Re: The Pink Floyd discography listen-through
« Reply #20 on: October 06, 2014, 09:59:12 PM »
Pink Floyd is wonderful!

If you haven't already, you should check out a band called "The Tea Party" I don't know of anyone who likes Pink Floyd who doesn't also like them.
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Offline xasop

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Re: The Pink Floyd discography listen-through
« Reply #21 on: October 11, 2014, 01:48:28 PM »
Pink Floyd is wonderful!

If you haven't already, you should check out a band called "The Tea Party" I don't know of anyone who likes Pink Floyd who doesn't also like them.

I may well do, when I'm done with this listen-through.

I got sick of reviews for a while, but I'm back, baby! Let's get this show on the road.
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Re: The Pink Floyd discography listen-through
« Reply #22 on: October 11, 2014, 03:27:33 PM »
want moar

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Re: The Pink Floyd discography listen-through
« Reply #23 on: October 11, 2014, 03:37:58 PM »
Wish You Were Here
Studio album


Recorded: January - July 1975
Released: 12 September 1975

Band lineup

Roger Waters (bass)
David Gilmour (guitar)
Richard Wright (keyboards)
Nick Mason (drums)

Dick Parry (saxophone solo on "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" part V)
Roy Harper (lead vocal on "Have a Cigar")

All lyrics written by Roger Waters.

Side A

1. Shine On You Crazy Diamond (parts I-V) (Waters, Gilmour, Wright) (13:38)
2. Welcome To the Machine (Waters) (7:30)

Side B

1. Have a Cigar (Waters) (5:24)
2. Wish You Were Here (Waters, Gilmour) (5:17)
3. Shine On You Crazy Diamond (parts VI-IX) (Waters, Gilmour, Wright) (12:29)

Review

In the wake of the enormous commercial success of The Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd produced a second concept album with two concurrent and related themes. First, the album and the very long "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" which makes up more than half of its length are calls out to Syd, who was very put off by commercial success. Second, the remaining tracks explore the harsh realities of the music industry, and the fact that success has its pitfalls.

The music used to convey these themes is a lot darker than anything Pink Floyd did previously. We begin with the first half of Shine On You Crazy Diamond, a 14-minute track containing two verses about Syd Barrett's short but bright music career, sung by Roger, but otherwise instrumental. The instrumentation is much more structured than Floyd's previous jams, though; the track is clearly separated into alternating guitar solos from David and synth solos from Rick. David's solos are bluesy as usual, while Rick's are very simple and reflective. Finally, Dick Parry takes a sax solo after the vocals. It's good, but the solos get repetitive fast without band members being able to bounce ideas off each other like they used to.

Dick's solo fades out to end the opening track. It's a long, slow fade-out, and it actually gives the impression that the music is getting further away, not just quieter. This actually turns out to be a cross-fade into Welcome To the Machine, which opens with a steady, mechanical drone. Some clunking and whirring later, David begins singing about "the machine", a symbol of the music business churning young musicians into commercial products. It even goes so far as to say "it's alright, we told you what to dream", criticising popular media for reinforcing the idea that commercial success is something to strive for.

Side A ends with another slow synth solo from Rick, maintaining the aural presence of a machine throughout the 7-minute song, until finally a mechanical click stops the solo abruptly and the song ends with the faint sound of a crowd of people laughing. It's not one of my favourite Floyd songs, but it certainly conveys its message extremely well.

Have a Cigar is a slow, bluesy, almost sleazy number about a greedy record company executive who cares more for money and record sales than for the music itself, sung by Roy Harper. Like Welcome To the Machine, this song contains some fairly direct criticism of the music industry, ending with the sentiment "did we tell you the name of the game, boy? We call it riding the gravy train."

The segue from Have a Cigar into Wish You Were Here is one of my favourites. The guitar solo that closes Have a Cigar cuts to the sound of a radio, continuing to play Have a Cigar. Someone then tunes the radio through a few short sound bytes, including some which run with the general theme of the album, including a woman saying "now would you take this star nonsense?", before finally tuning into the Wish You Were Here guitar riff. The radio operator picks up a guitar and plays along, and so the next song starts.

Wish You Were Here rounds off the songs about the music industry, and this is a much more direct and personal commentary towards listeners rather than the industry itself. It challenges the listener: "Do you think you can tell Heaven from Hell? ... Did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts?"; and at the same time seems to call out to Syd: "Running over the same old ground / What have we found? The same old fears / Wish you were here".

Wish You Were Here crossfades into the sound of wind blowing, ushering in the tour de force of the album, which begins with a simple, one-note bass line. The conclusion of Shine On You Crazy Diamond enters with one Rick and David solo apiece, before returning to the final verse for Syd, this time more directly alluding to his own disillusionment with commercial success ("pile on many more layers, and I'll be joining you there").

The concluding six minutes of the album are again instrumental, but I find these much more interesting than the opening solos. Part VIII is a funky jam, not quite as catchy as those you'll find on Atom Heart Mother or Meddle, but the closest thing you'll get to Pink Floyd rocking out post-Dark Side, dominated by Rick's clavinet and synth parts. Part IX is a final send-off for Syd, written entirely by Rick, with his most beautiful Minimoog solo of the album.

