Pink Floyd- The Final Cut

After releasing their hugely popular album The Wall in 1979, Pink Floyd had become extremely busy, with multiple projects going on all at one time. After the release of the album, the band went on what would be their final tour with leader Roger Waters, which spanned from 1980 to 1981. The shows were extremely elaborate, featuring giant inflatable characters and a giant wall that was constructed during the show. The giant wall was built up, following the story line of the first disc until Roger sings the last track on the first half of the record and the final brick was placed. The wall also featured large projections on it, which were created by animator Gerald Scarfe, which reflected the storyline and also kept people occupied, as the whole band was behind the wall. The wall would eventually be knocked down at the end of each show as the story ended. The show cost millions of dollars to put on, and with tickets rather inexpensive (by today's standards), the band managed to lose money from the tour, except ex-keyboardist Rick Wright who agreed to quit the band during the album's recording, but was hired as an employee to play the keyboards for the tour, as he was payed a regular wage, unlike the contractually signed rest of the band.

The band also released a film based on the album entitled Pink Floyd The Wall. The film, released in 1982, featured Bob Geldof, of the Boomtown Rats and also the creator of Live Aid and Live 8 charity concerts, as the lead role of Pink Floyd. The movie followed the same story line as the album, and used the album's music (some tracks re-recorded especially for the film) extensively, utilizing very little dialogue except for the songs' lyrics. The film also featured many animations by Gerald Scarfe, which really give a huge glimpse into the dark mind of the protagonist, and, more specifically, Roger Waters. The movie performed well at its opening, and is still seen by many to be a great cult film. I enjoy it very much, as creepy and disturbing as it can be.

For the release of the film, Roger had another project in mind, a soundtrack to the movie entitled Spare Bricks. The record would have included songs that didn't make the cut for The Wall (like "What Shall We Do Now?" and "Your Possible Pasts"), songs from the album that were re-recorded or changed for inclusion in the film (such as "Mother" and "Bring the Boys Back Home"), and some newly recorded material. After some consideration and also the onslaught of the Falklands War, though, Roger envisioned a new project. This album idea, which was very political, was based not only on his annoyance with how Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was handling the war, but also his own experience of having lost his father, Eric Fletcher Waters, in a battle in World War II just months after Roger's birth.

The band, however, was not very happy with Roger Waters' new idea, feeling it was too political for a Floyd album. Roger responded by offering to use it as one of his solo albums, but the band knew a very important thing: even though Roger was hard to work with, manipulative, and often just a plain jerk, the band needed him. Roger was the mastermind of the band, having written their previous four huge albums, and the band recognized that at that point in time they needed him in the group and they needed the record for the band.

A few of the songs on the record were leftover cuts that were deemed not good enough for The Wall. One of guitarist Dave Gilmour's biggest complaints about the album's material was "If they weren't good enough then, why are they good enough now?" Roger often asked, however, what sort of material Gilmour had created, which was none, so that left Roger Waters to write the material.

Another stumbling block for the band was trying to write and record the album without longtime keyboardist Rick Wright. To make up for Wright's absence, the band hired composer Michael Kamen, who had worked with band on The Wall. Kamen also held the role of mediating between Gilmour and Waters in the studio as their relationship had been on the brink of destruction.

During the recording of the album, everyone was getting on each other's nerves, which made everyone uncomfortable to be around and the recording an unpleasurable experience. The band members often express their dislike of the work, primarily because of the fighting and turmoil that was going on within the band. Even through all of this, though, the band did manage to record the entire album. The work was released under the title The Final Cut in March of 1983. The title and imagery of the album (specifically the picture of a soldier holding a film canister with a knife in his back) was related to Waters' very bad relationship with the director of the movie Pink Floyd The Wall Alan Parker.

Upon its release, The Final Cut went to number 1 in the UK, something that didn't happen even to their albums The Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall, but it was less successful in the US, and, even though it went double Platinum, it was their lowest selling record since Meddle. The album, even with its low sales and not-so-nice reviews, still touches many today, particularly those who have lost their own families in war.

The first cut on the album is called "The Post War Dream". The track begins with the sounds of a television with channels being flipped through. This is very similar to much of the third quarter of The Wall, as the television sound effects are used a great deal throughout this album too. Eventually, a soft orchestra crossfades with the television sounds, playing a few bars of the song's melody before the vocals enter in. The track becomes very dynamic from here on, going from soft to very loud. The music plays in a very army-band style as Roger sings his very heartfelt, but soft lyrics. He sings about various misunderstandings throughout history, all relating to his near inability to grasp with the death of his father. This soft verse section gradually gets a bit louder, introducing some trumpets into the mix. This is followed by a soft refrain of "What have we done? Maggie what have we done?", the words and melody of which are thematic throughout the album, just as "Another Brick in the Wall"'s melody was thematic in The Wall. At the end of this, the drums and electric guitar come in with the melody very loud in comparison the the verse, with Roger shouting his vocals overtop. This whole section is very short, but very dramatic. This all ends with the orchestra playing the melody one more time, transferring into the sound effects which lead into the second track "Your Possible Pasts".

"Your Possible Pasts" is a track from the sessions for The Wall that was not considered good enough for the album, but made it to the movie. This track led to much quarrel between Waters and Gilmour as Gilmour didn't like it enough back when recording their previous album, so he wondered why it was suddenly good enough for this album. The song did, however, get a good amount of airplay in the US, more than the actual single from the album "Not Now John". "Your Possible Pasts" opens up with the sound of wind and a flanger laden guitar playing a soft riff. Roger sings interesting vocals over top, going from soft to loud very easily with just the sound of the synthesizers over top changing from major to minor and a loud drum hit here and there. The chorus is much louder and angry sounding, with lyrics that make sense to The Wall's plot line, as Roger sings/shouts, "Do you remember how we used to be closer?". This whole soft/loud sequence is repeated a few times throughout with the organ and synths done by Michael Kamen coming in and out. Nick Mason does some powerful drumming, different from his usual soft style. After the second chorus, Gilmour plays a loud solo, similar to that of the second chorus of "Comfortably Numb" and some from "Dogs". This song is kind of a mixed bag, as to me it seems they could and should have added more to the song or shortened it as the simple sequence tends to get boring after a while because of repetition. The track ends with an echo of Roger saying "closer", which leads into the following track, the short "One of the Few". The track features the sound of a ticking clock keeping the beat as Gilmour plays a minor sounding acoustic guitar riff similar to the sound of "Is There Anybody Out There?". Roger sings soft, but haunting lyrics over top. In the background are several sound effects of cars going by and people talking.

This track ends the same way it opened, with a gush of wind. This leads into the track "When the Tigers Broke Free", which is only on the modern remastered CD versions. The original vinyl version of the album did not include this track, but when the album was remastered, this track was placed before "The Hero's Return", so for the sake of those who have this remastered version, I will include this track here. "When the Tigers Broke Free" was another track from The Wall sessions that was not included on the album. This cut was released as a single, though, and was also in the film. It opens up with the wind, which transfers into the sound of an soft orchestra and some brass playing the melody to the song. In the background are a wordless choir humming the melody as the track gets a bit louder. After one run through of the melody, Roger comes in and sings lyrics which are mournful of his father's death in war. The whole story of what went on when his father died. He sings two verses, each of which are quite soft, and then he sings the third and final verse which builds up quite loudly, with shouted vocals. It finished quickly with Roger singing the line "And that's how the army took my daddy from me!" ending the song with just a short amount of echo from his final shout. The whole ending is very sudden, but fits perfectly. I enjoy this song very much because, along with the rest of the album, Roger is so personal in his lyrics, and he is not afraid to let out his true emotions.

The following track opens with a "woosh" sound and a very cool guitar riff from Gilmour. This track is called "The Hero's Return", and deals with more personal struggles of Waters. The song doesn't follow a very normal sequence, which is nice and interesting. Gilmour's main riff is played on acoustic guitar, but has an electric guitar playing a chugging one note riff similar to the one from "Run Like Hell" and the rest of The Wall. Roger sings a first verse with shouting followed by a very odd bridge sort of part. This all leads into another verse, which is much softer than the first. The song details the death of a gunner, which leads perfectly into the next track "The Gunner's Dream". This song opens up with the sound of a muffled army officer's voice followed by an explosion. This track is definitely a favorite of mine as Roger is again very personal in his feelings. The words detail a dying gunner's dream about what heaven is like, with a general theme of despair, but, more importantly, hope. By the end of the song, the words tell to "hold onto the dream" and not give up home. The music begins with a wonder soft piano line by Michael Kamen as Roger sings the lyrics which are very emotional. This leads to a much more dynamic section that introduces the rest of the instruments. This transition is made by Roger shouting "And hold on to the dream!" at the top of his lungs. This part amazed me the first time I heard it because Roger's scream merges right into the sound of a saxophone, and it is unnoticeable until the sax player, Raphael Ravenscroft starts playing a solo. The following section is louder, featuring a steady beat from Mason and Gilmour. This loud section transfers back into a soft verse with more lyrics describing the soldier's vision of heaven. The guitar is a little more prominent on this verse compared to the first verse, which was mostly just piano. This verse ends with "and no one kills the children anymore", sung by Roger, which transfers into another loud section, this one shorter, but without the sax, and more guitar and orchestra. This section also features the most emotional vocals heard by Waters yet as he shouts and screams his vocals, giving the impression of sheer agony. He ends it with the words "This dream is driving me insane!" with the last word being screamed incredibly long and loudly. It's amazing how much emotion he displays in just this one song. The whole album is just like this: pure emotion. Roger's scream lasts for about 17 seconds, even going into the first half of the last verse. The song ends on a soft note, with Roger softly singing "Take heed of the dream", followed by a short piano coda, transferring into the following track.

