Can any Floyd fans help?
Posted by Paul Chandler on 27 December 2007 - 12:38am.
I've had Echoes (The Best Of), Meddle, Dark Side Of The Moon for a while now. Tonight, I've downloaded Pulse, Animals and Wish You Were Here.
Can anyone suggest where to go next? I've heard the late albums are really heavy going and I've been put off the early stuff for some reason I can't quite put my finger on. Any suggestions?
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Go backwards.....Piper at
Go backwards.....Piper at the Gates of Dawn is the psychedelic classic. Other than that, in all honesty you don't need anything else Floyd wise than what you have. The Wall is Roger Waters self pitying whine - saved only by the grace of Comfortably Numb and the oddball Another Brick in the Wall (it's genuinely spooky/freaky nature spoilt by over exposure). The Final Cut is genuinely unlistenably stodge and effectively a solo Waters LP; Momentary Lapse is very dated and contains nothing of note - The Division Bell has one classic song in High Hopes but HEY! - you have all these on the Echoes compilation....
Unless you are a completist, get Piper and avoid the rest. Use your funds to get some Van der Graaf Generator!
Floyd
If you like the DSOTM Floyd, the early stuff might be hard going. Piper and Saucer are records that, in all honesty, people would appear to admire rather than enjoy. Heresy, perhaps - but I wouldn't want to hear them every day.
Atom Heart Mother and Meddle are essential. As is The Wall - but that doesn't much sound like DSOTM/WYWH etc.
There are countless bootlegs that are worth seeking out - Pinkie Milkie, The Complete Zabriskie Point Sessions, Total Eclipse box set and BBC Archives are all excellent and are in, for the most part, soundboard quality stereo. Best of all might be the BBC Wembley Pre-Master version of Dark Side Of The Moon. Join http://www.tapecity.org/, take a crash course in P2P downloading and, er, fill your boots, sir.
(It is worth noting that Pink Floyd would appear to be a band that tolerates, even encourages the circulation of recordings of indeterminate origin. It is well documented that elaborate and sophisticated recording rigs were operated by bootleggers in full view of security at practically every Floyd gig throughout the 70s).
For straightforward downloads, The Big O website has the superb Pink Floyd Celestial Voices album up for download at the moment (i.e. this week only) at http://bigozine2.com/archive/ARrarities07/ARpfcelestial.html
This represents an excellent overview of the 68-69 post Barrett years, meanwhile the sound quality is superb.
Otherwise, parts of The Final Cut are rather good - Paranoid Eyes, Southampton Dock and When The Tigers Broke Free are all excellent.
TFC is, for all intents and purposes, a Waters solo album. It wipes the floor with tosh such as Pros and Cons and Amused To Death. Otherwise, the best Roger Waters album would be the shortest one. Whatever that is.
It is possible to like both DSOTM and PATGOD
Not just appear to. 2 tracks off first 2 albums - Lucifer Sam and Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun both cracking. Remember a Day off SOS (Saucerful of Secrets) also nice.
Gosh...
Now, that was the kind of reply I was expecting when I started this. Thank you very much Sir.
psychedelic
That's the reason I've been put off the early stuff.
That word sends shivers up my spine. I'not sure why.
I quite like The Fletcher Memorial Home from Echoes, if the rest of whatever album it's on is like that, I might give it a go.
I forgot, I have The Wall as well. Never really played it that much so far though.
Syd is great
Question is do you like Arnold Layne, See Emily Play, Astronomy Domine and Bike off Echoes? If yes you'll like Piper at Gates of Dawn, if no then you probably won't. He is the one with eyes like black holes in the sky isn't he so I would say you should get it but then if you hate those songs...
The Fletcher Memorial Home is....
If I recall on The Final Cut. If you want a Waters solo album, go for the Art of Hitchhiking.
Short answer...
'Question is do you like Arnold Layne, See Emily Play, Astronomy Domine and Bike off Echoes?'
No. Not much
In which case...
...you've probably got all you need.
Obscured By Clouds
I'd go for Obscured By Clouds. It always feels to me like the missing link between the side-long stuff - Echoes, Atom Heart Mother etc and the more conventional later albums. Nothing psycheledic - just good tunes with a dash of wierdness.
Another vote for Obscured by clouds
Proper songs with a chilled out feel and very little 'noodling'.
Ummagumma
( Only joking )
Dunno about that...
I have a lot of affection for Ummagumma - or is it Umma Gumma - can't remember - it was the first Floyd album I bought - Careful with that Axe Eugene, Set the controls for the Heart of the sun etc, Grantchester Meadows - certainly some good stuff on there. Oddly enough the other day I was thinking to rebuy it on CD as my vinyl is knackered! Similarly AHM - though not as indispensible as Dark Side, Wish etc. Personally I have a very limited affection for whimsy e.g Bike etc. Though I still have "Relics" somewhere on vinyl!
Oh by the Way
May as well get the new box set then, only £150 or so.
All the albums have their moments I would say, up to and including The Wall.
Agreed Bike is a bit tedious though. I would say that the other tracks on the first album are much better. And why not get The Madcap Laughs and Barrett while you're at it. Used to be a cheap double vinyl version available, which I have. Baby Lemonade - that's a good one.
My prescription
Go for 'Obscured By Clouds', 'Atom Heart Mother' and the 'More' soundtrack - Floyd's most interesting period, when they were coming out of psychedelia and finding their feet as an epic rock band.
Then visit the Doctor at http://www.floydpodcast.com and get downloading some of their shows from 1969-72, with brilliant extended versions of songs like 'Fat Old Sun', 'Embryo' and 'Cymabaline'.
Pink Floyd
OK... 'Piper At The Gates Of Dawn' is essential, an extraordinary, visionary record and the proof of Syd Barrett's flawed genius. 'The Final Cut' is much-maligned, but I think it is an incredibly beautiful and moving album with brilliant lyrics from Waters.
Ones to avoid... well, for me 'Atom Heart Mother' and 'Ummagumma' are pants, as are 'Momentary Lapse of Cashflow - sorry - Reason' and 'The Division Bell'.
Hi Twangothan
I'm 99 per cent certain that it's 'Ummagumma'. But I'm a hundred per cent sure it's poo.
(checks Google)
You're right, about the name anyway. I think 100% is a tad harsh - album 1 is great live stuff from the era. Shall we say slightly less than half of album 2 is good (the Gilmore tracks and Grantchester Meadows) - the Mason and Wright bits I can take or leave. So let's say 30% poo. IMOH. Interestingly, by the "what they are flogging on iTunes" test, only "Pict" is available, though that might be because the live tracks are whole sides of the album. Hmmm. Maybe one to listen to on the scratchy vinyl before committing more shelf space to a rebuy i listen to once. Or in some cases, never!