Pink Floyd
Reviewed on this page:
Piper At The Gates Of Dawn - A Saucerful Of Secrets - Atom Heart Mother - Meddle - Obscured By Clouds
Lineup:
Syd Barrett (vocals, guitar, songwriter); Nick Mason (drums); Roger Waters (bass); Richard Wright (keyboards). Barrett quit, replaced by David Gilmour (guitar, vocals), 1968; Waters took over lead vocals and songwriting. Waters quit, 1983, Gilmour took over.
Piper At The Gates Of Dawn (1967)
The only full album the band recorded with Syd Barrett, who wrote virtually all the tunes here and puts a heavy stamp on the proceedings. Things start out slow, with a slew of crazed, wildly experimental instrumental passages that just don't add up to anything. Only the band's primitive, surf rock-influenced single "Lucifer Sam" breaks up the monotony. All of it seems like a rushed, amateurish effort to ape the Beatles' more experimental 1966-67 work on tracks like "Tomorrow Never Knows." But the second side is consistently entertaining, with five more imaginative, remarkably quiet and folky Barrett tunes like "The Gnome" and "Bike." Produced by Norman Smith, former Abbey Road tape engineer for the Beatles. (JA)
A Saucerful Of Secrets (1968)
Barrett burned out on acid early into the recording of this album, completing only one track ("Jugband Blues"). The others were then forced to hire David Gilmour as a replacement and turn out their own song material. Waters wasn't quite up to speed, though, so Wright got in a couple of tunes of his own - but at this point his keyboard playing bordered on incompetent, so it didn't help much. As for Waters, he too had a long way to go, and the end result is an album filled out with amazingly dull marathon instrumentals (title track) and assorted studio trickery. It's a more sophisticated production than the debut record, but it's not nearly as interesting. Produced by Norman Smith. (JA)
More (1969)
This is a film soundtrack. (DBW)
Floyd took over production at this point. Half the tracks are instrumentals, the rest are Waters tunes, except for Gilmour's brief "A Spanish Piece." (JA)
Ummagumma (1969)
A double album, one disc live, one disc studio. Among the new tracks is an instrumental with possibly the longest song title in rock history, "Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together In A Cave And Grooving With A Pict." (DBW)
Norman Smith was brought back to help with the studio tracks. The live stuff includes the Barrett number "Astonomy Domine." Waters dominates like usual, but each of the other band members also gets a writing credit. (JA)
 Atom Heart Mother (1970)
Artsy pretension soars to new heights as the Pinks enlist some very talented classical musicians but don't give them anything to play. Side one is taken up with the multi-part title track, and the album closes with another dull monstrosity, "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast." In between are a few acoustic numbers ("If," "Fat Old Sun"), still rather lifeless, with impressionist, rambling lyrics. (DBW)
Meddle (1971)
There's a lot to like here, despite the usual tedious jamming on the 23 minute "Echoes." On "San Tropez," for example, Waters puts a trippy sheen on a pleasant 20's sendup, and the band responds with goofy enthusiasm. There's also the driving instrumental "One Of These Days," with a relentlessly repetitive synth part that would make Pete Townshend proud; and a few decent rock and pop tunes like "Fearless" and "Seamus," all of which were written collaboratively. It's not a solid outing, but it does show a lot of improvement over the early records. (JA)
"One Of These Days" is my all-time favorite Floyd song (which admittedly is not saying much). (DBW)
 Obscured By Clouds (1972)
Another film soundtrack.
