PINK FLOYD

I remember buying this album as it came out in 77 and immediately noticed how different it was from their previous 2 smashes Dark Side (DS) & Wish You Were Here (WYWH). What would make it so different? Roger Waters. Reading the various band comments through this time Roger had started exerting full control over the band. The conflict between Richard Wright and Waters started on this album and would result in his firing during the Wall sessions. DS changed these 4 guys' lives as they suddenly became millionaires and as is so common, almost a necessity, marriages started breaking up and in Gilmour's case he had his first child. This gravely affected the writing and Waters was ready to full steam ahead push the next disc out and the others were going through various personal issues. Gilmour wanted more time to present some ideas but Waters was headstrong and pushed his way through.

Gilmour's own words on the album later were: "It wasn't one of the more productive periods of our life I don't think. We used those two tracks which went back to '74, changed the names, doctored them around and stuck them on the album. I love the album; it was exciting and noisy and fun. It really had some great bits and stuff of effects on there but it was not one of our creative high points really."

In the world of music, bands that pass from no one knowing about them to all out stardom, creates changes and sadly many for the worst. I consider Animals the last of the best of the Floyd albums with Waters. The Wall was way overrated in my opinion and I was not that fond of it when it came out and still am not today. Why? It was essentially a Roger Waters' album. There was very little collaboration. The Final Cut was just an extension of that album and was by far their lowest point musically.

When we read about the band's thoughts of the making of DS we hear of a band that were working well together and everyone was involved sometimes even treading into areas that were not normal theirs. WYWH was also more of a collaboration and it can be seen and felt but even then, Waters was exercising control. I cannot blame him for all of this alone. Again, the band's personal lives were a mess and busy so music took a backstage (pun intended) position rather than being center stage.

All this history and thoughts which my posts seem to have a lot of, the album is different but good. Gilmour only helped write Dogs and the rest was Waters. I personally think that Gilmour is a better vocalist so it would have been good to hear him more but Waters' voice on Sheep was perfect for him to sing. The book end Pigs On The Wong I think are nothing more than filler that really are unnecessary and just take up time on the record.

The sound effects with the various animals (dogs, pigs, sheep) are fine but a little too overdone. The mellow break in the middle of Dogs is somewhat reminiscent of Echoes off Meddle a but it drones on a little too long. Gilmour's guitar work on that song and the album was superb. The 3 main songs all have something to offer but they could have cut down the times a bit and made room for something else.

The best song for me was Sheep. Its attacks are brilliant and relevance to the sociopolitical situation at that time are brilliantly brought forth. As others have noted, like Orwell's writing's the world has taken its ideas far too seriously! It could be a 21st century anthem at this point! Prog wise, it is definitely that so I can give it a higher rating but Animals doesn't come close to touching the greatness of the 2 previous smashes. Sadly this led to the dreaded Wall and worse yet the Final Cut.

An interesting release, this one. It's live so it's certainly different from the original studio recording. I get the sense from listening to this album that the band spent some time all learning their parts, where they fit in and how to play their pieces in sequence in a live setting. There is a little bit of hesitation in some of the playing by the band and some of the transitions from instrumental to vocal pieces sound a bit rushed but not enough to distract the listener too much. However, I am left wondering if a few of Gilmour's vocals have been redone recently in the studio. Gilmour's guitar shines very brightly throughout and Waters' bass parts sound rich and perfect. Wright's keys seem a bit buried in the mix sometimes and Mason's drums tend to come across as a bit withdrawn, until side two releases him to really play, up there with the others. Side one throughout, on the vinyl version is very good if a bit muted. Side two is where this album really comes alive. The version of Us and Them on here is just magnificent. One thing. This live album has to be played loud. Very loud. That way, all the sounds coming through both left and right channels really sound fantastic. Despite some parts sounding a little bit like easy listening background lounge Muzak, overall this is an enjoyable listen which left me wishing I was there, when it was recorded.

Even though it might be the weakest album of the decade for Pink Floyd, it has a great collection of songs. Stay, Wots the Deal, Free Four, Burning Bridges, and Childhoods End are all songs I love. The instrumentals are a bit inconsistent but get better and better as the album goes giving it a better flow. Yes this is a soundtrack for a movie so it's not going to be a conventional Pink Floyd album. I still like it much better than More. I also like the extra contributions made by Gilmour and Wright that are very present on this album.

