I'm not going to lie and say that I like this better than Dark Side of the Moon, Wish you Were Here, Animals, The wall, or The Division Bell. This album, however, is very good. It is missing Waters as a lyrcist, which is to bad, however Gilmour and Wright do a fairly good job writing the music. This album is somewhat a precursor to the better album, Division Bell. This CD is very good.

I would agree with other reviewers, a listener has to take the time frame that Pink Floyd's music was written into account. A person cant look at this album in the context of the 70's Pink Floyd and compare it as bad or worse. Pink Floyd's music has grown and matured at any person does in their own life (at least some people). Yes, this album is sans Roger Waters. It was time to move beyond the war and angst and childhood scars. The Wall was enough, The Final Cut was too much, get on with life. Thats what this album was. David Gilmore is a deeper more pensive lyricist. Both the music and lyrics of this album attest. Its like good poetry, you have to keep looking for the hidden deeper meaning. If you dont get a poem the first time you read it, it doesnt mean the poem is crap. With this album Pink Floyd keeps that dark melancholic and enigmatic thread that can be found in most of their albums. If you are looking for the sound of Dark Side or The Wall, that was then. This album is now.

The secret to Pink Floyd's success always was and always will be the incredible SOUND they put out and it's mainstay, David's guitars. Everyone said that without Waters they'd be Kaput! NOT SO! With Roger Waters departure, after years of court fighting, you'll see the remaining members of Pink Floyd came out the winners and I thank GOD that Roger Waters and his over inflated ego are GONE! This album marked the new begining for the band. During his tenure, Waters did crank out some memorable lyrics and a few good tunes, but, without the remainder of the band, and without Alan Parsons at the controls, Roger Waters is really pretty much the "has been" here. Not since Dark Side Of The Moon, has the remaining members of the band been allowed to shine as brightly as they have here on "A Momentary Lapse Of Reason". I heard "Learning To Fly" on the radio and "KNEW" instantly that it was Pink Floyd and it was new and I had to have it immediately! It was money well spent and I've since purchased 2 copies of the CD. One for the house, one for the car. My children grew up listening to Pink Floyd. But, their first introduction to them was "A Momentary Lapse Of Reason". They were instant fans. My favorite story about my children knowing Pink Floyd is when we were having a conversation about them and my one child that bought this album shortly after I did and wound up loving them as much as I do said: "Who's Roger Waters?". Aha! I said, my point, exactly!

"A Momentary Lapse of Reason" is the first post-Roger Waters version of Pink Floyd. The cd does not maintain the consistent quality of their mega-cds such as "Dark Side of the Moon", "Wish You Were Here" or the commercially successful "The Wall". However, the cd contains several songs that capture the essence of the Pink Floyd style, if not quite having the same substance. "Learning to Fly", "One Slip" and "Sorrow" contain the quintessential Pink Floyd mixture of keyboards, percussion, and signature vocals of past Pink Floyd. "Sorrow" particularly captures the dark moodiness present in Pink Floyd's earlier works and a hidden treasure on the cd, containing excellent guitar work by David Gilmour.

"The Dogs of War" has grown on me, although it is a stripped, down light version of the typical Pink Floyd sound, lacking the musical complexity they are known for. The same can be said about "On the Turning Away", which is pleasant enough and a nice break from the noisier songs on the cd. "Yet Another Movie/Round and Around" is a good track buried in the cd that never got much radio play. The horns on "Terminal Frost" do not work and the song never really seems to find itself.

In the end, there is both enough of the traditional Pink Floyd sound and quality tracks on this digitally remastered cd to make this a worthy addition for any fan of Pink Floyd.

This album is, in my opinion one of Pink Floyd's better albums. All of the songs are just really great and it keeps the Pink Floyd style, combining a tad bit of 80's pop sound, I personally like it. No, it's not quite like DSOTM, or The Wall, but it is really good and David Gilmour sounds terrific on this album.

i'd have to say that this is a great album. many people don't like the massive 80's production, but the way it was produced still has a distinct style to it. i can't say it's a floyd style because it's so different from past albums. i'd say it's a great album but not one to listen to all the time over and over. signs of life is a nice little intro that leads into my favorite song on the album, learning to fly, which is a nice well written and structured song. the dogs of war is one of my floyd favorites as well. a new machine and terminal frost are also very good, they definatly have some of that good old floyd style to them. Sorrow i actually don't like all that much. but overall, i'd say it's a pretty good album.

