Last Updated on 25 February 2026 by Massimo M.
David Gilmour is the title of the first album of the same name published by the guitarist and co-leader of Pink Floyd.
Gilmour decided to release his first solo work after releasing the Animals album with Pink Floyd in 1977 and completing the In the Flesh tour.
For Gilmour, this album was a kind of creative emancipation, a step away from the diplomatic machine that had become his main band. There was certainly a lot of fatigue within Pink Floyd and the tension between the band members was substantial.
There may also have been a financial reason behind the decision to make a solo album.
By 1978 it was clear that, although Pink Floyd were one of the greatest bands of all time, their ability to manage investments was nowhere near as good as their artistic ability. Many of their investments had been resounding flops and they were now also subject to massive UK taxation. In short, they were broke.
Both Wright and Gilmour recorded solo albums in early 1978 and did so in France precisely to avoid tax. Roger Waters on the other hand began writing what would eventually become The Wall, knowing full well that he needed to create a hit record that could save them financially.
The recording sessions
David Gilmour’s album was largely written between November 1977 and January 1978 and was subsequently recorded and mixed at Super Bear Studios in Nice, France, in February 1978.
The recording sessions went off without a hitch and exactly as planned by Gilmour, perhaps also because the musicians chosen to work on this album were his old band mates. Rick Wills on bass and Willie Wilson on battery.
The record was then released in May 1978. Unfortunately, in 1986 there was a fire that destroyed the Super Bear Studio and with it all the documents, reels and images of the recording sessions..
The songs
The album opens with Mihalis, an atmospheric instrumental track, which hints at the evolution of Floydian music.
The next track is There’s No Way Out Of Here, a cover of No Way Out Of Here (written by Baker for Unicorn’s first work, produced by Gilmour himself). This cover also came out as a single and placed well in the US, while in Europe it did not even enter the charts.
Cry From The Street!, So Far Away and Short and Sweet are the next tracks, in perfect F.M. Rock style, enjoyable but not too original.
Raise My Rent is another completely instrumental track, again very atmospheric, it seems to have been the inspiration for What do you want from me and Marooned.
No Way, another good F.M. Rock track, perhaps the best track on the album.
It proceeds with another instrumental It’s Deafinitely, in which Gilmour attempts some original solutions, which is followed by the closing track I Can’t Breathe Anymore, which remains consistent with the retour of the record.
Unused songs
Comfortably Numb was originally written by Gilmour in early 1978 and intended for the solo album. A demo rediscovered in the early 1990s shows that although the key was different, most of the song’s structure is very similar to the finished version that ended up on The Wall.
The embryo of Run Like Hell also dates back to David Gilmour’s recordings. It can be found in the track Short and sweet, written in collaboration with Roy Harper, who recorded his version for his 1980 album The Unknown Soldier.
The album was released in May and June 1978 in the UK and the US respectively. David Gilmour reached number 17 in the UK charts and number 29 in the US album charts, where it was also certified gold.
Side one
Mihalis 05:46
There’s No Way Out of Here 05:08
Cry from the Street 05:13
So Far Away 05:50
Side two
Short and Sweet 05:30
Raise My Rent 05:33
No Way 05:32
Deafinitely 04:27
I Can’t Breathe Anymore 03:04
David Gilmour was reissued by EMI Records in Europe as a digitally remastered CD on 14 August 2006. Legacy Recordings / Columbia Records released the remastered CD in the US and Canada on 12 September 2006. It includes extended versions of some tracks.
Mihalis 05:55
There’s No Way Out of Here 05:20
Cry from the Street 05:13
So Far Away 06:06
Short and Sweet 05:30
Raise My Rent 05:47
No Way 06:12
Deafinitely 04:27
I Can’t Breathe Anymore 03:43
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