Before there were what are often categorized as soft Progressive Rock albums from the likes of Ambrosia, Alan Parsons Project, Al Stewart, etc this does highly resemble something of that sort. The first 3 Floyd albums of the 70's are easy listening for the most part. Maybe this one is a bit more accessible and conventional. Reminds me of something like Bread with Prog elements. This album has experimental parts that would interest Prog Rock fans but is much more relaxed than anything else Pink Floyd did in that decade.

I really like this album a lot. Have listened to it many times. It might even rank #3 or #4 of Floyd albums I have listened to the most times all the way through. At the same time as great of a song selection that it has it lacks what Pink Floyd can accomplish with a concept album or one of their masterpieces.

Being 1970 this album is right in between the awkward experimental phase. And being before Meddle where the band would find direction they were happier with that would help shape the future. This album is where the band starts to really display a much higher level of greatness and showing much greater potential but missing the mark they were hoping for.

The result is an often misunderstood album but also original sounding album that has moments of brilliance, originality, obscurity, and very well liked Pink Floyd albums by diehards that many people have never had the chance to hear. Mirroring of the band arrangements with orchestral arrangements. Plenty of Jazz and Classical elements and influences. Perhaps it was the collaboration efforts and not doing enough on their own that made them feel insecure about this album. Even crazier that critics actually really liked this album.

The suite Atom Heart Mother is interesting to listen to. I have heard some people call it pretentious but I fully disagree. This is 1970 we are talking about. Symphonic Metal bands often use the arrangements of band with choir and orchestra. And we are talking decades later. This is once again Pink Floyd projecting the future without even knowing about it. Alan Parsons used this formula in multiple albums. This is also the first album he was involved in with Pink Floyd.

If a humorous song about a relationship that didn't work which would go into the next song. Weakest track on the album. I do like Richard Wrights piano solos towards the end.

Summer of '68is avery Jazz influenced piece from Richard Wright. And of course Jazz influences would continue to intensify throughout Pink Floyd's music throughout most of the 70's. Both Cool Jazz and Fusion influences.

Fat Old Sun is considered a classic and a very beautiful and well liked song. David Gilmour would make it more of a staple for his live shows going into the 2000's.

Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast is really bizarre due to the background noises. When the music gets good it gets really good. Some really cool Jazz moments I really enjoy.

An obscure overlooked gem overall. It might not make my top 5 but I feel it's a very monumental album that really shows a step in the right direction and a huge breakthrough for the band that would continue all throughout the 70's. The perfect way to start the decade and something completely different formula that would never be used again that only adds to this album being more interesting.

While everything and everyone had to get better after the standards set by In the Court of the Crimson King, Pink Floyd would try something entirely different and made something unique.

The success of "A Momentary Lapse of Reason," which led to one of the biggest rock tours of the late 80s, demonstrated to the world that there was a possible life for Pink Floyd post-Roger Waters. With that momentum, 7 years later, they delivered "The Division Bell," which ultimately ended up being the band's last studio album (because, to be rigorous and not let ourselves be carried away by emotion, "The Endless River" cannot be considered a concept album as such...).

"The Division Bell" respects and connects with the band's history, maintaining atmospheric structures that wander through territories no longer as much spatial, but rather focused on human relationships, with melancholy and a halo of brotherhood as guiding threads. It was not an easy road because, while Waters' absence brought peace and harmony to the group, on the other hand, it diminished their ability to articulate and create powerful proposals that only he was capable of. Several musicians were called upon to fill the void, and even Gilmour's wife had to assist with the lyrics, a process that had become a nightmare for the guitarist.

The result was more than a worthy work, with very good tracks, such as the intense and raspy "What do you Want From Me," the almost obligatory reference to the eternal Barrett and the bellicose Waters in "Poles Apart," the festive and enthusiastic "Take it Back," the beautiful initial guitar solo of "Coming Back to Life," and the majestic "High Hopes," which closes the album dissolving into chimes.

It's likely that even the members of Pink Floyd didn't have a clear understanding at that time that "The Division Bell" would be the final chapter (or almost...) of the story of one of the most influential rock bands of all time.