A broken album, in that it starts off great, and ends mediocre, this one is David Gilmour's own composition, and is the band's first studio effort without Roger Waters. Strong points include "Learning to Fly," "Dogs of War," and "On the Turning Away." Worth owning, if only for the first half.

This came out the same year as Roger Waters's Radio KAOS, and while this one sold like hotfire, Roger's album didn't do too well. KAOS is definitely better than this one, and this album, as many have said before, amounted to a David Gilmour solo album. Nick Mason is featured as a group member, but he didn't write any material, and honestly, I don't know how much of the drumming is really his. Carmine Appice (one of rock's most underrated drummers) and super sessionman Jim Keltner are featured on drums. Richard Wright was not an official member of the band (he quit/got forced out by Roger Waters during The Wall sessions, only to come back for the subsequent tour, but then was let go again). He was just a hired musician for this one. The album is not a complete disaster, as there are a few decent songs on it (just a few, though). Despite the fact that it sounds like 80's AOR material, I like Learning to Fly a bit. The song The Dogs of War is really embarrassing, as Gilmour attempts (badly) to sing like Roger Waters, and the lyrics come across as some college kid discovering that governments can be corrupt. Waters wrote much more eloquently about war, and well, just about everything. On the Turning Away sounds like warmed over Dire Straits (which can be OK, but I'd rather really listen to the real thing), but the best song on the album is the closer Sorrow. It starts with a great killer riff, and it has the best lyrics on the album.

The best thing about this album is the cover. I think it's the best cover of all Pink Floyd's albums. The title is great, too. But it's not really a Pink Floyd album. It doesn't feel like one at all, and many have suggested that Gilmour and Mason threw this album together simply to go on tour, which probably has some truth in it. Still, regardless of the debate "is this a Floyd album", it's still not very good.

Never did totally hate it, but it definitely felt like a calculated attempt at cashing in on the band's name. What's more, it has that clean, major-label 80s production that muzakked many a song.
Anyway, if you want to own the repuation and not the musicianship, this is the record for you.

Pink Floyd's triumphant comeback A Momentary Lapse of Reason was released in September of 1987.
The album was the first without original member Roger Waters whom acrimoniously split from his bandmates in 1985.
For years, many thought that 1983's aptly named The Final Cut was the farewell album of Pink Floyd's but singer/guitarist David Gilmour, drummer Nick Mason (although he plays on half of the disc because his playing was underestimated by Waters and wasn't until the Momentary Lapse tour where he played better again) and returning keyboard player Rick Wright (as a salaried musician nonetheless) along with co-producer Bob Ezrin and session bass player Tony Levin spent eight months recording the album at David's home studio the Astoria in London and at various studios in London and L.A. (where they relocated after Roger's lawyers threatened legal action) with many people doubting the Floyd being relevant without Waters.
However, when I (as an 11 year old boy in 1987) first heard the first single "Learning to Fly", I was in reassured that Floyd was back in a big way. When my father brought home the album for me shortly after its release, I was amazed on how superb this album was.
It was in fact David Gilmour whom sang most of the classics from 1969 to 1975 before Waters went on his ego trip for the next three discs (no disrespect to the last three albums, I like all of Floyd's work and am an unbiased die-hard fan). The songwriting burden nestled now on David's shoulders (he wrote all of the music and gave credit to those who came up with small ideas but he isn't confident in writing lyrics hence other people help with the lyrics).
The instrumental opening "Signs of Life" dated back to a riff that first emerged in the Animals era. The aforementioned "Learning to Fly" was a great song. The ominous "The Dogs of War" is next and featured one of David's best guitar solos and Carmine Appice was on drums on this track. "One Slip" was a great song and was co-written by Gilmour with Roxy Music guitarist Phil Manzanera. The poverty and injustice anthem "On the Turning Away" is one of Floyd's best songs.
"Yet Another Movie" and "Round and Around" reminds me of Wish You Were Here era Floyd and is killer. The "A New Machine (pt.1)"/"Terminal Frost"/"A New Machine (pt.2)" medley though they are separate tracks are spellbinding. The best track on the album was the closing "Sorrow" which goes back to the old epics of the past clocking in at close to 9 minutes.
The Momentary Lapse album was well received when release as it hit #3 on the album charts in the US and #1 on the CD charts here in the US. Also, the album sold over 4 million in the US alone to date and proved that the Floyd could survive without Waters. Also, the band embarked on a tour that would go on for three years and be documented on the album/video Delicate Sound of Thunder.
In 1997, the album was re-mastered and re-released. Then it was re-released again in October of 2005 with a new remaster thanks to James Guthrie and Joel Plante who remastered this album and it sounds better than either the 1987 or 1997 CD issues.
Highly recommended!