The last track on the first side of the album is called "Paranoid Eyes". This one is definitely not one of my favorites, but it isn't too bad. The song begins with various sound effects as the piano and vocals enter in, describing a person's descent into alcoholism, destroying one's life. Most of the song stays soft, although there is a short middle section in the middle that features Mason on drums and Gilmour on acoustic guitar, playing a melody similar to that of "Mother" from The Wall. The song isn't very dramatically sung, even though the words are pretty dramatic, but it's on okay song overall.

The next side opens with the short "Get You Filthy Hands Off My Desert", which begins with some shouting and a loud explosion. This all leads into the tune, played on some royal sounding orchestration and sung by Roger. The song's lyrics talk about Roger's hatred toward the handling of the Falkland invasions. Some acoustic guitar can be heard throughout, which turns the song into a very interesting sound change from the rest of the album. The song ends with the humming of the tune from "The Post War Dream", softly ending and going into the following track "The Fletcher Memorial Home". This song opens with Roger singing rather distraughtly about his hatred towards the leaders of the world, specifically Britain. He sings about how they are tyrants and overgrown infants, and should be put into segregated retirement homes. Roger sings the first verse over top soft piano and guitar, with the familiar orchestration. This verse is followed by a haunting orchestration tune being played as Roger speaks lines about who he doesn't like. He "introduces" these leaders in a very sarcastic way until the section ends with him singing once again for a short verse, similar to the first verse. This verse ends with a drum roll in, leading into a loud section, featuring one of Gilmour's most wonderful guitar solos not just on this album, but including all of their albums. His solo ends with several guitar overlays, which all harmonize together beautifully. This is followed by a third and final verse, which returns to the soft verse structure. This ends on a quiet piano note, as the sounds of seagulls chirping comes in.

The next track is the short "Southhampton Dock", which opens with Roger singing over some acoustic guitar. Roger sings words about a girl feeling the pains of leaving and returning war heroes, the pain of loss. This ends with another reprisse of "The Postwar Dream"'s melody, which leads into a partially louder section featuring piano and orchestra. This ends with Roger's line "In our hearts we felt the final cut", leading into the next track, the title track "The Final Cut". This one opens with some quiet piano chords, eventually leading into Roger's vocals, sung emotionally with bass in the background. This ends with a line and then transfers into a full band structure, with the drums and guitar coming in. Roger sings a short line which is interrupted by a loud bang, leading into an orchestrated section similar to that of "Comfortably Numb". Roger's vocals get louder here and more emotional, shouting them earnestly. This leads into a soft section, which again goes into a loud section, featuring the full band. This goes into another soft line, but instead of being interrupted, he cuts himself in the middle of the line and after a second coming in with the piano and drums shouting "Or would you take me home", which brings us into another great solo from Gilmour. This solo is very melodic, but ends quite quickly. Roger sings the final verse after this, with great emotion, ending with the line "I never had the nerve to make the final cut" followed by the orchestration playing the melody one more time.

The next track "Not Now John" is one of my least favorite songs by Pink Floyd of all time. I can't stand it at all. It is the only one with Gilmour on any vocals at all, which is weird, because the anger of this song would seem to fit Roger better. The whole song possesses an energy not found on any other poin of the record, reminding me of a dark version of "Young Lust". The whole song seems to revolve around extensive use of the f-word, which is just annoying, because after all of these wonderful and emotional songs, this one feels like the band is just a bunch of stupid jerks, which they really aren't This one just annoys me in general, but it really is the only annoying one in the whole batch of tunes on this record.

The final song is the beautiful "Two Suns in the Sunset". This one features mostly acoustic guitars, but the full band too. The song also features some tricky time signatures which drummer Nick Mason couldn't quite get, so they hired a session drummer, Andy Newmark, to take over on this track. The guitar repeats a simple three chord riff, but its a nice simple end to the album. The song is mostly soft and quiet, but in the middle, a much louder and emotional section comes in, which Roger once again shouting his vocals, with great emotion. The electric guitar is also present in this section. Roger does a cool scream in this middle section as well, similar to "Careful With That Axe Eugene". After this section, one last verse is sung quietly, followed by a fantastic sax solo, again played by Raphael Ravenscroft. This fades out, wonderfully ending the whole album. There isn't a better way to end such an emotional journey of an album other than this, I think. I'll admit, I am a sucker for sax on any album, but still, this is a great end to this album.

Although the record is no "Meddle" or "Atom Heart Mother", which are my favorite two records by the Floyd, this one is definitely a close third, just because of the sheer emotion on the record. Unfortunately, "Not Now John" really gets to me, so I give this album a 9 out of 10.

The music videos for "The Gunner's Dream" and "The Final Cut" from The Final Cut Video EP.

Pink Floyd- The Wall

It was July 6, 1977, on the In The Flesh Tour in support of Pink Floyd's album Animals, released earlier that year. Roger Waters, the bands primary lyricist, bassist, and now vocalist had been getting fed up more and more with the audiences who went to see the shows because they were being rowdy and not paying any attention to the music, and this night was no exception. This was the last night of the tour and the crowd wanted more and more, eventually rioting when the band began to exit. Finally, Roger went up to one of the rioters and spat in his face. This was the breaking point for Waters and it is what fueled his writing of what would become one of the best selling albums of all time, The Wall.

By the end of 1977, Pink Floyd found themselves in debt. This was caused by several factors, but mainly because of the Norton Warburg Group, who was entrusted to invest the band's money to help avoid large taxes from the government. The investment group, though, invested the money into failing businesses which made the Floyd lose even more money. Once the band found out, they demanded what was left of the money back. For the next year or so, the members took a break from the band to focus on family and solo work. Because the band now found themselves playing huge stadiums and headlining huge tours, the band, guitarist David Gilmour particularly, were almost depressed because they felt as though there was nothing left to do next, that there was nothing to look forward to. It was during this year off that Dave Gilmour released his first solo album, David Gilmour, and keyboardist Rick Wright released his solo album, Wet Dream. Roger Waters, however, was busy during this time working on new Floyd material, and was very prolific.

Once the band reunited in July of 1978, Roger presented to the band two new albums, each 90 minutes long, enough material for four albums. He played demos he recorded of the entire albums, one called Bricks in the Wall, and the other entitled The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking. After a nearly unanimous vote, the band agreed to the first, although the latter would become Roger's first solo album after his departure from the band. The band set out for the rest of the year and much of the next year to write and build off of Water's songs and record them. During the process, the band argued often and grew apart. Roger's relationship with Rick Wright particularly fell apart, with him asking for Rick to quit the band because he wasn't pulling his weight in the recording. Rick complied, as he did miss his family much and his marriage was beginning to falter. Wright was, however, employed as keyboardist for the subsequent tour on the album. Because he was the only salaried performer, he was the only one who walked away with money, as the band walked away with less than they started with as the shows were very theatrical and costly.

Through all of the fights and arguments, the band did manage to release the album by the end of 1979. The album spawned three hit singles, the number one gigantic single "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)", "Comfortably Numb", the song now well known for Gilmour's excellent guitar solos, and the iconic fast paced "Run Like Hell". The album sold extremely well, certified 23x platinum in the US alone, and is now the second best selling album in the world, second only to an Eagle's greatest hits album. The album has since become one of the most well known albums in the world, and even spawned a movie, released in 1982. The album, as dark as it is, is still beloved by fans around the world 30 years later.

The album opens in an unexpected way, with the soft sound of recorders playing a quiet tune. At the very beginning of track one, "In the Flesh?", you can here the words "...we came in." which is completing a sentence from the last track, so that if you play the album on repeat, it appears like a cycle with the last and first track connecting. The song takes a dynamic change at 17 seconds in with a distorted guitar and the whole band. The guitar and organ are most prominent for the intro and the main riff, which is pretty catchy itself, features Wright's keyboards very loudly. The verse is soft and kept to just the keyboard and Roger's vocals. He sings quietly until the end of the verse where he begins shouting which continues through the rest of the track. At the end of the verse, the main riff comes back in with Roger shouting "action" and "lights" until the end. The ending has the sound of an airplane crashing loudly, ending with a baby crying, transferring into the following track. This symbolizes that the main character, Pink Floyd, was born at the same time that his father died in war.