This isn't one of my favourite Pink Floyd albums. It's good, and it's one of the last examples of Roger, David and Rick all working together, but it just feels like the band is going through the motions instead of doing anything particularly creative. I say dispense with the concept albums and bring back the extended instrumental jams.
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Saddam Hussein

Re: The Pink Floyd discography listen-through
« Reply #24 on: November 04, 2014, 06:57:25 PM »
want moar

Come on, Animals and The Wall aren't that bad.  You can get through them.

Saddam Hussein

Re: The Pink Floyd discography listen-through
« Reply #25 on: November 19, 2014, 10:04:01 PM »
want moar

Come on, Animals and The Wall aren't that bad.  You can get through them.

I stand by this.  Also, did you get The Endless River yet?  It's getting mixed reviews, but it does appear to be better than The Division Bell.

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Re: The Pink Floyd discography listen-through
« Reply #26 on: November 22, 2014, 01:03:11 PM »
Animals
Studio album


Recorded: April - December 1976
Released: 23 January 1977

Band lineup

Roger Waters (bass, guitar)
David Gilmour (guitar)
Richard Wright (keyboards)
Nick Mason (drums)

All tracks authored by Roger Waters, except where noted.
All lyrics written by Roger Waters.

Side A

1. Pigs On the Wing (part I) (1:25)
2. Dogs (Waters, Gilmour) (17:03)

Side B

1. Pigs (Three Different Ones) (11:25)
2. Sheep (10:25)
3. Pigs On the Wing (part II) (1:23)

Review

This album would be the first of several to be almost entirely dominated by Roger. To a large extent, this came about as a result of both David and Rick working on their first solo albums during this period, and therefore having their creative energies focused elsewhere. David's only contribution is co-authorship of Dogs, which is easily the best track on the album; while Rick's signature dissonant chord progressions are missing entirely. The result is a much more monotonous product, lacking the complexity brought to its predecessors by extensive collaboration.

The bookending number was written fairly late in the game by Roger, as a simple acoustic piece entirely performed by Roger. The lyrics are directed towards his then-wife, Lady Carolyne Christie. In keeping with the self-evident theme of the album, this song uses animals as metaphors; in this case, pigs on the wing appear to symbolise antagonists, though the song isn't detailed enough to establish any more significant symbolism than that.

Side A is almost entirely taken up by Dogs, which consists of sporadic verses interspersed with extended instrumental sections. The song is very much driven by David's guitar, though it does feature a synth solo from Rick. The vocals are shared between David and Roger; David sings the first half in second person, while Roger takes on the persona of a dog for the latter part. The song is a fairly cynical take on businessmen (symbolised by dogs), characterising them as being "trusted by the people that [they] lie to, so that when they turn their backs on you, you get the chance to put the knife in." The instrumentation in Dogs is the highlight of the album, with David having spared just enough creativity from his solo album to give us a break from Roger's total inability to come up with interesting melodies.

Most of side B is occupied by two fairly lengthy songs, both of which were written and sung by Roger. The crude animal symbolism continues; Pigs (Three Different Ones) characterises three people as pigs; the first, and the only one not to be a specific person, is again the typical businessman (apparently the lyrics in Dogs didn't constitute enough tomato-throwing at this particular breed). The latter two are Margaret Thatcher, whose verse delightfully describes her as a "fucked up old hag" and expresses Roger's desire to shoot her ("[you're] good fun with a handgun"); and Mary Whitehouse, a strongly conservative British social activist, who is "nearly a treat, but [...] really a cry".

Distasteful lyrics aside, the enjoyable bit of this track comes between the second and third verses. David takes a rather long guitar solo, but with effective use of a vocoder, his guitar sounds more like a pig than a musical instrument. The solo isn't particularly interesting but for this sound effect, although it still manages to outdo Roger's vocals.

Pigs fades out into the sound of sheep baaing, over which an electric piano solo brings in the start of Sheep. This song contains my favourite lyrics of the album, describing a hilariously perverse scenario in which captive sheep learn karate and rise up against their masters. As with Pigs, it contains an extended instrumental middle section, including semi-improvised parts from both David and Rick. In this case, the instrumental section culminates in a distorted recital of Psalm 23 (beginning with "the Lord is my shepherd"), with lyrics suitably perverted for the theme of the song.

This album has its moments, most of which are in Dogs, but overall it feels like an exercise in concept over substance. It focuses extremely narrowly on the concept of animals as symbolism, to the point of neglecting musical creativity or making any concrete points. In this reviewer's opinion, this is what happens when you take a band whose best moments were built on collaboration and let one member take charge. Sadly, this situation would only get worse over the next six years.
« Last Edit: November 22, 2014, 06:42:36 PM by Parsifal »
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Re: The Pink Floyd discography listen-through
« Reply #27 on: November 22, 2014, 08:58:41 PM »
The Wall
Studio double album


Recorded: July - December 1978
Released: 30 November 1979

Band lineup

Roger Waters (bass, guitar)
David Gilmour (guitar, bass)
Richard Wright (keyboards)
Nick Mason (drums)

All tracks authored by Roger Waters, except where noted.
All lyrics written by Roger Waters.

