The Pink Floyd Thread

[Stadler]

Well Samsara I think this is truly the first time anyone has presented an argument against Waters that I can respect, hats off! But that's really usual of you.
I disagree with your overall point, but that's just a matter of personal taste though. I wouldn't want my entertainment to be meaningless disconnect from the real world, I like it to help me take a break from seeing the real world in it's raw dry ugly form and have me lost in the artistic take on it. Not that I don't like some solid silly entertainment, but there's plenty of that to go around.
Also I think Roger Waters opinions on Zionism are very humanitarian, not just "extreme leftist" views. I actually just saw an interview where someone asked him if he got rid of The Wall touring set/stage and he said he didn't cause he promised his Israeli friends to do a one off/last performance of The Wall in Israel if they change their apartheid policies and remove the segregation wall in the West bank.
If you guys wanna continue discussing Waters politics I'd really appreciate it if we please take it to P&R, there's a lot of good musical discussion on this thread and I wouldn't wanna muddy it, please.

There's a vast difference between being told "this is a position" (right or wrong, left or right) and "hey, consider this... it's not as black and white as you might think..."   Roger Waters comparing Israel with Nazi Germany (and don't even TRY to argue that Waters "didn't mean that multi-level comparison") is hardly "humanitarian".    He's borderline anti-Semite with much of what he has said.    I'm only restating what Samsara is saying, but I want to THINK, and take what Waters has to offer and assimilate it into my own thinking, not be brow-beaten with a point of view.   Waters is the latter, by a long shot.   

[Skeever]

Yeah, Waters views on Israel are controversial, to say the least. I totally respect anyone not comfortable with them. And that's a conversation that, honestly, could get ugly. Let's avoid it.

[Progmetty]

Yeah I think you're wrong Stadler on the Israel issue but I'm not gonna get into it in this thread.

On a lighter subject I think both Gilmour and Waters are full of it cause I've seen some interviews recently where they both separately were asked variations of the question why they thought Pink Floyd was associated with drugs and they both answered along the lines of "I have no idea why", c'mon now

[Orbert]

That's always been their position.  Even back to the Live at Pompeii video, Gilmour looked completely stoned out of his mind, glassy eyes, distant look, and tells the guy flat out that he doesn't understand the association with drugs.

I think it's things like the atmospheric nature of a lot of their music, longer songs that allow the listener to become quite immersed, and (especially earlier) the improv jams, which become accentuated by certain drugs which have made that association.  There weren't many bands, at least not many well-known ones, that have all of those aspects to their music, so Pink Floyd became the one that the media liked to associate with drug culture.


Edit: typo

[Stadler]

Add to it the scene they came from - London in '66/'67, when the Beatles were ass-deep in LSD experimentation - and the fact that they arguably lost their main songwriter, frontman and lead guitar player as an acid casualty, and I agree that it is perplexing that the band claims ignorance on that fact.

Having said that, it may not be 'ignorance' per se, and frustration/consternation with the interviewer for not knowing such an integral part of their history (and not wanting to dredge up Syd in that context).

[Orbert]

I don't think it's ignorance at all; I think they're feigning ignorance.  Just completely denying it.  Because anything less than that would be blown up by the media.  If they admit that yeah, sometimes they were stoned in the studio, the media go nuts ("Pink Floyd Admit to Being High in the Studio").  If they admit that they're heard from fans that their music is great to listen to while stoned, the media go nuts ("Pink Floyd Admit that Their Music and Drugs Go Together").  No one would be surprised by this, but Pink Floyd, despite being rockers, are proper English gentlemen from good homes and well-to-do families.  It seems to me that they made some kind of decision from the beginning to just deny any kind of link to drugs, because drugs are still illegal, and that's a can of worms that they will not open.  And yeah, after the thing with Syd, that just strengthened their resolve.

So let the rest of the world make the association, let a large percentage of fans make noise about it, it's no secret; but officially, nope, they just don't get it.