The next track, "The Thin Ice", opens with the continuation of the crying baby which is followed by the piano with synthesizers playing a repeated chord sequence. Gilmour sings pleasantly as the mother in the story for the first verse. A sense of unease is achieved at the end of this verse as Roger sings his vocals for the second verse. The second verse ends with a key change into a dynamic solo by Gilmour. This is an abrupt change from the softness of the first half of the song. The solo reaches a climax at the end as it transfers into the next song. The lyrics drive home the point that his mother has to fill dual roles to fill in for the absent father, which is a reflection of Roger's own personal life, as his father was killed when he was a young child.

The third track, "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 1)", details how the first bricks in the protagonist's wall were built from the pain he felt because of the loss of his father. The song is soft, sticking to just guitar and bass and vocals. Roger's vocals are mostly soft, but towards the end of the verse, they have a dynamic volume rise, though it is subtle. This is followed by a guitar solo that lasts until the end of the song, which features the sounds of children out playing. The music fades out into the sound of a helicopter that transfers into the following track, "The Happiest Days of our Lives". This track begins with the sound of a teacher yelling "Hey you, yes you, stand still laddie!" that is followed by a single note guitar and bass riff that eventually plays down a scale. The drums are quietly introduced throughout the verse, which is sung quietly at first but then loud and maniacally at the end by Roger Waters. The vocals feature backwards echo, which is taking the echo from the vocals and putting it before the words begin themselves, which achieves a brilliant sound if used correctly. Jimmy Page uses this effect on his guitar at the end of "You Shook Me All Night Long" off of Led Zeppelin's debut album. The track ends triumphantly with female vocalists singing wordless vocals over the whole band, ending with a loud scream from Waters, similar to the screams of "Careful With That Axe, Eugene".

The scream transfers into the hit single "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" which begins with the iconic delayed guitar sound overtop a disco beat. The band sings the first verse as a group, followed by the looped disco beat of Nick Mason left alone for two bars. The second verse has similar lyrics to the first and is sung by a group of school children. The school children reflect the point of the song that the second part of Pink's wall was built by the school teachers who would reek havoc on the students and bring them down. The song ends with another solo by Gilmour that brings the song to a close as the drums and bass fade out with the sound of school children over top. This is ended with the sound of a telephone tone played over and over again alone.

Track six, "Mother", closes out the first side of the album. The track begins with a simple breath in and out followed by Roger singing vocals over an acoustic guitar. The time signatures change much during the verses going from 3/4 to 4/4 several times in the blink of an eye. The second verse stays acoustic, but introduces Rick Wright's keyboards. The second verse ends with a second guitar coming in and a refrain by David Gilmour, who portrays the mother. This section is slightly louder than the first verses, but not by too much. The end of this section finally brings in the rest of the band, as the drums and piano come in full force, and Gilmour plays a slightly distorted guitar solo. This transfers back into another Waters sung verse that talks about how Pink consults his mother about everything, even about the women he likes, asking his mother for advice about a girl he is considering starting a relationship with. This verse is played in 4/4 which contrasts with the following chorus, sung again by Gilmour, which is played in 6/8. At the end of this, Roger sings the final line, "Mother, did it have to be so high?" which refers to the wall that he can't escape. The line ends the first side well, and in suspense as you wonder what will happen next.

The second side of the album opens up with the seventh track "Goodbye Blue Sky" which begins with the sounds of birds chirping, followed by the voice of Roger Water's son saying "Look mommy, there's an aeroplane up in the sky." This transfers into a dual acoustic guitar riff, with the guitar parts harmonizing themselves at points. This is light hearted sounding, but is followed by a short sinister synth section in a minor key, although it does transfer quickly back into the opening melody. The melody is played again with harmonizing voices singing "Ooh" over top, all done by Gilmour. This happy sounding riff is followed by a minor verse that talks more about how Pink's father died. This cycle of major riff and minor verse is repeated twice until the refrain of "Goodbye blue sky" is sung, followed by a repeat of the riff that fades out eventually.

The fade transfers into the following track "Empty Spaces" which is a shortened version of a track called "What Shall We Do Now?". The shortening of the track was done to better fit the album onto vinyl as the album was already exceeding time limits. The track opens up with various sound effects, such as the sound of marching, in a thumping beat. This all builds up with synth until Roger comes in with soft, but creepy vocals about the last remaining places to put bricks in his wall, which are taken up by his separation from his wife. The "What Shall We Do Now?" version of the track is much more dynamic, as it changes halfway through to the full band coming in and vocals in an almost chant like manner. This version is in the movie and was played live, but does not appear on the album. Instead of getting dynamic within the piece itself, the track ends with an extended line of Waters that doesn't complete until the beginning of the following track. This transition works, as the following track "Young Lust" is louder and faster than "Empty Spaces" just as the second half of "What Shall We Do Now?" is.

"Young Lust" is a bluesy rocker, with a simple riff similar to the sound of Led Zeppelin. The song features Gilmour on lead vocals, and Roger on backing vocals, which is different for this album. The song is one of the few on the album to feature a proper chorus, and the song generally fits within the verse-chorus technique of most songs, which, although it gets old with bands that only write songs that way, is a nice change up for the album which doesn't follow many molds itself. After the second chorus of the song, Gilmour plays a ripping solo that leads into a third repetition of the chorus which is followed by the main riff that leads out the song. The lyrics detail how, after being alienated from his wife, Pink cheats on his wife and, through a call over a pay phone, finds out that his wife is cheating on him. This adds to Pink's growing isolation from the world as his wall gets bigger and bigger. Over the end, we hear the dialogue of the call that goes on over the phone that leads into the next track.

The 10th track, "One of My Turns", is one of the most dynamic pieces on the album. The song opens with the dial tone from the previous track which crossfades with the synthesizer note while dialogue of the girl who Pink takes back to his place can be heard. The verse comes in after the talking, and Roger sings very softly and with much sorrow in his voice. All the while, Rick plays a pretty cool synthesizer riff on the piano. The whole verse stays soft until the very end which transfers into a very fast and loud verse of Pink finally bursting from all of his inner anger. The whole band joins in as the vocals get louder and more threatening. In the background are the sounds of furniture being thrown and things being smashed. This is followed by a short solo by Gilmour, that adds to the song greatly. The song resumes in this speed for two lines and is followed by Roger yelling "Why are you running away!?" in a self-pitying way.

The next track is "Don't Leave Me Now", which is rather scary and dark to say the least. There are essentially two parts to the track. The first is composed of Roger screaming his sarcastic vocals that complain of how he can't hold his own marriage together or even be with a groupie along with some dissonant piano parts and synth parts with heavy echo. This seems like a look into the dark mind of Roger Waters, and it is dark and frightening. The second part introduces the whole band with voices singing in melancholy "Ooh, babe" over and over again. After this section, we hear various television noises followed by a scream from Pink as he smashes the television and throws it out of the window. This leads into "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 3)" which is considerably faster than the other two parts. The main structure is the same, but the band plays with seemingly more aggression. This ends quickly with a loop of a synth pattern played over and over.

The last track on the first disc is "Goodbye Cruel World". This short song is played with just bass and has soft vocals from Roger. This represents his last words to the world before the last brick of the wall is placed. The song ends abruptly with Roger saying "Goodbye." This is a very simple end to disc one, but very interesting and suspenseful.

The next side of the album begins with the minor acoustic guitar notes of "Hey You". The track starts soft but changes to a much louder part gradually. The first verses is sung by Gilmour overtop of an acoustic guitar riff with Rick Wright's piano overtop. The second verse introduces the rest of the band and many harmonies that create a wonderful vocal part as they sing "Help me to carry the stone." This transfers suddenly into the classic riff from "Another Brick in the Wall" that is thematic through the album as Gilmour solos nicely over top. This section ends as Roger sings a short bridge part in a major key for a short while. This then transfers back into the main riff for another verse sung by Waters, and quite menacingly so. His voice sounds distraught, and really portrays how Pink is feeling frustrated and alone behind his wall. The song ends with the last line "Together we stand, divided we fall", with the word "fall" being echoed several times.