The band was starting to figure out how to achieve commercial success by now, and several tracks here are shallow pop tunes approaching their breakthough Dark Side sound ("Burning Bridges," "Mudmen"). They still don't have good instrumental chops, and so the long instrumentals with obvious chord progressions are intensely boring ("When You're In," title track). Their Beatle influence is impossible to ignore, particularly on the McCartneyesque rocker "The Gold It's In The..." and ballad "Wots... Uh The Deal." (DBW)
The Dark Side Of The Moon (1973)
At this point the band was tired of working for peanuts, and so they holed up in Abbey Road and came up with an incredibly commercial blend of pop tunes, mellow rock guitar, gospelly backup singers, and obscure lyrics. The sound appealed to AM listeners and prog-rock heads alike, and the album climbed to #1 behind hits like "Money" (in 7/4 time), "Brain Damage" and the album-closer "Eclipse." (DBW)
"Money" was their first major hit in the U.S. Dark Side was one of the biggest hits of the entire decade, hanging onto the charts for a record 700-plus weeks (!). It's no coincidence; this is one of the most carefully recorded rock albums ever made, with loads of sound effects, layers of overdubs, and immaculate performances. The only problem is that the music itself doesn't bear up to repeated listenings. (JA)
Wish You Were Here (1975)
This followup also soared to the top of the charts; it's a salute to Syd, with the nine-part instrumental "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" and radio hits including the title track and "Have A Cigar." (DBW)
I've heard this and was impressed with how much of it got extensive airplay. It's extremely close in tone to the preceding record, but Waters' Orwellian lyrics are oppressively dull, and there just aren't that many distinct musical ideas despite all the assorted "Parts" of the title track. (JA)
Animals (1977)
Although this went platinum and hit #3, it was a relative disappointment, heading off the charts rapidly and not much remembered by radio programmers. (DBW)
I've heard this too and didn't find it memorable, although it's much in the same vein as the last album. At this point Waters had out-and-out taken over the band, and there are far fewer cowrites than usual. (JA)
The Wall (1979)
Their commercial peak, with three versions of the catchy "Another Brick In The Wall" (Part II was the hit single with the East End children's chorus), plus the supermellow "Hey You" and "Comfortably Numb," and the rocker "Run Like Hell," where Gilmour invents the echoey, repetitive guitar style that made The Edge's career. (DBW)
"Part II" was the band's second Top 40 hit in the U.S., and their only #1 ever. Toni Tennille and Beach Boy Bruce Johnston were among several backing vocalists. Having dropped any pretense of Floyd being a communal effort, Waters took the production credit for himself, Gilmour, and outsider Bob Ezrin. (JA)
The Final Cut (1983)
Wright took this album off, and it's Waters' last hurrah with the band. As usual, Waters wrote just about everything here, leading most observers to suspect his solo career would be more successful than the remaining Floyds'. (DBW)
The band was in a virtual state of collapse at this point, and this is little more than Roger Waters' first solo album - he wrote everything and produced with keyboard player Michael Kamen and an engineer, pushing even Gilmour aside. There are numerous guest artists, including drummer Andy Newmark on one track ("Two Suns") and Elton John percussionist Ray Cooper on several. (JA) .
A Momentary Lapse Of Reason (1987)
I wouldn't touch that line with a ten-foot pole. (DBW)
Gilmour was determined to keep the "band" going, so he mustered a ton of session talent to make up for the lack of both Waters and Wright (Wright does sit in on a few tracks): Carmine Appice, Jim Keltner, Michael Landau, Tony Levin, Tom Scott, and especially coproducer Bob Ezrin, who fills in for Wright most of the time. (JA)
The Delicate Sound Of Thunder (1988)
A live double album. (DBW)
Wright was still officially out of the band, but guested anyway. There's a lot of predictable 70s stuff like "Money," "Brick In The Wall," "One Of These Days," and "Crazy Diamond" here, in addition to a few tunes from the last record. Guitarist Tim Renwick is among numerous backing players. (JA)
The Division Bell (1993)
I've heard this and found it slick and well-produced, but really, really dull. With Waters long gone, everything falls on the shoulders of David Gilmour. As he'd proved with his solo work, he knows perfectly well how to make a "Pink Floyd" record, but that doesn't make it either innovative or catchy. Wright's back for this one and contributes several tunes, but has little impact. (JA)
Pulse (1995)
Another live double album, including a performance of the entire Dark Side Of The Moon album! If that's not enough to send you rushing off to the store, how about the little flashing light on the package? (DBW)
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