Pink Floyd is the Best. (1 Viewer)

[JordanS]

Nathan Gilmore:

"Dogs" is absolutely amazing!! What you need to do is find a copy of "Roger Waters: In The Flesh" album and listen to "Dogs" performed live. It is absolutely stunning!

It isn't with Rick, David, or Nick; but it is still amazing. Worth the price of admission by itself, in my opinion.


Also, check out these tracks:

Shine On You Crazy Diamond (WYWH and PULSE)
High Hopes (The Division Bell and PULSE)
Echoes (Live at Pompeii)
Pigs-Three Different Ones (Animals)
Two Suns In The Sunset (The Final Cut)
Sorrow (PULSE)

 

[Timon Russo]

Another "Dogs" lover here. Thats about the most soulful electric guitar playing I can recall having heard. I think it was originally called "You gotta be crazy" and I used to have some boots of them playing it in '75, I think. It was a little unpolished, but I think I liked that version even more, which is saying a lot.

One of the times I saw Waters solo act, I think during Radio KAOS tour, he had a phone booth in the audience so people could call him up and talk to him while he was on stage between songs and ask him questions, and someone asked about his lyric "dragged down by the stone", which he had used in various ways on other songs. Roger had some cocky answer about it being meaningless and "sometimes your heroes don't always live up to your expectations" or something, and I had to groan and roll my eyes. I never said he was my hero. Amused to Death lyrics sort of confirmed for me that he was an conceited ass. One man's opinion of course.

 

[Nathan Gillmore]

It's too bad he was a large ass, I gather this is what lead to the break-up of the band, Rogers wanting too much artistic control over the music. I couldn't imagine what it would have been like had they stayed together, and were still producing music as Floyd!

I grabbed "Dogs" the live version off the "In the Flesh" album (thank you iTunes!) and will give it a listen soon. I'm digging into "Echoes" right now, incredible stuff!

 

[Marvin]

I don't know if it's one of their 3 best songs but I'll put in a recommendation for "The Narrow Way" on Ummagumma, though there's a lot of stuff that isn't so good on that double album (I assume it's on 1 CD). I also like the ending bit of "A Saucerful of Secrets" (after they get done with the sound effects).

By the way, I once saw a movie of some late 60s or 1970 festival where they played that part of the song (it had to be then because Canned Heat with Alan Wilson was also in the same movie). Does that sound familiar to anyone?

I've always liked "Goodbye Blue Sky" from The Wall but that song doesn't get played a lot on the radio.

 

[MartinTeller]

Well, it's a Gilmour solo song. Each member got half a side on Ummagumma.

If I had to pick 10 favorite PF songs:

One of These Days
Dogs
See Emily Play
Interstellar Overdrive
Wish You Were Here
Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun
Careful With That Axe, Eugene
The Great Gig in the Sky
Cymbaline
Nobody Home

 

[Chris Brunner]

Yes!! DOGS is a song that I will probably NEVER get tired of. When I was in high school in the '80s, I'd listen to side one of Animals almost every night while falling to sleep. Incredible guitar work by Gilmour.

I was also blown away when I WATCHED the Roger Waters: In the Flesh DVD. Roger's guitarist re-creates the song PERFECTLY live. Not to mention the fact that he plays the guitar upside down! I just wish I could hear David's voice instead of the guy singing for Roger.

I think I will watch it again as soon as I get home today.

C

 

[Kevin M]

I don't know about "everyone" but most of the people I know who like Floyd at all consider Animals to be their best album so I also find it strange that so many here find it to be underrated.

In regards to it's meaning, I always thought of it as a nod in many ways to George Orwell's novelette Animal Farm.

 

[StevenW]

Yes Dogs is an amazing song. The guitar work on that song is just awesome. However I like "Sorrow" off of the Momentary Lapse album just a little better. The guitar solo in Sorrow makes me want to wet my pants every time I hear it

 

[Jeremiah]

I think Dogs is probably a top 3 Pink Floyd song.

Kevin, I think people regard Animals as being underrated is because nobody ever talks about it, most people will mention The Wall or DSOTM more than anything followed by WYWH.

 

[Jim Rakowiecki]

I love Pink Floyd and David Gilmour is an amazing guitar player but IMO Floyd died with "The Final Cut" but was reborn in Water's solo stuff. The rotting carcas that Gilmour lined his pockets with in the late 1980's and early 1990's was not Pink Floyd. The Division Bell and A Momentary Lapse of reason may be good albums but they are David Gilmour albums and not Pink Floyd records. I've heard a rumor that A momentary Lapse of Reason was actually recorded a second time to make it sound more Floyd like.

 

[michael_mo]

Jim,

Can.... Open.....Worms

 

[Dave Bennett]

I can sort of see what Jim mean, but that doesn't change the fact that I really like both albums. Waters voice just got to grating on me during "The Wall" and "The Final Cut" (For example, I prefer Bob Geldof's version of In the Flesh? featured in the movie instead of Waters vocals on the album track). I always seemed to levitate more to songs in which Gilmour sang anyway so I think I just got sick of Waters and his whiny sounding voice. Now that's not to say the AMLOR is a great album. At best it's a good album and I agree it definiately isn't very Floyd. However, I think the Division Bell has a few songs that are just astounding(High Hopes in particular). Pulse is an awesome set as well. I'm not saying I dislike Waters, it's just he started to irritate me on later albums.

 

[Jim Rakowiecki]

I hope I didn't leave the impression that I didn't like A Momentary Lapse of Reason but it just isn't Pink Floyd. David Gilmour has made a couple of outstanding solo records, I really love "About Face" but he wasn't trying to be Pink Floyd. David Gilmour Calling himself Pink FLoyd is like Kieth Richards calling himself the Rolling Stones. Sure it might be good but it wouldn't be the Stones.

