Pink Floyd

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This week we discuss the psychedelic/progressive/space rock giants Pink Floyd! Remember to vote for next week's band, and you can still nominate badns.
 
Don't know much about the Syd Barrett years, if it isn't on the Echoes compilation, I wouldn't know anything from that era. I love Dark Side, Wish You Were Here and Animals like everybody else. The Wall has about a half dozen or so truly awesome songs, of which Comfortably Numb is Floyd's all time masterpiece, but much of it I can do without. Thought it was really cool when I was younger, now I think I've outgrown it. Roger, you're a man now, stop whining. Currently have "Fearless" from Meddle in heavy rotation. Love the riff, and the Liverpool crowd singing in the background reminds me when their team was great (not this year!).
 
I like the Barrett era quite a bit. It's true that most of the songs aren't very well-written and that the psychedelic jams haven't aged all that well, but "Arnold Layne", "See Emily Play" and "Astronomy Domine" are all extraordinary songs.

Of the lesser known Floyd albums, I'm partial to the soundtracks More and Obscured by Clouds. On a songwriting level, I don't think the latter is any worse than Dark Side of the Moon - it just lacks the concept and the clever production tricks.

As for The Wall, I think the first half is strong most of the way through, but the level drops off considerably on the second.
 
I had heard Vegetable Man before but not the other one, cool find!I like the Syd stuff when I'm in a mood for psychedelic music, which I suppose would be now,

Pink Floyd is one of my all time favorite bands, they certainly deserve the high praise they get. I got into them after seeing The Wall movie, it was weird and had loud music, I loved it. While The Wall isn't my favorite (that would be Animals), I always enjoy listening to it, watching the film even more so, I think they're great and as far as presentation goes, it'd probably be my favorite concept album. There's a few other albums I'd like to talk about:

Atom Heart Mother: This is one I didn't like so much at first. The Suite was kinda cool but I didn't like any of the songs on side B. Now it's an album that I like a little bit more every time I hear it. The Suite is a very cool piece that utilizes the brass band and choir very well, and side B has some decent tracks. I liked the idea of Wright, Gilmour and Waters writing their own songs. If and Fat Old Sun are pretty good, but my favorite is Summer '68. That song is awesome. The arrangement is a bit odd, but I like that, and the way it builds to the chorus is great. I also like that Trumpet thing and how it builds to a full horn section.

Obscured By Clouds: Coming in between Meddle and Dark Side of the Moon, Clouds is often overlooked. I've seen people skip it altogether when talking about Floyd's discography. This an album that had potential. I think if they weren't so focused on Dark Side and weren't composing this for a soundtrack, it would've been just as great as Meddle. Good ideas are there, but the band never developed them. When You're In, for example, has a really cool riff, but that's all it is, just the riff. The more complete songs are absolute gems, Wot's..Uh The Deal, The Gold It's In The, Burning Bridges, and Free Four are all great songs that are just as good as some of the stuff on Meddle. Overall an enjoyable album that wasn't properly worked on, unfortunately.

The Final Cut: The most controversial Floyd album. It seems like people either love it or hate it, and I love it. I like all the songs, the mood it sets, and Gilmour plays some of his best solos on this album. The last three songs really end the album fantastically, and are some of my favorite Floyd songs. However, besides those 3 songs, I don't really pull too many songs out of the album to listen to separately, although that goes for a lot of Floyd albums. They're one of those bands where you have to play the albums from start to finish to get the full effect. Anyway, The Final Cut stands as one of my favorites, and I like it just as much as the big 4 albums, even if it is really a Roger Waters solo affair.
 
Pink Floyd is my favorite band of all time, along with Maiden. I'm going to write reviews of every studio album here. I apologize for the writing that may be slightly awkward, my English isn't good enough to write reviews that don't suck.

I'll be using these ratings:
1: atrocious, completely unlistenable
2: horrible
3: bad
4: poor
5: average, just listenable
6: okay
7: good
8: great
9: excellent
10: perfect, no weak tracks

And also list my top 1-3 songs from the album.

The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn

The album starts off great with the excellent opener Astronomy Domine, which is the best track of the album and Lucifer Sam, which is really catchy. After those there is a drop in quality. Some songs like Pow R. Toc H. have some good ideas but the execution isn't too good.

