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Pink Floyd

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Pink Floyd
File:Pink Floyd 1968.jpg
Pink Floyd in early 1968. From left to right: Nick Mason, Syd Barrett, David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Richard Wright.
Background information
OriginCambridge, England
Years active1965 - 2006
MembersDavid Gilmour
Nick Mason
Richard Wright
Past membersSyd Barrett
Roger Waters
Bob Klose

Pink Floyd (formed in 1965 in Cambridge, England) is an English rock music band, noted for progressive compositions, philosophic lyrics, sonic experimentation, cover art and elaborate live shows. The group is one of rock music's most successful acts, believed to have sold an estimated 73.5 million albums in the U.S.,[1] and estimates of 175 to 200 million albums worldwide.[2]

Pink Floyd enjoyed moderate success in the late 1960s as a psychedelic band led by Syd Barrett. After Barrett's erratic behavior caused his colleagues to add guitarist David Gilmour (who eventually replaced Barrett), the band went on to record several elaborate concept albums, achieving worldwide success with 1973's Dark Side of the Moon and 1979's The Wall, both among the best-selling and most enduringly popular albums in rock music history. In 1985, bassist Roger Waters declared Pink Floyd defunct, but the remaining band members twice recorded and toured under the Pink Floyd name without him. Waters attempted to stop Gilmour via court action. Gilmour won the legal battle, giving the post-Waters band rights to the name and most of the songs.

Waters rejoined the band on July 2, 2005 at the London Live 8 concert, playing to Pink Floyd's biggest audience ever. On February 3, 2006 Gilmour gave an interview to the Italian magazine "La Repubblica" which indicated the band would no longer tour or produce any new material,[3] although its members still plan on producing solo or collaborative material. However, Nick Mason countered that for a charitable event similar to Live 8, especially concerning peace in the Middle East, the band may reunite to perform.[4].

Band history

Syd Barrett led years: 1965-1968

Pink Floyd evolved from an earlier band, formed in 1964, which was at various times called Sigma 6, The Meggadeaths, The Screaming Abdabs, and The Abdabs. When this band split up, some of its members - guitarist Bob Klose, bass player Roger Waters, drummer Nick Mason, and future keyboardist Rick Wright - who at this point played primarily wind instruments - formed a new band called T-Set.[5] A short time after its formation, they were joined by guitarist Syd Barrett, who became the band's primary vocalist as well.[6] When T-Set found itself on the same bill as another band with the same name, Barrett came up with an alternate name on the spur of the moment, choosing The Pink Floyd Sound (after two blues musicians, Pink Anderson and Floyd Council).[7] For a time after this they oscillated between 'T-Set' and 'The Pink Floyd Sound', with the latter name eventually winning out. The word Sound was dropped fairly quickly, but the definite article was still used occasionally for several years afterward, up to about the time of the More soundtrack. In the early days, the band covered rhythm and blues staples such as "Louie, Louie", but gained notoriety for psychedelic interpretations, with extended improvised sections and 'spaced out' solos.

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The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967)

The heavily jazz-oriented Klose left the band to become a photographer shortly before Pink Floyd started recording, leaving an otherwise stable lineup. Barrett started writing his own songs, influenced by American surf music and British psychedelic rock with his own brand of whimsical humor. Pink Floyd became a favorite in the underground movement, playing at such prominent venues as the UFO club, the Marquee Club and the Roundhouse. As its popularity increased, the band members formed Blackhill Enterprises in October 1966, a six-way business partnership with their managers, Peter Jenner and Andrew King,[8] issuing the singles "Arnold Layne" in March 1967 and "See Emily Play" in June 1967. "Arnold Layne" reached number 20 in the UK singles chart, and "See Emily Play" reached number 6,[9] granting the band its first TV appearance on Top of the Pops in July 1967.

Released in August 1967, the band's debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (originally called "Projection"), is considered to be a prime example of English psychedelic music. The album's tracks, predominantly written by Barrett, showcase poetic lyrics and an eclectic mixture of music, from the avant-garde free-form piece "Interstellar Overdrive" to whimsical songs such as "The Scarecrow", inspired by the Fenlands, a rural region north of Cambridge (Barrett, Gilmour and Waters's home town). Lyrics were entirely surreal and often referred to folklore ("The Gnome"). The music reflected newer technologies in electronics through its prominent use of stereo panning and electric keyboards. The album was a hit in the UK where it peaked at #6, but failed to get much attention in North America, reaching #131 in the US.[10] During this period, the band toured with Jimi Hendrix, which helped to increase its popularity.

