Pink Floyd

[RickS]

Was out for most of the day and got back to see lots of reports about this thread.

Have done some moderating and thread sanitizing so is now back.

Please avoid politics and personal comments about others. Thanks!

 

[DVinylfan]

Was out for most of the day and got back to see lots of reports about this thread.

Have done some moderating and thread sanitizing so is now back.

Please avoid politics and personal comments about others. Thanks!

+1

 

[davidc]

I remember working at a Pink Floyd concert back in the 90s. They showed up with their quad PA system, which had three large arrays of speaker cabinets that were to be deployed in the top 20 rows of the football stadium seats. How did they get up there? The same way the Egyptians built the pyramids - raw physical human labor.

Usually, the rock band roadies lived on donuts, fast food, and beer, and their physique showed it. The roadies in charge of the quad system didn't have enough body fat between all of them to fry an egg. Those of us assigned to the "Quad Queens" detail knew we were in for a rough day as soon as they came off the tour bus.

Show was OK, and the load out was much easier since were carrying the speakers and amps down instead of up.

I still listen to their records from time to time. Wish You Were Here is a great record. Others vary from OK (Meddle, DSOTM) to interesting-but-not-really-worth-repeated-listening (Ummagumma) to disappointing (Animals) to unlistenable dreck (The Wall).

Wow, I remember that tour. I saw them at the LA coliseum. I know exactly the speaker Banks you are talking about. Because we ended up buying tickets only 10 rows behind below. One of those things. All we could hear the whole damn concert was just sound effects. Couldn't really hear the solos couldn't hear the guitars. Probably the worst sounding concert I've ever been to in my life which is highly unusual considering it was Pink Floyd.

 

[Mark609]

Must have. Great audio and video. https://www.amazon.com/David-Gilmou...3663&sprefix=david+gilmour+dvd,aps,370&sr=8-3

 

[Lambo1985]

"The Division Bell" is one of the best sounding & produced albums ever. Every edition. Including the original, discovery, and anniversary remasters. "High Hopes" is one of the greatest songs of all time.

 

[GD Fan]

I spent a lot of time looking at the Black Strat recently.

It blew through the estimates if I recall correctly (in any event, I was outbid by a little...).

So focused was I on the Strat it took a second visit to notice this old thing:

 

[drewdawg999]

I'm of the opinion that Pink Floyd is one of the great bands of all time, one of the top practitioners of British blues-based art-rock. I'm a little surprised at the backlash, perhaps they're a bit too popular to be considered top flight fine art? But I consider Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here to be 2 of the best rock albums ever. Then there's Meddle, Animals, and The Wall, very very fine albums. Then there's the rest, I'm really not a fan of the Syd Barrett years, but with the arrival of David Gilmour and his incomparably tasty guitar playing and fine ethereal voice, the band was elevated to a juggernaut.

Their albums set a high water mark in terms of production and sound quality. Their use as demo discs has no doubt led to overplaying and more backlash, but I pay that no mind. They also rip pretty hard as a live act, pity they didn't record all those great shows in the '70s, we're left with mostly just audience recordings. But I dig Wembley '74 (I believe the whole show can be pieced together from the Immersion boxed set, and 1967-1972 Continu/ation). And the live album of The Wall, Is There Anybody Out There?, is outstanding.

 

[ObiWanKenobi]

I'm of the opinion that Pink Floyd is one of the great bands of all time, one of the top practitioners of British blues-based art-rock. I'm a little surprised at the backlash, perhaps they're a bit too popular to be considered top flight fine art? But I consider Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here to be 2 of the best rock albums ever. Then there's Meddle, Animals, and The Wall, very very fine albums. Then there's the rest, I'm really not a fan of the Syd Barrett years, but with the arrival of David Gilmour and his incomparably tasty guitar playing and fine ethereal voice, the band was elevated to a juggernaut.

Their albums set a high water mark in terms of production and sound quality. Their use as demo discs has no doubt led to overplaying and more backlash, but I pay that no mind. They also rip pretty hard as a live act, pity they didn't record all those great shows in the '70s, we're left with mostly just audience recordings. But I dig Wembley '74 (I believe the whole show can be pieced together from the Immersion boxed set, and 1967-1972 Continu/ation). And the live album of The Wall, Is There Anybody Out There?, is outstanding.

