Pink Floyd Studio Albums Countdown Thread! (#1 Up!)

[jammindude]

There are two albums I rated lower. But I tend to like the ambient background music if I’m in the mood. The single however, is really not good.

Instead of the various awkward descriptions of this album, I choose to think of it this way. TDB and HH were the curtain call. This is the “exit music”. And on that level I think it works.

[ReaperKK]

Up next is an album that did just 2 points better than The Endless River.

14. More (1969)

Highest Finish: 9 (Stadler, SoundscapeMN)
Number of Top 10 Finishes: 2

Not a bad little album. Not something I listen to regularly but I never mind when it's one. "Green Is The Colour" is the standout on this record and "Cymbaline" is a close second. Compared to the other soundtrack release of Obscured by Clouds I just think there not enough here to ever really bring me back to the record. I've been saying I'm going to check out the film but still never have.

[Metro]

#14

The only standout for me here is the Nile Song, as it’s the single heaviest thing Pink Floyd ever did. Everything else is too sleepy for me.

[Stadler]

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.  More
10.
11.
12.  Endless River
13.
14.
15.


This is a real unsung record for me.  It's a little disjointed, being a soundtrack and all, but musically, it's a winner.  Several of these songs - Quicksilver, Green Is The Colour, Cymbaline - were later played live as part of the "The Man, The Journey" suite (which I LOVE). 

[SoundscapeMN]

More is definitely a grower, and from memory for what it' worth, the music seems more featured in the film than the music in The Valle (Obscured By Clouds). Although it was over 20 years ago when I saw both.

[The Letter M]

15   
14   The Endless River
13   
12   More
11   
10   
09   
08   
07   
06   
05   
04   
03   
02   
01   

Playing a bit of catch. I had both TER and More pretty low as they're some of the band's albums I rarely listen to. I'd say my entire bottom five are all albums I've maybe heard less than a dozen times, if that, and as such, I can't really recall too much about them. I'm sure they have their fine moments but for me personally they did not do much.

-Marc.

[hefdaddy42]

Catching up -

I liked The Endless River more than apparently most of you.  I have it at # 10.  I like that it's more idea than finished product, in some ways.  I see it as instructive for the process, which for me is often just as important as the final product.  I love that it exists, and for me anyway, it's better than 5 of their other albums.

Including More, which I had at # 14.  Yeah, just not memorable and not very good, for me.

[Zydar]

I had it at #11, perhaps a bit too high but it's a fine album. Cymbaline is my big favorite here.

[Orbert]

Album rankings for me are basically "How often do I listen to this album?"  More isn't bad, but I just don't go to it very often, probably as much because of its odd place in the catalog as anything else.  For me, More is #12, with only the two Syd albums and <redacted> ranking lower.

[jammindude]

I had this at 14, just behind The Endless River (yup, there’s still one lower).

A few gems that people have mentioned, but mostly a very uneven and spotty album.

[Jamesman42]

Reaper, these are awesome. I know I could look it up every time, but could you add the year it came out to each update?

[ReaperKK]

Yup! I'll go and add them now

Edit: Done

[ReaperKK]

Roger Water's screeches this album into 13th place

13. Ummagumma (1969)

Highest Finish: 5 (Orbert)
Number of Top 10 Finishes: 4

This album is kind of all over the place for me. To start with I love the live tracks, I think they are a great representations of Pink Floyd at the time. Where it falls apart for me is the studio record. 4 band members went away to write solo tracks and returned with a real mixed bag. "The Narrow Way" suite is probably my favorite followed by Water's "Grantchester Meadows" but the rest I almost never listen to. The album placed 12 for me.

[The Letter M]

13. Ummagumma (1969)

Highest Finish: 5 (Orbert)
Number of Top 10 Finishes: 4

15   
14   The Endless River
13   
12   More
11   Ummagumma
10   
09   
08   
07   
06   
05   
04   
03   
02   
01   

This was the highest of my bottom five, and probably the one of those five I've listened to most but still not worthy of my top ten PF albums. Like you said Reaper, it's quite the mixed bag, but not completely awful in my ears.

-Marc.

[Orbert]

I love the live stuff.  It's in regular rotation on my PC.  To be honest, I kinda forgot that the studio stuff even exists since I rarely listen to it.  Once in a while I'll listen to "Several Species..." just for fun.  Most of the solo studio stuff sounds incomplete, basically a failed experiment.  Some of it's okay.

When ranking this one, I only considered the live material, which for me is the big draw, and it placed pretty high, right after the "big four" (Meddle through Animals).

