Any Pink Floyd Historians?

first off roger waters was a founding member of the band (named for bluesmen pink anderson and floyd counsil) but the guiding force and chief song writer was syd barrett before he went off the deep end so to speak; his escapes are legendary and well worth reading about. Their first album "piper at the gates of the dawn" is well worth a listen. Syd was eventually replaced by david gilmour.

the next four albums or so were collabortive efforts within the band members and while further success was elusive to the band they did well touring but made no money due to their elaborate stage shows for the time.

Other recordings that may be worth listening to from this period would be "obscured by clouds" and "meddle".

After this point in time came roger's dominance in the band and he became chief songwriter and developed their concept albums starting with "DSOTM".

The band always states that when they were recording "Shine on you crazy diamond", about syd barrett, for the "WYWH" that this fat balding man was in the studio that nobody recognized at first and then became apparent to the band that it was syd.

after "final cut" the band broke up due to all the infighting and when david and nick got together to record "momentary lapse..." (richard was just a session player on the album) roger sued them for using the pink floyd name and even though rogers album have been far superior to the reformed pink floyd's efforts people ( the masses who could not name a band member) purchase the name pink floyd based on reputation and not roger waters albums even though the songs and albums these people know are rogers creations.

If you want to read up on the band go to your local borders or barnes and noble and sit in chair and check out their coffee table book that is described on the cover as a visual documentary by miles. It covers the band in great detail from its before they were pink floyd.

I would recommend a reading of "Saucerful of Secrets" by Nicholas Schaffner published by Delta in 1991. Much is spent on the band's genesis including their early years while Syd was still active with the band. My personal favorites are: Pre Dark Side: "Umma Gumma" and post: "Wish You Were Here". "Meddle" really is the turning point LP in which the idea of album as concept began to gel for them.

Roger Waters works (with the exception of the bloated "Wall" stuff, IMHO), are still more representative of The Floyd's work, than the last iteration of the group. Despite the negative press, "Final Cut" has some very good things about it. "Amused To Death" is excellent. I saw the "In the Flesh" tour a couple of years ago and was more impressed with that than the several post-Waters PF shows I've witnessed.

Before DSOTM, Pink Floyd offered listening heads a kind of music that required no foot tapping. Piper at the Gates and Saucerful of Secrets feature some awesome cuts. They do however lack that consistent, cut from the same cloth, feel. Atom Heart Mother and Umma Gumma are terrific concept albums. Parts of Umma Gumma are so heavy your neighbors today will wonder what the heck is going on over there. More and Obscured by Clouds are good listens but lack coherence. For me, Meddle was the last genuine PF album. One side is a conglomeration of cuts but the Echoes side is concept thru and thru. The whole album makes a nice ending to their experimental career.

DSOTM marks PF's sellout into commercialism and the abandonment of humor. The grooving in a cave, psychedelic breakfast, and ridiculous howling dog give way to a polished smugness and the sarcasm trap. It's still head music all the way and much more accessible to the average black clad goth, closet nihilist or workaday joe wannabe. Something for everyone! Enjoy your discoveries.

Thanks for the excellent info so far!

Rockvirgo -- Sounds like I will have to spend some time with Meddle.....while Slipknots point of the Wall as "bloated" is not hard to see, you must be a real traditionalist to suggest DSOTM was the sell out?!?

Further to my questions on greed and capitalism, does anyone have a view on Pink Floyd (Roger Water's?) politics?

Just get all the early albums, starting with the first one, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, and going all the way to DSOTM. You won't be sorry. That is their best material. They've all been mentioned above. Some is classic, some is bizarre. It's all Pink Floyd at their peak.