[Cool Chris]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKV0dGIn_TM

Video from 1973.

[JayOctavarium]

Saw Roger last night in LA. Amazing show! I'll post pics of peeps want.

[ytserush]

Roger should have his own thread.  Love the new album. Hope I get to hear a lot of it and Amused to Death in August though I realize he needs to play Floyd to sell out stadiums. Probably the last big concert I'll ever be at.

[KevShmev]

Roger should have his own thread.  Love the new album. Hope I get to hear a lot of it and Amused to Death in August though I realize he needs to play Floyd to sell out stadiums. Probably the last big concert I'll ever be at.

The Floyd guys seems to get more chatter in this thread. I started a Gilmour solo thread a while back and that went nowhere.

Then again, there has been almost no chatter about the new Waters record, which is pretty surprising.

Then again again, music discussion on this forum seems to be dropping way off in general.

[ytserush]

Roger should have his own thread.  Love the new album. Hope I get to hear a lot of it and Amused to Death in August though I realize he needs to play Floyd to sell out stadiums. Probably the last big concert I'll ever be at.

The Floyd guys seems to get more chatter in this thread. I started a Gilmour solo thread a while back and that went nowhere.

Then again, there has been almost no chatter about the new Waters record, which is pretty surprising.

Then again again, music discussion on this forum seems to be dropping way off in general.

Not here often enough to get an accurate read on that.    Guess everyone is on Facebook or something....

[Mladen]

This is a good place to discuss the new albums by Roger or Dave. After all, it's not like we can discuss any Pink Floyd news, because there aren't any.

[Zydar]

I've barely listened to Roger's new album, but I kind of like Picture That.

[Architeuthis]

Just saw Roger Waters in Tacoma Wa, a week ago. His new material transpired well live, his vocals sounded good too. The production and sound was excellent, but he got too political at times. The last two songs were the highlight of the show, they finally ditched the screens and brought out the lasers.
 I just recently watched the Pulse dvd of Pink Floyd (1995) with David Gilmour at the helm, that is a much better show than what I seen live a week ago with Waters.
 David Gilmour has so much more class imho..
 

[Progmetty]

I've been listening to Is This The Life We Really Want and Rattle That Lock. The first sounds like a decent follow-up to The Final Cut and the second sounds like a decent follow-up to A Momentary Lapse of Reason heh
There's this stale 80's vibe to Gilmour's album, especially the title track. I like the album okay though. Amazing guitar work as usual and expected, still love his vocals and still iffy about Polly Samson's lyrics.
Waters album, I love! Very creative stuff here, amazing orchestration and strings, the music grabs your attention pretty much for the entire album, like initially I'd put the music on and start working on something only to find myself distracted in thinking of what's playing. Brilliant lyrics but I didn't like the spoken-word style of singing Waters used almost throughout the album, he knows singing is his weak spot but he already has us used to the sound of his voice from the Floyd days, an it-is-what-it-is thing so why hold back? Could be age.
I can only imagine if Gilmour's voice and guitar soloing were all over Waters music and creativity in song writing and arrangement, oh wait that's the 70's! But both these guys continued ability to do these things is what makes it so devastating that they don't collaborate anymore, each of them has strength that totally compliments that other and weaknesses that totally get supported by the other, they're truly the most perfect band mates in the industry history IMO.
Like I said Is This The Life We Really Want feels like a Floyd album that comes after The Final Cut, it's the only Roger Waters album that feels like that. However Rattle That Lock feels like the Gilmour solo effort that it is and along with On An Island supports my impression that AMLOR and The Division Bell could have also easily been Gilmour solo albums. In a way This The Life We Really Want is the first thing that sounds like Floyd to me, since The Final Cut.
It's too soon for me to mash the two albums together into one playlist and stop listening to them individually but I sooooo wanna do that and convince myself it's new Floyd hehe

[Progmetty]

I just found out that Vera Lynn is still alive and she's a 100 this year

[KevShmev]

The new Waters album, which I finally listened to, is pretty good, but aside from Picture That, which is the one track that stands out, I don't see much of this staying with me. 

