2) Pink Floyd

Vocals: Barrett / Gilmour / Waters
Lead Guitar: David Gilmour/ Syd Barrett
Bass: Roger Waters
Drums: Nick Mason
Keyboard: Rich Wright


Finally we have gotten to my most favorite band Pink Floyd. Their progressive and psychedelic sounds were so ridiculously ahead of their times. When I observe Pink Floyd I like to break them up into four different eras and they are, the Syd Barrett Era, The Golden Age, The Roger Waters Era, and The David Gilmour Era. Now we start off with the Syd Barrett era, a time where Pink Floyd displayed some of the greatest psychedelic music the world has ever heard. They opened up their career with the release of “Piper at the Gates of Dawn” released in 1967. This album was a mix of dark melodic instruments and Syd Barrett’s fun and catchy lyrics, this does have elements of future Floyd but for the most part doesn’t exactly reflect what we will see from them in future albums, regardless it is always recognized as one of the greatest psychedelic albums of all time. Soon after the release of “Piper at the Gates of Dawn” the mental health of their leader Syd Barrett was up in the air. On stage he would often just not play music at all or just go on complete musical tangents which had nothing to do with the current song. Due to the mental instability Pink Floyd brought in another member to join the band and that was David Gilmour. Barrett remained with the band but is stay would be short lived. After Barrett’s departure Pink Floyd would begin what I like to call the Golden Age, the era in which Pink Floyd came together played perfectly as a whole and not individuals. In 1968 they released “A Saucerful of Secrets” a fantastic eerie album which would represent more of what Floyd is remembered for. Barrett still did have a song on the album with the up-tempo “Jugband Blues.” “A Saucerful of Secrets” is normally recognized as the transitional album for Floyd. They would go on to release some lesser recognized albums with “More” “Ummagumma” and “Atom Heart Mother,” but despite not receiving much recognition all of these are incredible albums most notable is “Atom Heart Mother.” I would rate it as one of the most overlooked albums of all time by any band. Opening up with the beautifully abstract 24 minute instrumental “Atom Heart Mother Suite” and closes with another conceptual piece with “Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast.” Following “Atom Heart Mother” was “Meddle” the album which best resembles the beginning of the Golden Age of Floyd. One of my favorites opens up with the almighty and eerie “One of These Days,” and then goes into the catchy “Pillow of Winds,” and “Fearless.” But where “Meddle” truly stands out is on the second side of the vinyl with “Echoes.” This 23 minute masterpiece is in my regard the greatest Floyd song ever written. “Echoes” is an epic song which has soothing vocals and just an orgasm of sounds. After an often forgotten “Obscured by Clouds” Pink Floyd went on to release what I feel is the greatest album ever released; “The Dark Side of the Moon.” A stunning album which defined not only Pink Floyd but Progressive Rock as well. Each song perfectly weaves in and out of each other to create more of an experience rather than something just to listen to. Each sound is perfectly welded into the music to create one of the greatest listening experiences anyone can have. Now although it may seem near impossible to follow such a dazzling album Floyd did it with what seemed like ease. Two years after “The Dark Side of the Moon” came “Wish You Were Here.” With just 5 songs “Wish You Were Here” was nearly at astonishing as it’s predecessor, many believe that it surpasses Dark Side. With incredibly lavish sounds Pink Floyd seemed they were at their peak when it came to playing together as a cohesive group. Unfortunately this Golden Age of Floyd had to end and thus started the Roger Waters era. “Animals” was released In 1977 and the interplay of Pink Floyd had seemed to be lost. “Animals” was an album clearly derived from Roger Waters and this would become a trend. Next for Floyd would be “The Wall” another album that clearly came from Roger Waters was an epic double disc Rock Opera, and probably the most well known Rock Opera to this day. When looked at a whole “The Wall” is indeed a fantastic album but when observed closer it does not seem to hold up too well, too much of the album is lacking good songs which had never been a problem from Pink Floyd. Also new for Floyd was they actually had several songs off this album released as singles; quite a rarity for a band which like to delve into lengthy instrumentals and abstract music. Roger Water’s control of the band grew to it’s climax in 1983 with the release of “The Final Cut.” Pink Floyd was not to be heard in this album, listening to “The Final Cut” is basically listening to a Roger Waters solo album. The Roger Waters era had ended in a quick halt as the band had split up leaving just Gilmour and Mason with the rights to the name Pink Floyd. “A Momentary Lapse of Reason” was created soon after the break up and so did the start of the David Gilmour era, like “The Final Cut” we were basically getting a David Gilmour solo album which sounded more like the Pink Floyd we had once known, it contained great instrumentals and fantastic guitar playing by the one and only David Gilmour but the solid band that was once Pink Floyd just was not present. Seven years later “The Division Bell” was released; with Pink Floyd out of the scene fans were eager to buy this album which was more of a group effort due to the return of Rich Wright on keyboard. The album proved to be great and reminded us of The Golden Age but it still didn’t quite hit the same chord. The band had went it’s own ways and the thought of all coming back to perform was completely out of the question but thanks to Bob Geldoff the band decided to give one last hurrah at Live 8. Possibly the greatest thing I have ever witnessed with all of the band members back on stage looking as if they were having the time of their lives performing one of my favorites “Breathe” along with a few others, and although the band has repeatedly declined coming back there is always room to dream. At the height of their career Pink Floyd was unquestionably the greatest Progressive Rock band the world has ever heard and in my eyes the greatest band ever. No band has ever been able to reproduce the ingenious sounds Pink Floyd had created and no band will ever be able to duplicate their creativity, and on top of their creativity in the studio their live shows were a spectacle. Lavish light shows, amazing stage presence, extremely large inflatable pigs flying over the crowds heads, and they were the first and I believe the only band that used surround sound in their concerts. I would love to go into how they changed my life and into their incredible lyrics and mind boggling synchronicities but I will have to end it with just one last statement. Pink Floyd will be listened to by generation after generation and their music will never cease to be heard.