I've heard too much smack on how PF didn't sound good or couldn't make it w/out Roger Waters. That's all hogwash to me. I got this one and in my honest opinion, the band still had it and as strong as ever. Even David Gilmour's writing was dead on and had serious meaning behind it. Ok the songs maybe sound more modern for the year it was released but they sounded just as good (maybe even their best) in years! This one had meaning unlike the more popular (and I don't know why) "The Wall" or "The Final Cut". Even more so, Roger took the remaining members to court for continuing with the name Pink Floyd. Nick Mason and David Gilmour won the case and made another damn good album! If you like Roger Waters, just pass this one up and get one of his solo albums instead and take some valium along with that garbage. Check this one out, it's worth a good listen.

Can Pink Floyd be without Roger Waters and still make awe-inspiring albums? Apparently not. I'm a huge Pink Floyd fan, but this is the lamest excuse for a progressive rock album since Yes in the middle 70s. The lyrics are inane, the songs drag, and David Gilmour's voice gets on my nerves after 15 minutes into the album. "The Final Cut" is not inspired either, but this one has even less to offer.

I am a very huge Pink Floyd fan. My idol is Roger Waters so I am more attracted to the Waters Era. This does not mean that the album is bad at all. It is a VERY GOOD record. The Gilmoure Era is different from the Waters era (when talking about music) but is a very good album.

David Gilmour and Nick Mason are the only credited members of Pink Floyd that appear on this album while Rick Wright is listed as a session musician. However, PF without Roger is the least of the problems with this.

Gilmour was a great frontman for the Floyd in the early 1970s who contributed great classics like Green is the Colour, The Nile Song, The Narrow Way, Fat Old Sun and Fearless. But on this album, he completely caves in to the crappy musical style of the 80s -- heavy on synthesizers, female backup singers, etc.

In fairness, many great 1970s rock groups produced a lot of crap in the next decade as well and it seems that even THE Pink Floyd weren't immune to this.

I give this CD 2 stars because I don't see it as a complete failure--the song "Sorrow" is kind of interesting and I could see it as a half-decent song if it was recorded with that 1970s classic Floyd sound.

Ok, let me be clear. I don't get high, I don't like watching `The Wall' while stoned to see what kind of images get conjured up on my current buzz. I never listed to Pink Floyd much in grade school, or Junior High and even less in High School. Until my senior year. Before that I was familiar with the popular songs; Another Brick in the Wall...ok, so that was actually the only one. I was more into the metal bands like Whitesnake and Poison...no I swear I don't get high and never did. But when you get a little older you start getting tired of the guitar solos, you want something different. Something more crafted. In my last year of high school I pick up Momentary Lapse of Reason based on `Learning to Fly' which was getting plenty of air play on the radio. I thought it was awesome. I wasn't familiar with the phenomenon that was Pink Floyd, I knew they were popular but I hadn't heard anything about them since The Wall and that was most likely due to the fact that there were lawsuits being settled between the band and Roger Waters due to their split.

Soon after I heard the live version of Comfortably Numb on the radio from the Delicate Sound of Thunder CD. I bought that double CD and suddenly I was a post Roger Waters/Pink Floyd fan. David Gilmore is one of the most soulful and artistic guitarists to date. He makes the guitar not only sing, but wail with melodic harmonies and riffs. Especially on 'Sorrow' and 'Yet another movie'. The songs are definitly similar to the previous albums in some ways but certianly a departure. Dogs of War, Learning to Fly, A New Machine and On The Turning Away conjure up memories of the old albums and let you know that the song writing on all the others was greatly influenced by the band, and not just Roger Waters.