[Dave_Manchester]

So far the aggregate list is following my own to the letter.

15. The Endless River
14. More
13. Ummagumma
12.
11.
10.
9.
8.
7.
6.
5.
4.
3.
2.
1.


I put The Endless River bottom not because it's 'bad' per se, but because it's just so insipid. If - as it should have been - it had been released as a bonus disc on a Division Bell reissue or box set I'd have been ok with it, but to market what is essentially an hour of call centre muzak as a standalone Pink Floyd album didn't sit well with me. Nice cover art but the most creatively lacking music 'the band' ever wrote. 

[Metro]

#15

Live tracks are fine, everything else is unlistenable.

[jammindude]

#15

Live tracks are fine, everything else is unlistenable.

My ranking and my thoughts exactly.

[Stadler]

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.  More
10.
11.
12.  Endless River
13.
14.
15. Ummagumma



I ranked this solely on the studio tracks.  The live stuff is fine; very good, in fact, but I just think the studio stuff is insipid and not worthy of what came out of them in the year preceding and the year following.  It also was silly in that it highlighted the disconnect between the live shows and the studio work.  It's baffling that no version of The Man and The Journey ever made it to (studio) tape.

[Zydar]

Ummagumma was my #12, and that's very generous. The only highlight is Grantchester Meadows, the rest is pretty skippable. The Narrow Way is decent I suppose.

[PMSummer]

Generous 12 here as well. Going to be a few more albums before we cross the line into good/great album territory for me.

[Mladen]

More ended up at #14 for me. I only remember a couple of seconds from it.

Ummagumma was my #11, but I only counted the studio tracks. It's a solid experiment, every member did a fine job on their own. It's interesting.

[hefdaddy42]

Ummagumma is at 15 for me, because a huge chunk of it is just terrible.

[jammindude]

Generous 12 here as well. Going to be a few more albums before we cross the line into good/great album territory for me.

Funny. I was just thinking that we’ve taken care of the 3 outliers in their catalog for me. Anything from this point forward crosses over into the albums I actually really enjoy.

I’m looking at my list again, even the one that ended up at 12 is a bit painful to see that low. But then again, everything from about 6-12 or so was always going to be like that.

[ReaperKK]

Pink Floyd's second album comes in 4th from the bottom

12. A Saucerful Of Secrets (1968)

Highest Finish: 7 (Mladen, Zydar, jammindude, Cool Chris)
Number of Top 10 Finishes: 5

I remember hearing this album right after the debut and enjoying much more. The album feels a lot more cohesive to me and the songs are better composed. This is the only album to feature both David Gilmour and Syd, even though Syd makes an appearance on only a single track, which is quite good. My personal standouts are "Remember A Day", "Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun", and "Jugband Blues".

[Stadler]

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.  More
10.
11.
12.  Endless River
13.  A Saucerful Of Secrets
14.
15. Ummagumma

This will be odd coming from a Pink Floyd fan, but I don't get the mythology of Syd Barrett.  I mean, I get his place in the band, and I know he was as "presence" through at least "Wish You Were Here" (and for my money, the words that Waters later wrote referring to Syd, even obliquely, were his most touching, by a LONG shot) but the ACTUAL MUSIC... does little for me.  I know he was only on a handful of songs, but I always think of this as a "Syd" record (by the way, "Syd" autocorrects to "Sad" on my computer!), and the rest of it is a band finding their way.

I like "Let There Be More Light" a LOT - one of my favorite songs - and "Set The Controls..." but there's a lot here that misses the mark for me.  Still should have been hight than Endless River in hindsight, though.

[Lonk]

This will be odd coming from a Pink Floyd fan, but I don't get the mythology of Syd Barrett.  I mean, I get his place in the band, and I know he was as "presence" through at least "Wish You Were Here" (and for my money, the words that Waters later wrote referring to Syd, even obliquely, were his most touching, by a LONG shot) but the ACTUAL MUSIC... does little for me.  I know he was only on one song, but I always think of this as a "Syd" record (by the way, "Syd" autocorrects to "Sad" on my computer!), and the rest of it is a band finding their way.

I thought Syd played in "Remember a Day" as well?

[ReaperKK]

This will be odd coming from a Pink Floyd fan, but I don't get the mythology of Syd Barrett.  I mean, I get his place in the band, and I know he was as "presence" through at least "Wish You Were Here" (and for my money, the words that Waters later wrote referring to Syd, even obliquely, were his most touching, by a LONG shot) but the ACTUAL MUSIC... does little for me.  I know he was only on one song, but I always think of this as a "Syd" record (by the way, "Syd" autocorrects to "Sad" on my computer!), and the rest of it is a band finding their way.

