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Post by Kapitan on Jun 26, 2019 13:05:18 GMT
I sense a trend: Los Angeles is the problem! Think of your own names, you lazy Angelinos!
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Post by kds on Jun 26, 2019 13:18:22 GMT
Perhaps they think that if a Pink Floyd without Roger Waters could exist, then we could have an LA Lakers and LA Dodgers.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jun 26, 2019 13:22:25 GMT
Los Angeles also screwed it up with the Los Angeles Raiders and the Los Angeles Chargers.
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Post by kds on Jun 26, 2019 13:26:56 GMT
Los Angeles also screwed it up with the Los Angeles Raiders and the Los Angeles Chargers. Although in their defense, the Chargers started in LA. But, LA did give us the "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim" nonsense.
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Post by kds on Jul 2, 2019 12:42:19 GMT
14 years ago today, Pink Floyd played for (to date) the final time with a 25 minute set at Live 8. It was the first Floyd live appearance in 11 years, and the first to feature Roger Waters in 24 years. After the event, they had several lucrative offers to tour, but declined.
The following year saw Waters take Dark Side of the Moon on tour, with a guest appearance by Mason on one occasion. Meanwhile, Gilmour released his first solo album since 1984, and the first full album from any of the Floyds in a decade. The album included Richard Wright who went on tour with Gilmour's band.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jul 2, 2019 14:17:10 GMT
14 years ago today, Pink Floyd played for (to date) the final time with a 25 minute set at Live 8. It was the first Floyd live appearance in 11 years, and the first to feature Roger Waters in 24 years. After the event, they had several lucrative offers to tour, but declined. I saw it on TV and was blown away. Very emotional. I had my hopes up for a more permanent reunion. Me and a couple million other fans, too, I guess...
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Post by kds on Jul 2, 2019 14:49:53 GMT
14 years ago today, Pink Floyd played for (to date) the final time with a 25 minute set at Live 8. It was the first Floyd live appearance in 11 years, and the first to feature Roger Waters in 24 years. After the event, they had several lucrative offers to tour, but declined. I saw it on TV and was blown away. Very emotional. I had my hopes up for a more permanent reunion. Me and a couple million other fans, too, I guess... Having never seen any version of Floyd in person, I also had......High Hopes. The thing I'll never forget about watching that on TV was when Vh1 cut away during Gilmour's solo on Comfortably Numb!!!!!
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Post by kds on Aug 27, 2019 19:09:16 GMT
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Oct 8, 2019 3:14:16 GMT
Roger Waters recently tried to reconcile with David Gilmour:
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Post by kds on Oct 8, 2019 12:23:37 GMT
Roger Waters recently tried to reconcile with David Gilmour:
For the longest time, it was Waters who seemed against peace. Now, it seems to be Gilmour.
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Post by kds on Nov 25, 2019 16:50:49 GMT
As I did with the Queen thread, I'm bumping the Pink Floyd thread to start an overview of their entire catalog.
Since Floyd's earlier years contained significant non album singles, I'm going to start with two year specific entries instead of album specific
And...here...we.....go
1967
EARLY 1967 SINGLES
Pink Floyd is probably best known as an album band, but their career began with two great singles in spring of 1967. While Syd Barrett, Roger Waters, Richard Wright, and Nick Mason preferred longer jams in concert, I think the Syd version was at its best when they kept things short. Their first single Arnold Layne (backed by Candy and a Currant Bun) and the follow up See Emily Play are both testaments to this. These songs are concise and well written by Syd. Also, a theme of the Syd lead Floyd, Richard Wright's organ playing provides the instrumental breaks to the songs. I think had Syd been able to deliver more songs like these, his time in the band might've lasted longer.
THE PIPER AT THE GATES OF DAWN
Piper is the only full length LP done by the original band. For that reason, it's quite unique in the overall catalog. It's probably the only full on psychedelic album the band would do, even though that label would follow them their entire career. As would the term "space rock." The space rock thing can probably be attributed to the album's first track - Astronomy Domine. The lead off track is also IMO the strongest song from the original Floyd. It doesn't wear out its welcome, but it's taken a little further musically than the early singles. Plus, I like the duel lead from Wright and Barrett. I think their voices worked quite well together.