MLOR is an album of great music. And I think all members of Pink Floyd would appreciate that comment. They are one of the genuine bands that is in the business to make music. It's usually off Center, alternative music that sometimes makes you go `what?' but not on this CD. Here they've managed to sound like Pink Floyd but with out the odd lyrics and insane men laughing or screaming about meat and pudding in the background. If you want to like a band for their ability to make something that is great to listen to, then this CD could introduce you to something you might not expect. It is Floyd, but it isn't Floyd when you compare it to the older albums or even the newer Division Bell CD. But you know what, who cares if it doesn't sound like the old stuff, it still sounds good.

After Roger Waters swan song "The Final Cut", the inevitable happened. Roger left for a solo career and released the psychological album "The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking" about dreams. The rest of the band eventually released a new album, but it would take several years. "A Momentary Lapse of Reason" was released in 1987 and is a meliodic affair where Gilmour is in charge of the band, both musically and lyrically. There isn't alot of lyrics though, mostly ambient soundscapes and it sounds as much as Gilmours solo album as "The Final Cut" sounds like Waters. What is missing here is Waters lyricism, but the beautiful sound effects of earlier albums are back. Even if it wasn't exactly a commercial flop, the album was heavily critisized but unfairly in my oppinion. AMLOR isn't perfect but the rest of the band (Wright was a session musician here) do the best they could without Waters. Highlights include "Learning to Fly" and "One the Turning Away", both singles. The third and last single was "One Slip" which is also the fastest song of the album with some interesting percussion appearing. A couple of instrumentals also appear, the 6 minute "Terminal Frost" being the better and "Signs of Life". On the closer, "Sorrow" we have a powerful and incredibly unique guitar solo, it's almost 9 minutes. While the album may not be too memorable compared to previous recordings, it's still a decent album where the remaining 3 members do what they can to fill the gap for the departed Roger Waters.

I don't know why some people didn't like this album. I Love it. The Dog of War pays the whole money!!!!!!!!!

listened to this for the first time in many, many years....they were trying to SOUND LIKE Pink Floyd, but couldn't pass it off without Roger Waters....totally contrived and insincere....eh, Waters may be the biggest jerk in the world (not sure he is), but even if he is, he is one talented jerk....this is pathetic compared to the likes of "Animals", and the rest of their 70s output....these people saying it's equal to previous, Waters-led Floyd are delusional....if you like it, fine, but don't even try to pass it off as legit PF. they lived off the name and legend of Pink Floyd - give them another name like Endless Self-Indulgence and attach this album to it and it would never have even made a major record contract.

This is a pathetic attempt for the Roger Waters-less Pink Floyd to carry on without their heart and soul. Roger was self-centered, sure, but his lyrics and bass were both key parts of the Floyd Sound that this album horribly misses. Basically, it's useless. Nostalgiac about the early '70s, back when they would make ungodly amounts of money off of Dark Side of the Moon and such, "three-quarters" Floyd decided they'd try to recreate that sound, using lots of synthesizers, female backing vocals, saxes and studio effects. The resulting album is, far and away, Pink Floyd's nadir.
It's hard for me to tell what the album's lowest low is. I know I hate the mechanical hit Learning to Fly. But that's not all. The Dogs of War was voted as Pink Floyd's worst song ever, and I must say I agree. Basically it's a pathetic attempt to rewrite the classic Dogs - even the titles are similar! Give me a break here, guys! Arguably even worse than that is Signs of Life (which could very well win the "Joe Strummer Most Ironic Title Ever" award), the rather awkward On the Turning Way, and the A New Machine/Terminal Frost/A New Machine suite. I guess the closing Sorrow is okay - good guitar part, processed and mid-'80s as it is, and I like the lyrics just fine, but no way it's a nine-minute song, you know? And is that a DRUM MACHINE I hear?
Momentary Lapse hasn't aged very well, and like the following Division Bell it was a very bad idea. Thankfully, Pink Floyd's '70s output was so good that this will never tarnish their deserved reputation as rock legends. But that doesn't keep it from being arguably PF's worst.