The following track opens up with a sound collage of television sounds and Roger saying, rather than singing, the line "Is there anybody out there?" several times. This whole section of the song is very creepy, again showing the dark mind of the protagonist and Roger himself. This section is followed by an acoustic piece, that is played by an unknown session man. This piece is played finger style, and sounds very classical and minor. This goes to the end of the song and transfers back into the sound of the television to go into the following track, "Nobody Home". This song is mostly piano based, with some orchestra coming in now and then. The lyrics are Pink's reflections on himself and his life, and the fact that there was no one to talk to except his possessions. This is actually based on how Roger felt on their last tour, isolated and alone. This song is definitely a shiner on this album, and there isn't any other on the album quite like it.

More television sounds lead into the next track, the short "Vera". This song is a mostly acoustic piece, with bass in the background and keyboards over top in places. Roger references singer Vera Lynn who wrote the song "We'll Meet Again" that the protagonist has a liking for as it is hope that he might just see his father who he never met. This leads with an orchestration note into a drum line into "Bring the Boys Back Home". This track is another short one, and is entirely an orchestra, resembling a marching band as Roger sings a lead vocal above a chorus of others. At the end, he sings the final line with a struggle, representing how distressed the lead character is. This all transfers into a sound collage ending with the line "Is there anybody out there?" again.

The next track, "Comfortably Numb", closes out side 3 of the album. The song begins with the bass taking the lead as Nick keeps up a standard 4/4 beat and Rick playing some haunting keyboard lines overtop. The verse is sung rather creepily by Roger, which is a complete difference to the nice sounding choruses which are sung by David Gilmour. The chorus brings in an acoustic guitar and orchestration overtop. The chorus is such a wonderful sound, bringing some relief from all of the dark and sad tones of the other songs on the record. After he sings with a harmony the final verse of the chorus, "I have become comfortably numb," Gilmour launches into his first solo on the song. This solo is in a major key and is short compared to the second one. The solo ends with the repeat of "I have become comfortably numb" and then transfers into the second verse, again sung hauntingly by Roger Waters. This verse is shorter than the first, and transfers rather quickly back into the chorus. This time, though, the chorus is followed by a solo in the minor key of the verses. This solo has been often ranked one of the best in classic rock history, and understandably so as it is truly an epic guitar solo. The solo is a constant onslaught of distorted guitar which is just amazing to hear. Gilmour shines very much on this track, which is a nice break from all of the dark Waters tracks. This song fades out at the end of the song, ending the third side of the album.

The last side of the album opens with the 20th track, "The Show Must Go On". This track starts with some stunning vocal harmonies like those of the Beach Boys. In fact, the Beach Boys were going to do the harmonies, but canceled right on the day of the recording session, so they hired Bruce Johnston to come help out with it. The song has chord changes similar to "In the Flesh" and "Mother", and also is reminiscent of something Queen might do. Gilmour sings the lead vocals on the vocals which are overtop an acoustic guitar along with the rest of the band. The song ends with another stunning harmony which is a cappella. As a side note, the song had an extra verse which was cut due to time limits, but was played live by the band.

This track ends with applause like that of a live show's crowd, which is simulated for the next couple of tracks in Pink's mind as he starts riots against minorities and others in the track "In the Flesh". This track is almost identical to the first track of the album, with the only differences being the lyrics, an extra round of the verse melody before the verse with wordless vocals singing overtop, and an extra verse after the first. This one is also more aggressive than the first one, with the drums coming in more during the verses. The second verse of this track resembles a political rally, with Pink telling his followers to throw out the "undesirables". Although this is a joke, this can be taken very seriously unfortunately, and there are people who still do this today, hate crimes against minorities. The song ends with the crowd chanting "Pink Floyd" over and over as Gilmour's delay ridden guitar comes in and plays the thematic D note associated with "Another Brick in the Wall" for the next song "Run Like Hell". The rest of the band then comes in as Gilmour plays some very melodic triads overtop of the band. This transfers into a round of people yelling "Run!" over and over. This gets even more uneasy as Roger comes in with his vocals, telling the crowds to run and raid the towns, and on another level, telling Pink to run away from himself. This sequence of the triad riff and then verse is repeated until a short synth solo comes in. This whole section was originally much longer, but had to be cut short for the album. The following section features Nick playing a groove on the drums as the guitar still plays the rhythm of the D note while the sounds of tires swerving and marching can be heard in the background. This whole section ends with a shriek like that of "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" by Roger. This leads the whole band back into the main riff for one last time.

The next song, "Waiting for the Worms" opens up with the words "Eins, zwei, drei, hammer!" which are the German words for "One, two, three" and then the word "hammer", which is another theme of the album and the movie. This leads into another vocal harmony, like that of "The Show Must Go On". This song is very dynamic, as the first verse is very soft and harmony laden, which changes dramatically as a heavy section with a voice yelling orders into a megaphone comes in. This heavy section features voices chanting "Waiting" in the background while the voice in the megaphone tells his followers his orders of how to discriminate against minorities. This whole song is very weird and disturbing, because it really does resemble a fascist dictator telling his people to do all sorts of crimes, even though it is not real. The song transfers several times from heavy to light, and the ending of the song reprises the theme of the album from "Another Brick" while the megaphone voice gets louder and louder, and the crowd chants louder and louder, until Pink finally shouts at the top of his lungs "Stop!" which is the segue into the next track, "Stop". This track is very short, only 30 seconds, and features just Roger's distraught vocals and a piano in the background.

The piano notes transfer right into the next track, "The Trial". This track is very odd, again reminding me of something Queen would do, like a rock opera. The track opens with orchestration doing all the music as a lawyer opens up a case to the judge, referred to as the Worm. Throughout the song, we here stories from various people involved in Pink's life, such as the school master, the cheating wife, and the mother. In between verses, we here Pink admitting that he must be going crazy. Most of the song is composed of Roger imitating all the people as an orchestra provides a "score" of sorts for the song. At the end though, the albums main theme comes in on electric guitar along with the rest of the band as the Worm sentences Pink to tear down his personal wall. The rest of the song is the guitar riff played over and over as the crowd chants "Tear down the wall!" which is followed by a loud crash, which leads into the final track "Outside the Wall". This final track is a very quiet and depressing end to the album. The only instrumentation is quiet recorders with a choir singing the words to the tune as Roger speaks the words over top. Roger's words are almost preachy, but leave you with a sense of "what really happened?" because it ends with only you knowing that the wall has been broken down. The words don't add to the story, but really just sum up the point of the album. What a strange way to end an epic album! The ending of the song features the beginning of the sentence which started the album, with the words "Isn't this where..." which, when put together with the opening of the first "In the Flesh?", makes the sentence "Isn't this where we came in?", giving the album a cyclical feel.

All in all, this album is wonderful and a great thing to listen to. Although the work is dark in places, you can tell that there was a lot of work put into this, and that this album really is a great work. I give this album a 10 out of 10.

A live version of "Comfortably Numb":

Pink Floyd- Animals

After releasing to hit albums, The Dark Side of the Moon (1973) and Wish You Were Here (1975), Pink Floyd were on top of their game and on top of the world. But all of this fame and success had its downside, especially evident through main writer and bassist Roger Waters. Roger was uncomfortable with the sudden success of the band, feeling isolation from the crowds he played to, and isolation from his family, two themes that heavily influenced his lyrics writing. Even though he, and other members, felt this way, the band had to still release a new album to follow up their two hit albums.

In 1975, the band purchased a three story church hall at 35 Britannia Row in Islington to turn into a recording studio of their own. They wanted their own studio so they could write and record music at their leisure instead of on the time of separately owned recording studios. Once construction finished up at the beginning of 1976, Pink Floyd settled into the studio and began writing a new album. Roger Waters already had the concept in mind, which utilized two tracks from their sessions for Wish You Were Here, "Raving and Drooling" which was now "Sheep" and "You Gotta Be Crazy" which was now "Dogs". The idea, based somewhat off of George Orwell's classic Animal Farm, was portraying humans as animals, specifically three categories of animals: the Dogs, which are the egomaniacal businessmen who care only about their reputation, the Pigs, which are the wealthy and vicious top of the social ladder who manipulate others into evil ways of business, and Sheep, which are the common lower class who eventually rise up against the dogs. The album's concept is very dark, which reflects Roger's mind at the time.

After reworking "You Gotta Be Crazy" ("Dogs") and "Raving and Drooling" ("Sheep"), the band composed two new pieces. The first, "Pigs On the Wing", is a love song from Roger that is really the only glimmer of hope on the album. The song is a short acoustic piece that was split in half to make bookends for the album, with one at the beginning and one at the end. The other new piece was "Pigs (Three Different Ones)" which is the third track on the album. These all work together to create one concept and theme for the album.

Upon release, the album made it pretty high up the charts in the UK and US and other places, but critics did not review it well, thinking it was too dry and dark to be a pleasurable listen. I completely disagree with that viewpoint as I love the album very much, and I know how to play them all. The album has some great music and lyrics on it which, although much different than their previous two albums, is a very cool change of pace.

