WISH YOU WERE HERE

How do you follow-up a global masterpiece like Dark Side? You change the rules. If Dark Side is about the uncatharted madness caused as a result of living in an insane world, Wish You Were Here is about the added madness that ensues as a result of having the world embrace that uncatharted madness on such an absurd scale. If WYWH is a "tribute to Syd Barrett," it is so because Barrett saw that insanity first. But WYWH is also a scathing remonstration of the music industry - a deliberate, mocking attempt to "bite the hand that feeds." And the album succeeds on both levels, as well as, most importantly, on the compositional and musical levels. Not only did Shine On and Wish You Were Here become anthems on a global scale, but the sales of Ovation guitars went through the roof when everyone old enough to play a guitar began playing these songs at every acid-laced party in the world. Floyd was not interested in "topping" themselves after Dark Side; they were simply interested in expressing new thoughts and feelings - and in that they succeeded brilliantly.