Three phases: SYD, psychedelic, and ROGER (leaving out the 1987- reunion). The band formed in the late 60s amidst the art colleges of London. Syd Barrett (guitar/vocals); Roger Waters (bass/vocals); Rick Wright (keyboard); and Nick Mason (drums).
SYD (Syd Barrett) is basically Piper at the Gates of Dawn (the first album) - 2/3 whimsical poetry ("Lucifer Sam", "The Gnome" and "Bike") and 1/3 heavy duty psychedelic chaos - "Astronomy Domine" and "Interstellar Overdrive". Syd was the band’s inspiration, its creative genius and primary songwriter. They became the house band for the London Underground, a series of LSD parties modelled after the Acid Tests in California at the time (organized by Ken "One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest" Kesey, and for which the house band was the Grateful Dead). Unfortunately, after being such an important creative talent and muse for the band, Syd overdosed on LSD, fried his brain, and went downhill from there. The band had to replace him with David Gilmour - his own school friend - and to this day, Syd resides in self-imposed seclusion in Cambridge, out of contact not only with the general public, his fans, but also the other band members.
Next phase - psychedelic. The band collectively collaborates with no real leader, and Gilmour easily fills the void left by Barrett. Saucerful of Secrets, Atom Heart Mother, Ummagumma, Relics (with "Careful With That Axe, Eugene" and "Julia Dream"), More (soundtrack), Obscured By Clouds, and finally Meddle, with its 23 minute "Echoes". Long, drawn out epics, lots of keyboards from Wright, off into the stratosphere, but with enough winding blues guitar from Gilmour to keep it interesting and dynamic. As Mason put it, "the record company had NO IDEA what we were doing." This phase is spectacularly illustrated by "Live at Pompeii", a movie which is mandatory viewing for all true Pink Floyd fans. Not some run of the mill concert footage, but the band playing by themselves amidst the ruins of Pompeii, with Mt Vesuvius providing ample special effects. A great bonus are the interviews with Waters, Gilmour and Mason. These are not inarticulate "barbarians" like Pantera or Ozzy Osbourne. Waters' arrogance is worth the price of admission.
ROGER phase. Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals, The Wall and The Final Cut. Roger Waters takes over and the band takes off commercially. Psychedelia disappears, replaced by more conventional (and much shorter) songs. Dark Side of the Moon ranked in the Guiness Book of Worlds Records as the album to remain in the top 100 for the longest time. The recent 30th anniversary quad (!!!!) version is a steal at $14 and makes an incredible masterpiece even better. "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" (their tribute to Syd) anchors Wish You Were Here, "Dogs" gives Animals its bite with fantastically cynical lyrics and razor sharp blues guitar from Gilmour, and of course there's THE WALL. Even after OD'ing on the movie in college - seeing it in the theaters whenever it showed and buying it on VHS - I still watch it from time to time (now on DVD). And finally, "Everyone thinks of Pros and Cons as Roger's first solo album, but as far as I'm concerned The Final Cut fills that role." (Gilmour). All this material is far more radio-friendly and accessible, yet for all its commercial viability, it has enough quality, talent and integrity to merit its success. Does high quality = sellout? Listen to this material and decide for yourself.
Postscript 4/8/06. I got David Gilmour's new solo album On An Island and read some very recent interviews with him about the album and about the Live8 reunion. According to Gilmour, Waters and the other two are fine with reforming the band; it's Gilmour who doesn't want to reform the band. He's happy with his current life and working on his solo material. While the mutual antipathy appears to be gone, Gilmour has found a place where he wants to be, and it's not Pink Floyd. Incidentally, the album is very good, and chances are most Floyd fans would enjoy it, but I found it a bit too much on the easy-listening side for me. Gilmour has mellowed out considerably – too much, for my liking.
Postscript 7/11/06. Syd died in Cambridge, without ever having emerged from his self-imposed seclusion for all these years.
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