Pink Floyd's singer and guitarist David Gilmour released his second solo album About Face in March of 1984.

The album was co-produced by Gilmour and Bob Ezrin (whom David worked with last on Pink Floyd's The Wall).

The album was recorded throughout 1983 in France and mixed at Mayfair Studios in London with engineers Andrew Jackson and James Guthrie respectively. The album was recorded after Pink Floyd disbanded following the completion of 1983's The Final Cut whcih saw relations between Gilmour and bandmate Roger Waters deteriorate.

In addition to David on vocals and guitar on About Face, he is joined by Toto drummer Jeff Porcaro, bass player Pino Palladino and keyboard player Ian Kewley (both from Paul Young's band). Plus there are guest appearances by Deep Purple keyboard player Jon Lord, Anne Dudley and Steve Winwood. Also helping on some of the backing vocals are Roy Harper, Sam Brown and her mother Vicky.

David wrote eight of the ten songs himself on this album including the pulsating opener "Until We Sleep", which is a great song. "Murder" is next and is the best track on the album with David pulling out all the stops on electric and acoustic guitars. "Love on the Air" is next and David wrote the music while Pete Townshend penned the lyrics to this song as well as the second half opening rocker All Lovers Are Deranged. The single "Blue Light" follows and is a good funky track. Steve Winwood plays Hammond Organ on this track as he did on Love on the Air. The only thing that dates Blue Light slightly are the horns but still a great track nevertheless. The ballad "Out of the Blue" ends the first half on a poignant note with the late Michael Kamen's superb orchestrations.

The US FM rock radio hit "All Lovers Are Deranged" kicked off the second half and is a great rocker. The anti-Roger Waters rocker "You Know I'm Right" follows and showed David was still angered and upset about Waters' ill-treatment to him during the torturous Final Cut sessions (who knew the two would reconcile in 2005). Next is "Cruise", which is apparently an ode to an MX nuclear-tipped cruise missile and a great song. The soaring classical music meets heavy soaring electric guitar instrumental "Let's Get Metaphysical" follows and beautifully blends Michael's orchestrations with some killer guitar work from Gilmour on his trusty Fender Stratocaster. The fittingly titled "Near the End" ends this album on a bittersweet but beautiful note and the ending acoustic then Stratocaster solos of Gilmour's at the end are some of his finest.

I first got About Face on cassette when I was 12 in February of 1988 and it is better on CD.

The album hit a modest #32 in the US and would eventually go Gold (500,000 copies sold) as a result.

About Face was finally re-released on September 12, 2006 on Columbia Records with digitally remastered sound, thanks to another Pink Floyd associate James Guthrie (who mixed the original album), and fully restored artwork.

The album is longer than either the original CD or original album as all of the tracks have fully restored endings and the sound on this is SUPERB!

I highly recommend this album to any Floyd fan!

If you listen to About Face and Roger Water's Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking (relaeased a year earelier), you can HEAR the two components that once were Pink Floyd - Waters has all the concept and deep, biting lyrics, while Gilmour has the voice, is unbeatable with a guitar and makes the music SOUND good. Floyd purists will dismiss this album as too "pop", and it does depart sharply from the obsessiveness of The Final Cut, but no one can deny that this is ear candy (in a good way) straight through, with some of Gilmour's best guitar work, since he was free to do as he pleased. The opener, UNTIL WE SLEEP, sounds just like Pink Floyd would during Momentary Lapse and The Division Bell years - stunning guitar, haunting voice. The album has hit singles in BLUE LIGHT (i dont love the song but it did make radio and MTV airplay) plus hits waiting to be discovered in ALL LOVERS ARE DERANGED and CRUISE (i dont know why gilmour bothers to try his hand at a political statement when he knows roger waters does it better). There are some lighter, but enjoyable tracks in. LOVE ON THE AIR and OUT OF THE BLUE. Two of the more haunting, standout tracks (in addition to the excellent UNTIL WE SLEEP) are MURDER and NEAR THE END. If you liked Pink Floyd after Waters left the band, you will LOVE this album (and if you only like Roger Waters, of course you won't). It was nice to hear Gilmour get to lighten up a bit out of the constraints of the Pink Floyd that Waters ran like a dictator, and this album previews what Floyd would do in the late 80s and 90s. Great guitar work in almost every song, a short intrumental treat in LET'S GET METAPHYSICAL, overall a fine album.

You can take a guy out of Floyd, but you can't take the Floyd out of the guy. That's probably an unfair statement since Floyd is, in part, what David Gilmour brings to the band. Gilmour's sound is unique and easy to recognize. Clear phrasing and astral sound are his trademarks. His solos are perfect, works of art that elicit images and emotions. "About Face" is different from a Floyd album, and at the same time very similar to one. This was he first release after the demise of the band, allowing him to experiment and do his own thing without having to clash with others. It is this freedom that separates this album from the true Floyd sound.

"Murder" is a good resume for Gilmour's talent. The song begins with acoustic strumming before a fretless bass solo marks the transition to a heavier feel. The solo is powerfully Gilmour. As the solo progresses it turns more into something that sounds like it was cut from "The Wall", a bit "Young Lust"-ish. The surprising song on the album is "Love On the Air", one of two on this album penned by Pete Townsend. Again, Gilmour takes center stage with his guitar, but there is some pretty good Hammond organ going on in the background. "All Lovers Are Deranged" is the other Townsend song. This one is quit heavier, and Gilmour's playing a bit on the dirty side. "Out of the Blue" borrows heavily from the Floyd arsenal. Gilmour gets a lick back on Waters with "You Know I'm Right".

Overall, this is a decent solo release from Gilmour, which is a precursor to revitalizing most of Floyd for "Momentary Lapse of Reason". It's a good showing, but not his best work. He proved that he could work without Waters on his first solo release (self-titled), and did again with the subsequent releases from Floyd.

Most certainly an underrated solo album from Pink Floyd's legenday guitarist. This is a not a Pink Floyd styled album what so ever. The songs are more relaxed and diverse..A nice mix of Rock, jazz/blues, ballads and a rather haunting instrumental.

Teamed with master producer Bob Ezrin and backed by musicians including Jeff Porcaro, Pino Palladino, Ian Kewley, with Michael Kamen adding his orchestrated touch. On this album David Gilmour is able to stretch out a bit and develop a diverse collection of songs. Two songs were co-written with The Who's Pete Towshend.

Standout songs include Until We Sleep, Murder, Out Of The Blue, All Lovers Are Deranged, You Know I'm Right and Near The End.

David Gilmour's second solo album sounds more like mainstream eighties rock. Which is not to say that it is not good. It has moments of lyrical and musical excellence. "Until it Sleeps" is an interesting opening track. "Murder" is an intelligent reference to John Lennon's murderer. The rest of the album is sparking with some good rock and roll. The opening riff to "Blue Light" is amazing, though the song is easily a Steve Winwood collaboration. Not really as classic as his first solo album, but definitely worth listening to, and showed promise...which Gilmour ended up using when Pink Floyd reformed. Just as well perhaps, but this is still a good album.