The early Floyd live staple Instellar Overdrive is basically a jam session preceded and proceeded by the catchy bookend riffs. Live versions range from okay to great, but this is just annoying. The rest of the album is Barrett's short humour songs, which are fairly forgettable.

Favourite songs: "Astronomy Domine", "Lucifer Sam"
Rating: 5½

A Saucerful Of Secrets

Let There Be More Light is a strong opener and also one of the album's best. Remember A Day is okay, works well live but has been played live only once by a member of the band - in 2008 by Gilmour.

Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun is a fun song with hypnotic melodies, really comes to life during live performances. The title track is freaky, in a good way. The calmer part after all the craziness is great. However, the Live At Pompeii version mops the floor with this studio version.

Then there are the lesser tracks of the album: Corporal Clegg, See-Saw and Jugband Blues. Corporal Clegg is pretty fun. See-Saw is dull, and the only song written by Barrett on the album, Jugband Blues, is forgettable and unexciting.

Favourite songs: "Let There Be More Light", "Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun", "A Saucerful Of Secrets"
Rating: 7
 
I have to jump in on this one. Pink Floyd is my absolute top favorite band. They're the only band that I have every cd of from Piper up to The Division Bell and the live albums in between. I'm more attached to the after Barrett before Dark Side era of Floyd. The albums during that time are all so great and different. Obscured By Clouds I'll name as one of my top favorites. Of course Barrett's era was definitely something great. The whole psychedelic thing isn't for everyone so I can see how some people can't really get into that aspect of Floyd. Most people know them for DSotM, WYWH and The Wall because of heavy rotation on the radio and sadly, because of that, those albums kind of lost they're shine for me. That's really why I like the era I do because not so many people really know about that time and even before unless you're a huge Floyd fan. IMO, its hard for me to consider someone a Pink Floyd fan if they only know Dark Side, WYWH or The Wall and they only know them because they heard it on the radio. Its another thing though if you start out with those album then branch off into discovering their other stuff which is what I did and what most of us have done on here.

Obscured By Clouds: Coming in between Meddle and Dark Side of the Moon, Clouds is often overlooked. I've seen people skip it altogether when talking about Floyd's discography.
I can't see why people could skip talking about it. It's such a great album even if it is a soundtrack. I think that might be the reason why people seem to skip it because it is a soundtrack. Same thing with 'More'. I don't see many people talk about that one either and that's a soundtrack too. I think its safe to say that the albums during that time are majorly overlooked as a whole anyway.
 
IMO, its hard for me to consider someone a Pink Floyd fan if they only know Dark Side, WYWH or The Wall and they only know them because they heard it on the radio. Its another thing though if you start out with those album then branch off into discovering their other stuff which is what I did and what most of us have done on here.
I get what you mean, but those albums are so good, by the time I heard those and Animals, I knew Floyd was one of my top ten bands. Hearing the rest of their stuff only reassured that.

I can't see why people could skip talking about it. It's such a great album even if it is a soundtrack. I think that might be the reason why people seem to skip it because it is a soundtrack. Same thing with 'More'. I don't see many people talk about that one either and that's a soundtrack too. I think its safe to say that the albums during that time are majorly overlooked as a whole anyway.
Agreed. But Clouds and More are even more overlooked than the rest. I mean, I've seen people calling Dark Side the followup to Meddle, completely disregarding Clouds' existence. Which is too bad, because it's a good album, I'm glad I gave it a chance.
 
I like all eras of Floyd. Post-Barrett, pre-TDSOTM era and post-TDSOTM, pre-AMLOR eras are my favorite. I haven't came across people who don't count Soundtrack From The Film More and Obscured By Clouds, but then again I haven't came across Pink Floyd fans who aren't hardcore fans of the band.

Anyway, reviews:

Soundtrack From The Film More

The album is opened by Cirrus Minor, a melancholic ballad that ends with a great keyboard part. The Nile Song is an aggressive rocker, very untypical for Pink Floyd, but really good. Crying Song is an another mellow track, but quite forgettable. Up The Khyber represents the album's avant-garde songs, basically a jam by the drummer and the keyboardist. Green Is The Colour is an another ballad, but upbeat and not as good as Cirrus Minor.