Much as The Final Cut was in reality a Roger Waters solo album albeit it had the Pink Floyd name on it, this album is no different in that it is in reality a David Gilmour solo album albeit the cover has the Pink Floyd moniker on it. Gilmour worked hard to preserve the integrity of the band name, but most if not all of the songwriting and music is credited to him. However, this is not to say that the album is bad or lackluster. Although Nick Mason, Richard Wright, and the other musicians play second fiddle here, Gilmour did an excellent job in keeping everybody together with a common focus. There is a change of the guard here, not only in band personnel, but also conceptually as well. The common themes of rebellion, isolation, and materialism have given way to hope for a better world as evidenced in songs such as On The Turning Away. Pessimism has turned to optimism. Learning To Fly is an appreciation of one's environment by indulging in the pleasure of flying an airplane, a favorite pastime of Gilmour's. Without the dictatorial control of Waters, Gilmour could focus on more positive topics. The Dogs Of War says that sometimes war is necessary in order to maintain a just society as opposed to a condemnation of all war as was the case in The Final Cut album. Gilmour and company launched a massive and successful world tour soon after the release of this album that stretched all the way to 1989. The pig balloons were back in full force as well as the airplanes disguised as hospital beds crashing into the stage. Some things never change. The album and tour showed that the band's popularity stood the test of time with or without Roger Waters. A Momentary Lapse Of Reason celebrates triumph over adversity.

This is one of Pink Floyd's best albums. The songs are all good, and the sound is very 1980's-synthesizery, which I like.

...I didn't quite like it. After Waters left the group only the Division Bell seems to be 'great' as opposed to almost-everything done during the Waters age. It's too slow, no catchy tunes.

This is the first and the best of the Floyd without Roger Waters.
"Sign of life" is mysterious, "Learning to fly" is a good song.
"Dogs of war" is innovative. "One slip" is a bit more a song for a Gilmour solo album. "On the turning away" is a classic Floyd song.
"Yet another movie" is very good. "A new machine" is an outro the the previous track. "Terminal Frost" is a real gem, I love this instrumental.
"Sorrow" is full of rythm and great guitar solo. A very good cd, a bit different from classic Floyd, but still good to my ears.

Not many signs of life here. A few tracks hold up...Dogs of War, On the Turning Away and One Slip are great songs, the rest is a mediocre David Gilmour solo album with 9 million studio musicians to pad out the sound, not the way I want to hear Pink Floyd.

If you are a Pink Floyd fan, this one is no disappointment. Like Dark Side, this one delivers with great tunes, great lyrics, and smooth transitions from one cut to the next; something Pink Floyd has usually done very well. It is my second favorite album from this band, not far behind Dark Side of the Moon.

Some call The Final Cut Waters' first solo album. This is not really true as Gilmour played guitar and was un-credited producer, and Mason actually played drums on all but one song. Waters though did write all lyrics.

This album should have been called a Gilmour solo album. It was constructed as though a solo artist put it together. There are lyricists brought in to write songs, session musicians to help instruments (even keyboards and drums), and Gilmour was the main pusher behind this album.

This album does have some enjoyable songs such as Sorrow, One Slip, Yet Another Movie and On the Turning Away. But they are not really Pink Floyd. I think that if Mason had actually played drums and if Wright could've played and helped with songwriting this may have sounded different.

It would have been interesting to see how just the three of them might have done instead of with all of the outside help. But Wright and Mason wasnt really present at all during the making of this album.

It's Gilmour, really, but the style is Floyd, and the songs are some of my personal favorites - I prefer Gilmour's smooth mellow over Water's pitchy vocals anyway... If you like Delicate Sound of Thunder, here are many of the studio versions of the later songs in Pink Floyd's catalog.