Side A

1. In the Flesh? (3:16)
2. The Thin Ice (2:27)
3. Another Brick in the Wall (part I) (3:21)
4. The Happiest Days of Our Lives (1:46)
5. Another Brick in the Wall (part II) (3:59)
6. Mother (5:32)

Side B

1. Goodbye Blue Sky (2:45)
2. Empty Spaces (2:10)
3. Young Lust (Gilmour, Waters) (3:25)
4. One of My Turns (3:41)
5. Don't Leave Me Now (4:08)
6. Another Brick in the Wall (part III) (1:48)
7. Goodbye Cruel World (:48)

Side C

1. Hey You (4:40)
2. Is There Anybody Out There? (2:44)
3. Nobody Home (3:26)
4. Vera (1:35)
5. Bring the Boys Back Home (1:21)
6. Comfortably Numb (Waters, Gilmour) (6:23)

Side D

1. The Show Must Go On (1:36)
2. In the Flesh (4:15)
3. Run Like Hell (Waters, Gilmour) (4:20)
4. Waiting for the Worms (4:04)
5. Stop (:39)
6. The Trial (Waters, Bob Ezrin) (5:13)
7. Outside the Wall (1:41)

Review

If Animals was concept over substance, this is self-indulgence over coherence. Supposedly, it tells the story of a rock star named Pink, but there are so many pointless diversions that it's difficult to be certain exactly what it's getting at. Instrumentation is very hit-and-miss; some songs, like Is There Anybody Out There?, are very effective in using sounds to create the intended atmosphere. Other times, like in Comfortably Numb, we get generic rock with seemingly no correlation between the music and the lyrics.

It all starts out so simply; side A begins with what serves as an introduction to the rock opera. The first track isn't part of the story so much as it hints that there is a story to come; Roger is addressing the listener directly as a performer, saying "if you wanna find out what's behind these cold eyes, you'll just have to claw your way through this disguise". I think the intent was that the rest of the album would do just that, although it just seems to make the author's disguise more opaque.

The remainder of side A tells the story of a child Pink's early years, going through losing his father in a war (Another Brick in the Wall (part I)), being abused by teachers at school (ibid., part II) and being fawned over by an overly protective mother (Mother). This would all be very neat and edgy, if not for the fact that it feels like a needlessly long rehash of Speak to Me/Breathe from The Dark Side of the Moon. Mother has a pretty good guitar solo, I guess, but it hardly redeems the entire side.

Side B is where things start to get confusing. We have a song, Goodbye Blue Sky, which is apparently about young Pink's home town being bombarded in an air raid. You might expect that this is relevant to the story, but no; the next track jumps straight to -- er, to nowhere, because Empty Spaces is a shortened version of What Shall We Do Now? (which appears in full in the film version), except that the lyrics which make the song about something have been replaced with filler. Nice one, Roger.

The rest of side B goes through Pink as a young adult finding a woman to sleep with (presumably a groupie), abusing her, then getting depressed when she leaves him and committing suicide. You might want to read that sentence twice, just to let it sink in. Yes, Pink commits suicide halfway through the album. And then there's another whole two album sides about stuff he did. After he killed himself. Yes.

At least, I think they're about Pink. It's difficult to tell with songs like Hey You, which is one of Roger's better compositions musically, but seems to be completely irrelevant to the storyline. Is There Anybody Out There? is of interest mainly because it samples David's whalesong guitar from Echoes, but that just made me wish I was listening to Meddle instead. Nobody Home is surprisingly good, sounding quite different from the rest of the album due to the prominent use of piano (played by producer Bob Ezrin, not Rick).

Vera, Bring the Boys Back Home and Comfortably Numb form a sort of medley, and I can only assume this section was intended to give the listener time for a quick nap before they need to turn over the record again. The lyrics entail Roger mumbling something about a singer called Vera Lynn, before a choir demands that "the boys" be brought home. This is a fairly clear reference to war, and presumably by extension to Pink's lost father, so we can reasonably assume that this is central to the story.

Guess again. Comfortably Numb is a song about a doctor waking up Pink after what seems to be a drug overdose (presumably this is still the attempted suicide from earlier), and Pink saying that he is comfortably numb. Then we get a guitar solo, because hey, who doesn't want to get up and play the guitar when they can barely stand after poisoning themselves?

Blessedly, we only have one more side to go from this point. It starts off with Pink not wanting to continue to play a show; maybe he realised how boring his solo in Comfortably Numb sounded, and didn't want to inflict that on an audience. Whatever the reason, we then have a "surrogate band" who likes lining various people up against a wall and telling them they should be shot, followed by a couple of songs continuing in that vein which seem to be a parody of Nazi rallies. What this all has to do with Pink's story is anyone's guess.

Finally, The Trial manages to bring some redemption to the whole affair. The story of Pink and his imaginary wall is concluded with him trying himself for his supposed crimes, though to be honest, I'm too confused by now to know what he's supposed to have done. The judge, however, claims that his offences "fill [him] with the urge to defecate", which is quite appropriate, because that's exactly how listening to this album makes me feel.