Cymbaline is one of the top tracks of the album - a beautiful ballad with melancholic verses that are cheered up with a happier chorus. The end is similar to the end of Cirrus Minor, but has a happier feel to it. Party Sequence is a short song completely based on percussion instruments, nothing special.

The second side begins with Main Theme, a haunting instrumental with hypnotic melodies and rhythm. One of the best tracks on the album. Ibiza Bar is a rocker similar to The Nile Song, but made more interesting with the guitar solos. An untypical Pink Floyd song, but really good - one of the best on the album. More Blues is a short song based on a guitar solo, not a very remarkable track.

Quicksilver is the longest song of the album, and it's an experimental song based mostly on sound effects - no thanks. A Spanish Piece is a very short, flamenco-influenced track. The album closer, Dramatic Theme, is very similar to Main Theme and feels like a rehash.

Favourite songs: "Cymbaline", "Main Theme", "Ibiza Bar"
Rating: 6

Ummagumma

The live album setlist is good - all four are great tracks. The performances, however, range from great to average. Astrononomy Domine is one of the better performances, one of my favorite versions of this song actually. Performance of Careful With That Axe, Eugene isn't too bad but not really good either. The band has done much more exciting performances of that track, I'll stick to those.

Performance of Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun is okay, but again the band has done better. Some good soloing there. The performance of A Saucerful Of Secrets is very average. It's not too bad at first but it gets worse towards the end. Mason's drum work at the last part of the song is painful to listen to.

The studio disc songs are very experimental solo compositions from the band. This shows in the songs: Wright's four parts long Sysyphus uses keyboards a lot. The first part is good, but the rest are just unbearable, artsy wankery.

Waters' solo pieces are different to the others' songs in that they aren't based on his instrument, bass. Grantchester Meadows is a mellow ballad with bird noises on the background. It's an okay track, one of the least experimental songs on the album. Several Species... however, is probably the most. Just noises. Artsy avant-garde bullshit.

Gilmour's guitar-based song The Narrow Way begins with a quite forgettable acoustic part. However, the song rises up in quality every part: Part II has got some hypnotic guitar work, and Part III is easily the best song of the album, the only track I'd have no shame comparing to songs from better Floyd albums.

Mason's The Grand Vizier's Garden Party begins with a short flute melody, and then the rest of the song is just percussion instruments and sound effects. Part II is probably the worst Pink Floyd song there is - even Several Species... beats it. Part III is a flute melody similar to Part I.

Favourite songs: "Astronomy Domine [Live]", "The Narrow Way, Part III"
Rating: 5+

Atom Heart Mother

The title track is awesome. I had to give it quite a few listens before I started to really like it, and now it's one of my favourite Pink Floyd songs. Top ten even? The last part of the song is just great, the buildup to the song's main theme is just pure greatness.

If is an okay ballad, not much more. Summer '68 is a much more exciting song. The mood of the song is constantly changing, which keeps it interesting. Second best track from the album. Fat Old Sun is once again a ballad but better than If. The solos are some of my favourite solos by Gilmour and the song is great live.

Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast is a mixed bag. There are the parts where it's just Alan preparing breakfast and talking about breakfast. They should have been shorter and incorporated to the music. As for the music: the first part is decent. Nice melodies, but doesn't really go anywhere. The second one is based on acoustic guitars, but it's not very memorable. The last part is the best. Classic Floyd. Too bad it's too late for the song to be really great at that point anymore.

