Pink Floyd Discography thread v. 'On An Island, end V1'

[Ultimetalhead]

I'll say it here - The Final Cut is the best album Pink Floyd made.

Well, I mean...that's an interesting and bold statement. Can't really fault you because it's your opinion and all, but...

It's NOT a Waters solo album, as many people claim, it's a fully fledged Floyd album.

That's just not true. A bit of research reveals that the album was subtitled "A Requiem For the Post-War Dream by Roger Waters." Furthermore, there is not a single other band member with a writing credit anywhere on the album. Honestly, I know there are plenty of bands that have one songwriter/composer and are called bands. But, the fact of the matter is Pink Floyd used to be a "band" where each member contributed to the process. The Final Cut, despite being called a Pink Floyd album, is not a "fully fledged Floyd album" in any sense of the expression. I'm not saying that makes it bad or anything though. Like I said earlier, I actually like quite a bit of it.

[The Curious Orange]

It is original, unique, and unlike anything else you'll ever hear. The lyrical content is heartfelt, the music perfectly encapsulates those themes, and the performances are top notch all round.

It has the words PINK FLOYD on it - it's  a Pink Floyd album. Mason may not play drums, but by all accounts he didn't on The Wall either. Gilmour served as producer and arranger, and his fingerprints are all over the final product, even if his name isn't. Waters may have been the driving force of the Floyd at this point, and the album may sound more like The Pros and Cons of Hitchiking than it does DSOTM, but it's still Floyd.

It is the hardest Floyd album to "get". But once you "get" it, you'll agree with me.

[hefdaddy42]

Even if I somehow "get" the album, I will never agree that it is a "fully-fledged Pink Floyd album."  It is a Roger Waters album in all but name.

[Ultimetalhead]

It is original, unique, and unlike anything else you'll ever hear. The lyrical content is heartfelt, the music perfectly encapsulates those themes, and the performances are top notch all round.

I don't even really disagree with this, but that doesn't mean it HAS to be a Pink Floyd album to possess these qualities. Example, I absolutely love Strapping Young Lad's album "City." I think it's ridiculously heavy, emotionally charged, and all around the best "angry" album anyone will ever hear in their life. Fact of the matter is, Devin Townsend wrote everything on it, and if someone called it a Devin Townsend solo album, I wouldn't bat an eyelash.

It has the words PINK FLOYD on it - it's  a Pink Floyd album.

Correct. It is named a Pink Floyd album, but there are plenty of reasons to call it a Waters solo album, as discussed at length in this thread thus far.

Mason may not play drums, but by all accounts he didn't on The Wall either.

Mason was never really a creative drive in Floyd anyway. This is really neither here nor there.

Gilmour served as producer and arranger, and his fingerprints are all over the final product, even if his name isn't.

Not true. Producers are listed as Roger Waters, Michael Kamen, and James Guthrie. I know Waters and Gilmour had their falling out after the album, but it was made readily apparent by both parties that David Gilmour had NOTHING to do with writing or arranging on the album. The question of whether or not Gilmour had any influence is more opinion based, but I personally hear literally nothing that makes me think "oh that's total Gilmour."

Waters may have been the driving force of the Floyd at this point, and the album may sound more like The Pros and Cons of Hitchiking than it does DSOTM, but it's still Floyd.

There's your problem. It sounds more like a Roger Waters solo album than a Floyd album. This is why people call it a Roger Waters solo album and are a bit more hesitant to call it a Floyd album.

It is the hardest Floyd album to "get". But once you "get" it, you'll agree with me.

I get The Final Cut quite well enough. I feel like Atom Heart Mother and Ummagumma are much harder to "get," but that's another discussion. The thing is, I have no problem with anyone stating The Final Cut is a good album. Honestly, it is. I like it. There's a lot of nice stuff on it. I will never ever refer to it as a Pink Floyd album for any other reason than the cover containing the words "Pink" and "Floyd."

[jingle.boy]

It is original, unique, and unlike anything else you'll ever hear. The lyrical content is heartfelt, the music perfectly encapsulates those themes, and the performances are top notch all round.

It has the words PINK FLOYD on it - it's  a Pink Floyd album. Mason may not play drums, but by all accounts he didn't on The Wall either. Gilmour served as producer and arranger, and his fingerprints are all over the final product, even if his name isn't. Waters may have been the driving force of the Floyd at this point, and the album may sound more like The Pros and Cons of Hitchiking than it does DSOTM, but it's still Floyd.