This album fails to tell a coherent story, it fails to maintain a consistent concept, most of the tracks aren't musically interesting and the lyrics are extremely whiny and self-indulgent. The few interesting moments wouldn't even fill a single LP side, let alone a double album. This is the epitome of '70s rock overindulgence, and the sad thing is that it comes from a band who once produced much better records. Don't buy this record unless you're a collector of ridiculously expensive frisbees.
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Saddam Hussein

Re: The Pink Floyd discography listen-through
« Reply #28 on: November 22, 2014, 10:22:58 PM »
Haven't you ever heard a rock opera before?  This is like if I were going to review Ziggy Stardust and started it out with, "The first song is apparently about some kind of apocalyptic scenario, the second is about some dead guy and a lot of filibustering about how great love is, and then in the third track there's suddenly what I can only assume is an escaped mental patient babbling about electric eyes and ray guns.  I have no idea what any of these songs have to do with each other."  You're not reading a novel here.  Songs are typically used to establish mood or describe key events, but transitions - lines like "Meanwhile..." or "And then he had a flashback..." - aren't going to be spelled out for you.  They never are.  You're supposed to use your head and fill in those parts of the story yourself.

Also, you misinterpreted a lot of the lyrics, particularly with the metaphors and symbolism, which this album is full of.  The latter verse of "Mother" is meant to describe Pink falling in love and getting married.  "Empty Spaces" poses the question of how to complete the building of the Wall, which is answered in "Young Lust" as infidelity, further isolating Pink from the positive aspects of his life.  At the end of the song, he calls his wife on the phone, only to assume when he hears a man answer the phone that she too is cheating.  He does abuse the groupie, but "Don't Leave Me Now" is directed at his wife, not her.  And he hardly kills himself.  The failure of his marriage constitutes the completion of the Wall, and he vows to isolate himself from society - or at least from love, companionship, etc.

Side C is mainly about Pink's self-reflection following this, beginning with "Hey You" in which he begins to doubt his decision to isolate himself and pleads futilely for human contact.  Side D is when Pink starts hallucinating and imagining that his concert is really a Nazi rally...yeah, it's a bit hazy from there, but whatever.  Anyway, "The Trial" is essentially him realizing that everyone needs other people in their lives to function, and so destroys the Wall.  The main point I'm trying to make is that it seems very odd to me that apparently your biggest problem with this album was the storyline.
« Last Edit: November 22, 2014, 10:25:43 PM by Saddam Hussein »

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Offline xasop

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Re: The Pink Floyd discography listen-through
« Reply #29 on: November 22, 2014, 10:53:23 PM »
Haven't you ever heard a rock opera before?

Not one with a coherent plot.

The main point I'm trying to make is that it seems very odd to me that apparently your biggest problem with this album was the storyline.

Not exactly. My two big problems with it are:

  • It focuses on storyline at the expense of all else.
  • It isn't even that great at telling a story.

Either one by itself would be fine; a good story stands well on its own, and a bad story can be enjoyable if the music is good. The Wall is neither of those.
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Re: The Pink Floyd discography listen-through
« Reply #30 on: November 24, 2014, 04:36:14 PM »
I'm curious as to what you thought about the Movie version of "The Wall"
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Re: The Pink Floyd discography listen-through
« Reply #31 on: November 24, 2014, 04:58:37 PM »
I'm curious as to what you thought about the Movie version of "The Wall"

I'll be reviewing that soon enough. Just wait until I get over the nausea induced by having to endure the album again.
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Rama Set

Re: The Pink Floyd discography listen-through
« Reply #32 on: November 24, 2014, 04:58:59 PM »
Haven't you ever heard a rock opera before?

Not one with a coherent plot.

The main point I'm trying to make is that it seems very odd to me that apparently your biggest problem with this album was the storyline.

Not exactly. My two big problems with it are:

  • It focuses on storyline at the expense of all else.
  • It isn't even that great at telling a story.

Either one by itself would be fine; a good story stands well on its own, and a bad story can be enjoyable if the music is good. The Wall is neither of those.

Do you consider Jesus Christ Superstar to be a rock opera?

Saddam Hussein

Re: The Pink Floyd discography listen-through
« Reply #33 on: November 24, 2014, 05:46:55 PM »
I'd be willing to bet that Parsifal knows virtually nothing about Jesus Christ Superstar.  I'm not sure what point you're making, though.  It's a musical, and so can communicate its story visually as well as through the music.  Rock operas are just a bunch of songs, so they pretty much have to jump around in the narrative.

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Re: The Pink Floyd discography listen-through
« Reply #34 on: November 29, 2014, 10:27:34 AM »
Is There Anybody Out There?
The Wall Live 1980-81
Live double CD


Recorded: 7-9 August 1980, 13-17 June 1981, Earls Court Exhibition Centre, London
Released: 23 March 2000

Band lineup

Roger Waters (bass)
David Gilmour (guitar)
Richard Wright (keyboards)
Nick Mason (drums)

Surrogate band (1980)

Andy Bown (bass)
Snowy White (guitar)
Peter Wood (keyboards)
Willie Wilson (drums)

Surrogate band (1981)

Andy Bown (bass)
Andy Roberts (guitar)
Peter Wood (keyboards)
Willie Wilson (drums)

All tracks authored by Roger Waters, except where noted.
All lyrics written by Roger Waters.

