On an Island

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On an Island
On an Island cover
Studio album by David Gilmour
Released 6 March 2006 (UK)
7 March 2006 (U.S.)
Genre Blues-rock
Progressive Rock
Length 51:36
Label EMI (UK)
Columbia Records (U.S.)
Producer David Gilmour, Phil Manzanera, Chris Thomas
Professional reviews
David Gilmour chronology
About Face
(1984)		 On an Island
(2006)		 Live in Gdańsk
(2008)

On an Island is the third solo album by David Gilmour, best known as a lead vocalist and guitarist for Pink Floyd. It was released in the United Kingdom on March 6, 2006, Gilmour's 60th birthday, and in the U.S. the following day. It is Gilmour's first new solo album in 22 years. The song "Castellorizon" received a Grammy Award nomination for best rock instrumental.

The album has achieved platinum status in Canada, selling over 100,000 copies in the first month of its release, and sold over 1 million copies worldwide.

Contents

[edit] Background

Notable appearances include Robert Wyatt, Jools Holland, Georgie Fame, David Crosby and Graham Nash, as well as original Pink Floyd member Richard Wright and a member of an early incarnation of Pink Floyd, Bob Klose. Guy Pratt, who has done studio work and toured with Pink Floyd, also appears. Chris Thomas and Roxy Music's Phil Manzanera assisted with production.

Much of the album was recorded in Gilmour's private studio aboard his houseboat Astoria. The track "Smile" was heard briefly in an unmastered form on the BBC2 show Three Men In A Boat.

Orchestrations on the album were arranged by noted Polish film composer Zbigniew Preisner and conducted by Robert Ziegler

David Gilmour's page on myspace.com features a single edit of the title track for his new album and is available for all to listen to. Single edits of "Take A Breath" and "This Heaven" were issued to coincide with the U.S. leg of the tour, while "Smile" was the second single in the UK.

Copies of the album initially purchased from Best Buy in the U.S. contained an exclusive bonus audio CD with the instrumental track Island Jam which was subsequently released on the CD single for "Smile" in Europe.

On an Island entered the UK charts at #1, giving Gilmour his first ever chart-topping album outside of Pink Floyd. It reached #1 on the European Chart, and #2 in Canada, Portugal and Iceland. It has also provided Gilmour with his first U.S. Top 10 album, reaching #6. The album has achieved platinum status in Canada and has sold over 1,000,000 copies worldwide.

The album also produced two minorly successful singles; the title track 'On an Island' and 'Smile, both peaking at #72 on the UK singles charts and with 'On an Island' peaking at #29 on the US mainstream rock charts.

The album was re-released in November of 2006 with a bonus DVD of Gilmour's performances of "On an Island", "This Heaven", "Smile", "Take a Breath", "High Hopes" and "Comfortably Numb" from AOL's Music Sessions filmed in New York in April 2006 plus a performance of "Astronomy Domine" filmed at Abbey Road Studios in August, 2006 and a performance of "Take a Breath" from Gilmour's most recent DVD, Remember that Night filmed at The Royal Albert Hall in May of 2006.

