There's a moment just a little over two minutes into David Gilmour [ tickets ]'s "On an Island" that illustrates exactly why so many of us spent our college years listening to Pink Floyd.

It happens on the moody instrumental "Castellorizon," as Gilmour strikes a note that sounds like it shouldn't come from a guitar. It sounds so much like a voice, possessing so much emotion and personality, that it serves as a calling card.

David Gilmour is back in the house.

The main lesson to be re-learned from this CD--the vocalist/guitarist's first solo outing since 1984's "About Face" and his first new studio offering since Pink Floyd's "Division Bell" came out in 1994--is that Gilmour remains one of the best guitarists to ever strap on a six-stringer.

The secondary lesson, unfortunately, is that he still misses former Floyd-mate Roger Waters. One of the things that Waters added to Floyd was "bite." And this album doesn't have much of that. It's by no means toothless, given that Gilmour keeps providing enjoyable leads on such numbers as the title track and "Take a Breath," but the overall feel is a bit light and, well, directionless.

The album has its moments, including "Then I Close My Eyes" and the title track, which is already a sizable hit on classic rock radio stations. But these moments don't really connect in the way that Floyd fans have been trained to expect, and one is left with nothing more than a fairly likable, less-than-cohesive set of songs.

File this album next to such post-Waters Floyd offerings as "Division Bell." It certainly doesn't belong next to the likes of "Wish You Were Here" and "Dark Side of the Moon."