3.5 stars

Sure, Dark Side of the Moon is their monumental best-selling iconic classic, but for me, this is their overall best album, primarily due to the presence of the wonderful epic Shine On You Crazy Diamond and Wish You Were Here. Just sensational and so inspiring. Shine On... is split into two halves that bookend the rest of the album and provide the overriding moody presence throughout. Its slowly building mood and atmosphere (its a full 8 minutes into the album before the melody and vocals of the song kick in) eventually erupting into the cathartic release of the full chorus is magical and magnificent. Then Welcome to the Machine and Have a Cigar are darkly comic and engaging musical commentaries on the band's recent commercial success. But the acoustic masterpiece title track remains my favorite Pink Floyd song with its beautiful and moving melody and refrain. Then closing with another extended dose of Shine On.., a truly masterful album.

As a younger prog rock fan (we exist!), I just listened to this album for the first time last June, and heard my first Pink Floyd song on a local radio station, and quite liked it. I had always liked longer songs, but only things like 7, 8 minutes. The first 'long' song i really got into, was 'Telegraph Road' I loved the elaborate arrangement and guitar work, and the grand scale of it. Which led me naturally to prog, and after hearing 'Money' for the first time, and seeing this album cover the entirety of my life, I decided to pop the record on, and was amazed by what I saw.

First, we have Speak To Me/Breathe. Speak to me introduces the album, and is a sound collage, more than anything. Breathe opens us up with some beautiful pedal steel guitar and David Gilmour at the peak of his powers. The opening lyrics, of course, being 'Breathe, Breathe in the air, don't be afraid to care." Which sets the mood and tone for the album. The next song is another sound collage (the songs transition right into one another, which makes for an AMAZING listening experience) named 'On the Run' plane noises, car noises, noises of travel. Travelling, moving from place to place. The next song we have is 'Time' which has the most beautiful lyrics every written in the most existential way, with one of Gilmour's most passionate guitar solos, if you listen to nothing else off this album, listen to this song. The side closes with 'The Great Gig in the Sky' the beauty of which can not be put in to words, other than the vocalist (Clare Torry) accepting death. Side 2 opens with the hit-single 'Money' with a catchy riff in 7/4. Great Sax and Guitar solo, talks about the love of money. 'Us and Them' is a wee bit too long, but it's great, a bit jazzy, some smooth sax. It's all about war, there's some about love, it's a very pretty song. This transitions into 'Any Colour You Like' it's an instrumental, structured loosely around 'Breathe' the song's title derives from a Henry Ford quote, saying 'The customer can have any color he wants, as long as it's black.' So the song tells the illusion of choice. This leads into the finale of The Dark Side of the Moon, 'Brain Damage' and 'Eclipse'. 'Brain Damage drops the most cathartic title drop in all of music history. 'And if your head explodes with dark forebodings too, I'll see you on the Dark Side of the Moon' A couple of the lyrics are inspired by former front man Syd Barrett, who had gone crazy due to drugs, and overuse of LSD. (Which is why they've got Shine On You Crazy Diamond, which is one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever written, if you know the backstory) This transitions us into the final song on the album, an epic finale, 'Eclipse' listing off many things from the rest of the album, and closing with the line 'Everything under the sun is in tune, but the sun is eclipsed by the moon' Which asks the question, out of everything we do in life, do we make a difference? Do we really matter? Very existential. As the closing heartbeat fills your ears, you hear the final of many spoken words throughout the album. 'There is no dark side of the moon, as a matter of fact it's all dark' bum bum... bum bum... bum bum.... The Dark Side of the Moon has stood the test of time more than many albums that have come before it, if you want to hear someone wax on poetically about it, might I recommend Polyphonic's video series on it, song by song. Listen to the full album FIRST of course.

Why? What possible reason would anyone want to follow up an epic album with this mess? To be honest I heard "Dark Side" and "Wish You Were Here" after they came out and those 2 albums really marked Floyd's best. I am a fan of "Meddle" as well. When "Animals" was released I bought it and was surprised as it is a departure from the previous 2 albums but it was still good and a nice change. They actually reused some material from 1974 (Wish You Were Here sessions) but it sure didn't sound like it. I know that bands shift over time as they cannot just stay in the same type of sound as it gets repetitive. "Animals" is actually one of my all-time favorite albums by them and by itself.