[edit] Track listing

  1. "Castellorizon" (Gilmour) – 3:54
  2. "On An Island" (Gilmour/Samson) – 6:47
  3. "The Blue" (Gilmour/Samson) – 5:26
  4. "Take a Breath" (Gilmour/Samson) – 5:46
  5. "Red Sky at Night" (Gilmour) – 2:51
  6. "This Heaven" (Gilmour/Samson) – 4:24
    • Featuring David Gilmour on guitars, vocals, bass guitar, Phil Manzanera on keyboard, Andy Newmark on drums, Orchestrations by Zbigniew Preisner and Georgie Fame on Hammond organ.
  7. "Then I Close My Eyes" (Gilmour) – 5:26
    • Featuring David Gilmour on guitars, cümbüş, bass harmonica, BJ Cole on dobro guitar, Robert Wyatt on cornet, percussion, vocals, Phil Manzanera on keyboard, Andy Newmark on percussion, Orchestrations by Zbigniew Preisner, Caroline Dale on cello and Alasdair Malloy on glass harmonica.
  8. "Smile" (Gilmour/Samson) – 4:03
    • Featuring David Gilmour on guitars, vocals, percussion, Hammond Organ, bass guitar, Polly Samson on vocals, Willie Wilson on drums and orchestrations by Zbigniew Preisner.
  9. "A Pocketful of Stones" (Gilmour/Samson) – 6:17
    • Featuring David Gilmour on guitars, vocals, Hammond Organ, piano, bass, percussion, Leszek Mozdzer on piano, Lucy Wakeford on harp, Alasdair Malloy on glass harmonica, Chris Thomas on keyboard, Chris Laurence on double bass, Ilan Eshkeri on programming and orchestrations by Zbigniew Preisner.
  10. "Where We Start" (Gilmour) – 6:45
    • Featuring David Gilmour on guitars, vocals, bass guitar, percussion, Hammond organ, Andy Newmark on drums and orchestrations by Zbigniew Preisner.

[edit] Tour

Rick Wright, Phil Manzanera and Guy Pratt joined Gilmour on tour to promote the album. The tour also featured Dick Parry, who played saxophone on Pink Floyd songs "Money", "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", "Us and Them" and "Wearing the Inside Out", and Jon Carin, who in 1980s and 1990s toured with Pink Floyd and helped in studio. Zbigniew Preisner conducted orchestra in concert in Gdansk. Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason joined for an encore of the London show. David Bowie also made a guest appearance in London, performing vocals on Comfortably Numb and Arnold Layne, the latter subsequently released as a live single.

[edit] Setlist

Set one:

  1. Speak to Me
  2. Breathe
  3. Time
    (At the beginning of the tour the above three tracks were played during Set 2)
  4. On an Island (entire album)
    (At the beginning of the tour the On an Island album made up the entire first set)

Set two: The second set featured a selection of these tracks:

  1. Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V) (Always present in the set)
  2. Astronomy Domine (Added during the second European tour, after the UK tour.)
  3. Dark Globe (Added after the death of Syd Barrett.)
  4. Wot's... Uh the Deal
  5. Wearing the Inside Out
  6. Fat Old Sun
  7. On the Turning Away (one off performance in Venice, Italy on August 11th and 12th 2006)
  8. Dominoes
  9. Arnold Layne (was added at the end of the U.S. leg with Rick Wright on lead vocals although a performance at the Royal Albert Hall on 29th May 2006, featured David Bowie on lead vocals)
  10. Coming Back to Life (Always present in the set)
  11. High Hopes (Always present in the set)
  12. The Great Gig in the Sky (performed on 30th/31st May 2006 with Mica Paris and during the early European dates, but was dropped until the London dates.)
  13. Echoes (Always present in the set)

Encore:

  1. Wish You Were Here
  2. A Great Day for Freedom (one off performance in Gdansk, Poland on August 26th 2006)
  3. Find the cost of Freedom (only performed with David Crosby and Graham Nash)
  4. Comfortably Numb (performance on 29th May 2006 at the Royal Albert Hall, featured David Bowie on lead vocals)

[edit] Personnel

David Gilmour at Radio City Music Hall during his 'On an Island' tour on April 4, 2006
David Gilmour at Radio City Music Hall during his 'On an Island' tour on April 4, 2006

[edit] Charts

Album - Based on stock pushed to shops, not actual sales in North America

Year Chart Position
2006 The Billboard 200 6
2006 Billboard Top Internet Albums 2
2006 Official UK Albums Chart 1
v • d • e
David Gilmour
Studio albums
David Gilmour (1978) • About Face (1984) • On an Island (2006)
Live Albums
Singles
There's No Way Out of Here (1978) • Blue Light (1984) • Love on the Air (1984) • On An Island (2006) • Smile/Island Jam (2006) • Arnold Layne/Dark Globe (Live) (2006)
Videos and DVDs
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