The album opens up with "Pigs On the Wings (Part 1)", a soft acoustic ballad sung and written by Roger. As with the previous two albums, Roger writes all the lyrics on the album. He portrays himself as  a dog in this song, which is interesting as a point of self criticism as he does not portray the dogs very nicely. On the original recording and the 8-track version of the album, the song is left put together with a guitar solo by future touring guitarist Snowy White. His solo doesn't make the final album, but can be heard on YouTube and other sites where the old recording of the song is available. The song ends with an acoustic strum, ending the song on a major note, which is rare on the album.

The next song, the epic 17 minute "Dogs", begins with a fade in of an acoustic guitar riff. The riff plays for a little with Dave Gilmour singing the first line on top before any other instruments come in. This track is notable for being the only song to feature any Dave Gilmour vocals, as Roger takes up the rest of the songs, and even the second half of this song. After the first verse is finished, Gilmour launches into an excellent solo that is short and sweet. The drums play a good rhythm section and after the second verse, the band slows into half time, with the synth taking the lead for a short while. The lyrics of the song are very dark, talking about how the dogs, who are representative of the big headed businessmen, conduct their business. "You've got to be trusted, by the people you lie to so that when they turn their back on you, you'll get the chance to put the knife in" Gilmour sings. Very dark indeed. In the slow half time section, Gilmour plays a slow and melodic solo, double tracking his guitar to create a call and response effect. This all eventually comes to a halt as Gilmour plays just a minor D chord a few times until the drums lead in the rest of the band. Gilmour plays another guitar solo, which is quite excellent. This whole song is flooded with excellent guitar work which is wonderful because the other tracks don't let Gilmour showcase his talent as much. At the end of the solo,  Gilmour sings a verse with the Rick Wright and Roger Waters playing a funky groove on keyboards and bass respectively. After the next verse ends with the line "Dragged down by the stone", we are launched into a four minute synth solo. The word "Stone" is repeated around 50 times over and over again until it fades off completely. Nick Mason keeps the beat quietly on a cymbal and echoey bass drum, similar to the heart beat sound iconic of "Speak to Me" from Dark Side. The keyboard solo gradually builds up with the sound of dogs barking in the background and the reoccurrence of the repeated "stone" line several times throughout. Mason does eventually come to a somewhat steady beat towards the end of the solo, but this cuts off when the solo ends and Dave Gilmour comes back in with the same guitar phrase from the beginning of the song. From this point on in the song, Roger takes over vocals, and he continues to do so for the rest of the album. The line, "I've gotta admit, that I'm a little bit confused. Sometimes it seems to me as if I'm just being used" reflects how the dogs are often taken advantage of by the pigs. Roger sure knows how to keep a listener intrigued with lyrics and story line, and the whole band keeps you interested with the music as well. The rest of the song is like a mirror of the first half of the song, with two distinct sections: the fast verses and then the half time slow verses. Eventually, though, this does come to a stop with a repeated chord sequence and a whole verse of lines starting with "Who was..." that eventually end again with "Who was dragged down by the stone", which ends the song. I can think of no better way to end this song. The ending is so dramatic and definitely brings closure to the side of the album. This song took a while to grow on me, but now it remains as one of my favorite Floyd tracks, as I notice the amazing guitar work on this track. There's nothing like this song on Wish You Were Here or Dark Side at all, which adds the distinct identity of the song. I often feel that this song itself would have made a great album in and of itself, if it was longer, and didn't have to conform to the storyline of the album within this version.

The next side opens with the 11 minute "Pigs (Three Different Ones)" which opens with a brilliant synthesizer line. The line repeats as bass plays lead up in the high range of the frets. The guitar comes in with a clean effect on and the drums play a fill that leads into the first verse. The whole song seems to showcase Roger's bass work prominently, which is odd for Floyd songs. The lyrics follow the stories and points of view of three different pigs, who represent the big wealthy people on the top of the social ladder. The song follows a basic chord sequence, but the choruses present one of the best parts of the song as the piano takes a prominent roll playing half steps after each line which makes a neat effect to the way the chorus sounds. After the first two verses, Gilmour plays a repeated line of Em to D which he solos over for a while, using a talk box to imitate the sound of a pig. The result is unique and different to say the least. This is one of the oddest parts on the track, creating its own atmosphere with the keyboards playing quietly in the background and gradually making their way back to the front for a reprise of the opening riff of the song. This leads into the final verse and chorus, pretty simple song. The song ends with a brilliant solo from Gilmour that goes full force with distortion replacing the talk box until the song fades out leaving us in suspense. The reason I like this song is not because of the complexity or anything like that, as it is a relatively simple song, but it is because of the emotion expressed not only in the lyrics, but the playing of each member. You can tell they all felt the same way because of how they play with aggression and fervor.

This transfers into the sound of sheep "baa-ing". Rick Wright finally gets a place here to do some jammy work on keyboards for the intro, reminding me of jazz, as Roger's single note bass line fades in, changing keys once in a while until, after a minute and a half, the come in. I have always loved the way the drums come in because it reminds me of them being sucked into a vortex or a vacuum or something like that. This all eventually goes into a fast pace verse sung maniacally by Roger. The chorus's vocals remind me of King Crimson's Adrian Belew. The guitar line after the chorus is short but brilliant, adding to the aggression. The song altogether seems very jammy, with the drums and bass keeping the rhythm section up diligently as the organ and guitar both take turns out front. The second chorus is followed by a section of slowed down, drum-less, bass and keyboard notes. The atmosphere here is very cool and odd, but is cut off short by drums and guitar coming in. The keyboards play a wonderful building up lead line, switching from major to minor several times and just as you think everyone is about to speed up again, the key and speed completely changes unexpectedly. THIS IS THE BEST PART OF THE ALBUM. It completely catches you by surprise and is awesomely executed. This whole section reprises the bass line that fades in at the beginning, but the keyboards are not as soft and jammy sounding, but rather dark and sinister. In the background, a recording of a parody of Psalm 23 can be heard, until the whole band comes back in for the final verse. The final verse resumes Roger's maniacal vocals and the fast pace. "Have you heard the news, the dogs are dead," he sings, talking about how in the end, the Sheep overtake the big headed dogs. After the chorus, the song goes out in a blaze of glory as the guitar plays a lead line of triads going down the neck, which is a great end to such a brilliant song, going on for about two minutes and gradually fading out. From the first time I heard this album, this song stuck out at me most because of the energy and the musicianship, and it still lasts as a favorite of mine. The band fades back out into the sound of sheep, which goes into the following track.

The last track is the second half of "Pigs On The Wing". It follows the same format of the first half, even the same exact length, but with a few differences in chords and different words. I personally think sheep would have ended the album better, but this ending is okay, just different because it is small and acoustic and lovey-dovey sounding, much different than the anger and aggression of the rest of the album.

This album is a great album, and I don't see too many problems with it. Roger singing most of the vocals fits well on this record, as his voice better suits the angry songs, and Gilmour's vocals are better suited for the softer and nicer tunes. I give the album 10 out of 10.

A live version of "Sheep":

Pink Floyd- Wish You Were Here

After releasing their 1973 hit album The Dark Side of the Moon, which changed rock music forever, Pink Floyd were on top of the world. They had just finished a world tour in support of the album in mid 1973 when they finally started to come back to earth. They now had to do what seemed like an impossible task: create a worthy follow up to Dark Side.

In 1974, Pink Floyd headed yet again to Abbey Road studios to compose new material. Unfortunately, though, the band was completely worn out from the success of their hit album and found creating anything new extremely difficult. They were so desperate to create interesting new material that they returned to an old concept of creating musical sounds from objects around the home, like pots, pans, and rubber bands. These Household Objects sessions, as they were called, we "tortuous" according to main song writer and bassist Roger Waters. Eventually, they scrapped the whole project and took back to traditional instrumentation, which yielded some new work, three long pieces in particular: "Raving and Drooling"and "You've Got to Be Crazy" which were later reworked to become "Sheep" and "Dogs", respectively, on their 1977 album Animals, and "Shine On You Crazy Diamond". Then Roger finally had an idea for the album: about missing someone, someone who was there but not there, absence in general. Pink Floyd used "Shine On", a twenty-some minute long track as the centerpiece to the album, scrapping the two other written tracks for now, and went ahead with recording new material with an idea in mind.

The result of their work is a beautiful album, which is just about as melancholy as Dark Side is, but returning more or less to their more jammy sound, especially on "Shine On You Crazy Diamond". They ended up splitting up the twenty-six minute piece, putting half at the beginning of the album and one at the end to make a bookends feel. In the middle were three shorter tracks that each have their own special and unique sound to them. When Wish You Were Here, as the album was named, was finally released in 1975, it went to number one in the UK and US and is certified 6x platinum! Impressive indeed for a progressive rock band, even if they gained fame from their previous magnum opus.