It is the hardest Floyd album to "get". But once you "get" it, you'll agree with me.

Sure, it has the words, but that doesn't mean that it sounds like a PF album.  I've got nothing against anything you say, except that sounds like a PF.  For the most part, it doesn't.  There seems to be consensus that this doesn't sound like a full-fledged PF album, and you are the one outlier that says it is.  I don't hear Gilmour's fingerprints all over this one at all.

I think your historical perspective (as you acknowledged) is swaying your judgment of it, which is fine.  I don't think anyone is going to convince you of it otherwise, and that's fine too... but don't expect to convince others that it does sound like PF.  Other than a few exceptions, I don't hear it.

Ninja'd by UMH, but we're saying the same thing.

[GentlemanofDread]

So, after The Final Cut was done, there was no tour, and Gilmour and Waters went on to their solo albums.

BEFORE we go any further however, whilst doing research about About Face, the Gilmour solo album, I discovered that during The Final Cut recording sessions, Gilmour claims that he requested Waters to wait another month for Gilmour to develop some musical ideas himself. Waters' response was two things. Firstly, that  he already had plenty of material to complete the album, so this was a bit late in the process to say that now Gilmour. Secondly, Waters apparently offered, after seeing the lack of interest BOTH Gilmour and Mason had in this project, to make it a solo album but Gilmour and Mason still wanted a Pink Floyd album, of any kind, to sell.

Before making About Face, Gilmour made a list. "Doing this album I wanted to make a really good record. I didn't want to do it very very quickly, and I wanted to get the best musicians in the world that I could get hold of to play with me, so I thought I'd just make a little list of all my favourite musicians, you know, best drummer, best bass player, best keyboard player, and I'll work through the list to see who I can get. Jeff Porcaro was top of my drummers list, Pino Palladino was top of my bass players list, and Ian Kewley, or the Rev, as he's known, he actually came and did the bulk of the hammond and piano playing, and he was terrific. Steve Winwood was top of my keyboard playing list but he couldn't do most of the album, but I got him to do a bit. He played hammond organ on "Blue Light." I had a bit more time and was feeling a bit freer about things on this album...just more "accidents" tend to occur."

Well, really, there's not much else to talk about the starting process. He had ideas, wrote to people and got them in. One other person he actually got in, though, was a guy by the name of Pete Townshend, who had supplied Gilmour with the lyrics to two songs, "All Lovers Are Deranged" and "Love on the Air". So, before Roger Waters got his solo album out, we recieved..

About Face (David Gilmour) (1984)

1.    "Until We Sleep"      5:15
2.    "Murder"      4:59
3.    "Love on the Air" (Pete Townshend)    4:19
4.    "Blue Light"      4:35
5.    "Out of the Blue"      3:35
6.    "All Lovers Are Deranged" (Townshend)    3:14
7.    "You Know I'm Right"      5:06
8.    "Cruise"      4:40
9.    "Let's Get Metaphysical"      4:09
10.    "Near the End"      5:36

It's a very 80s album Pop Rock album, really. It's got the sense of something different from Pink Floyd sound, but it's not an album I actually really like. I've listened to it a couple of times and it's just not for me. Really, I'm discussing About Face because of one song, "You Know I'm Right", which was written about Gilmour and Waters' relationship. If you want a bit of insight onto what Gilmour thought about their relationship, listen to this song.

-- -- --

For this next one, we need to go back to before The Wall. Waters had made two sets of demos, and presented them to Pink Floyd. The band decided they prefered the set of demos that would become The Wall, even though their manager Steve O'Rourke, thought that Pros and Cons was a better-sounding concept, with Gilmour also calling it much much better musically. So, July 1977, Pros and Cons was shelved.

In 1983, after he was done with The Final Cut, Roger Waters unshelved the project to complete it himself. The album was recorded in three different studios between February and December 1983 in London, the Olympic Studios, Eel Pie Studios and in Waters' own Billiard Room. Also known as his shed. Several people appeared on the album, including musical conductor Michael Kamen, the vocal talents of actor Jack Palance, saxophonist David Sanborn and rock and blues guitarist Eric Clapton. Actually, Clapton was fantastic on this album.