Barrett's decline

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Syd Barrett, 1970

As the band became more and more popular, the stresses of life on the road and a significant intake of psychedelic drugs took their toll on Barrett, whose mental health had been deteriorating for several months. While Barrett's behaviour has often been attributed to his drug use, there are many who think that a pre-existing condition, possibly schizophrenia or Asperger syndrome, were equally to blame, and that the drug use simply aggravated them.[11] In January 1968, guitarist David Gilmour joined the band to carry out the playing and singing duties of Syd. Nevertheless, it was intended that Barrett would remain as the band's figurehead and main songwriter. With Barrett's behavior becoming less and less predictable, and his use of LSD almost constant, he became very unstable, often staring into space while the rest of the band performed. During some performances, he would simply strum one chord for the duration of a concert, or simply begin detuning his guitar.[12] The band's live shows became increasingly ramshackle until, eventually, the other band members simply stopped taking him to the concerts. It was originally thought that Syd would write music for the band with Gilmour performing live, but Barrett's increasingly difficult compositions, such as "Have You Got It Yet?", which changed melodies and chord progression with every take, eventually made the rest of the band give up on this arrangement.[13] Once Barrett's departure was formalized in April 1968, producers Jenner and King decided to remain with him, and the six-way Blackhill partnership was dissolved.[13] The band adopted Steve O'Rourke as manager, and he remained with Pink Floyd until his death in 2003.

Finding their feet: 1968-1970

Musically, this period was one of experimentation for the band. Gilmour, Waters and Wright each contributed material that had its own voice and sound, giving this material less consistency than the Barrett-dominated early years or the more polished, collaborative sound of later years. Waters mostly wrote low-key, jazzy melodies with dominant bass lines and complex, symbolic lyrics, Gilmour focused on guitar-driven blues jams, and Wright preferred melodic psychedelic keyboard-heavy numbers. Unlike Waters, Gilmour and Wright preferred tracks that had simple lyrics or that were purely instrumental. Some of the band's most experimental music is from this period, such as "A Saucerful of Secrets", consisting largely of feedback and atonal screeches and loops, "Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict", which is a series of sped-up voice samples resembling rodents chattering that reaches its climax in an incomprehensible Scottish dialect monologue, and "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" (performed under different names during this period), a very Waters-driven song with a bass and keyboard-heavy jam culminating in crashing drums and Waters's primal screams.

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A Saucerful of Secrets (1968)

Whilst Barrett had written the bulk of the first album, only one Barrett composition, the Piper outtake "Jugband Blues", appeared on the second Floyd album. A Saucerful of Secrets was released in June 1968, reaching #9 in the UK and becoming the only Pink Floyd album not to chart in the U.S.[10] The album contained hints of the epic, lengthy songs to come in its centerpiece, the 12-minute title track. Future Floyd albums would expand upon the idea of long, sprawling compositions, offering more focused songwriting with each subsequent release.

More (1969)

Pink Floyd were then recruited by director Barbet Schroeder to produce a soundtrack for his film, More, which premiered in May 1969. The music was released as a Floyd album in its own right, Music From the Film More, in July 1969; the album achieved another #9 finish in the UK, and peaked at #153 in the U.S..[10] The band would use this and future soundtrack recording sessions to produce work that may not have fit into the idea of what would appear on a proper Pink Floyd LP; many of the tracks on More (as fans usually call it) were acoustic folk songs. Two of these songs, "Green is the Colour" and "Cymbaline", became fixtures in the band's live sets for a time, as can be heard in the many available bootleg recordings from this period. The latter was also the first Pink Floyd song to deal with Roger Waters's cynical attitude toward the music industry explicitly. The rest of the album consisted of incidental music with a few heavier rock songs thrown in, such as "The Nile Song".

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Ummagumma (1969)

The next record, the double album Ummagumma, was a mix of live recordings and unchecked studio experimentation by the band members, with each member recording half a side of a vinyl record as a solo project (Mason's wife makes an uncredited contribution as a flautist).[14] Though the album was realized as solo outings and a live set, it was originally intended as a purely avant-garde mixture of sounds from "found" instruments. The subsequent difficulties in recording and lack of group organization led to the shelving of the project. The title is slang for sexual procreation,[15] and reflects the attitude of the band at the time, as frustrations in the studio followed them throughout these sessions. Nonetheless, the album was Pink Floyd's most popular release yet, hitting UK #5 and making the U.S. charts at #74.[10]

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Atom Heart Mother (1970)

1970's Atom Heart Mother, the band's first recording with an orchestra, was a collaboration with avant-garde composer Ron Geesin. One side of the album consisted of the title piece, a 23-minute long rock-orchestral suite. The second side featured one song from each of the band's then-current vocalists (Roger Waters's "If", David Gilmour's "Fat Old Sun" and Rick Wright's "Summer 68"). Another lengthy piece, "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast", was a sound collage of a man cooking and eating breakfast and his thoughts on the matter, linked with instrumentals. The use of incidental sound effects and voice samples would thereafter be an important part of the band's sound. The album had the best chart performance for the band so far, reaching #1 in the U.K. and #55 in the U.S.,[10] although it has since been described by Gilmour as "a load of rubbish" and Waters as suitable for "throw[ing] in the dustbin and never listened to by anyone ever again."[16] The album was another transitional piece for the group, hinting at future musical territory such as "Echoes" in its ambitious title track. The popularity of the album allowed Pink Floyd to embark on its first full U.S. tour.

At this point in touring the Floyd pioneered the use of a device called the azimuth co-ordinator, a joystick used to pan sound around the quadrophonic PA system. They had used a similar device during the U.F.O. Club days, and could finally afford to perfect the system. Before releasing its next original album, the band released a compilation album, Relics, which contained several early singles and B-sides, along with one original song (Waters's jazzy "Biding My Time").

Breakthrough era: 1971-1975

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"Classic" Pink Floyd line-up, early 70s. From left to right: Wright, Gilmour, Mason, Waters.

This is the period in which the Floyd shed its association with the "psychedelic" scene (and its association with Barrett) and became a distinctive band that is difficult to classify. The divergent styles of Gilmour, Waters and Wright (Mason's writing contributions to the group were minimal) were merged into a unique sound. It contains what many consider to be two of the band's masterpiece albums, The Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here. The sound became polished and collaborative, with the philosophic lyrics and distinctive bass lines of Waters combining with the unique blues guitar style of Gilmour and Wright's light keyboard melodies. Gilmour was the dominant vocalist throughout this period, and female choirs became a notable part of the band's style. The sometimes atonal and harsh sound exhibited in the band's earlier years gave way to a very smooth, mellow and soothing sound. The influence of Atom Heart Mother 's orchestral stylings was felt through the prominence of Dick Parry's mellow saxophone contributions. The epic, lengthy compositions reached their zenith with "Echoes", from Meddle; although "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" exceeded it in total length, it was split in two pieces as the opening and closing of Wish You Were Here. This period was not only the beginning but the end of the truly collaborative era of the band; after 1975 Waters's influence became more dominant musically as well as lyrically. Wright's last credited compositions and last lead vocal until 1994's The Division Bell were in this period, and Gilmour would never share credits as prominently again until Waters left the band in 1985. The last ties with Barrett were severed in musical, as well as literal, fashion with Wish You Were Here, whose epic track "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" was written both as a tribute and elegy to their friend.

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Meddle (1971)

The band's sound was considerably more focused on Meddle (1971), with the 23-minute epic "Echoes" taking up the entire second side of the LP. Meddle was considered by David Gilmour to be his first "real" Pink Floyd album, as it had the sound and style of the succeeding breakthrough-era Pink Floyd albums and stripped away the orchestra that was prominent in Atom Heart Mother.[17] Meddle also included the atmospheric "One of These Days", a concert favourite, with Nick Mason's menacing one-line vocal, "One of these days, I'm going to cut you into little pieces," and a melody that at one point segues into a throbbing synthetic pulse quoting the theme tune of the cult classic science fiction television show Doctor Who. Waters's role as lead songwriter began to take form, with his jazzy "San Tropez" brought to the band practically completed. Pink Floyd was rewarded with a #3 chart peak in the UK for Meddle; it reached #70 in U.S..[10]

Obscured By Clouds (1972)

Obscured by Clouds was released in 1972 as the soundtrack to the film La Vallee, another art house film by Barbet Schroeder. This was the band's first U.S. Top 50 album (where it hit #46), hitting #6 at in the U.K..[10] The lyrics of "Free Four" (the first Pink Floyd song to achieve significant airplay in the U.S.) introduced Waters's ruminations on his father's death in World War II which would figure in subsequent albums. Two other songs on the album, "Wots...uh, the Deal" and "Childhood's End", also hint at themes used in later albums, the former focusing on loneliness and desperation which would come to full fruit in the Roger Waters-led era, and the latter hinting much at the next album, fixated on life, death and the passage of time. The album was, to an extent, stylistically different from the preceding Meddle, with the songs generally being shorter, often taking a somewhat pastoral approach compared to the atmospheric use of sound effects and keyboard on sections of Meddle, and sometimes even running into folk-rock, blues-rock and piano-driven soft rock ("Burning Bridges", "The Gold It's in the..." and "Stay" being the best examples for each).

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Dark Side of the Moon (1973)

The release of Pink Floyd's massively successful 1973 album, The Dark Side of the Moon, was a watershed moment in the band's popularity. Pink Floyd had stopped issuing singles after 1968's "Point Me At The Sky" and was never a hit-single-driven group, but The Dark Side of the Moon featured a U.S. Top 20 single ("Money").[9] The album became the band's first #1 on U.S. charts,[10] a huge improvement over its previous recordings. The critically-acclaimed album stayed on the Billboard Top 200 for an unprecedented 741 weeks (including 591 consecutive weeks from 1976 to 1988),[18] establishing a world record and making it one of the top-selling albums of all time. It also remained 301 weeks on U.K. charts, despite never rising higher than #2 there.[10] The album described the different pressures applying in everyday life. The concept (conceived by Waters and Mason in the latter's kitchen)[19] proved a powerful catalyst for the band and together they drew up a list of themes, several of which would be revisited by Waters on later albums, such as "Us and Them"'s musings on violence and the futility of war, and the themes of insanity and neurosis discussed in "Brain Damage". Complicated and precise sound engineering fully became a recognizable part of the band's sound, and the album set new standards for sound fidelity.

It was during this period that the band released the first of its films, "Live at Pompeii". Film Director Adrian Maben's film featured footage of the band's 1971 performance at an amphitheater in Pompeii with no audience present (only the film crew and stage staff). A later version of Live at Pompeii labelled "director's cut" was released on DVD which had each song interspersed with interviews and behind-the-scenes footage of the band in the studio recording The Dark Side of the Moon. Seeking to capitalize on its newfound fame, the band also released a compilation album, A Nice Pair, which was a double album consisting of The Piper at the Gates of Dawn and A Saucerful of Secrets.

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Wish You Were Here (1975)

Wish You Were Here, released in 1975, carries an abstract theme of absence: absence of any humanity within the music industry and, most poignantly, the absence of Syd Barrett. Well-known for its popular title track, the album includes the largely instrumental, nine-part Shine On You Crazy Diamond, a tribute to Barrett in which the lyrics deal explicitly with the aftermath of his breakdown. Many of the musical influences in the past were brought together, using quiet, atmospheric keyboards, blues guitar pieces, extended saxophone solos (by Dick Parry), jazz fusion and aggressive slide guitar in its different linked parts, culminating in a funeral dirge played with synthesized horn. The remaining tracks on the album harshly criticize the music industry. It was the first Pink Floyd album to reach #1 on both the U.K. and the U.S charts.[20] In a famous anectdote about the recording of Wish You Were Here, a heavyset man with a completely shaved head (including his eyebrows) wandered into the studio while the band was recording "Shine On You Crazy Diamond". The band could not recognize him for some time, when suddenly one of them realized it was Syd Barrett. He was greeted enthusiastically by the band and subsequently slipped away during the impromptu party. It was the last time the band saw him. While details of the story may be apocryphal, David Gilmour recently confirmed that it did happen,[3] as did Nick Mason in his 2004 band autobiography. Barrett's shaved head and eyebrows would later make an appearance in the movie Pink Floyd: The Wall.

Roger Waters-led era: 1976-1985

During this era, Waters asserted more and more control over the band, culminating in The Final Cut Wright's influence is almost absent, as he was fired from the band during the recording of The Wall. Much of the music during this period takes a back seat to the lyrics, which explore Waters's feelings about his father's death in World War II and his increasingly cynical attitude towards politics and political figues such as Margaret Thatcher and Mary Whitehouse. The music, still polished, became somewhat less atmospheric but was otherwise similar to the previous era's. Guitars became more prominent at the expense of keyboard work and saxophone, with the latter being entirely absent from two of this era's three albums. A full orchestra, something which had not been used on any previous Floyd album except Atom Heart Mother, played a significant role on The Wall and, especially, The Final Cut.

Animals (1977)

By January 1977, and the release of Animals (UK #2, U.S. #3),[10] the band's music came under increasing criticism from some quarters in the new punk rock sphere as being too flabby and pretentious, having lost its way from the simplicity of early rock and roll.[21] Despite this criticism, Animals was considerably more guitar-driven than the previous albums, due to either the influence of the burgeoning punk-rock movement or the fact that the album was recorded at Pink Floyd's new (and somewhat incomplete) Britannia Row Studios. The album was also the first to not have a single songwriting credit for Rick Wright. Animals again contained lengthy songs tied to a theme, this time taken in part from George Orwell's Animal Farm, using pigs, dogs and sheep as metaphors for members of contemporary society. While more guitar-driven than previous Floyd albums, keyboards and synthesizers still play an important part, but the saxophone and female vocal work that defined much of the previous two albums' sound is absent. The esult is a more traditional rock music sound. For the cover artwork, a giant inflatable pig was commissioned and floated over Battersea Power Station. However, the wind made the pig balloon difficult to control.[22] They eventually just had to insert a photo of the pig balloon onto the album cover. In spite of this, the pig became one of the enduring symbols of Pink Floyd, and inflatable pigs were a staple of Pink Floyd's live shows from then on.

