For me this album will always be one that I will remember fondly but with sadness.
After a long gestation period they produced something that really did surprise me ... no blow me away if I am honest.
In all my discussions with Pink Floyd fans throughout my life their last album never gets mentioned much. It is always the three usual suspects but not always in the way that you might think. These would be Pink Floyd The Wall, Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here and Pink Floyd The Dark Side of the Moon. Of course the letter always gets the vote of their greatest album. Oddly this 'vote' is largely dependent on someones age as if the way heard in order then guaranteed The Dark Side of the Moon gets that vote. Oddly you can also guarantee one other thing here and that is that they did not like The Wall album?!
Now with me the first album I heard was Wish You Were Here and mainly and most notably as well as commonly was the first track Shine On You Crazy Diamond and that always has a special place in my heart because of that. Next up was The Wall and their 'best' album was only third on my list but then their was a great rush to not only hear everything else but OWN everything else. This kind of obsession had not occurred with me before with music and though it did and has again since it is very rare for me. When that was over with, apart for the albums More, Saucerful of Secrets and Piper at the Gates of Dawn, I then moved onto other things like bootlegs and rare editions and would cruise around record fairs with the shortest shortlist of all time, PINK FLOYD!
In my family their was another tiny shortlist containing just one entry and that was PINK FLOYD fans and with 4 siblings and 5 close cousins I was the only one. In fact my five cousins used to take the pi .. mickey and state that they were crap, INFIDELS!! The funny things is today I have two brothers who love them, one favours The Wall, and of my cousins I could not say but I never heard anything about them becoming fans so infidels still most likely.
Now the common thing I get asked by other fans I meet is the obvious one but in two forms of asking and what is you favourite album or what do you think is the best Floyd album. No answer, I always say to their confusion but I can tell them my three FAVOURITE ALBUMS! They look confused when I ask this and say what, as they always seem to want to hear the obvious which is always the one they favour, well so far amongst the fans I met and they expect Dark Side. When they ask me why I have no answer I say the following 'Well that is like asking me which one of my three children is my favourite?!' and they stop for a moment, pause in thought and then come across with a kind of realisation and ask me to explain...
For me Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here and The Wall are the three best. Whichever one I was listening to when I was first into them I would think 'no this is their best' on hearing one of the others I would think 'no, no this is their best album!' and so it went on. Eventually I came to the conclusion that I could not choose between the three and it was like deciding amongst children and I came up with that analogy. I get a smile and then laughter whenever I state that and the odd thing is I always smile as I explain as I know the reaction I will always get.
Now one of these particular friends did not like The Wall. He also thought he knew a great deal about the band and their music. He always maintained that David, as he like to be called, Gilmour WAS Pink Floyd and NOT Roger Waters. This was the other question I always get and I respond, NEITHER THEY WERE ALL PINK FLOYD but if you force me into a corner I will give you the answer of RICHARD WRIGHT!!
Shock on faces abound with that one and I then say, look they are ALL Pink Floyd. The album you crow on about is the one where they ALL WORKED TOGETHER, all four of them. But in those albums it was always Richard Wright tinkering around with keyboards and other things that started the piece and ended up the sound that becomes the back bone of the album. I then said to this guy that he said he did not like The Wall and yet that is the one album to which a particular friend disliked when I first met him and three years later a few months before we fell out he attended a Roger Waters concert for The Wall and loved the experience. he also stated that I should write a book about the band as he has agreed with all my views on the band and constantly amazed at the little things I know.
However I will state and as i explained to him it is not that I am anally into them, you would never guess I was a Floyd fan if you was sitting here in my home right now, but just its been a long time, you read many articles in magazines, newspapers and the Internet as well as any documentaries about them and ... well you pick things up.
The Division Bell was a return to many of the old sounds, save for track 5, and this was a surprise. In fact I played the track 6, Wearing the Inside Out, to the above names friend and I said the following 'would this sound THAT out of place on The dark Side of the Moon? He said, no. He was then amazed to find out who was singing the lyrics, of course it was Richard Wright.
But I spent many a year looking forward to the follow up to this track, which I kept hearing was coming, and it failed to materialise. I was never one to write letters to band managers or the artists themselves always prefer to think that they will get round to it when they get round to it. David Gilmour appearing in a Jools Holland program, Late Night or Hootenany I cannot recall, and Jools asked him the $64 Million question and he was cagey but said there WOULD be another album and fans would NOT wait as long as they did for The Division Bell...
That wait was from 1987 to 1994 so 7 years. Therefore a new album would be out before 2001 by his estimates?! Well even if it was a bit longer I would not mind as long as it was along the lines of The Division Bell I would be happy.
So when the really sad and very unfortunate news of Richard Wrights passing, I did not even know he had cancer, that wait ended and hearing me of Richard's involvement in a new Pink Floyd, which was more like the old Pink Floyd, also died with him and I knew then that this spelt the end of Pink Floyd. AT least as far as new material goes and without Richard it would not and never will be the same.
The man, and like all of them, was truly a legend and for me the heart of the band leading up from 1970 to 1975, despite not being a leader either naturally or otherwise. He was a nice, kind, quiet and well spoken man with oodles of talent and I am only sorry for his family at his passing and that certain hatchets got buried just in time is at least some consolation.
RIP Richard Wright
Friday, 26 October 2012
Tuesday, 9 October 2012
Friday, 5 October 2012
PINK FLOYD RE-RELEASES & REMASTERS
I received a bit a shock to learn that the Pink Floyd catalogue was being given some remaster treatment among many other things.
I did indeed drool like a starved kitten when I glanced at these wonderful items, even if they were expensive!
Hopefully in time I may have the means to acquire them all ... hopefully?! LOL
Absolutely lush in their packaging and presentation the three main albums truly deserve the attention they received.
The albums consist of...
The Dark Side of the Moon Discovery Edition (plus Experience Edition)
Wish You Were Here Discovery Edition (plus Experience Edition)
The Wall Discovery Edition (plus Experience Edition)
The others get the remasterig treatment too albeit in a smaller, and cheaper, scale!
Also there is the Discovery Boxset comprising of ALL the albums this time round!
I did indeed drool like a starved kitten when I glanced at these wonderful items, even if they were expensive!
Hopefully in time I may have the means to acquire them all ... hopefully?! LOL
Absolutely lush in their packaging and presentation the three main albums truly deserve the attention they received.
The albums consist of...
The Dark Side of the Moon Discovery Edition (plus Experience Edition)
Wish You Were Here Discovery Edition (plus Experience Edition)
The Wall Discovery Edition (plus Experience Edition)
The others get the remasterig treatment too albeit in a smaller, and cheaper, scale!
Also there is the Discovery Boxset comprising of ALL the albums this time round!
Wednesday, 3 October 2012
An Introduction for me into Pink Floyd
Well what can I say about these guys that has not been said?
Well quite a great deal actually as an old friend of mine I fell out with spent three years astounded of my knowledge of the band and their music that he used to say that if I wrote a book about them he would be first in the queue!
Now me personally I would not think my knowledge is that great and some die hard fans would know far more about certain things with Pink Floyd than I do.
But I do have a certain understanding about their music!
It all started while diving into my Dad's audio tape collection while he was absent one day and pulling out an odd looking album with cartoon like artwork and two robotic hands performing a handshake! On listening to it I was mesmerised by these unique sounds that up until the point I never dreamed ever existed or possible!
Later on a friend of my father's. who they both played in a band together, came round with a stereo and aan audio tape of The Wall album and on hearing elements of that, and Another Brick In the Wall Part 2 in particular, I for one was SOLD!! In fact I remember being insanely jealous when I realised they had opted to used a school just up the road from my house when my school was OPPOSITE my house! Of all the luck?!?! LMAO.
No then begun a love affair that I was not to realise the magnitude of until my first CD player and getting 9 CDs FREE with my new system I got hild of The Dark Side of the Moon I had admittedly never listened to before hand, so kind of odd you may think that my introductions to Pink Floyd were by way of their Wish You Were Here album and THEN The Wall before hearing The Dark Side of the Moon?!?! Quite funny really when I think about it.