I thought Syd played in "Remember a Day" as well?

Hey you're right, my memory has failed me. He played acoustic and slide on "Remember A Day" per wiki. Funny enough Nick Mason didn't play drums on that track either (not the first time he didn't person on a PF song but we'll get to that later)

[Stadler]

This will be odd coming from a Pink Floyd fan, but I don't get the mythology of Syd Barrett.  I mean, I get his place in the band, and I know he was as "presence" through at least "Wish You Were Here" (and for my money, the words that Waters later wrote referring to Syd, even obliquely, were his most touching, by a LONG shot) but the ACTUAL MUSIC... does little for me.  I know he was only on one song, but I always think of this as a "Syd" record (by the way, "Syd" autocorrects to "Sad" on my computer!), and the rest of it is a band finding their way.

I thought Syd played in "Remember a Day" as well?

Hey you're right, my memory has failed me. He played acoustic and slide on "Remember A Day" per wiki. Funny enough Nick Mason didn't play drums on that track either (not the first time he didn't person on a PF song but we'll get to that later)

Wiki has him playing guitar on "Set The Controls..." too.  Point is, he's not the leader of the band here, as he was on the first album.

[jammindude]

Pink Floyd's second album comes in 4th from the bottom

12. A Saucerful Of Secrets (1968)

Highest Finish: 7 (Mladen, Zydar, jammindude, Cool Chris)
Number of Top 10 Finishes: 5

I remember hearing this album right after the debut and enjoying much more. The album feels a lot more cohesive to me and the songs are better composed. This is the only album to feature both David Gilmour and Syd, even though Syd makes an appearance on only a single track, which is quite good. My personal standouts are "Remember A Day", "Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun", and "Jugband Blues".

Barrett actually appears on 3 songs total.  He performs the slide solo at the end of Let There Be More Light, and he also performs on Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun. STCFTHOTS also has the distinction of being the only song in PF history to feature contributions from all 5 members. EDIT - I’m going off Wiki as well, so I’m not sure if all the details are correct. Wiki is saying that according to their manager Andrew King, Syd performed that solo.

This album was my introduction to the early psychedelic period of Pink Floyd. I personally never got the title track, but I love the rest.

I had it at #7 and it’s sad to see it this low in the rankings.

[The Letter M]

12. A Saucerful Of Secrets (1968)

Highest Finish: 7 (Mladen, Zydar, jammindude, Cool Chris)
Number of Top 10 Finishes: 5

15   
14   The Endless River
13   A Saucerful Of Secrets
12   More
11   Ummagumma
10   
09   
08   
07   
06   
05   
04   
03   
02   
01   

ASOS landed in 13th for me, so not too far off. Not a bad album by any means, but the like others in my bottom five, this is one that has gotten very few spins since I was first discovering the band nearly two decades ago. Early PF has always just been an odd curiosity for me, and it's interesting to hear where the band came from.

I'm wondering if number 11 will be my 15th place album.

-Marc.

[Lonk]

This will be odd coming from a Pink Floyd fan, but I don't get the mythology of Syd Barrett.  I mean, I get his place in the band, and I know he was as "presence" through at least "Wish You Were Here" (and for my money, the words that Waters later wrote referring to Syd, even obliquely, were his most touching, by a LONG shot) but the ACTUAL MUSIC... does little for me.  I know he was only on one song, but I always think of this as a "Syd" record (by the way, "Syd" autocorrects to "Sad" on my computer!), and the rest of it is a band finding their way.

I thought Syd played in "Remember a Day" as well?

Hey you're right, my memory has failed me. He played acoustic and slide on "Remember A Day" per wiki. Funny enough Nick Mason didn't play drums on that track either (not the first time he didn't person on a PF song but we'll get to that later)

Wiki has him playing guitar on "Set The Controls..." too.  Point is, he's not the leader of the band here, as he was on the first album.

You are right. Even though he's not the main guy at this point, it has the same feel as the first album

[Zydar]

I had it as high as #7, mainly on the strengths of 'Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun' and 'Remember A Day'. 'Corporal Clegg' was a favourite at the time I got the album, as well.

15. The Endless River
14.
13.
12. Ummagumma
11. More
10.
09.
08.
07. A Saucerful Of Secrets
06.
05.
04.
03.
02.
01.

[Metro]

#12

A step in the right direction, but still something I rarely revisit.

12. A Saucerful of Secrets
13. The Endless River
14. More
15. Ummagumma

[hefdaddy42]

I'm right with the consensus.  Had it at # 12.