I often think of this album as a turning point in Pink Floyd's vocal standpoint, as previously Roger Waters, who wrote all the lyrics on this album, sang only a song or two on albums with guitarist David Gilmour singing most of the songs, and occasionally keyboardist Rick Wright here and there, whereas this album is about even, with Gilmour singing lead vocals on two songs, and Roger on two (the two halves of "Shine On") and one leftover that features Roy Harper's vocals (we'll get to that later). By the next album, though, Roger is singing the majority of the lyrics on the albums, which continues up until he leaves in band in the mid-eighties.

The album opens up with the first half of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond". This composition starts out with Rick Wright playing a single note on the synthesizer that fades in as the sound of fingers running around the rims of glasses full of water appears (this is the only part from Household Objects that was used). This builds up for a few minutes when Gilmour begins a bluesy and melodic guitar solo. At about 4 minutes into the song, this fades out and the iconic 4 note riff on guitar comes in. After the riff is played a few times, the drums roll in along with the rest of the band. Rick Wright plays his synthesizers which alternate with the guitar's riff. Roger keeps an almost funky groove on his bass and Nick Mason plays his drums in a standard 6/8. Next comes a very extended guitar solo by Gilmour. The solo lasts for a while and is very bluesy feeling still. It gradually gets louder, every once in a while coming to a soft section until it comes back in full force. At one point, the guitar takes the background and the synth comes out in front with a sad sounding solo of sorts. This sets the mood for most of the song really. Gilmour's guitar finally comes back in, though, and leads the band out for about another minute. When he finishes, the first vocals come in, at nearly 9 minutes into the song. Roger sings the mournful lyrics about old bandmate Syd Barrett who blew his mind on drug overdoses. A chorus comes every line or two featuring the whole band joining in and female backing vocalists. It is truly beautiful and sounds very heartfelt, as the band must have felt a haunting spirit of their ex leader at the time. After the second verse, a sax solo by Dick Parry, who played on several Dark Side tracks, comes in. After playing at the speed of the verses for a little while, the band picks up the pace, making it more groove sounding. This part reminds me a lot of the Soft Machine track "Slightly All the Time" from their album Third. At the end, this all begins to fade out which crossfades into the beginning of track two, "Welcome to the Machine".

"Welcome to the Machine" is sung by Gilmour, which is odd because the song has a very dark and sinister sound to it, portraying music executives and the "big people" in business as just robots with no feelings or individuality. I always thought this track would have been an excellent Roger Waters sung tune, but Gilmour does fine. The song begins with several robotic sound effects until an minor sounding acoustic guitar riff comes in. The acoustic guitar and synthesizers are the prominent instruments on the track. Rick Wright's synths are heavily used and add so much to the track with their wonderful sounds. There are several time signature changes in the song, going from 3/4 to 4/4 a couple of times, which sounds odd, but very cool for those who are interested in the mathematical part of music. The song is actually quite creepy to listen to, but the music certainly reflects the dark lyrics. I just love how much the synths get to stay out in front, it really makes this track great, as with the rest of the tracks on the album. The synths are definitely the personality of this track, as the extended instrumental sections and groove of "Shine On" is it's personality. The whole track ends after a synth solo where an abrupt sound effect that sounds like a rocket launching comes in that transfers into the sound of a room full of laughing people. This is a very odd end to the track for sure.

The next side of the album opens up with the not so popular single "Have a Cigar". This song seems like the darker version of "Money" from Dark Side. The track is notable for featuring Roy Harper's vocals as he would better suit the voice of a snobby music representative for the lyrics. The tune is very blues sounding, with the guitar and bass working together to create a funky sound. The song follows the standard verse-chorus technique and stays to a fairly concise 5 minutes, which is probably why it was released as a single. The track also contains the gem lyrics "Oh, by the way, which one's Pink?" which was inspired by the people who would actually ask the band this question. That is like asking which band member is Lynyrd Skynyrd in the band of that name. The song ends with a guitar solo that is cut off by a swoosh sounding keyboard that turns the guitar solo into the sound of a radio, transferring into the next cut on the album.

The fourth track, "Wish You Were Here" is a great and heartfelt one, that, like "Shine On", reflects on the absence of ex bandmate Syd Barrett. The song opens up with the sound of the radio from the previous track being changed until the acoustic guitar on the radio comes to a regular tune. Then, an acoustic guitar, played by, presumably, the listener of the radio, comes in playing a solo overtop. Finally, the radio effect is ditched, and Gilmour sings the first verse. After this verse, the whole band joins, with Rick Wright's piano featured prominently. Gilmour sings the second verse which is followed by a reprisal of the opening tune which has a guitar solo played over it. Finally, the final verse is sung with the whole band, and the band leads out the song playing the same riff over and over with David Gilmour singing scat overtop until the end. This song is short and concise, but is still very beautiful and soulful. The band eventually fades into the sound of wind gushing, which leads into the final track.

The last track is part two of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond". Part two begins with, after the gushing wind sound, a bass and guitar line similar to that of "One of These Days" from Meddle. This plays for a while as it gets louder, with drums coming in softly. What follows is a wonderful synth solo by Rick Wright. This all eventually gains some momentum, and plays a rather quick beat with Gilmour soloing over the top. This speed, though, does not stay for long, as it quickly returns to the melody of the verses. The guitar triumphantly returns to the slow 6/8 groove of the verse to go into the last verse of the song. Roger sings mournfully as he does on the first half, and this all is parallel to the first half. I think this song would have been great if it were kept as one piece because the song would have made more sense as one epic side long piece, but it is fine as it is. After the last verse is sung, the band takes a groovier approach to the tune with the bass forming as a more prominent instrument making the groove, and Nick Mason's drums keeping the rhythm well. The keyboards get a type of solo, as they are right at the front with the bass, as the guitar stays in the background for a while. This whole section reminds me of a jazz fusion type of band. Then it gets even funkier with a very cool bass groove with the keyboards still playing in front. The guitar plays a clean guitar riff similar to the one in "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" from The Wall. This all fades out after a while with the synths coming in to transfer into the next section, a slow 4/4 section with a mournful feel to the synth and piano sound. This is a very different part of the song as it utilizes a chord sequence much different than that of the verses. This is just a wonderful break in the song as it makes way for the soft ending of the song. Something I've noticed is that "Shine On" and "Echoes", two long epics, both end very soft and unassumingly compared to ones like Rush's "2112" which ends with a very loud series of sounds of getting louder and louder, going out with a bang. The song finally ends with Rick's synths playing in a finally major key ending the song in G major which is a stark contrast to the opening of the tune which is in G minor. What a lovely end to the song and the whole album.

This album is definitely one of my favorite albums of all time, I don't like it as much as I like Meddle and Atom Heart Mother, but this is definitely a worthy follow up to Dark Side. I give the album a 10 out of 10.

A live version of "Wish You Were Here" from the band's one off reunion performance in 2005 at Live 8:

Pink Floyd- The Dark Side of the Moon

In 1972, Pink Floyd was just another progressive rock band who was unknown to much of the world, but suddenly in 1973, they were one of the biggest and well known bands in the world. Why the sudden leap in success? It's all because of their album The Dark Side of the Moon which was released in March of that year. The album went to #1 in the US, Canada, and New Zealand, and is also certified 15x Platinum by the RIAA. Now the album, along with it's sleeve design, is one of the most well-known albums of all time.

Pink Floyd began writing their album soon after their 1971 album Meddle. A tour of the to be released album began in early 1972 with an ever changing version of the album being played each night of the tour. It was over these concerts that the album really took shape and helped the band to see what kind of product they wanted and expected when recording it. Pink Floyd took a break from Dark Side in the middle of 1972 to go to France to record music for a movie by Barbet Schroeder. They released their soundtrack to the movie later that year under the title "Obscured by Clouds". At the end of this project, Pink Floyd got back recording The Dark Side of the Moon. In the studio, much of the music for the album was already prepared for recording, and there wasn't much of the nonsense recording to trigger ideas for songs like that of the Meddle sessions.

On "Speak to Me", the album opens up with the iconic heart beat created by the sound of drummer Nick Mason's bass drum. What follows is a gradual fade in of various spoken word snippets and sound effects that along with a piano note played backwards. The spoken word pieces are taken from interviews done by Pink Floyd on random people around Abbey Road studio. The questions are quite random, but the answers are often very different than one would expect. These answers are used throughout the whole album. This all finally builds up with the piano note coming to its loudest and a wailing scream into "Breathe", the first musical piece on the album. "Breathe" is a slow, rather melancholy piece with lyrics written by bassist Roger Waters (he wrote every lyric on this album). Gilmour sings the vocals on this one, and he even double tracked his voice to harmonize with himself. During the second verse of the song, Rick Wright's keyboards become much more prominent in the mix, creating a jammier atmosphere to the song. Gilmour also plays some slide guitar throughout the song.