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The Wall (1979)

1979's epic rock opera, The Wall, conceived mainly by Waters, developed themes of loneliness and failure of communication, inspired by Waters's feelings of having constructed a metaphoric wall between himself and his audience. This album gave Pink Floyd renewed acclaim and only chart-topping single with "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)".[23] The Wall also included the future concert staples "Comfortably Numb" and "Run Like Hell", with the former in particular becoming a cornerstone of album-oriented rock and classic-rock radio playlists as well as one of the group's best-known songs. The album was co-produced by Bob Ezrin, a friend of Waters who shared songwriting credits on "The Trial" and from whom the band distanced themselves after fighting with him over several different issues.[24] Even more than during the Animals sessions, Waters was increasingly asserting his artistic influence and leadership over the band, prompting frequent conflicts with the other members. Wright was fired from the band but returned on a fixed wage for the album's live concerts. Ironically, Wright was the only member of Pink Floyd to make any money from the Wall shows, the rest having to cover the extensive costs.[25]

Despite never hitting #1 in the U.K. (it made it to #3), The Wall spent 15 weeks atop the U.S. charts during 1980.[10] It sold well over 30 million copies worldwide and is often regarded as the best-selling double album ever, as well as being the third-best selling album of all time in the U.S. It has been certified 23x platinum by the RIAA, for sales of 11.5 million copies in U.S. alone.[1] The huge commercial success of The Wall made Pink Floyd the only artist since the Beatles to have the best-selling albums of two years (1973 and 1980) in less than a decade.

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A promotion poster for The Wall (film) (1983)

Essentially a music video for the entire album, a film entitled "Pink Floyd: The Wall" was released in 1982. The film, written by Waters and directed by Alan Parker, starred Boomtown Rats founder Bob Geldof and featured striking animation by noted British cartoonist Gerald Scarfe. It grossed over US$ 14 million at the North American box office.[26] A song which first appeared in the movie, When the Tigers Broke Free, was released as a single on a limited basis. This song was finally made widely available on the compilation album Echoes and the re-release of The Final Cut. Also in the film is the song What Shall We Do Now?, which was cut out of the original album due to the time constraints of vinyl records.

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The Final Cut (1983)

1983 saw the release of The Final Cut, dedicated to Roger Waters's father, Eric Fletcher Waters. Even darker in tone than The Wall, this album re-examined many previous themes, while also addressing then-current events, including Waters's anger at Britain's participation in the Falklands War ("The Fletcher Memorial Home") and his cynicism toward, and fear of, nuclear war ("Two Suns in the Sunset"). Michael Kamen and Andy Bown contributed keyboard work due to Wright's absence. Though technically released as a Pink Floyd album, the front cover displayed no title, on the back cover the full title read: "The Final Cut - A requiem for the post war dream by Roger Waters, performed by Pink Floyd: Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Nick Mason". Roger Waters received the sole songwriting credit for the entire record, which became a prototype in sound and form for later Waters solo projects (Roger Waters has since said that he offered to release the record as a solo album, but the rest of the band rejected this idea). Gilmour reportedly asked Waters to hold back the release of the album by a year so he could contribute material, but was rejected by Waters. Only moderately successful by Floydian standards (UK #1, U.S. #6),[10] the album yielded one minor rock music radio hit, "Not Now John". The arguing between Waters and Gilmour by this stage was rumored to be so bad that they were never seen in the recording studio simultaneously, with Waters even forcing Gilmour to drop his co-producer credit.[27] There was no tour.

David Gilmour-led era: 1987-1995

After The Final Cut, the band members went their separate ways, each releasing solo albums to varying degrees of success. Waters announced in December of 1985 that he was departing Pink Floyd describing the band as "a spent force creatively". However, in 1986 Gilmour and Mason began recording a new Pink Floyd album. (At the same time, Roger Waters was also working on his second solo album entitled Radio K.A.O.S.). A bitter legal dispute ensued with Waters claiming that the name "Pink Floyd" should have been put to rest, but Gilmour and Mason upheld their conviction that they had the legal right to continue as "Pink Floyd". High Court proceedings went in favor of Gilmour and Mason, much to the annoyance of Waters, and the two camps continued working.[28] The two albums in this period sound somewhat more like the 1971-1975 era, but lack Waters's distinctive lyrical style. For the first time in Floyd's history outside the orchestral contributions of Ron Geesin and Bob Ezrin, other songwriters made significant contributions to the albums, including Bob Ezrin, who had renewed his friendship with Gilmour.[29] Many songs on A Momentary Lapse of Reason, especially, attempt to capture some of "Comfortably Numb"'s structure, culminating in extended guitar solos from Gilmour. The Division Bell marked Wright's full return to the band, featuring a song ("Wearing the Inside Out") written by and featuring him on lead vocal for the first time since The Dark Side of the Moon 's "Time".