CD 1

1. MC: Atmos (1:13)
2. In the Flesh? (3:00)
3. The Thin Ice (2:49)
4. Another Brick in the Wall (part I) (4:13)
5. The Happiest Days of Our Lives (1:40)
6. Another Brick in the Wall (part II) (6:19)
7. Mother (7:54)
8. Goodbye Blue Sky (3:15)
9. Empty Spaces (2:14)
10. What Shall We Do Now? (1:40)
11. Young Lust (Gilmour, Waters) (5:17)
12. One of My Turns (3:41)
13. Don't Leave Me Now (4:08)
14. Another Brick in the Wall (part III) (1:15)
15. The Last Few Bricks (Waters, Gilmour) (3:26)
16. Goodbye Cruel World (1:41)

CD 2

1. Hey You (4:55)
2. Is There Anybody Out There? (3:09)
3. Nobody Home (3:15)
4. Vera (1:27)
5. Bring the Boys Back Home (1:20)
6. Comfortably Numb (Waters, Gilmour) (7:26)
7. The Show Must Go On (2:35)
8. MC: Atmos (:37)
9. In the Flesh (4:23)
10. Run Like Hell (Waters, Gilmour) (7:05)
11. Waiting for the Worms (4:14)
12. Stop (:30)
13. The Trial (Waters, Bob Ezrin) (6:01)
14. Outside the Wall (4:27)

Review

For the most part, the performances here are very similar to their studio counterparts. Even many of the guitar solos are played exactly as they appeared on the album, although some of them (Another Brick in the Wall part II and Young Lust, for example) are then supplemented with longer improvisations. However, the additional material helps to make the whole seem slightly more well-rounded, and as such, I found this to be a more pleasant listen than the studio album, though still very lacking.

The performance opens with Vera Lynn's "We'll Meet Again" playing in the background, the song which is referenced later in the show by "Vera". Shortly thereafter, a drab announcement follows, asking people not to set off fireworks or to use any recording equipment during the show. During the announcement, there is sound of guitars and organs in the background gradually rising in intensity, although the announcer claims that "the band is not quite ready yet". This is one of the more interesting moments, as at this early stage, you can still delude yourself into thinking the band is building up to something worthwhile.

The announcement is then abruptly drowned out by the opening chords of In the Flesh, and from here the performance is the one we know and, er, know from the studio album. Noteworthy deviations are the inclusion of What Shall We Do Now? and an extra verse in The Show Must Go On, which were edited out from the studio release, and a new piece titled "The Last Few Bricks", an instrumental medley containing sections from various other songs in the show. This piece was inserted to give the roadies time to finish constructing a wall on stage during the first half, before the last brick was inserted during "Goodbye Cruel World".

For my money's worth, the extended improvisations in the established songs mostly don't serve any real purpose; they feel like they're there just to pad out the performance, and the solos are short and go nowhere. The extra verse in The Show Must Go On is about as dull as the rest of that song, but What Shall We Do Now? is one of my favourites on this release, and I wish it hadn't been cut from the original.

The Last Few Bricks is the real gem here, though. Much like the Tommy Overture, by taking fragments of various different compositions from a mundane rock opera and condensing them into just a few minutes, it manages to evade the pervasive feeling of dragging on too long that the rest of this concert exhibits. Sadly, this track occupies just three minutes of a nearly two-hour release, and soon enough we're dragged back into Roger's self-indulgent whining.

Another noteworthy moment comes with Roger yelling aggressively at the audience to have a good time at the start of Run Like Hell, and dedicating that song to "all the weak people in the audience". For all his faults, Roger certainly can pull off the role of a menacing antagonist very well, so this brightens up the last few tracks slightly.

Overall, this is a slightly better release than The Wall proper, so if you haven't heard either and are determined to listen, I would recommend getting this rather than the studio release. This recording is also of historical interest, as it is a document of the last time this band lineup would play together for 24 years. However, like its studio predecessor, it fails to work particularly well as a coherent whole, and is sadly lacking in terms of musical creativity.
« Last Edit: November 29, 2014, 10:38:13 AM by Parsifal »
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Re: The Pink Floyd discography listen-through
« Reply #35 on: November 29, 2014, 04:14:35 PM »
Pink Floyd - The Wall
Film (directed by Alan Parker)

Released: 14 July 1982

Band lineup

Roger Waters (bass)
David Gilmour (guitar)
Nick Mason (drums)
Richard Wright* (keyboards)

* Richard Wright was not a member of Pink Floyd at the time of the film's release, but as most of the material here is taken from the album recordings, his keyboard playing appears throughout the film.

All tracks authored by Roger Waters, except where noted.
All lyrics written by Roger Waters, except "The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot".

Songs included (in order of appearance)

The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot (performed by Vera Lynn) (Michael Carr, Tommie Connor, Jimmy Leach)
When the Tigers Broke Free
The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot (reprise) (Michael Carr, Tommie Connor, Jimmy Leach)
In the Flesh?
The Thin Ice
Another Brick in the Wall (part I)
When the Tigers Broke Free (reprise)
Goodbye Blue Sky
The Happiest Days of Our Lives (incl. quote from Money)
Another Brick in the Wall (part II)
Mother
What Shall We Do Now?
Young Lust (Gilmour, Waters)
One of My Turns
Don't Leave Me Now
Another Brick in the Wall (part III)
Goodbye Cruel World
Is There Anybody Out There?
Nobody Home
Vera
Bring the Boys Back Home
Comfortably Numb (Waters, Gilmour)
In the Flesh
Run Like Hell (Waters, Gilmour)
Waiting for the Worms
Stop (incl. quotes from Your Possible Pasts and 5:11 AM (The Moment of Clarity))
The Trial (Waters, Bob Ezrin)
Outside the Wall

Review

Yes, the saga continues. Fortunately, the film version isn't nearly as painful to sit through as the studio or live albums, mainly thanks to some interesting animation by Gerald Scarfe, as well as other visual cues to pick up the bits of the story left out by the music.

