The Orb featuring David Gilmour

It's taken a piecemeal collaboration with Pink Floyd's David Gilmour ― apparently the two parties were never in the studio at the same time ― but Dr. Alex Patterson and the Orb are finally back on a major label with new album Metallic Spheres. Packaged to look like a '70s-era Mike Oldfield Tubular Bells session, the album is composed of two long pieces entitled simply "Metallic Side" and "Spheres Side." Given the pedigree of Gilmour's stature and his legions of classic rock fans that will undoubtedly make up the audience for this outing, it sounds much closer to an extended Gilmour, spacey guitar solo as remixed by the Orb, which basically means they tastefully threw some uncomplicated, inoffensive beats behind sections to shape the Floyd-ian ambient sprawl. As a Gilmour side-project, this package is actually quite appealing and listenable. Fans of the Orb expecting a major comeback, or even a record that maintains the level of effort put into their last few albums, shouldn't bother.