WOW, what a great album this is. Even though a lot of people do not like this album for a lot of stupid reasons, I think it is some of the Floyds best work. This album has great singing, great lyrics, and most definitely great music. On this album I think David Gilmour sings better then he has on any other album. His singing just sounds so much more exciting and alive, I mean the guy even screams a few times on this album. I also must say how much more heavier this is then anything Pink Floyd has ever done. David really had some good distortion on. Now I will talk about some of the songs.
(Signs Of Life) is a preety good instrumental. It is actually a song David wrote back in 1978 but never got it on a Floyd album, probably because Roger Waters wasnt very keen on instrumentals. The second song is (Learning To Fly). This song has amazing guitar parts and is the most popular song on the album. I heard back in 87 they would show the music video of it on MTV all the time. The third song is called(The Dogs Of War). It is a song that talks bad about the government and sounds a bit creepy. I think the lyrics are good but the music isnt my fave. The next song is (One Slip). It is the most gutar heavy song on the album. Im not completely sure what its about though. This is all I fell like commenting about. BUY THE ALBUM.

How appropriate that beds are on the cover, as this is the first of Pink Floyd albums that qualifies as just a collector's item for Floyd fanatics and will positively put anyone else (and some fanatics like myself) to sleep. There are so many great Floyd albums, don't buy this one unless you are curious about the "bad Floyd album" and want to see if it could really be that bad... it is not that it's terrible, but just for Floyd, it is extremely mediocre.

AMLOR is a great PF album. I always enjoyed Floyd for the music rather than lyrics and so depart from the judgments of many of the Waters fans here. Floyd's progressive mix of R&B and dissonant guitar-driven sounds set them apart and it's on display here much more so than the followup Division Bell. This may be a Gilmour album in all but name, but that ain't necessarily a bad rap.

I am a huge Pink Floyd fan. Though I like some tracks like learning to fly, the entire album sound feels a little tired and synthetic. Lyrically it feels a bit prissy and commercial at times (it's like a polished facsimile of earlier PF works). The 'contemporary feel' that others talk about is precisely what I don't like about this album.
I give it 3 stars out of 5.

Dispite being a "reasonable forgery of a Pink Floyd album" (Roger Waters' alleged reaction), it's an incredible work of musical art.

I ignore the non-existant "Pink Floyd or not" controversy - that was a legal dispute that was settled years ago; the name on the cardboard insert has no relevence if objectively judging the CD purely for it's musical attributes.

-Bob

This and Dark Side of the Moon are the most balanced records Pink Floyd has ever produced. Just the right amount of sax, synth, drums, guitar, and vocals. The album is a little different than their ealier stuff as it has mostly a possitive sound to it, in other words don't come from the Wall listening to this without giving it some time. The only thing in question really are the "A New Machine" tracks, which are certainly different, not something you would just jump into. Will you ever like them if you don't like them inittially? Probably not. But other than that, everything else is utter perfection for the style of music they represent. Listen to this album a few times and trust me, you'll love it.

I've been listening to the Pink Floyd music for more than
30 years and when I noticed that people gave five star to such
a weak material once I have myself imposed to write a review.
I bought this record when it was released in 1987 and nowadays
I can't listen to it anymore, there are only two tracks that deserve to be in a Floyd record "On the turning away, and One
Slip", the rest are just fillers. I'm not that kind of Roger
Waters era fanatic, I like all the members of the group, but
I'm sure the only one reason people liked this album was
because most of them were by that time brand new Pink Floyd
fans, and I'm pretty secure that when they got to know with
the best Floyd works they compared and changed their minds.
I liked and still like "The Division Bell", because it is a
very good work. So I'm not radical or fool, as I stated
in an "Atom Heart Mother review I did", this is a Three Stars
album, because they have never put a two stars album on to tape.
Now I can understand the title of this album, David Gilmour had
a complete momentary lapse of reason in have it done.

I have all the old LPs but had lost track of Pink Floyd since "The Wall". What a mistake to purchase this crap. The division bell is even worse. The singing is less than pleasant, forced and strained from a worn out rocker. The music is a jarbled New Age sounding studio mix of repetitive beats. Water's was correct when he said Pink Floyd was a spent creative force. If there is a message in the album or a theme its obscured by clouds of senseless notes and endless whaling guitar riffs. I think Gilmour wanted some retirement money and kicked out the last two PF albums to grow old on easy street. Or he followed the path of Sid Barret and slid off the deep end.