The Wall is the most overrated album ever (IMHO).
Too long, not coherent and it sounds like "just a collection of songs".
It should have been reduced to a single album.
As for The Animals, this is their best album (IMHO).
Darker and deeper sound than any other album they made.
The 2018 Remix is one of the rare SACD I can say it is superior compared to the original (unlike High Vibration BS crap DR compressed by Yes).
DSOTM and WYWH are good but I would not call them audiophile quality today. They are excellent recording but they do show their age.
If one needs a certain song/album to demo his/her system than they just as well brag about the specs and I call them audio-fools (no trying top open a war on this topic here).
I didn't buy my system to show it off, I bought it to listen to music the best way possible in my home. Nothing more, nothing less.
FOMO is the most expensive gadget in anyone's brain.

 

[Redacted]

I agree that The Wall would be better as a single CD, but surely there are plenty more albums that are up for being the "most overrated ever"?

 

[PatentLawyer]

It would join the list of double albums that would be improved by editing them down to a single albums:

Exile on Main Street
Physical Graffiti
London Calling & Sandinista
Tales from Topographic Oceans
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
Blonde on Blonde
Songs in the Key of Life
The White Album

Maybe the The River, and Goodbye Yellowbrick Road, although like The Wall I can't say there's enough for a good single album.

As a Led Zeppelin fan, I'm curious as to what songs should be cut from PG to make it a single album? It's an epic album, IMHO.

As for Pink Floyd, I'm a fan. I'm a bit too young for the music to have been contemporary for me, but I do remember when the live album Pulse came out. I listened to it over and over, and bought the concert video, too. The live versions of Learning to Fly and Comfortably Numb are still on my playlist.

 

[norcalscott]

I disagree about the criticism of The Wall - I was a teenager in the 70's and consider every album they released among my very favorites, but I have an affinity for The Wall Live - The flow of that concert, the fantastic mixing and just some phenomenal live guitar playing / performing is about as good as it gets. I rarely listen to the studio version but the live version is a masterpiece in my opinion - I like to just sit back and take it in. I also dated a girl named Vera so that part takes me back when I hear it. (/old geezer rant)

 

[krabapple]

I agree that The Wall would be better as a single CD, but surely there are plenty more albums that are up for being the "most overrated ever"?

Surely there are, but of the ones I know well, The Wall ranks way up there. As always this isn't because I think it stinks or is bad overall, it's because I think it's ludicrously over praised. It's also not the Pink Floyd I knew and loved -- half that band, Mason and Wright, are barely there, competing with a cadre of session guys.

Another example related to it: the final guitar solo on 'Comfortably Numb' is nowhere near my favorite Dave Gilmour work, but so many cream over it.

 

[kidprofessor]

I listen to "Pink Floyd" mostly at live venues these days, where there are a couple of really good tribute bands on down where I live, in any given year, for £25. Guys who can play it and sing with extreme polish (and excellent "wiggly-ooh" ladies too). I always have a great time.

I've probably played the recordings to death over the years, like with so many other old bands.

I think it helps if they were new to you the first time round. My mates and I all saw Meddle sell out in our local record shop (Bedford Records in Leamington) and have wait until new stock came in a few days later. I had to take 2 copies back as they were unlistensble to with loud clicks at the beginning of Echoes - I knew then how terrible vinyl was! We'd all heard much of the previous records from older brothers etc., and all wanted to be part of that "far out" thing. Maybe it's the same for kids now with their own choice and styles of new music - who knows? I buy a surprising number of albums by recent artists!

When I lived in Toledo, Ohio, there was a band called Polka Floyd which was pretty great. Not sure if they're still around.