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A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987)

Gilmour and Mason returned to the studio, along with producer Bob Ezrin, in 1986. Richard Wright also rejoined Gilmour and Mason, again as a salaried employee, during the final recording sessions of A Momentary Lapse of Reason (UK #3, U.S. #3),[10] officially rejoining the band after the subsequent tour. Gilmour later admitted that Mason had hardly played on the album. Because of Mason and Wright's limited contributions, some critics say that A Momentary Lapse of Reason should really be regarded as a Gilmour solo effort. With Waters responsible for all the band's lyrics since Obscured By Clouds, Gilmour brought writers from outside the band to assist him.

A year later, the band released a double live album taken from its 1988 Long Island shows, entitled Delicate Sound of Thunder, and later recorded some instrumentals for a classic-car racing film La Carrera Panamericana, set in Mexico and featuring Gilmour and Mason as participating drivers. During the race Gilmour and manager Steve O'Rourke (acting as his map-reader) crashed. O'Rourke suffered a broken leg, but Gilmour walked away with just some bruises. The instrumentals are notable for including the first Floyd material co-written by Wright since 1975, as well as the only Floyd material co-written by Mason since Dark Side of the Moon. 1992 saw the box set release of Shine On. The 9 disc set included re-releases of the studio albums A Saucerful of Secrets; Meddle; The Dark Side of the Moon; Wish You Were Here; Animals; The Wall; and A Momentary Lapse of Reason. A bonus disc entitled The Pink Floyd Early Singles was also included. The set's packaging featured a case allowing the albums to stand vertically together, forming the cover of The Dark Side of the Moon from the side. The circular text of each CD includes the barely-readable words "The Big Bong Theory".

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The Division Bell (1994)

The band's next recording was the 1994 release The Division Bell, which was much more of a group effort than A Momentary Lapse of Reason had been, with Wright now reinstated as a full and contributing band member, figuring prominently in the writing credits. The album was received more favorably by critics and fans alike than Lapse had been.[30], and was the second album to reach #1 on both the U.K. and U.S. charts.[10] The Division Bell was another concept album, in some ways representing Gilmour's take on the same themes Waters had tackled with The Wall. The title was suggested to Gilmour by his friend Douglas Adams. Many of the lyrics were co-written by Polly Samson, Gilmour's girlfriend at the time, whom he married shortly after the album's release. Besides Samson, the album featured most of the musicians who had joined the A Momentary Lapse of Reason tour; saxophonist Dick Parry, a contributor to the mid-70s Floyd albums, also returned to the fold. Anthony Moore, who had co-written the lyrics for several songs on the previous album, penned the lyrics for a tune by Wright, "Wearing the Inside Out", Wright's first lead vocal on a Pink Floyd record since 1973's Dark Side of The Moon. Wright and Moore's writing collaboration continued on nearly every song on Wright's subsequent solo album, Broken China.

Solo work and more: 1995-present

Pink Floyd has not released any new studio material or toured since 1994's The Division Bell. The band released a live album entitled P*U*L*S*E in 1995. P*U*L*S*E hit #1 in U.S. and featured songs recorded during one of the record-breaking 14 presentations at Earl's Court in London, which ended The Division Bell tour. A live recording of The Wall was released in 2000, compiled from the 1980/1981 London concerts, entitled Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980-81. It hit #1 on Billboard Internet Album Sales chart, and hit #19 on U.S. charts. A newly-remastered two-disc set of the Floyd's best-known tracks entitled Echoes was released in 2001. Gilmour, Mason, Waters and Wright all collaborated on the editing, sequencing, and song selection of the included tracks. Minor controversy was caused due to the songs segueing into one other non-chronologically, presenting the material out of the context of the original albums. Some of the tracks, such as "Echoes", "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", "Marooned", and "High Hopes" have had substantial sections removed from them. The album reached #2 on U.S. charts. In 2003, a 30th-Anniversary SACD reissue of Dark Side of the Moon, featuring high resolution surround sound, was released with new artwork on the front cover. In 2004 a remastered re-release of The Final Cut was released with the single "When the Tigers Broke Free" added. The 30th-Anniversary SACD reissue of Wish You Were Here is due early in 2006. Waters, Gilmour and Wright are reported to all be working on solo albums, with Waters's and Gilmour's due to be released in 2006.