The story that's told is about "a man's scattered thoughts during a road trip through somewhere in Central Europe, focusing on his midlife crisis, and how he dreams of committing adultery with a hitchhiker he picks up along the way. Along the way he also faces other fears and paranoia, with all of these things taking place in real time in the early morning hours of 04:30:18 AM to 05:12 AM on an unspecified day." Probably a Tuesday. Tuesdays are the worst.

The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking (Roger Waters) (1984)

4.30 AM (Apparently They Were Travelling Abroad)
4.33 AM (Running Shoes)
4.37 AM (Arabs With Knives And West German Skies)
4.39 AM (For The First Time Today Part 2)
4.41 AM (Sexual Revolution)
4.47 AM (The Remains Of Our Love)
4.50 AM (Go Fishing)
4.56 AM (For The First Time Today Part 1)
4.58 AM (Dunroamin, Duncarin, Dunlivin)
5.01 AM (The Pros & Cons Of Hitchhiking)
5.06 AM (Every Strangers Eyes)
5.11 AM (The Moment Of Clarity)

I love this album, actually. I might, depending on my mood, say it's musically a lot better than The Wall. Clapton is a masterclass on this album and his guitar technique is fantastic. It's also MUCH less grim than The Wall and The Final Cut, because it's got that rather sweet ending to it all. Waters is vocally better here than The Final Cut. Not really much I want to talk about, I just wanted to mention them because..

-- -- --

Waters, a year after Pros and Cons, declared Pink Floyd a spent force. He contacted the band's manager, asking what would happen to royalties for when Waters left. Steve O'Rourke felt the need to contact Mason and Gilmour to let them know what was happening. Waters was angry. He wanted Steve gone. He was trying to sue the band over the use of the name Pink Floyd, and when it was found out that Waters had no claim to the name as a partnership had never been agreed upon, he tried to obtain a veto over the right of the band to exist. Gilmour responded by issuing a carefully worded press release affirming that Pink Floyd would continue to exist. He later told The Sunday Times: "Roger is a dog in the manger and I'm going to fight him"

Waters would then write to EMI to ask out his contract. Waters later stated that, by not making new albums, Pink Floyd would be in breach of contract—which would suggest that royalty payments would be suspended. So really, they needed Waters gone just so they could continue to make music..

[hefdaddy42]

He's undeniably a musical genius, but shit like that has always led me to believe that Waters was first-rate asshat.

[KevShmev]

Waters' fatal mistake was thinking the band would never go on without him; he was dead wrong.  The fact that they did so with great success was a sore spot for him for many years, although he seems to have gotten over much of it since Live 8, thankfully. 

About Face is okay.  Murder is a great tune, and there are a few others I sorta like, but the majority of it never stood out to me.

[Zantera]

Waters' fatal mistake was thinking the band would never go on without him; he was dead wrong.  The fact that they did so with great success was a sore spot for him for many years, although he seems to have gotten over much of it since Live 8, thankfully. 

About Face is okay.  Murder is a great tune, and there are a few others I sorta like, but the majority of it never stood out to me.

Did they? I mean, I wasn't around at the time, but while I could imagine the band continuing getting bigger and selling out shows, album/quality-wise there's really not much to cheer for. I know Division Bell has its loyal fan base, but I rarely see much positive response for Momentary Lapse of Reason. Overall it's safe to say that the last two albums and Final Cut are three of the worst received Floyd albums. Waters is responsible for one, but it's not like he left and they put out two masterpieces.

[JayOctavarium]

I'll admit... I've listened to About Face and Pros and Cons a couple times. Neither of them really stuck with me.

[ReaperKK]

You're thinking about A Momentary Lapse of Reason, where Mason felt so poorly about his drumming that he barely played anything on the album.

I can't remember where I read this but Nick Mason is the only member of PF to play on every PF album I believe.  . . .

[KevShmev]

Waters' fatal mistake was thinking the band would never go on without him; he was dead wrong.  The fact that they did so with great success was a sore spot for him for many years, although he seems to have gotten over much of it since Live 8, thankfully. 

About Face is okay.  Murder is a great tune, and there are a few others I sorta like, but the majority of it never stood out to me.

Did they? I mean, I wasn't around at the time, but while I could imagine the band continuing getting bigger and selling out shows, album/quality-wise there's really not much to cheer for. I know Division Bell has its loyal fan base, but I rarely see much positive response for Momentary Lapse of Reason. Overall it's safe to say that the last two albums and Final Cut are three of the worst received Floyd albums. Waters is responsible for one, but it's not like he left and they put out two masterpieces.