Floyd have always pushed the limit and when "The Wall" was released in 79' I went out and got it anticipating some similarity to Animals or the previous works but what I heard was so far removed. It took me a number of years to really appreciate it and today I do but it still marked a definite shift into songs packed with words and less instrumentals. I suppose it is only fair since it was essentially a rock opera. To this day it is not one of my favorite albums by any artist though I like it better than I used to.

Roger Waters is an egomaniac from what I have seen from his own words to this day and others in the band. He began dominating the studio sessions during "Animals." Gilmour admitted he didn't have any material but needed time and Roger was not keen on giving it and Mason and Wright were also not ripe with material. So, Floyd started to become something different; Waters different. "The Wall" was his baby and it sounds like it. And he to this day brags about it and how little anyone in the band did anything and says the same about most of their past albums as though he is Floyd. When "A Momentary Lapse Of Reason" was released it was proven that Floyd survived. While it is different in many ways from previous work, I do like its sound far better.

So with Wright kicked out of the band (by Waters' demand) they reassembled while things were at an all time relational low. Once again, he dominated by pushing these leftovers trying to squeeze out a record. Gilmour was not happy but had little choice but to go along with it.

Okay, aside from the background and my own opinions on the previous music, what about the album? As I started out saying: Why?! I cannot get on with this record. If I disregard the words and listen to it all it sounds like is an extension of The Wall. The same sounds and textures and Waters' voice dominating the mix. But these songs are lacking at best. I cannot even find a song that I like all the way through. The

I didn't find much on this record to make me want to keep hearing it. It is simply a bad Wall album. I never bought this album when it first came out as I had heard it was more to make the record company happy and I only recently downloaded it and wish I had not. After hearing it several times it didn't get better. Floyd's last album post Rick Wright "The Endless River" sounds far more Floydish and enjoyable than this Roger Waters solo album wannabe. And that is really all it is other than a regurgitated Wall.

The instrumentation was sorely lacking. It is a lyrical mess. Gilmour guitar bits are a far cry from anything memorable and it is obvious he didn't really want to play on it. Mason's drumming is lethargic and the loss of Rick Wright is obvious as his work is part of the glue that makes Floyd what it was.

This album was a waste and really damages Floyd's overall reputation. I see it as a Roger Ego album that was far too similar to what came before it. 1 star.

In 2014, Pink Floyd announced The Endless River, composed primarily of instrumental outtakes and experiments recorded during the Division Bell sessions. A small number of additions were made in 2013 to complete the album.

When this was announced, I set my expectations low. Gilmour had proven himself to be an inconsistent songwriter, and the prospect of something stitched together from leftover bits did not leave me optimistic.  

My initial reaction to The Endless River was, "Wow, this is surprisingly not-[&*!#]ty!" I then proceeded to not listen to it again until writing this essay six years later. That should tell you all you really need to know. It's passable instrumental space rock in small doses, but nothing makes this record noteworthy or worth revisiting. The ungainly length of this record is a hindrance, and it truly lives up to the endlessness promised in its name.

"Things Left Unsaid" is emblematic of many of the sins of this era of Pink Floyd. A dull synth drone acts as the backdrop to a slow, languid guitar line for four-and-a-half minutes. It's "Cluster One" trying to be the closing moments of "Shine on You Crazy Diamond". "It's What We Do" is an improvement, insofar as it has a pulse. This again feels like a weak, sterile attempt to recreate moments off "Shine on You Crazy Diamond". With this being an instrumental album, Roger Waters's presence isn't missed. He was never a standout bassist, as I've mentioned previously, and his playing almost always bled into the background as Wright and Gilmour took the lead. This album's flaccid opening movement closes with the brief "Ebb and Flow", which is all ebb and no flow.

"Sum" is the first place where the album does anything interesting. Wright's organ stutters in a way which evokes many of Floyd's best songs, including "Astronomy Domine". It's too long and lacks direction, but I'll take aimless jamming over aimless airiness. "Skins" is a callback to early cuts like "A Saucerful of Secrets" and "Up the Khyber" with Nick Mason's distinct, tom-heavy drumming style taking the lead. When a drum solo is the strongest cut on an album so far, that's usually not a good sign. "Anisina" is too sweet, and it feels like generic background music to be used in a heartwarming scene on a made-for-TV movie. I also hate the tone of the saxophone on this song.