Nick Mason's book, Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd was published in 2004 in Europe and 2005 in the US. Mason made public promotional appearances in a few European and American cities, giving interviews and meeting fans at book signings. Some fans claimed that he said he wished he were on a tour with the band rather than on a book tour. There has been talk of Roger Waters doing a Broadway musical version of The Wall, with extra music to be written by Waters. The Broadway version will feature all of the music written by Waters but it is not known whether the songs co-written by Gilmour ("Young Lust", "Comfortably Numb", and "Run Like Hell") will feature[31]

Future directions

File:R244789395.jpg
Pink Floyd with Roger Waters at the London Live 8 concert (left to right: David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Nick Mason, and Richard Wright).

On July 2, 2005, Roger Waters rejoined David Gilmour, Nick Mason, and Rick Wright for a one-off performance at the London Live 8 concert. Many fans expressed the hope that the band's Live 8 appearance would lead to a reunion tour, and a record-breaking US$ 250 million deal for a world tour is said to have been offered to the band. However, the band has made it very clear that there are no such plans. In the weeks after the show, the rifts that separated the members during the breakup seemed to have healed for the most part. Gilmour confirmed that he and Waters were on "pretty amicable terms" and that they communicated via e-mail after the concert. Mason said that the band would be willing to perform for a concert "that would support Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts."[4] Waters has offered what some see as conflicting comments on the issue, first saying, "Never say never [...] I mean, under sort of similar circumstances, or in some way, we might do things again" when questioned on the prospects of another performance. However in an interview in Rolling Stone, Waters appeared less optimistic: "I decided that if anything came up in rehearsals [for Live 8] — any difference of opinion — I would just roll over. And I did...I didn't mind rolling over for one day, but I couldn't roll over for a whole fucking tour". However, in an October, 2005 interview with Word Magazine, Waters stated he "really loved" playing with the band again and he held out some possibility of the band re-forming again. "I hope we do it again. If some other opportunity arose, I could even imagine us doing Dark Side of the Moon again - you know, if there was a special occasion. It would be good to hear it again". Also, Waters stated on a BBC2 Radio interview in September, 2005 the possibility of a reunion album with Gilmour, Mason and Wright.

In the week after Live 8, there was a revival of interest in Pink Floyd. According to record store chain HMV, sales of Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd went up, in the following week, by 1343%, while Amazon.co.uk reported increases in sales of The Wall at 3600%, Wish You Were Here at 2000%, Dark Side of the Moon at 1400% and Animals at 1000%. David Gilmour subsequently declared that he would donate all profits from this post Live 8 boom in sales to charity,[32] and urged that all the other performing artists and their record companies should do the same. On November 16, 2005 Pink Floyd was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame, by Pete Townshend. Gilmour and Mason attended in person, explaining that Wright was in hospital following eye surgery, and Waters appeared on a video screen, from Rome. It was stated that the chance of a reunion album is practically nil, and that any future concerts would be in the same vein as Live 8. This was contradicted on November 25, 2005, when Waters stated that he was willing to play with Pink Floyd again as long as other members agreed.[33]

On January 31, 2006, David Gilmour issued a joint statement on behalf of the group stating that they have no plans to reunite.[34] On February 3, 2006, Gilmour stated in an interview in the Italian magazine "La Repubblica"[3] that he is finished with Pink Floyd, as he wishes to focus on his solo projects and personal life. He said:

"I think I've had enough. I am 60. I don’t want to work much anymore. It’s an important part of my life, I have had enormous satisfactions, but now it’s enough. It’s much more comfortable to work on my own."

He mentions that he agreed to play Live 8 with Waters for three reasons: to support the cause, to make peace with Waters, and knowing he would regret not taking part. There is no mention of this interview on Gilmour's or Pink Floyd's website, nor has Pink Floyd's management made any statement indicating that Pink Floyd is over.

The images of Pink Floyd

File:WishYouWereHere.jpg
Rolling Stone Magazine has called the cover art for Wish You Were Here one of the best album covers ever created.

Nearly as famous as Floyd's music is the artwork that comes with it. Throughout the band's career, this aspect was mainly provided by photographer and graphic artist Storm Thorgerson and his graphic studio Hipgnosis ("hip" gnosis or hypnosis). Many of these images have acquired fame in their own right; notably the cover depicting a man shaking the hand of his burning alter-ego for Wish You Were Here and the refracting prism for Dark Side of the Moon. The cover of Meddle underlined the band's ideas about the visualization of sound with its close-up of a human ear accompanied by visible sound waves.