As I said, I think the Syd lead Floyd was at its best when they kept things short, and I think that holds true on the album where the standout tracks are Matilda Mother, Lucifer Sam, The Scarecrow, Flaming, and Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk (Roger Waters' lone sole credit, and the only song that doesn't have a Syd credit). Matilda Mother and The Scarecrow in particular are two great examples of Syd's childlike lyrics. The former, with it's several time changes, is probably the best preview on the album of where the band would go post Syd. The later is musically sparse, but effective.
Chapter 24 and The Gnome are somewhat middling. Bike is a song I've never really gotten into. The sound collage that closes the album is an early example of Floyd using sound effects, but they'd do so with great effect later.
The two instrumental tracks - Pow R Toc H and Instellar Overdrive - sort of pull down the album. Frankly, I think the later is a waste of a great guitar riff. Both tracks lack direction, and stick around far too long. And I also think both tracks show that Syd Barrett is (IMHO) not a very good guitar player. Unique yes. But, as I stated before Richard Wright is musically the driving force of the original Floyd, and really would remain so until Syd's replacement got more comfortable in his role.
So, overall, I'd say Floyd's debut album is very good in parts, but inconsistent, as debuts tend to be.
LATE 1967 SINGLE
Sadly, Syd's mental state was a growing concern as the band found themselves struggling at the end of a year that started so optimistically. Their final single of 1967 features Syd's Apples and Oranges as the A side. It's a slightly Brian Wilson esque slice of life kind of song with some somewhat erratic guitar playing. The B side is Richard Wright's Paintbox, a piano driven song, whose coda somewhat resembles that of The Beatles's Magical Mystery Tour, and musically a far better song than the A side.
Two further songs were recorded and remained unofficially released until fairly recently, due to the fact that both highlight that Syd was quite unwell. Scream Thy Last Scream is a somewhat manic song which gradually increases in tempo after the second verse. Bizarrely, the lead vocals are shared by Nick Mason and Syd, whose vocals are sped up to the point where he sounds like one of the Chipmunks. Vegetable Man is a song Syd apparently wrote about what he was wearing at the time. Both songs are an interesting document of a troubled time, but neither are particularly that good.
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bellbottoms
Pacific Coast Highway
Posts: 727
Likes: 201
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Post by bellbottoms on Nov 25, 2019 23:32:44 GMT
Well, I’ve been meaning to do something about my surface level knowledge of Pink Floyd for quite some time, so I might as well take this opportunity to get started. I’m sure I won’t be able to offer anything profound but I can follow along and offer my impressions along the way.
Might as well address the two non-album singles first off as well. Arnold Layne is such a good song – that surfy guitar lick that precedes each verse is so, so charming. Maybe not what they were going for, but that’s just how it strikes me.
As for See Emily Play – my introduction to that song was actually via David Bowie’s Pin Ups album. After hearing his version, I checked out the Pink Floyd version and was kind of torn about which one I preferred. Over time I’ve found myself gravitating toward this one, because it is just more substantial and less artificial.
Okay, so... Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Now that I’ve finally sat down and had my first full listen of this album, there is one word -- one feeling -- that kept coming back to me throughout – I found it all (or mostly) to be rather enchanting.
There seem to be two parallel themes on the album – the obvious space theme, and a storybook world. By opening with Astronomy Domine and then going into the next few songs, it felt very much like falling down from space and then landing in a fairytale place and having a look around and meeting some interesting characters. Lucifer Sam, Matilda Mother and Flaming are all really wonderful, spellbinding songs.
That spell was kind of broken with Interstellar Overdrive. I kind of get why it’s the Side B opener – it mirrors the way Side A opens with a space song. But its theme, meandering style and length feel like it should have been saved to the end as the album closer. I agree the riff on that song is really exciting but then it just goes nowhere, kind of just gets lost in space, so to speak. A more concise version of that song that focuses on the more interesting space noises and reduces it by about 4 or 5 minutes would make it far more satisfying, in my opinion.
The wackiness of the intro to Pow R. Toc H. sort of threw me, but there are things about that song I quite like – the Ch-Ch vocal percussion sound is really cool, and the overall vibe is chill when the lunatic chatter isn’t around.
Can’t say Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk really did much for me. I didn’t hate it, it’s fine, I guess.
I actually quite enjoyed The Gnome and Bike, they feel like they fit perfectly into this odd little world.