Another brief, ambient piece?"The Lost Art of Conversation"?doesn't do much beyond occupy two minutes of time, but "On Noodle Street" is one of the better tracks on The Endless River. It's not particularly good in absolute terms, mind you, but enough happens on this brief cut to keep me interested. It's mellow and jazzy, but my ultimate assessment is simply "inoffensive."

"Night Light" harbors some darker, minor-key tones, and "Allons-y" finally gets something going with its bouncing rhythm and a guitar line that could have been one of the better songs on The Wall. "Autumn '68" is a pointless mini-fugue which leads back into the second half of "Allons-y". "Talkin' Hawkin'" features more vocal snippets from Stephen Hawking, and it's nice that this song has enough percussion to maintain an identifiable beat.

"Calling", which opens side 4 of this album, is an interesting collection of moody synthesizers. This one could have been workshopped into something better, but there are nuggets of good ideas here. "Eyes to Pearls" stays in the same neighborhood but with a bit more muscle, and "Surfacing" is one of the rare cuts to feel like a real song.

The one song with vocals?"Louder Than Words"?closes out The Endless River. It's a pretty typical Gilmour-era ballad. Soulful background singers in the chorus feel like a crutch, and the instrumentation doesn't do much to grab the listener. Giving credit where credit is due, the closing guitar solo is quite good.

Looking on this record with relatively fresh eyes, I find its immense bloat and frequent aimlessness hobble any other redeeming qualities. It isn't actively bad in most cases, but it's frequently downright anodyne. Oftentimes, boring is worse than bad. Ummagumma's studio disc is an ungodly, unfocused morass, but they at least were trying weird and different things. The Endless River is endlessly safe. It was a disappointing, unnecessary way for Pink Floyd to wrap up their career.

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2021/03/01/deep-dive-pink-floyd/

The Division Bell was released in 1994 and is unquestionably the strongest of Floyd's three post-Waters albums. Rick Wright rejoined the band as a full member, and his contributions are both noticeable and appreciated.

The Division Bell, though, like many albums from the 1990s, is way, way too long. No longer constrained by the roughly 45 minutes you could comfortably fit on an LP, many bands of that era seemed to have been compelled to pump out hour-plus releases simply because they could. Just because a CD can hold 80 minutes, that doesn't mean you need to put 80 minutes of music on a CD.

This is immediately evident with the opener, "Cluster One". I get what they were going for, but this five-minute piece could have easily been shortened to one minute.

"What Do You Want from Me" is passable, kinda funkyish, and sorta-prog. (Look, prog was not in good shape in 1994.) The soulful background singers and over-the-top guitar flourishes sound a bit silly now, but in context, it's not bad.

"Poles Apart" is delightfully varied. The folkiness of the guitar is a nice change of pace, and the lyrics are some of Gilmour's better work. Bits could be seen as addressing either Roger Waters or Syd Barrett.

"Marooned" won Pink Floyd a Grammy for the first (and only) time, but Rush really should have won that year. The Simpsons was correct in its Grammy commentary. It's a strong, melodic instrumental, but it suffers from being culturally overhyped. Gilmour's guitarwork is overdone, and Mason's drumming is too restrained. The keyboard playing feels just (w)right, though.

Let's skip "A Great Day for Freedom". That song sucks. "Wearing the Inside Out" isn't amazing. It's a bit slow, and the saxophone is a bit much. However, it's Rick Wright's last lead vocal performance, and his first since "Stay" on Obscured by Clouds. (He shared vocal duties on "Time" and provided backing vocals on multiple songs on Wish You Were Here.) All things considered, this bit of melodrama is one of the better cuts on this record.

"Take It Back" should have been taken back, and "Coming Back to Life" should never have been given life in the first place. Both suffer from many late-'80s/early-'90s pop-rock ills and offer nothing new or interesting.

"Keep Talking" is pretty cool, and it features a fitting guest bit from Stephen Hawking's vocal synthesizer. It's jazzy yet spacy, but the soulful backup singers come off as something of a gimmick. "Lost for Words" isn't very strong, so let's skip that as well.

The Division Bell closes on "High Hopes", which was recorded after the rest of the album was completed. It's an overwrought but enjoyable cut. It makes multiple, conscious allusions to past Pink Floyd songs and albums. I can't denounce this song, but I can't fully endorse it either. I like this song, but it feels like it's trying too hard, it's too clever for its own good, and it's too self-aware.

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2021/03/01/deep-dive-pink-floyd/