"Breathe" transfers right into the instrumental "On the Run". This track is composed of a repeated 8 note sequence that was played into a sequencer. The band sped up the sequencer and added various effects to create the soundscape of the song. The piece can really get your heart racing if you listen to the music as carefully and in depth as I do. Over the top of the synth notes, various noises can be heard, such as a man running down the hall, laughing, and a voice coming through an airport radio. The point of the song is how travel can bring fear of one's life, which is portray especially at the end of the song where the sound of an airplane crash can be heard, followed by hysterical laughing. Once the crash dies down a bit, quiet ticking can be heard at the beginning of "Time", the fourth track on the album. The ticking of clocks eventually leads to the sound of various alarms on clocks going off, which will scare you half to death after a very quiet fade out of the crash. This is followed by a metronomic beat that keeps time as drummer Nick Mason pounds away on melodic roto-toms while Dave Gilmour plays a simple riff on guitar. This goes on for about 2 minutes and stops with a drum fill that leads into the main part of the song. Gilmour sings the vocals on the verses pretty harshly, as the tune of the verses is very blues and hard rock sounding, which contrasts with Rick Wright's soft and nice voice during the quieter choruses. After the first chorus, Gilmour plays his first guitar solo on the album, and it is a great one! The words are very melancholy, along with most of the album, as it deals with how time is wasted and there is never enough time in one's life. "Shorter of breath, and one day closer to death," Roger writes. Deep stuff. After the second chorus is sung, there is a transition into a reprise of "Breathe". The organ is less prominent in this one than it is on the original track. It is a very interesting addition to the track, but it is welcome. This ends on a minor note with synth quietly in the background.

This transitions into the side closer "The Great Gig in the Sky". The track is essentially a jam session instrumental with singer Clare Torry singing and wailing wordless vocals over top. Her vocals are very emotional, screaming at some points even. The piece is dynamic to say the least, opening with a very quiet piano line with the bass prominently backing it up. The following section is much louder with the introduction of steel guitar and drums as well as Clare Torry's vocals. This eventually returns to just bass and piano with Torry's vocals getting softer and softer and eventually ending on a single piano note. This is a beautiful piece and fits just perfectly on this album.

The next side opens up with the hit single "Money". The tune is about, who would have guessed, money! Roger writes about how people with loads of money are often jerks, ironic as this song would become their first big hit single! The song opens with a loop of cash register sounds and other money related clips that plays while the bass plays the songs main riff. The truly amazing thing about this song being so popular is that it is composed in an odd time signature- 7/4! The verses are played entirely in 7/4 and the choruses in 4/4. Following the second chorus, Dick Parry plays an excellent saxophone solo in 7/4. For the guitar solo, though, they change into a jam type of sound instead of the funk sound of the verses, and into 4/4 the entire time. This eventually goes back into the 7/4 time signature which is truly awesome for being a hit single. The whole song has a funky sound to it, which is different than most of the other songs on the album. Also I enjoy this song, personally, because it is the first song that I listened to and noticed automatically that something was weird with the time signature, which turned out to be in 7/4. As a drummer, the time signatures matter a lot to me, as I dislike how most bands stick to the simple 4/4 and 3/4 instead of stretching themselves to go into odd time signatures like 7/4, 11/8, and 9/8 for example.

This segues via an organ note into the mellower "Us and Them", another single from the album. The song begins very soft, but changes dynamically when the choruses come as they are played much harder and louder than the verses. Gilmour's voice on this is so beautiful and delicate that it fits the music perfectly. Dick Parry gets more another couple of sax solos on this song too. Rick's melody on the piano is wonderful and guides the melody very well with its interesting chord progression. The whole song seems more like jazz and fusion rather than a traditional progressive rock song, which is a nice song, as each of the songs on the album seem to have their own distinct area of reaching into another genre, yet retaining their standard Pink Floyd sound. This remains as one of my favorite tracks on the album, even though I count the whole of Dark Side as one song that should be listened to in its entirety. If I start the album from the beginning, I can't stop it, I have to play it to the end, because otherwise it seems incomplete. "Us and Them" transitions into the jam song "Any Colour You Like". The song is a good example of the "old" Pink Floyd sound on the record, reminiscent of the jam section of "Echoes" from Meddle and the "Funky Dung" section from "Atom Heart Mother" from the album of the same name. Mason plays a cool groove beat as Wright and Gilmour take turns soloing and then work together to make a wonderful sound as the bass keeps the groove. This track is short and concise, but brings a cool feel to this section of the album.

"Any Colour You Like" ends with a chord sequence similar to that of the end of "Breathe" which transitions into "Brain Damage" one of only two songs that Roger Waters sings. The song is about people who have gone mad, and a lyric in the song is where the album gets its name. The verses are soft and mostly just guitar and a hi-hat keeping the beat. The choruses, however, introduce the whole band which makes everything louder. Also, female backing singers are present during the choruses, adding a new dimension to the song. The second chorus is followed by a synthesizer solo which ends right as the next track begins. The following track is the closer "Eclipse", and is the only other song that Roger sings beside "Brain Damage". The song borrows the chord sequence from "Dear Prudence" by The Beatles, but does so gracefully. The words are almost like a sermon, talking about how everything under the sun and all the toiling "is in tune, but the sun is eclipsed by the moon." The song ties up the album in a way no other song could possibly have done. The track ends after the riff is repeated multiple times with lyrics and female backing vocalists, and the album leads out with the return of the heartbeat and the now iconic phrase "There is no dark side of the moon really, matter of fact it's all dark."

This album is truly one of the best albums of all time. I think it should be viewed and listened to as one complete piece of music, rather than various songs put together. The album is so good that I give it a whopping 11 out of 10.

A live version of "Breathe" from the band's 2005 one off reunion performance in Live 8:

Pink Floyd- Obscured by Clouds

In 1972, Pink Floyd had already begun work on their follow up to their 1971 album Meddle. In the middle of their writing, though, they were approached by French film maker Barbet Schroeder to score his film La Vallée (The Valley in English), which follows a woman and a group of explorers who search through a forest to find a paradise which is marked "Obscured by Clouds" on a map (this is where the album gets the title). The band was experienced with scoring movies as they had done the soundtrack to the film, also by Schroeder, More in 1969 and a few other songs for the film Zabriskie Point.

Their soundtrack to the film, entitled Obscured by Clouds, was released in June, a month before the movie was released. The album spawned a somewhat successful single, "Free Four", which was the first Floyd song that got much airplay in the US. Even with the success of that single, though, the whole album and prior years of their career would be eclipsed by their following album which they were already working on and performing regularly live.

The album opens with the first of four instrumental tracks on the album, the title track "Obscured by Clouds". The song opens with one synthesizer note that acts like a persistent drone followed by a steady drum beat. The rest of the song features guitarist David Gilmour playing a solo over the drums and synthesizer. This eventually fades out and segues right into the next track, "When You're In", another instrumental. This one is a bit faster than the title cut and is also more jammy sounding. Gilmour plays lead over a steady drum beat and bass line. Occasionally, Rick Wright's organ plays a fill when the guitar  takes a break. This whole sequence is repeated until the end of the song which fades out over a long period of time. I feel that these two tracks would have been better if they were extended, but then again, they had to fit in certain time spans for the film.

The third track "Burning Bridges" is the first song with the appearance of vocals on this record, and if you are only listening for the lyrics, you'll easily realize that it is worth the wait for the vocals as Gilmour and Wright harmonize beautifully on song's lyrics written by bassist Roger Waters.. Their voices create a certain magical tone to whatever they sing together, as they do in "Echoes"from Meddle. Rick Wright's organ is very prominent, creating the melody.  The beat is nice and slow, similar again to "Echoes. As a side note, I enjoy the drum line by Nick Mason as it adds a new texture to the song. The beat is a standard 6/8, but Mason plays the snare on the third beat instead of the usual fourth beat which creates a seemingly odd time signature as there is 5 beats in between each snare hit. I find these small things interesting, being a drummer and all.

This is followed by a faster song "The Gold It's In The..." which has a boogie feel to it and guitar sounds and soloing similar to the style of Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin. There is no Rick Wright on the track, which is okay on this track because I think it is aiming to be more like a standard rock song without organ. Gilmour sings the lyrics as a typical rock singer would, but adds his own charm to it which gives the song more feeling.