Of course all the other CDs quickly followed, save More, Piper at the Gates of Dawn and A Saucerful of Secrets as for me it was the David Gilmour and Roger Waters era that I adored. Oddly today I do own Saucerful but NOT Piper! Well Piper was NOT included, curiously, in the Shine On box-set I snapped up on release?!
I am often asked which IS my favourite album and I always get a stunned look and then appreciation and laughter when I answer ... 'would I ask you which of your children is your favourite?'
Well it has to be the main three but I cannot nor will not state which of them is my favourite as in all honesty the answer could be different each time you ask me, hehe.
The odd thing is this ex friend of mine had not heard The Division Bell and that surprised me and he assumed it would not luve up to expectations and though he thought that A Momentary Lapse of Reason was good but not quite Floyd I played him first Marooned, as he adores David Gilmour, and then the late Richard Wright track Wearing the Inside Out. Now I had been trying to answer for sometime an age old question he had put to me and common among floyd fans ... Which Ones PINK?!
I played that track while telling him nothing at all about it. He loved it ans said 'is that Gilmour' and I said no but what album does it sound like the most? What would it not seem out of place on and he gave me the answer I was hoping for ... Dark Side. I then told him who wrote the music and who was singing and his chin dropped.
He then started to actually see what I had been saying... They was ALL Pink Floyd!!
I then explained to him what I had before to give a definitive answer depends on which album you are talking about and as your favourite is Dark Side then i would have to say the Wrighty was the most influential in the sound. Just like Roger Waters was on The Wall and David Gilmour and Roger Waters and Rick Were on Wish You Were Here.
Of course there will be those that say it was Syd Barret ad for a time it was!
A band has many sounds and peronsal styles that make up their uniqueness that turns out unmatched and no doubt the Cambridgeshire background produced those enticing and cryptic lyrics they are also renowned for. Oddly I used to pass Grantchester Meadows on a weekly basis and that reminds me of the first time I heard that track was playing on a radio in a friends store where the manager was giving me stick about Pink Floyd being rubbish and he was more into mellow sounds.
While having this debate Grantchester Meadows suddenly came on the radio and I had no idea it was Floyd and the funny side is that this guy debating with me over whether they were crap or not then said ... 'now listen to this?! This is more like it, trippy and laid back and far better than anything Pink Floyd could play or write!'?!
Agreeing with him that the song was pretty amazing and imagine the stunned looks on all our faces and the reasons why when at the end the DJ announced 'well that was Grantchester Meadows by Pink Floyd'?! Hahaaaa!!
Geoff, who had been debating and tating the Floyd could bot do anything that cool sounding suddenly dropped his jaw while me and my brother Nick fell about with laughter. Nick said 'didn't you know that was Pink Floyd I though you had all their albums and I said, well apparently NOT?!' Haha
Little anecdotes like that are rife in my life with regards music and none more so than Pink Floyd or The Pink Floyd OR The Pink Floyd Sound.
Yes sir, reptty unforgettable and a source of utter frustration for the 7 year wait Gilmour said it would take to release to follow up to The Division Bell while appearing on Jools Holland's show one night, hmm or was it Q Magazine? I fail to recall.
With the sad and premature passing of thoroughly nice chap Richard Wright this wait is now over and will never be again.
The Pink Floyd Sound died with him sadly and my he rest in peace.
Well quite a great deal actually as an old friend of mine I fell out with spent three years astounded of my knowledge of the band and their music that he used to say that if I wrote a book about them he would be first in the queue!
Now me personally I would not think my knowledge is that great and some die hard fans would know far more about certain things with Pink Floyd than I do.
But I do have a certain understanding about their music!
It all started while diving into my Dad's audio tape collection while he was absent one day and pulling out an odd looking album with cartoon like artwork and two robotic hands performing a handshake! On listening to it I was mesmerised by these unique sounds that up until the point I never dreamed ever existed or possible!
Later on a friend of my father's. who they both played in a band together, came round with a stereo and aan audio tape of The Wall album and on hearing elements of that, and Another Brick In the Wall Part 2 in particular, I for one was SOLD!! In fact I remember being insanely jealous when I realised they had opted to used a school just up the road from my house when my school was OPPOSITE my house! Of all the luck?!?! LMAO.
No then begun a love affair that I was not to realise the magnitude of until my first CD player and getting 9 CDs FREE with my new system I got hild of The Dark Side of the Moon I had admittedly never listened to before hand, so kind of odd you may think that my introductions to Pink Floyd were by way of their Wish You Were Here album and THEN The Wall before hearing The Dark Side of the Moon?!?! Quite funny really when I think about it.
Of course all the other CDs quickly followed, save More, Piper at the Gates of Dawn and A Saucerful of Secrets as for me it was the David Gilmour and Roger Waters era that I adored. Oddly today I do own Saucerful but NOT Piper! Well Piper was NOT included, curiously, in the Shine On box-set I snapped up on release?!
I am often asked which IS my favourite album and I always get a stunned look and then appreciation and laughter when I answer ... 'would I ask you which of your children is your favourite?'
Well it has to be the main three but I cannot nor will not state which of them is my favourite as in all honesty the answer could be different each time you ask me, hehe.
The odd thing is this ex friend of mine had not heard The Division Bell and that surprised me and he assumed it would not luve up to expectations and though he thought that A Momentary Lapse of Reason was good but not quite Floyd I played him first Marooned, as he adores David Gilmour, and then the late Richard Wright track Wearing the Inside Out. Now I had been trying to answer for sometime an age old question he had put to me and common among floyd fans ... Which Ones PINK?!
I played that track while telling him nothing at all about it. He loved it ans said 'is that Gilmour' and I said no but what album does it sound like the most? What would it not seem out of place on and he gave me the answer I was hoping for ... Dark Side. I then told him who wrote the music and who was singing and his chin dropped.
He then started to actually see what I had been saying... They was ALL Pink Floyd!!
I then explained to him what I had before to give a definitive answer depends on which album you are talking about and as your favourite is Dark Side then i would have to say the Wrighty was the most influential in the sound. Just like Roger Waters was on The Wall and David Gilmour and Roger Waters and Rick Were on Wish You Were Here.
Of course there will be those that say it was Syd Barret ad for a time it was!
A band has many sounds and peronsal styles that make up their uniqueness that turns out unmatched and no doubt the Cambridgeshire background produced those enticing and cryptic lyrics they are also renowned for. Oddly I used to pass Grantchester Meadows on a weekly basis and that reminds me of the first time I heard that track was playing on a radio in a friends store where the manager was giving me stick about Pink Floyd being rubbish and he was more into mellow sounds.
While having this debate Grantchester Meadows suddenly came on the radio and I had no idea it was Floyd and the funny side is that this guy debating with me over whether they were crap or not then said ... 'now listen to this?! This is more like it, trippy and laid back and far better than anything Pink Floyd could play or write!'?!
Agreeing with him that the song was pretty amazing and imagine the stunned looks on all our faces and the reasons why when at the end the DJ announced 'well that was Grantchester Meadows by Pink Floyd'?! Hahaaaa!!
Geoff, who had been debating and tating the Floyd could bot do anything that cool sounding suddenly dropped his jaw while me and my brother Nick fell about with laughter. Nick said 'didn't you know that was Pink Floyd I though you had all their albums and I said, well apparently NOT?!' Haha
Little anecdotes like that are rife in my life with regards music and none more so than Pink Floyd or The Pink Floyd OR The Pink Floyd Sound.
Yes sir, reptty unforgettable and a source of utter frustration for the 7 year wait Gilmour said it would take to release to follow up to The Division Bell while appearing on Jools Holland's show one night, hmm or was it Q Magazine? I fail to recall.
With the sad and premature passing of thoroughly nice chap Richard Wright this wait is now over and will never be again.
The Pink Floyd Sound died with him sadly and my he rest in peace.
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