Obscured by Clouds: The Pink Floyd Soundtrack That Critics Liked but History Nearly Forgot

When Obscured by Clouds dropped in June 1972, Disc and Music Echo gave it a favorable review, calling it “a very pleasant, listenable album” and noting that the band had finally shaken off its space-rock image. Melody Maker was more reserved, praising the instrumental textures but complaining that the vocal tracks felt like leftovers. Nobody called it a masterpiece. The biggest knock: it was a soundtrack for a Barbet Schroeder film (La Vallée), and soundtracks didn’t count.

Fast-forward fifty years, and the album’s reputation has flipped hard. Hardcore Pink Floyd fans now treat Obscured by Clouds as the secret gem—the last album before Dark Side where the band still sounded loose and unburdened by concept-album pressure. Tracks like “Childhood’s End” and “Free Four” get serious love for their eerie lyricism and early Gilmour guitar work. Critics still rank it behind the big five, but they’ve stopped dismissing it. It’s the underdog that won by staying weird.