On the flip side, I still love most of Rattle That Lock.  Gilmour (and his lady friend lyric writer) obviously cannot touch Waters when it comes to lyrics, but I will always take great music and average lyrics over okay music and great lyrics any day of the week. 

[Mladen]

Count me in as another voter for Picture that being the best song on the album.

[JayOctavarium]

I just found out that Vera Lynn is still alive and she's a 100 this year

But do you remember her?

[Orbert]

Does anybody here remember her?

[JayOctavarium]

Apparently she said we'd meet again...

[ReaperKK]

Some sunny day I believe

[Cool Chris]

I will always take great music and average lyrics over okay music and great lyrics any day of the week. 

Hey we agree on something with regards to music!

I like the Waters album. Not enough to buy it, but have Spotify'ed it a couple times. Honestly I don't care for his other solo albums much, so maybe the bar is low. I haven't listened to the new Gilmour enough. Will add that to my list of things to listen to.

Good post by Progmetty too, I think that assessment was pretty solid.

[KevShmev]

I will always take great music and average lyrics over okay music and great lyrics any day of the week. 

Hey we agree on something with regards to music!

Do we usually not? 

I am getting older, so I can never remember anymore...

[Progmetty]

I just found out that Vera Lynn is still alive and she's a 100 this year

But do you remember her?

Apparently she said we'd meet again...

Some sunny day I believe

Good work everyone 

Count me in as another voter for Picture that being the best song on the album.

I love Picture That, but for me it's tied in with Deja Vu, Smell The Roses and the title track as best on the album.
I fuckin love this album, you guys have no idea how rare it is for me to find an album to really sink into, swim along it's sounds and think about it even when it's not playing. It's extremely difficult for me to accept new music in that immersive way and that's why I have very few things to listen to compared to most people here. It's an odd and unexplained impairment on my behalf, I get jealous when a thread of people posting their top 10 albums of the year, I think "There were 10 good albums this year?!" heh, I can hardly name 30 albums that I really liked since the year 2000 or so. /rant
So yeah, I'm a happy camper right now 

[Progmetty]

Highlights from an interview with Roger. Funny; they discuss escapism which is basically what we were talking about Samsara!

The female vocals on the new album are superb, beautifully placed and performed.

[jammindude]

On a different topic. I've been listening to David Gilmore's debut lately, and I actually really like it. 

Since the ideas for Pros and Cons were rattling around before The Wall...and the ideas for DG's album were percolating around the same time....I wonder what would have happened if both guys had collaborated their ideas into another Floyd album. 

[Progmetty]

I'm yet to listen to Gilmour's debut or the one from the eighties, I'm going to soon.

[njfirefighter]

I enjoy Gilmore's first one from 1978 and About Face has some good stuff on it. Hard to believe he has only released four solo albums outside of Floyd, especially with all the down time between The Wall and The Division Bell and then thereafter.

[KevShmev]

Definitely some really good songs on those first two albums.  Mihalis and Murder really stand out.

[SwedishGoose]

Just bought tickets for the movie of David Gilmour Live at Pompeii. Never seen a concert in a cinema before but I guess it will be good.

[Stadler]

Definitely some really good songs on those first two albums.  Mihalis and Murder really stand out.

The play (or at least they used to) Mihalis on the The Weather Channel during the "On The Eights" segment when they show you the local weather. 

[JayOctavarium]

David Gilmour's new Live Album, Live At Pompeii, was released today.

Listening to a select few tracks at work. It's amazing how beautifully his voice has aged, especially compared to Roger's.

[Plasmastrike]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnPQNOq8x2s

Run Like Hell from the new Live at Pompeii live album. Pretty bad ass

[JayOctavarium]

I had my doubts about this new touring band, No John Carin, No Rick Wright (RIP). But they sound really good. Everything has more groove to it.