 

[FeisalK]

Jim, it's just the same as when Syd was ousted from the band and Waters & co continued calling themselves Pink Floyd

 

[MartinTeller]

It is not just the same. They only did 1.5 albums with Syd. They did 12 with Roger Waters.

 

[JordanS]

I don't agree with you at all, Jim.

 

[Jim Rakowiecki]

You don't have to agree with me but as far as I'm concerned the facts speak for themselves. Post Waters Pink Floyd was created by David Gilmour and Bob Ezrin in order to capitalize on the name. David Gilmour could have done the album as David Gilmour and toured as David Gilmour and it would have been fine but Being "Pink Floyd" sells a lot more tickets and a lot more albums than David Gilmour doesn't it?
If Robert Plant decided to hire three guys and make a record and call it Led Zeppelin would you accept that as the real deal?
If I'm understanding you that would be OK and we should accept that as Led Zeppelin. What If Paul Mc Cartney decided that he wanted to be The Beatles would that be legitimate?
That's essentially what David Gilmour did when he made those records. He decided that he wanted to be Pink Floyd. He hired Richard Wright and Nick Mason to play on the album and do the tour but he could have used anyone in thier places.
Roger Water was the major creative force in that band and there is just no way to deny that and without him it just isn't Floyd.
I realize that Syd Barret started the band but he kind of left the planet early on in its existance. At that Point the name could have been changed but what would have emerged would have been the same. Waters was the driving force behind what Floyd became and the reason that we are having this discussion. If Floyd had ceased to exist when Syd lost it we wouldn't care because Pink Floyd would be little more than a foot note and it is pretty unlikely that anyone would care today.

 

[Adam_R]

Pink Floyd has always been one of my favorite bands. I have every CD up to the loss of Roger Waters. I'm not saying that they didn't make good music after Waters, but it's not Pink Floyd. They should have chosen a new name. Legalities aside, it was Waters band after Syd went off the deep end. I know Gilmour contributed hugely, but it was Waters band. Anyway, some of my favorites from the lesser known works:

Animals - Perfect from beginning to end. It's like one big song. I love it.

Meddle - Great earlier stuff.

Obscured By Clouds - I used to listen to this every night when going to sleep. Apparently it's a soundtrack to a movie I've never seen.

Pink Floyd was a truley original force in music. I must say that I only adore bands who take the time to craft music, not formulate it. I swear some bands these days. I can see it now:

Producer: Okay guys are we ready to start recording the new album?

Band: Sure, what do we do now? We really haven't written anything.

Producer: No problem guys. Here's all you have to do. Come up with some meaningless words that rhyme a bit, and a simple catchy melody and start repeating this formula: Verse, chorus, verse, chorus, guitar solo, chorus, chorus, fade out.

Band: GREAT! Now we have track one. Lets do track two!
Verse, chorus, verse, chorus, guitar solo, chorus, chorus, fade out.

Producer: Now you've got it!

And that's how new pop albums are made.

The end

It's also cool hearing Gilmour and Waters sing, "Fuck all that!" on Not Now John which is a kick ass track. That's the only track Gilmour lent his voice to on the album, which is essentially Waters' swan song and the songs have that feeling about them. As if Waters knew his days with Floyd were at an end.

I thought I've read, Waters as well as the rest of the band already knew it was the last record they would do. Roger Waters had written Final Cut and Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking at the same time, and made the choice to do Final Cut with Pink Floyd. Actually, I think the band had all but broken up already. Rick Wright isn't even on the album. The back says "Performed by Pink Floyd: Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Nick Mason." There must have been some tough days in the studio, I'm sure. Great album. One of my favorites.

 

[michael_mo]

Jim, I originally wasnt going to reply, except for my post above alluding to the can of worms you opened up. But, it seems that this has been a friendly discussion. On other PF message boards, people get violent on the subject you brought up.

In saying that. I do agree with you. PF died with the final cut.

I think RW left everything up in the air after that disc though, leaving too much speculation about what happens to the name PF. If he would have made some kind of official announcement that he was "leaving Pink Floyd", then it would be easier for all of us to accept AMLOR and DB as true pink floyd discs. (after all, 75% of the band was left) But, IIRC waters wanted to just have PF dissolve and expected the others to go their seperate ways. Without an official farewell tour or an official breakup announcement, he (unfortunately)left the status of the band in limbo. Then.. we all know the history.
In my mind, I consider Pros and Cons, Radio KAOS, and Amused to Death to be the direction Floyd would have taken had they stayed together. But, they didnt. Thus, its kinda semantics.
And, its kinda a mute point now, as the band is all but dead. DG stated he doesnt want to do any thing Floyd anymore. I hear bits and pieces of rumors of a new Waters disc, but then hear delay after delay.

Maybe one day there will be an ulimate make-up reunion festival with:
Roger rejoining Floyd
David Lee Roth rejoining Van Halen
Ozzy rejoining Sabbath (did happen already though)
Peter Gabriel with Genesis

Now that festival would sell some tickets !!

 

[Philip Hamm]

"Waters = Floyd" camp,

Given the fact that Wright was not even on "The Final Cut", and neither Gilmour nor Mason made any significant creative contribution (beyond recognizable signature styles on their instruments), one could argue that "The Final Cut" is no more a "Pink Floyd" album than "The Division Bell" and "A Momentary Lapse Of Reason" were.

One could argue that Waters was just as fradulent in calling "The Final Cut" a "Pink Floyd" album as Gilmour was in calling the post "Cut" albums by that name.

After all, even on "The Wall", Gimour made significant creative contributions.

I hope you all aren't Yes fans, the semantics would be absolutely ridiculous.