-2

RECORD CONDITION: NEAR MINT

This Pink Floyd album was the soundtrack to the Barbet Schroeder film ‘La Vallee’ and, although the occasional ambling folky, moodier, instrumental moments make it sound like a less essential Floyd album, there’s moments here in some of the more structured songs that predict musically and lyrically the globe-trotting monster the Floyd were about to become with ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’. Also, because many Pink Floyd albums were recorded and constructed laboriously and with meticulous attention to detail, the fact that this album was clearly a looser, more spontaneous and quickly produced effort enables you to hear a side of Pink Floyd, the four piece prog-rock band that rarely penetrated the production and concepts of later albums. That there are no grand themes or stories here is a virtue, and Pink Floyd’s ‘Obscured By Clouds’ remains an album well worth investing some time in.

This particular copy is a stunning, Near Mint first pressing that has amazingly minimal signs of age and use, it’s quite probable that this album has only ever been played three or four times if that! The whole surface of the disc has a lovely clean shiny appearance, displaying a pure deep gloss that can only be achieved on barely handled records. A close inspection under strong light reveals nothing other than one or two of the faintest paper scuffs. The labels are clean and the spindle area has virtually no wear whatsoever, just the indisputable evidence that points to the number of plays I mentioned above. The audio clarity too is quite sensational, playing with the kind of high definition crystal clear sound that only comes from brand new, first pressing records. There really is nothing other than one or two of the faintest pops in a couple of places, the type that can easily occur on new records, overall this is an album that achieves as close to an ‘as new’ condition that is possible for a 32 year old record to get.

COVER CONDITION: EXCELLENT++

The thing that normally gets damaged with first, and other, pressings of this classic album cover is the round corners. With that in mind, it is especially satisfying for me to report on this record sleeve that the corners are close to totally immaculate. The top left hand corner has a very faint crease that you can only see close up, everywhere else is blemish free. First pressings of this sleeve were made with a slightly rough texture, all present and correct here, and both the front and back covers are unmarked and display lovely clear colours. This sleeve has no marks or tears and has never had a sticker or any other label attached to it that would have caused any damage, however minor. There are no bad creases to mention, just a couple of light and small ones near the spine, and the cover does not display any ring-wear. The top edge is un-scuffed, the bottom edge has literally the tiniest amount that doesn’t come anywhere close to causing a tear or a hole, and the spine has the pinched ends design with just a little light scuffing that doesn’t detract from the clearly legible text. Despite the rough texture, this sleeve was pressed on quite flimsy card and along with the design (there’s no flip-back), this makes it a cover that generally gets a very shoddy appearance after 32 years, especially if it’s well used. The greatest thing about this particular first edition copy is that it has avoided those pitfalls and remains a fine looking, collectable Pink Floyd original album cover.

ANY OTHER DETAILS: STEREO

TRACKLISTING:

Side One

‘Obscured By Clouds’

‘When You’re In’

‘Burning Bridges’

‘The Gold It’s In The…’

‘Wots…Uh The Deal’

‘Mudmen’

Side Two

‘Childhood’s End’

‘Free Four’

‘Stay’

‘Absolutely Curtains’

Postage & Packing is UK £2.00 / Europe £3.00 / US £5.50 / rest of world £6.00. Payment is by Paypal, cheques or postal orders payable in UK Sterling only, well concealed cash in UK Sterling only or International Money Order payable in UK Sterling only.

I specialise in selling rare, collectable and hard to find vinyl. All of our ebay listings are play graded, when buying rare records over the internet I suggest that you settle for nothing less. I have been a collector of records and a trader for over 20 years and, as such, I use the experience I have gained in this area to grade & describe the records as accurately as possible. Good luck!