Favourite songs: "Atom Heart Mother", "Summer '68", "Fat Old Sun"
Rating: 9-
 
I get what you mean, but those albums are so good, by the time I heard those and Animals, I knew Floyd was one of my top ten bands. Hearing the rest of their stuff only reassured that.
Don't get me wrong, I still love those albums. Hell, I credit The Wall for kick starting my Floyd love. Growing up, I actually use to hate Floyd and to this day, I'm really not sure why. It could be because I didn't completely understand them and don't think it helped that my brother let me watch The Wall when I was 5. :lol: But one time, probably around middle school/early high school years, a friend of mine burned The Wall for me on cd and I listened to it one day and suddenly realized how great it was! Then I moved right into DSotM and it just went from there. So of course, I'll credit them as the start but it just bugs me when people say they're like hardcore Floyd fans and they only know The Wall or DSotM when theres a whole world of Floyd yet to be discovered.
Agreed. But Clouds and More are even more overlooked than the rest. I mean, I've seen people calling Dark Side the followup to Meddle, completely disregarding Clouds' existence. Which is too bad, because it's a good album, I'm glad I gave it a chance.
Oh yeah, I've seen that too. Sometimes I even forget myself that Obscured is inbetween Meddle and DSotM. :lol: It is a real shame that those two are really overlooked because they're just that amazing!
 
I like all eras of Floyd. Post-Barrett, pre-TDSOTM era and post-TDSOTM, pre-AMLOR eras are my favorite. I haven't came across people who don't count Soundtrack From The Film More and Obscured By Clouds, but then again I haven't came across Pink Floyd fans who aren't hardcore fans of the band.
Most people I come across only know Dark Side, Wish You Were Here, The Wall, and maybe Animals.
 
Yep, that's the exact same for me. Very rarely do I get to engage in conversation about Pink Floyd anyway...but when I do its normally because someone noticed I'm wearing a shirt or they see my patch on my purse and it's usually about those albums or a song from one of those albums.
 
Don't get me wrong, I still love those albums. Hell, I credit The Wall for kick starting my Floyd love. Growing up, I actually use to hate Floyd and to this day, I'm really not sure why. It could be because I didn't completely understand them and don't think it helped that my brother let me watch The Wall when I was 5. :lol: But one time, probably around middle school/early high school years, a friend of mine burned The Wall for me on cd and I listened to it one day and suddenly realized how great it was! Then I moved right into DSotM and it just went from there. So of course, I'll credit them as the start but it just bugs me when people say they're like hardcore Floyd fans and they only know The Wall or DSotM when theres a whole world of Floyd yet to be discovered.
Oh yea, you can't be a hardcore fan and only know 3 albums. I guess that's what happens when the band is so huge. Like when people claim to be Beatles fanatics have only heard the Greatest Hits or whatever.
 
Yep, that's the exact same for me. Very rarely do I get to engage in conversation about Pink Floyd anyway...but when I do its normally because someone noticed I'm wearing a shirt or they see my patch on my purse and it's usually about those albums or a song from one of those albums.
Yea, I don't mind talking about the popular stuff, but I wish more people knew other material.

I heard San Tropez on the radio once, that was pretty cool. I'm quite fond of that song, a fun jazzy tune.
 
Oh yea, you can't be a hardcore fan and only know 3 albums. I guess that's what happens when the band is so huge. Like when people claim to be Beatles fanatics have only heard the Greatest Hits or whatever.
Or its like the people who wear band t-shirts just because they think the design is cool or they think people will think they're cool for wearing it. That's a whole different topic entirely.
I heard San Tropez on the radio once, that was pretty cool. I'm quite fond of that song, a fun jazzy tune.
I really can't get into that one. It's good but I'm just not that fond of it. Maybe it's because it has a bit of a jazzy tone to it. It never really grabbed me when I first heard it so I usually skip over it when I listen to Meddle.
 
Or its like the people who wear band t-shirts just because they think the design is cool or they think people will think they're cool for wearing it. That's a whole different topic entirely.
Yea, and Pink Floyd is definitely one of those bands. Is there anybody who doesn't own a Dark Side of the Moon shirt? :p

I really can't get into that one. It's good but I'm just not that fond of it. Maybe it's because it has a bit of a jazzy tone to it. It never really grabbed me when I first heard it so I usually skip over it when I listen to Meddle.
That's too bad, some people seem to really dislike it, I think it's very underrated.
 
San Tropez is ok, but the other tracks (except Seamus which is just ok too) are much better.
 
I'd take San Tropez over Fearless as well, not that Fearless is bad.
 
I rank it like this

1: Echoes
2: A Pillow of Winds
3: One Of These Days
4: San Tropez
5: Fearless
6: Seamus

I love every song except Seamus
 
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