The track listing is somewhat different from the album; while What Shall We Do Now? was included here, as well as a new song, When the Tigers Broke Free, the film excludes Hey You and The Show Must Go On. The transition between what were the first and second halves of the album thus feels rather abrupt; rather than Hey You effectively serving as an interlude between the pre-wall and post-wall parts of the story, the completion of the wall immediately leads into Is There Anybody Out There?, greatly altering the dynamic of the narrative.

Other changes include a resequencing of songs in the first third of the story, and references to some of Roger's other lyrical works. The teacher in The Happiest Days of Our Lives snatches a book of poems from younk Pink and reads aloud to the class in an attempt at humiliation, with the lyrics being an excerpt from Money. Later, in Stop, an adult Pink is reading out more of his own poetry, which includes two of Roger's unreleased (at the time) songs; Your Possible Pasts (from The Final Cut) and 5:11 AM (The Moment of Clarity) (from The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking, Roger's first solo album).

Thanks to the visual component, the film manages to convey the story of Pink much better than audio alone. Rather than the linear storyline implied by the album, Pink often switches between an adult, an adolescent and a child, even being a child meeting himself as an adult at one point. Clarification is provided as to the main setting by way of the opening scene, in which Pink is sitting in his room with his eyebrows shaved off, unresponsive to anything going on around him. This is later the setting for Comfortably Numb, in which Pink's manager attempts to rouse him prior to a show.

There is generally more emphasis on war in the film version than either of the albums, beginning with With the Tigers Broke Free, which is used to accompany the scene of Pink's father dying in battle. This persists throughout the film, with televisions appearing in strange places, usually showing some sort of war-themed programme, and Pink as a child walks through the aftermath of a battle between Nobody Home and Vera. This is a nice change of pace, as the film maintains some consistent focus, as opposed to the album which seems to jump between themes a lot.

Gerald Scarfe's animations come to a climactic finale in The Trial, with established caricatures of Pink's teacher, wife and mother testifying against him while he is propped up against a cartoon wall, leading up to the dramatic ending in which the wall is violently torn down. I find this to be quite reminiscent of the violent closing scene of Zabriskie Point, 12 years earlier. Finally, Outside the Wall plays over the closing credits, and it's finally over.

I won't go so far as to say this is particularly great, but of the three versions of The Wall I've endured in the past week, this is definitely the only one I would rate as being decent. The story certainly gains something from having visual aids, and the visuals also help to prop up the music in parts where it drags on; Comfortably Numb is a particularly good example of this. I'd say this is certainly worth watching, although I'm not sure I'd want to watch it again in a hurry.
« Last Edit: November 29, 2014, 04:23:03 PM by Parsifal »
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Offline xasop

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Re: The Pink Floyd discography listen-through
« Reply #36 on: December 06, 2014, 10:16:21 AM »
The Final Cut
Studio album


Recorded: July - December 1982
Released: 21 March 1983

Band lineup

Roger Waters (bass, guitar)
David Gilmour (guitar)
Nick Mason (drums, except "Two Suns in the Sunset")

Michael Kamen (piano, harmonium)
Andy Bown (organ)
Raphael Ravenscroft (saxophone)
Ray Cooper (percussion)
Andy Newmark (drums on "Two Suns in the Sunset")

Also featuring the National Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Michael Kamen.

All tracks authored by Roger Waters.

Side A

1. The Post War Dream (3:02)
2. Your Possible Pasts (4:22)
3. One of the Few (1:23)
4. The Hero's Return (2:56)
5. The Gunner's Dream (5:07)
6. Paranoid Eyes (3:40)

Side B

1. Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert (1:19)
2. The Fletcher Memorial Home (4:11)
3. Southampton Dock (2:13)
4. The Final Cut (4:46)
5. Not Now John (5:01)
6. Two Suns in the Sunset (5:14)

Review

Except for a few brief guitar solos from David, this album is really more like a Roger Waters solo album than a Pink Floyd album. This impression is furthered by the fact that Roger and David weren't on speaking terms with each other during its recording, working separately in the studio; combined with the fact that this would be the last new material Roger would write under the Pink Floyd name.

Consisting mainly of discarded material from The Wall, the main redeeming feature of The Final Cut is that it's half as long as its older brother. Michael Kamen's piano playing helps to save the album from sounding completely like rehashed filler, making The Gunner's Dream the highlight of side 1. Then on the other hand, we have songs like The Hero's Return and The Final Cut, which seem to be little other than excerpts from the already-milked-to-death life story of Pink. Finally, there's The Fletcher Memorial Home, which (coupled with Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert, which serves as an intro) is just five and a half minutes of Roger whining on about various national leaders waging war against each other. The title is taken from his father's middle name, Fletcher, who was killed in such a war -- clever, you see?