 

[DVinylfan]

The Wall is the most overrated album ever (IMHO).
Too long, not coherent and it sounds like "just a collection of songs".
It should have been reduced to a single album.
As for The Animals, this is their best album (IMHO).
Darker and deeper sound than any other album they made.
The 2018 Remix is one of the rare SACD I can say it is superior compared to the original (unlike High Vibration BS crap DR compressed by Yes).
DSOTM and WYWH are good but I would not call them audiophile quality today. They are excellent recording but they do show their age.
If one needs a certain song/album to demo his/her system than they just as well brag about the specs and I call them audio-fools (no trying top open a war on this topic here).
I didn't buy my system to show it off, I bought it to listen to music the best way possible in my home. Nothing more, nothing less.
FOMO is the most expensive gadget in anyone's brain.

I had to take out and re-listen to The Wall because it's not one of my most listened to..it's a great album full of fine songs and for me it makes sense as a whole, at least in the context of Roger Waters' wordy, angry commentary on the legacy of war. Yes, it could be called a Roger Waters album, but it's still inextricable from PF canon. It's complicated.
Agree about Animals, which is sublime, and the album I have listened to most...peak Floyd.
My second most-listened to record is maybe Obscured by Clouds, a movie soundtrack album that somehow for me epitomises their sound and relaxed, thoughtful melodic vibe.

 

[mglobe]

1973... Two buddies and I borrowed my parents car, and drove up to Blossom Music Center and saw this show: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/pink-floyd/1973/blossom-music-center-cuyahoga-falls-oh-43d72373.html I was 17. Getting near Blossom, we were stopped at a traffic light waiting to make a left turn, and a guy ran into us from behind. It was hard hit, and I remember searching for my glasses till I found them in the back seat. This was long before headrest were the norm.

The roads were a madhouse. Reminded me of the news coverage I saw of Woodstock (though obviously nowhere near that magnitude). The car was drivable, but we opted to park it and hitchhiked into the show. It took for-ev-errr to get there and involved hopping from one car to another for reasons I can't recall. As a result we were late for the show, and were just walking up to the crest of the hill to the amphitheater as the first pings of echos started. Something I will never forget. Had a seat, and were treated the entire DSOTM album. By that point I had swallowed the dark side kool aid, and it was glorious.

After the show, we hitchhiked back out. Same thing, jumping from car to car, and wandered around for about an hour before we found my parents car. It made it halfway home before it died, and I had to call my parents. They never gave me any grief about the accident. I woke up the next morning with a horrific stiff neck, went to the doctor to get checked out, and was deemed ok, but the other driver's insurance sent me a check big enough to buy my first real stereo. Marantz 1060, Epicure EPI 50's, and a Philips 212 turntable.

 

[Ron Party]

The numbers speak loudly.

 

[krabapple]

Numbers from what?

And it's funny how those 'prog' albums are labelled....'Psychedelic/Space Rock'

 

[ObiWanKenobi]

I agree that The Wall would be better as a single CD, but surely there are plenty more albums that are up for being the "most overrated ever"?

I wrote about PF not albums in general as indeed there are plenty of good and bad and overrated.

 

[ObiWanKenobi]

I had to take out and re-listen to The Wall because it's not one of my most listened to..it's a great album full of fine songs and for me it makes sense as a whole, at least in the context of Roger Waters' wordy, angry commentary on the legacy of war. Yes, it could be called a Roger Waters album, but it's still inextricable from PF canon. It's complicated.
Agree about Animals, which is sublime, and the album I have listened to most...peak Floyd.
My second most-listened to record is maybe Obscured by Clouds, a movie soundtrack album that somehow for me epitomises their sound and relaxed, thoughtful melodic vibe.

I find it very hard to sit down and listen to The Wall from start to end.
Too long for me and the whole theme/vibe is not really consistent so I loose focus and get easy distracted.
Maybe that's why I think it's overrated.

 

[Timcognito]

Some self described PF documentaries. The second was a local San Francisco one that I had watched but forgot about back when our part of land was the center of the music universe, but this is some unseen moments

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com.

EXCLUSIVE: Unseen Footage of Pink Floyd Playing in 1970 | KQED

Watch never-before-seen footage of Pink Floyd performing "Astronomy Domine" in 1970 and read how KQED came to film the band before they were famous.

www.kqed.org