Yes.  Both albums sold a ton, both tours were huge successes, and even Learning to Fly received MASSIVE airplay on MTV at the time (which was a mark of success in 1987).  If you want to base success off of the subjective nature of album reviews, have at it, but objectively speaking, the two post-Waters albums and tours were massive successes, especially Waters and some of his minions thought they'd never amount to shit without him.

And no, it's not safe to say that The Division Bell was one of their worst-received albums.  It was fairly well-received at the time, and has aged well for many, from what I've read over the years (no, not just here...many other places). 

[hefdaddy42]

Yeah, they made the shit ton of money after Waters left, for sure.

[Progmetty]

I agree with Zantera and I think nothing post-Waters remotely compares to the Meddle to The Wall streak. I would also argue that nothing pre-Waters domination of writing compares to that streak either, in my opinion.
For one thing both the post-Waters albums sound very dated to the late 80's/early 90's soft/classic rock sound to me while the Meddle to The Wall streak still sounds timeless and in a unique league of their own.
The fact that they still made fortunes after Waters left relates mostly to the name Pink Floyd and their live performances of their classics IMO, with all due respect to the David Gilmour's amazing guitar writing abilities.

[GentlemanofDread]

Also, Post-Waters, when Pink Floyd toured, they sold out huge stadiums and Waters could be down the road in half-empty theaters.

[KevShmev]

Yep, I remember reading that in one of the Floyd books I have.  Waters admitted that it was galling to be playing to half-empty arenas, while Pink Floyd was touring at the same time and selling out venues much larger than the arenas he couldn't fill up.  I believe they call that karma.

[Zantera]

That's why you never underestimate the power of brands. Even with an example like Iron Maiden and Bruce Dickinson leaving, even if their reputation overall took a small dent, Iron Maiden was still friggin Iron Maiden, and Bruce Dickinson was just some guy playing smaller venues. Roger Waters had to be delusional or just blinded by power if he honestly thought that his name carried more depth and meaning than Pink Floyd did.

[hefdaddy42]

Yep, I remember reading that in one of the Floyd books I have.  Waters admitted that it was galling to be playing to half-empty arenas, while Pink Floyd was touring at the same time and selling out venues much larger than the arenas he couldn't fill up.  I believe they call that karma.

Indeed.

Moral of the story?  Don't be a douchenozzle.

[Mladen]

It has the words PINK FLOYD on it - it's  a Pink Floyd album.

Absolutely. Band members can change (think Yes), the sound of the band can change drastically (think Radiohead), but it's THE band as long as the name is on there. The Piper is a Floyd album. Dark side is a Floyd album. The Final cut as well. The Division bell as well. And even Roger admitted in the recent interviews that he was wrong about thinking Floyd isn't Floyd without him.

I'm not familiar with that Gilmour solo album, but I really like Pros and cons. I agree that Roger's vocals are remarkable on it, truly chilling in some places.

[jingle.boy]

Not familiar with either of these two albums.  On the issue of whether the post Waters PF albums were a success... absolutely.  But we'll leave that to the discussion on those albums.  I don't think they are regarded as 2 of the worst 3 albums in their catalog.

[Orbert]

It has the words PINK FLOYD on it - it's  a Pink Floyd album.

Absolutely. Band members can change (think Yes), the sound of the band can change drastically (think Radiohead), but it's THE band as long as the name is on there. The Piper is a Floyd album. Dark side is a Floyd album. The Final cut as well. The Division bell as well. And even Roger admitted in the recent interviews that he was wrong about thinking Floyd isn't Floyd without him.

The issue isn't whether or not it's a Pink Floyd album, it's whether it's a "fully fledged Floyd album".  Roger wrote it and is all over it.  David played some guitar.  Nick is mostly absent and Rick isn't on it at all.  How can it be a fully-fledged album by the band, when most of the band isn't even on it?

[jammindude]

If we are discussing solo albums...why did we skip David's 1978 debut?   (which I believe was better received, had a bigger hit single in "There's No Way Out of Here", and sold more copies)

[jammindude]

Also...another factoid going from memory...

Pros and Cons was a musical concept that Roger had alongside The Wall.   It's my understanding that Roger brought BOTH ideas to band, and the other guys thought that The Wall had more potential.   (this is also, I believe, why the title of the album is in the same font style as The Wall...someone can correct me if I'm wrong)

[ReaperKK]

I completely forgot about the David Gilmour solo record. I remember when I first heard it I heard something familiar and that's the solo in "Raise My Rent". He reused some of it for "What Do You Want From Me?".