Not Now John is the only song where David gets a vocal part; musically, it sounds like a rehash of Another Brick in the Wall with more sound effects. The lyrics in the second verse deal with the banality of Hollywood filmmaking ("who cares what it's about as long as the kids go?"), which is apt, because that seems to have been exactly Roger's approach to the making of the film adaptation of The Wall.

Two Suns in the Sunset is a song about a nuclear holocaust; the second Sun being a nuclear explosive "in the east, even though the day is done". This song is the nail in the coffin for Waters-led Floyd; with Rick having left the band entirely, Andy Newmark taking over drumming from Nick Mason for this track, and soloing duties taken by Raphael Ravenscroft on saxophone, this is as unFloydy as Floyd gets. Gone are the psychedelic jams; gone are the fanciful lyrics about bikes, breakfasts and bright ambassadors of morning; gone is the collaboration that made this band tick in their heyday. Pink Floyd has come full circle, and we're back to the solo band member doodling away that we heard on Ummagumma. And frankly, Roger's work on Ummagumma is more interesting than this.

I like this album more than The Wall, but only because it's shorter. Do yourself a favour and skip them both.
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Re: The Pink Floyd discography listen-through
« Reply #37 on: December 06, 2014, 02:30:34 PM »
The Final Cut
Film (directed by Willie Christie)

Released: 1983

Band lineup

Roger Waters (bass, guitar)
David Gilmour (guitar)
Nick Mason (drums)

Michael Kamen (piano, harmonium)
Andy Bown (organ)
Ray Cooper (percussion)

Also featuring the National Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Michael Kamen.

All tracks authored by Roger Waters.

Songs included (in order of appearance)

The Gunner's Dream
The Final Cut
Not Now John
The Fletcher Memorial Home

Review

So, this is basically a few songs from the album set to footage of people doing things vaguely related to the music. The protagonist (I think; it's hard to tell who's playing what role) is played by the same actor who portrays the school teacher in The Wall, who seems to be the father of someone who died in a war (who is meant to be the gunner in The Gunner's Dream, I think). There seems to be some sort of storyline where he gets his revenge against the people responsible for the war in The Fletcher Memorial Home, though I'm not sure what the rest of the film has to do with that.

Highlights include Roger getting shot during The Final Cut (at the line that was originally "I'll tell you what's behind the wall", which got cut short by a gunshot when it was taken out of The Wall for use in The Final Cut) and Margaret Thatcher getting shot during The Fletcher Memorial Home (who wouldn't want to see that?). The Not Now John section also made me laugh, as the female backing vocals were fairly poorly lip-synced by a group of women in stereotypical Japanese dress.

There's also an attractive young woman who goes around stroking people's faces and various objects, although I really don't have any idea what she's supposed to represent.

Once again, this is better than The Wall by virtue of being shorter, and by that token it's also better than the album it's based on, but I wouldn't say it's particularly good. Watch at your own risk.
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Offline xasop

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Re: The Pink Floyd discography listen-through
« Reply #38 on: December 07, 2014, 07:14:29 AM »
Works
Compilation album


Recorded: 1967 - 1973
Released: 18 June 1983

Band lineup

Syd Barrett (guitar on "Arnold Layne", "See Emily Play" and "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun")
Roger Waters (bass)
David Gilmour (guitar, except "Arnold Layne" and "See Emily Play")
Richard Wright (keyboards)
Nick Mason (drums)

All tracks authored by Roger Waters, except where noted.

Side A

1. One of These Days (Waters, Gilmour, Wright, Mason) (5:50)
  * Originally released on Meddle.
  * Includes part of "Speak to Me", from The Dark Side of the Moon.
2. Arnold Layne (Barrett) (2:52)
  * Originally released as a single.
3. Fearless (Waters, Gilmour) (6:08)
  * Originally released on Meddle.
  * Includes "You'll Never Walk Alone" (Rodgers, Hammerstein).
4. Brain Damage (3:50)
  * Originally released on The Dark Side of the Moon.
5. Eclipse (1:45)
  * Originally released on The Dark Side of the Moon.

Side B

1. Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun (5:23)
  * Originally released on A Saucerful of Secrets.
2. See Emily Play (Barrett) (2:54)
  * Originally released as a single.
3. Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving With a Pict (4:47)
  * Originally released on Ummagumma.
4. Free Four (4:07)
  * Originally released on Obscured by Clouds.
5. Embryo (4:39)
  * Previously unreleased (recorded in 1968).

Review

Despite numerous remixes and crossfades to try to make this assortment of early Floyd tracks flow together nicely, it still comes across as simply a collection of old songs. On the other hand, hearing early Floyd again is like a breath of fresh air after Animals, The Wall and The Final Cut. I most definitely enjoyed this.

With the exception of Arnold Layne, Side A consists entirely of material from Meddle and The Dark Side of the Moon, making this a brief catalogue of early progressive Floyd. Side B proceeds to showcase Floyd's earlier psychedelic side, again with one exception (Free Four). The tracks in both cases are generally close to being the cream of the crop; I personally don't have a taste for Set the Controls or Free Four, but it's still a worthy sampler for anyone who doesn't feel like listening through all of Pink Floyd's early albums.