Thorgerson was involved in the artwork for every album except The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, the front cover of which was a photograph by Vic Singh and the back cover a drawing by Barrett; The Wall, for which the band employed Gerald Scarfe; and The Final Cut, which was designed by Waters himself, using photography made by his then brother-in-law, Willie Christie. Only the covers for The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, A Saucerful of Secrets, and Ummagumma include images of the band members themselves. Roger Waters explained this on a video/DVD on the making of Dark Side of the Moon: "We always wanted to kind of... not be on our covers ourselves; not have pictures".

Live Performances

Main article: Pink Floyd live performances

Pink Floyd is renowned for its lavish stage shows, combining over-the-top visual experiences with music to create a show in which the performers themselves are almost secondary.

Discography

Main article:

Albums

Top 20 Singles

(chart numbers taken from Schaffner, p. 320-321)

Song samples

Syd Barrett era

"Arnold Layne", "Interstellar Overdrive", "The Gnome"

Transitional era

"A Saucerful of Secrets", "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun", "Green Is the Colour", "The Nile Song", "Sysyphus Part II", "Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict", "Atom Heart Mother", "Fat Old Sun"

Breakthrough era

"One of These Days", "Echoes", "The Gold It's in the...", "Free Four", "Time", "Us and Them", "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", "Have a Cigar"

Waters era

"Dogs", "Pigs (Three Different Ones)", "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 3", "Comfortably Numb", "The Post War Dream", "The Fletcher Memorial Home"

Gilmour era

"Learning to Fly", "On the Turning Away", "Poles Apart", "Wearing the Inside Out"

Band members

Official Pink Floyd members

Notable or frequent contributors

Note that these are not official members of Pink Floyd, but musicians who have made significant studio or live contributions:

References

  • Jones, Cliff. Another Brick in the Wall: The Stories Behind Every Pink Floyd Song, 1996. ISBN 0553067338
  • Mason, Nick. Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd, 2004. ISBN 0297843877 (followed in 2005 by the paperback edition (ISBN 0753819066) which features an updated section on the band's Live8 reunion)
  • Miles, Barry. Pink Floyd: A Illustrated Documentary, 1982. ISBN 0399410015
  • Palacios, Julian. Lost in the Woods: Syd Barrett and the Pink Floyd, 2001. ISBN 0-7522-2328-3
  • Schaffner, Nicholas. Saucerful of Secrets: The Pink Floyd Odyssey, 1991. ISBN 0517576082
  • Various authors. "The Amazing Pudding", 1982-1992. (a fanzine)

See also

Wikiquote has quotations related to David Gilmour.
Wikiquote has quotations related to Syd Barrett.
Wikiquote has quotations related to Roger Waters.

Notes

  1. ^ a b RIAA
  2. ^ About.com, retrieved February 9, 2006
  3. ^ a b c "La Repubblica", February 3, 2006, translation here
  4. ^ a b "Die Welt" interview, February 6, 2006
  5. ^ Schaffner, p. 24
  6. ^ Schaffner, p. 25
  7. ^ Schaffner, p. 26
  8. ^ Schaffner, p. 30
  9. ^ a b Schaffner, p. 320-321
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Pink Floyd & Co. discography, retrieved February 15, 2006
  11. ^ "The Observer", October 6, 2002
  12. ^ Schaffner, p. 105
  13. ^ a b Schaffner, p. 107-108
  14. ^ Schaffner, p. 146
  15. ^ BBC Music profile, retrieved February 9, 2005
  16. ^ Schaffner, p. 154
  17. ^ Schaffner, p. 163
  18. ^ Schaffner, p. 183
  19. ^ Schaffner, p. 171
  20. ^ Schaffner, p. 323
  21. ^ Schaffner, p. 209
  22. ^ batterseapowerstation.org.uk, retrieved February 11, 2006
  23. ^ Schaffner, p. 321
  24. ^ Schaffner, p. 229
  25. ^ Schaffner, p. 236
  26. ^ The Numbers, retrieved February 13, 2006
  27. ^ Schaffner, p. 257
  28. ^ Schaffner, p. 297
  29. ^ Schaffner, p. 289
  30. ^ AMG, retrieved February 15, 2006
  31. ^ BBC News, August 5, 2004
  32. ^ BBC News, July 5, 2005
  33. ^ ultimateGuitar.com, November 25, 2005
  34. ^ Pink Floyd's official site, retrieved February 9, 2006


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