[jingle.boy]

Also...another factoid going from memory...

Pros and Cons was a musical concept that Roger had alongside The Wall.   It's my understanding that Roger brought BOTH ideas to band, and the other guys thought that The Wall had more potential.   (this is also, I believe, why the title of the album is in the same font style as The Wall...someone can correct me if I'm wrong)

I think GoD pretty much said exactly this.

[jammindude]

Also...another factoid going from memory...

Pros and Cons was a musical concept that Roger had alongside The Wall.   It's my understanding that Roger brought BOTH ideas to band, and the other guys thought that The Wall had more potential.   (this is also, I believe, why the title of the album is in the same font style as The Wall...someone can correct me if I'm wrong)

I think GoD pretty much said exactly this.

Damn my ADD...   

Sorry.

[Mladen]

The issue isn't whether or not it's a Pink Floyd album, it's whether it's a "fully fledged Floyd album".  Roger wrote it and is all over it.  David played some guitar.  Nick is mostly absent and Rick isn't on it at all.  How can it be a fully-fledged album by the band, when most of the band isn't even on it?

That's very true. ''Fully fledged'' probably implies that every member contributed almost equally or whatever. At least that's what it means to me.

[Jaq]

I liked About Face a lot, owing largely to the "Bob Ezrin worked on it factor" (which back then made an album an instant purchase for me.) Murder, Love On The Air, Out of The Blue, All Lovers Are Deranged, Cruise (which is pretty hilarious, a witheringly sarcastic love song to cruise missiles) and Near The End are all excellent songs, Let's Get Metaphysical is an utterly bombastic instrumental, Gilmour's playing is fantastic, what's not to like? I remember around this time Pete Townshend had an album out, and there was a concert on MTV where David Gilmour played guitar in Pete's band. They did an utterly magnificent version of Love On The Air that prompted me to run out and buy About Face.

Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking, overall I like it. The thing with Waters solo albums is that one of them-Amused to Death-is my all time favorite album ever, so the others tend to be smashed under that when it comes time to listen to Roger Waters. But when I go back to it, I always have time for Clapton's playing and a few of the songs, notably Every Stranger's Eyes, are among the best that Waters ever wrote. And it was nice, given how downbeat a lot of Waters' concept albums end, for one to have a happy ending. Between the two, though, I prefer About Face, which is probably one of the reasons I regard the post-Waters era as high as I do. In a lot of ways, About Face is the prototype for the sound Pink Floyd was going to have for the rest of their career.

[Progmetty]

And it was nice, given how downbeat a lot of Waters' concept albums end, for one to have a happy ending.

Do you think of The Wall ending as a downbeat one?

[jingle.boy]

Pros and Cons was really good - lots of reuse of musical themes and melodies from the Wall (naturally).  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  About Face isn't on Grooveshark or Spotify.  Guess it's YT - which is usually the quality of ass, so not a good listening experience.  Giving it a shot right now though.

[The Curious Orange]

Did we discuss Gilmour's first 1978 solo album? That to me is far more important as a solo album, as he basically re-worked it for The Division Bell.
Anyway, I love Gilmour's 1978 debut, and I quite like About Face.

Hitch-Hiking has some wonderful moments on there, but the concept just isn't strong enough, and it does dip in places. It sounds wonderful, and really captures that half-awake, half-asleep thing that dreams have. Despite its flaws, I love it.

What is odd is that both Waters and Gilmour toured to promote their respective albums. Both tours lost money by all accounts, but Gilmour was playing smaller venues while Waters was doing a full scale arena show. It did rather seem that the future legacy of the Floyd belonged to Rog - how quickly things change!

Waters is a musical genius when he wants to be, but its his views on fox-hunting that flip him into ass-hattery for me.

[masterthes]

never heard About Face. Gone Fishing, the title track, and Every Stranger's Eyes are my favorites from Pros & Con

[Ben_Jamin]

I'll say more when the A Momentary Lapse of Reason discussion begins.

[GentlemanofDread]

So began the legal battle. Waters didn't want Gilmour and Mason continuing on, they wanted to continue on. Wright was getting married to his new wife. How do we start off this post? "I told him before he left, 'If you go, man, we're carrying on. Make no bones about it, we would carry on.'" This was Gilmour to Waters. The response from the Bassist? "You'll never fucking do it." Those were fighting words.

