Obscured By Clouds - Bleed

Bitrate: 320K/s
Year: 1998
Time: 42:22
Size: 101,8 MB
Label: Rainforest Records
Styles: Progressive Rock
Art: Front

Tracks Listing:
 1. Bleed - 6:20
 2. Fearless - 3:04
 3. Pigs On The Wing - 2:37
 4. Cirrus Minor - 3:57
 5. Breathe - 3:15
 6. Julia Dream - 3:54
 7. Crystal Ship - 2:23
 8. Cymbaline - 3:34
 9. That's The Way - 4:40
10. Bleed (long version) - 8:32

Musicians:
William Weikart - vocals, guitar;
Ray Woods - mellotron, keyboards;
Roger Freibel - percussion.

When I received a new bunch of review promos, this was one that immediately drew my attention. Obscured by Clouds is the title of one of the lesser known Pink Floyd albums, and behold, the 10 track album featured 6 Floyd covers !
The band plays in an acoustic line-up with William Weikart on vocals and acoustic guitar, Ray Woods on Mellotron & Keyboards and Roger Feibel on percussion (bongos and such). As can be imagined from this line-up, the band focusses on the more pastoral and acoustic compositions by Pink Floyd. Besides the songs on this album, the band has more lesser known Floyd compositions in their reportoire, as well as songs by The Beatles, King Crimson, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and a handful of original compositions.
The whole Bleed album was performed and recorded live in the studio in one day.
The first Floyd cover is Fearless. Don't expect a cover as good as Fish' version of from this track. Nevertheless it's quite enjoyable.
Pigs on the Wing is a bit more powerful and slightly faster than the original from the Animals album. The band plays both parts of the original in this interesting version.
Cirrus Minor (from Pink Floyd's soundtrack to More) is a song of which the original already bored the hell out of me (not counting the organ solo at the end). This cover version isn't much better and the low voice of William Weikart is enough to send even the biggest coffee addict to sleep immediately. An improvement compared to the original is the use of atmospheric keyboards in the first half, although they are a bit too high in the mix.
The acoustic version of Breathe (from Dark Side of the Moon) is spoiled by the loud keyboards. It might have been a very interesting track as a vocal/guitar-only version. The reprise which is normally played after Time is added to this version as well.
Julia Dream is an early Floyd single. This version again features more organ than the original. A reasonable rendition.
Crystal Ship is a cover of the original by The Doors. Although I like The Doors, I never considered this one of their better songs, so I can't really be bothered by it.
The highly neglected Floyd classic Cymbaline (from More as well) that was played in amazing live versions in the early 70s gets a fine treatment, although William's low vocals don't come near Gilmour's and his 'tah-doo-doo-dah's sound more laughable than enjoyable.
I don't know where the song That's The Way comes from, but it doesn't seem to be an original composition. Anyway, it fits in quite well with the rest of the material.
Bleed is a mediocre acoustic track written by William Weikart. For some reason the band has included a short and long version on the album, the latter of which doesn't fade out after 6 minutes. I personnally consider that unnecessary duplication. Nevertheless, since the other tracks on the album aren't real improvements compared to their originals, this one might be one of the best or most interesting tracks on the CD.
The end of the long version seems to be the only part of the CD where the band 'gets it on' and puts some energy in their music. I do wonder what that annoying sound in the song behind the guitar & organ is. Was this noise, which reminds me of a skipping CD, done intentionally ?
William Weikart is far from the worlds greatest singer and sometimes (like in Breathe) goes fully out-of-tune. As you can imagine, this kind of spoils the enjoyment of acoustic renditions of the songs. The fact that you can for some reason (a slight echo effect perhaps) hear the vocals twice doesn't make it any better. If you like Nick Cave, you might find his vocals endurable though. Besides that, the singer has either misunderstood some of the original lyrics for some of the songs or has taken intentionally changed them.
The booklet is a folded piece that has blanc pages on the inside.
An album with acoustic ditties might seem interesting but with the painful vocals and the sleep-inducing choice of material does not make this a real recommended purchase, unless you are a Floyd completist.
Since the release of this album the band has changed drummers and added a guitarist and bass player to their line-up, which will probably make their sound a bit more energetic than the approach on this CD.

Bleed