The reason I included this compilation is that the final track isn't included on any other Pink Floyd album. Embryo is a song from 1968, written by Roger during their "we lost Syd, now what?" phase, and is very mellow even by '68 Floyd standards. It would have fit in quite well on More, with the same ambient organ, piano and acoustic guitar backing which makes that album such a relaxing listen. The lyrics, sung by David, tell the story of an embryo floating around in a womb in the first person. Overall, one of the better songs that should have been in More -- it would have been better than A Spanish Piece, at any rate.

It's difficult to sum up, because Floyd's style changed so much between the late '60s and early '70s, making this album seem like two completely disjoined halves. These songs aren't all the picks I would have made, but they're also nowhere close to being the worst possible choices. I guess you should listen to this if either you like early Floyd and want to hear Embryo, or you're curious about early Floyd and want a quick run-through without having to listen to each album in turn. It's far from essential, but it's also not bad, and definitely an improvement on Relics.
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Re: The Pink Floyd discography listen-through
« Reply #39 on: December 07, 2014, 09:59:21 AM »
A Momentary Lapse of Reason
Studio album


Recorded: October 1986 - May 1987
Released: 7 September 1987

Band lineup

David Gilmour (guitar)
Nick Mason (drums)
Richard Wright* (keyboards)

Tony Levin (bass)
Also featuring numerous other session musicians.

* Wright had returned to the band in all but name for legal reasons; he had entered a contractual agreement a number of years prior which prevented him from rejoining Pink Floyd.

All tracks authored by David Gilmour, except where noted.

Side A

1. Signs of Life (Gilmour, Bob Ezrin) (4:24)
2. Learning to Fly (Gilmour, Ezrin, Anthony Moore, Jon Carin) (4:53)
3. The Dogs of War (Gilmour, Moore) (6:05)
4. One Slip (Gilmour, Phil Manzanera) (5:10)
5. On the Turning Away (Gilmour, Moore) (5:42)

Side B

1. Yet Another Movie / Round and Around (Gilmour, Patrick Leonard) (7:28)
2. A New Machine (part I) (1:46)
3. Terminal Frost (6:17)
4. A New Machine (part II) (:38)
5. Sorrow (8:46)

Review

From the ashes of Roger's attempt to kill the Pink Floyd name and continue in the vein of The Final Cut as a solo artist, David began work on the first ever Floyd album not to have any material written by Roger. In some respects, this may be considered a David Gilmour solo album in the same way that The Final Cut may be considered a Roger Waters solo album. However, with everyone in the band on speaking terms again, the return of Rick to the group, and the intention for the trio to tour with the support of some of the session musicians who worked on the album, this feels more like Pink Floyd than anything else since Wish You Were Here.

The lyrics are where this material really suffers. While the music is far more interesting than anything on The Wall or The Final Cut, the clarity of focus is lost somewhat, as a band which had learned to rely on Roger to write their words scrambled to come up with something of their own to say. There is some redemption in that the first lyrical piece, Learning to Fly, seems to lampshade this fact; it seems to be David's way of expressing his feelings of trying to get an all-but-defeated group of musicians off the ground again.

Aside from Learning to Fly, side A consists of an instrumental opener which, while very enjoyable, feels like a rehash of the opening to Shine On You Crazy Diamond, with ambient synths backing a slow, bluesy guitar solo. The remaining three tracks continue the theme of combining abysmal lyrics with decent tunes. The Dogs of War is a particularly bad example, where David seems to be trying to prove that Pink Floyd doesn't need Roger to write compelling songs about tragedies of war, and ends up demonstrating the opposite. As is typical of this album, the song is saved from being a complete disaster by a pretty awesome sax solo in the middle.

Side A ends with a fade-out on one of Gilmour's better guitar solos since Animals, ten years ago, and then we get to turn the record over. Unlike side A, side B is almost entirely credited to David as author, but is rescued from being a second lyrical abomination by the extended instrumental (and my personal favourite track on the album), Terminal Frost. This track is a piece with the two parts of A New Machine, which is almost entirely driven by David's lead vocal, although they've done some interesting thing with synths to make his voice sound robotic. Surprisingly, though, A New Machine's lyrics don't make me want to cringe. These three tracks are definitely the highlight of the album for me.

That leaves the songs that bookend side B, both of which follow the overall pattern of "good music, terrible lyrics". This wouldn't be such a bad thing if Sorrow didn't come across as a failed attempt at a lyrically-driven tour de force for Pink Floyd's return. Personally, I find this finale to be a waste of perfectly good magnetic tape, with the closing solo coming across as pointless meandering, the likes of which we haven't heard since Comfortably Numb. A disappointing end to what could have been a half-decent album.

Overall, I find this album to be fairly inconsistent. When it's good (Signs of Life and especially Terminal Frost), it's really good, and you can start to believe that Pink Floyd doesn't need Roger to carry on. But when it's bad (The Dogs of War and Sorrow), it's like listening to a whole album full of Fat Old Sun and Childhood's End. Pink Floyd without Roger just doesn't work any better than Pink Floyd with only Roger; this band shone in the early '70s because the band members work well together, but they aren't nearly as good apart. Roger put it best when he wrote The Wall: "Together we stand, divided we fall".
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