So Gilmour started to recruit musicians. Such as a keyboardist! What's that? Richard Wright? I think you must mean Jon Carin. He and Gilmour had jammed and composed the chord progression for "Learning to Fly", so he was in. But he needed someone who had experience. Who had worked with Pink Floyd.  Who had mixing and production experience. Yes, I'm talking about HIM.

Bob Ezrin. Who had just rejected Roger Waters' offer of coming to work on Waters's new solo album, Radio K.A.O.S. Ezrin, Gilmour and Carin spent the summer of '86 making some demos together, shootin' the shit. All was good. Then came in, well, the CBS representative Stephen Ralbovsky. What did he think about these demos in November of 1986? "This music doesn't sound a fucking thing like Pink Floyd." What was the first thing Gilmour admitted? Waters' absence was a problem, and that the new project was difficult without his presence. Gilmour was feeling the strain, it seems, of having to fill the Waters gap. He needed a songwriter.

Anthony Moore! Let recording begin! On Gilmour's new project, his houseboat Astoria. First thing to go was Mason's drumming on a lot of songs it seems. Gilmour got in musicians Carmine Appice and Jim Keltner who replaced Mason on most songs. Nick decided to busy himself in the album's sound effects. Infact, some of the drumming on this album was a drum machine. Then, as 86 became 87, the phone rang. Rick's wife, Franka, asked if Richard Wright could help. So in he came, for legal reasons(?), as a session musician. Except most of the music had been done, so Wright was mainly just backing keys and vocals. Gilmour later admitted in an interview with author Karl Dallas that Wright's presence "would make us stronger legally and musically". Really, it just sounds like a counter to Waters' continuing attempts to sue over the right for the Pink Floyd name. Despite the tranquil setting offered by Astoria, Waters' Lawyers would continue to disrupt recording, so Gilmour responded by moving to L.A to finish the recording. The lawyers would have to call late at night to disrupt the recording!

One last thing, however..  "Both Nick and Rick were catatonic in terms of their playing ability at the beginning. Neither of them played on this at all really. In my view, they'd been destroyed by Roger." This is what Gilmour said. It angered Mason.

But..

A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987)

1. Signs Of Life
2. Learning To Fly
3. The Dogs Of War
4. One Slip
5. On The Turning Away
6. Yet Another Movie/Round And Around
7. A New Machine (Part 1)
8. Terminal Frost
9. A New Machine (Part 2)
10. Sorrow

This is actually my third least favourite Pink Floyd album. It's purely because it just doesn't flow as well as most of the others. The first five tracks are weirdly following each other, especially "One Slip" after "The Dogs of War". Plus I'm not a huge fan of "One Slip". "Yet Another Movie/Round And Around" all the way to "A New Machine (Part 2) is not good, either. Really if I'm listening to anything off this album, it's three songs. It's the hated "The Dogs of War" which is just a great tune in my eyes, certainly much better than what people say. "On The Turning Away" is the easily my favourite though. It builds. It flows. It's a pretty piece and with Wright returning to backup vocals on it, which really makes the song stand out. "Sorrow", well. It's good, but that guitar intro and later solo push it into incredible. It's truly the highlight of Gilmour's guitar playing on this album. Every time I hear it, it's great.

----
Monday, well.
It'll be Amused to Death no matter what, but should I include Radio K.A.O.S too?

[jammindude]

Yet Another Movie is actually my favorite song from this album...and Learning to Fly is my least favorite.

To me, the filler tracks are what really make it.    I actually like this album a little better than TDB...but they both sound a bit like a DG solo album with some spacy sound effects thrown in just to make it sound more "PFey"   

When I first heard the Learning to Fly single premier on the radio (before the album's release) I thought it was the biggest disgrace to the Pink Floyd name I had ever heard in my life.   It was like hearing PF do a Journey cover song.    I refused to acknowledge the album until I heard some cuts from the Delicate Sound of Thunder.   Sorrow, Dogs of War, and On the Turning Away got me to investigate the album further and now I actually like the album quite a bit, and Learning to Fly even works within the context of the complete album.    But I'm REALLY HAPPY that it wasn't a full album of that radio friendly AOR crap. 

My ranking:

Yet Another Movie/Round and Round
Sorrow
Dogs of War
On the Turning Away
One Slip
New Machine I/Terminal Frost/New Machine II
Signs of Life
Learning to Fly