I think my favourite moment on the album has to be the "sunset/sunrise" bits of Chapter 24. What an absolutely beautiful and, as I said, enchanting song. If there is a Pink Floyd moment that is kicking my ass right now, it’s that.
If the album had ended with Interstellar Overdrive, I feel like there would be a sense of completion or fulfillment. As charming as I found Bike, what an odd choice to end the album with.
Anyway, there is a lot of inventiveness and imaginative stuff on this album which is always cool to hear. Is it something that I think I would play a lot? Probably not. Maybe if I ever let myself get pulled into the compelling story of Syd Barrett.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Nov 26, 2019 13:53:31 GMT
I pretty much agree with both kds and bellbottom's reviews. Syd was really on to something. His own psychedelic sound. His own quirky but brilliant lyrics. His own art. Also, due to the otherworldly nature of the material, I don't think Syd gets enough credit for his vocal and guitar work.
I like the shorter songs; the two instrumentals not as much. Due to the subject matter of these songs, it wasn't necessary to string them out. A shorter/edited "Interstellar Overdrive" would've been better; the guitar riff is tremendous.There are one or two missteps on the album, maybe "Pow R Toc. H" and the plodding length of "Interstellar Overdrive", but I really don't find the album inconsistent. Actually, I like almost every song. Syd's all over the place, but in a good way. Not many people were writing rock and roll songs about gnomes, scarecrows, cats, stethoscopes, and bikes. Amazing stuff. There's a lot of music on Piper; it clocks in at almost 42 minutes. However, I still find it hard to believe - and wrong - to not include "Arnold Layne" and "See Emily Play" on the album. You add those two songs (and cut one or two of the weaker ones) and you have an all-time great album here. The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn still makes most of the Best Of polls anyway.
Obviously, The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn was Syd Barrett's shining hour. There never was an album quite like it before or after. I still enjoy it very much (it's my favorite Pink Floyd album), but it sometimes also brings along with it a feeling of sadness, for obvious reasons.
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Post by Kapitan on Nov 26, 2019 14:39:57 GMT
This thread is going to be an interesting one for me because I haven’t been a major Pink Floyd fan, well, ever. I got four or five major albums when I was in college—and I’d known The Wall forever because my sister, nine years older than me, loved it—and listened semi-regularly then. But I haven’t otherwise in a pretty long time. “Arnold Layne” almost is cool for me, but not quite. I wish I had a good reason why, but I don’t. This might sound sacrilegious, but I actually prefer the Wondermints version from Wonderful World of the Wonderminds than the original. (That’s true of several songs covered on that album, honestly.) I like “See Emily Play” a little more, though the sound effects annoy me. That’s almost always the case with me: sound effects and “atmospherics” ruin things. Maybe that’s a reason I tend not to be a big fan of psychedelia overall. What might have sounded novel, creative, or even reality-shaking for teenagers messing with LSD in the ‘60s, it all just sounds gimmicky and inescapably dated to me. So it’s probably no surprise that as I hear “Astronomy Domine,” I’m thinking “yes, yes, but cut out the nonsense and get on with it!” “Lucifer Sam” actually does that reasonably well, and it’s a pretty cool little almost-surf guitar riff. The vaguely noodling near jazz piano of “Pow R. Doc H” is interesting, but I don’t need four and a half minutes of that song. That’s the thing for me: the better bits are too brief, the tedious ones drag on forever. I’m afraid that until we hit Dark Side, this is gonna be rough for me. But I’m not so familiar with the other early ‘70s albums, so maybe they’ll surprise me.
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Post by kds on Nov 26, 2019 14:50:02 GMT
That spell was kind of broken with Interstellar Overdrive. I kind of get why it’s the Side B opener – it mirrors the way Side A opens with a space song. But its theme, meandering style and length feel like it should have been saved to the end as the album closer. I agree the riff on that song is really exciting but then it just goes nowhere, kind of just gets lost in space, so to speak. A more concise version of that song that focuses on the more interesting space noises and reduces it by about 4 or 5 minutes would make it far more satisfying, in my opinion. This past Spring, I checked out Nick Mason's A Saucerful of Secrets, and they opened with a version of Interstellar Overdrive that lasted probably four minutes. It instantly became my favorite version of the track ever. Pink Floyd would excel with longer pieces of music, but in 1967, they weren't there yet.
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