The fifth track is titled "Wot's... Uh the Deal" and features words written, unsurprisingly, Roger Waters. David Gilmour plays a folky sounding guitar riff which is a nice contrast to the previous, heavier track. Gilmour's vocals are beautiful as normal and sound even better as he harmonizes himself via double tracking. During a bridge section, Rick Wright gets a piano solo, the first appearance of piano on the track, followed by a slide guitar solo by Gilmour. This piece feels like one of the most cohesive and well put together tracks on the album, with the whole band joining in, a good length, and the signature sound of Floyd in general. This is followed by the side close instrumental "Mudmen". The song reprises the theme "Burning Bridges", but plays it in a 4/4 beat, which is a lot different than how it was played on "Burning Bridges". The song is a lot more dynamic than that track and I think of it as similar to "Great Gig in the Sky" from Dark Side of the Moon. As it transfers from soft sounding to loud very quickly and easily. I enjoy the piece because it gets a good balance of guitar and organ along with the other instruments, as the bass carries the rhythm section along well with Nick Mason on drums.

The next side opens with the Gilmour written tune "Childhood's End". The song follows a blues style structure after a fade in intro similar to the first track "Obscured by Clouds", but with a softer edge in the synthesizer sound. Gilmour's guitar sound on the track is similar to "Breathe" and "Time" from Dark Side, which I enjoy quite a bit. The sound is also very similar to Gilmour's solo albums of the future. The tune is quite like "Time", but with a different edge and more prominent organ. Mason keeps a steady 4/4 beat on the drums which locks into a groove. The guitar solo fits very well into the song, maintaining the blues rock sound. This is another very memorable track on the album, although I think that, along with most of the album, the track could have been better if extended a bit. The track ends with a short segment of the synth from the beginning repeated.

The eighth track is the Roger Water's written single "Free Four". It is the only track that he sings on the album, and, even with a poppy tune, the lyrics are rather dark and depressing, dealing with death and reflecting on the deeds in one's life at an old age. The song has a single note on the synthesizer that occurs every couple of bars which I love a lot as it makes the song stand out. Unlike the rest of the songs on the album, I find that this one seems to go on for too long, as it just repeats the same verse structure multiple times and features the same change in key for a guitar solo twice. The song was a small hit in the US and, although it is not my favorite track on the album, it's not too bad. The next track, though is definitely a standout. The Water's written "Stay" is a slow ballad wonderfully sung by Rick Wright. The verses have a somewhat major tune whereas the choruses have a minor tune to them. Gilmour's guitar is prominent and features a wah peddle effect on it. I feel like this is the better tune of the "Free Four" single even though it was only featured as the b-side. I know that "Free Four" was more single sounding, but the loveliness of "Stay" just blows my mind, especially as it is not a well know song.

The closing track "Absolutely Curtains" is one of the most experimental songs on the record and the longest, at 6 minutes long (which is weird for a band used to doing 23 minute epics). The song opens with some soft piano and synthesizer notes as cymbals crash in, creating a dramatic effect. There is no definite tune, but rather just a free floating melody on the keyboards. Eventually, the instrumental fades out as a chant from the tribe in the film comes in. It is a very odd ending to the album, but gives a sense of completeness.

This album is not nearly my favorite album, but does include a few memorable tracks. My major gripe about this album is how short the tracks are. As I said earlier, I know that they had to fit within certain time limits of the scenes in the film, but the short time limits don't give the tunes much room to breathe, which makes things very repetitious and uninteresting at times. I give Obscured by Clouds a 7 out of 10.

The track "Stay" from this album:

Pink Floyd- Meddle

Question: What can a band do once it has become known as a pioneer of progressive rock?

Answer: Become more progressive!

As silly as that question and answer may sound, it is true, or at least it should be. For Pink Floyd it most certainly was. After releasing their 1970 album Atom Heart Mother, which climbed to number 1 on the UK charts, they were unsure of what to do next. They booked time in Abbey Road Studios in early 1971 to start writing for the next album and eventually ended up with several short ideas called "Nothings" of which were mostly just jammed songs. Finally, though, songs began coming together and Pink Floyd created one of their finest albums to date: Meddle.

Meddle, released in late 1971, is one of the most musically diverse albums for Pink Floyd. There is, as with their previous album, a side long epic, which was smartly put on side 2 so that it did not scare away the casual listeners. Also, there are several acoustic tunes and also a very energetic opening track that is one of the most memorable instrumentals in progressive rock's history. 

The opener "One of These Days" contains energy unlike any other Pink Floyd song. Its primary instrument is the bass- actually two basses played by primary bassist Roger Waters and one by lead guitarist and vocalist David Gilmour. They play a fast one note riff repeatedly with faded in keyboard effects over the top after the sound of rushing wind is heard at the beginning. The cymbals roll in a couple of times which build up to nothing until, after a bass solo of sorts, a deep and slow voices threatens "One of these days, I'm going to cut you into little pieces" after which the drums and full band come in full force. Gilmour plays a guitar solo and a slide solo at the same time by multi-tracking while the whole band plays powerfully. This, along with "Echoes", are, for some strange reason, the only two tracks that most people care about on the album even though the middle songs are very well written as well.

The second song, "A Pillow of Winds" is a soft acoustic song written by Roger Waters that transfers out of "One of These Days" by the sound of wind. Although the song sounds like a regular Floyd tune, the lyrics are about something uncharacteristic of Waters: love. The song stays low key most of the time and David Gilmour's vocals sing sweetly over the top. The piece is a drastic difference from the opener, but pave the way for the rest of the first side of the album. I like the song a lot because it changes quite dramatically from a major key to a minor key by the end of the song.

The third track, "Fearless", is another favorite of mine. In all reality, I enjoy all of the songs on this record and I listen to them pretty much equally. The song is based off of a guitar riff in the key of G that climbs until it reaches the next octave G which is simple, but brilliant. Throughout the song and at the end especially, there is a recording of soccer fans chanting the tune "You'll Never Walk Alone" which is weird to hear, but adds to the point of the song.

The fourth track, sung and written by Roger Waters, is "San Tropez". It is a very catchy song, with acoustic guitars, drums, bass, and standard piano which keeps things simple yet nice. Although this track is often overlooked, it is a personal favorite of mine. Gilmour plays a slide guitar after the first verse and Wright plays a piano solo over the second which is nice seeing as Rick doesn't have many big moments to showcase his incredible skill on this record. For a band who is very experimental and progressive, this jazzier feel is very unusual to hear, but extremely nice to hear.

This song is followed by the side closer and joke track "Seamus". It is a standard blues song about a dog with the dog barking over top. Now this isn't really a memorable track per say, but it's nice to see that the band doesn't take themselves too seriously.

The second side of the record is dominated by the epic 23 minute piece "Echoes". This track remains as my favorite track by Pink Floyd because of the musicianship and the tightness of the work. It opens up with a single note played by Rick Wright on his keyboard which is played through a rotating Leslie Cabinet. Gradually, more instruments appear, with Gilmour playing a short guitar and bluesy guitar solo followed by Nick Mason coming in with the drums in a way which I can only describe as sounding like it's being sucked into a vortex, similar to how they would use the drums in "Sheep" off of Animals. After the end of the guitar solo, a beautifully harmony performed by Rick Wright and David Gilmour in the verse. This is followed by a very iconic riff, as it was reportedly stolen by Andrew Lloyd Webber for his soundtrack to The Phantom of the Opera. Even it was stolen, I don't blame him because it is an ingenious riff that I love to play. Another verse comes after and goes into a short guitar solo playing over the verse chords with Rick's synths becoming more prominent. After revisiting, the main riff once more, with Nick Mason pounding away at the drums, a jam section comes. The drums are playing in a locked groove that seem almost to say "don't even try to break this away." The bass plays along in a two note pattern which is also locked in with some improvisation here and there. Rick's organ comes in and plays along with the chords and adds in some solos making it even more jammy. David Gilmour and Rick Wright seem to take turns soloing with Gilmour taking a few bars and then Wright taking a few. This whole section is lovely and reminds me of the "Funky Dung" section of "Atom Heart Mother". All of this fades out eventually into the sounds of seagulls, imitated by Gilmour by messing with the cables of his wah peddle, and the sound of wind, created by Waters playing his bass with a slide and putting it through an echo system. This whole section would make a good soundtrack to a scary movie going down a dark wooded street at night. This is followed by a reprise of Rick Wright's high pitched "Submarine Sound" that is heard at the opening of the track. Gradually all of the band comes back in, building up with a very dramatic chord sequence until it finally leads into the final verse. The harmony of Wright and Gilmour is again so beautiful. The main riff is played again and then the whole band plays the verse melody with a guitar solo over top which cross fades into the wind sound heard at the opening of the whole record which gives the album a bookend feel. This piece is so well put together and intricate and so awesome- it's hard to even put in words! Pink Floyd really showed just how far they could go with this one, and it shows in their musicianship especially. 

This album is one of my all time favorite albums for sure. Although, Seamus can be kind of annoying, I'm glad they included it because it shows the fun side of Pink Floyd. I give Meddle a 10 out of 10.

A live version of "One of These Days" from their live film Live In Pompeii: