Pink Floyd - "The Endless River" -- New Release October 2014 (Part Two)

Agreed. I'm somewhat surprised that Waters hasn't at least once tried his hand at a solo album that isn't principally concerned with political/moral issues, and just turned his penetrating insight back to the human condition and universal themes. Perhaps he thinks he's been walking a straight path all along, but it does seem there is a sort of disconnect between his lyrics before and after The Wall. Who knows, perhaps his next solo effort (if there is one) will reflect a more laid-back attitude.

 

Unfortunately, I think the general public considers "The Wall" to be the sound of Pink Floyd. To me, that's the most "un-Floyd" music of their entire catalog and sounds like nothing that came before it. For me, AMLOR and especially TDB, sound more like classic Floyd of the '69-'75 period. Pink Floyd is second only to The Beatles for me, but I can't remember the last time I listened to The Wall all the way through. It was cool when I was young and angry, but now it just leaves me cold. It is the one Floyd album I can do without. I am very much looking forward to hearing The Endless River BECAUSE Waters isn't involved.

 

There's actually a promo video for this track as well:

 

It's funny I read this quite a lot (especially with TDB) but I just don't hear it at all in any way.
(not a criticism of you BTW)

 

When The Wall first dropped, I considered it to be a complete break from the sound of the previous albums, but over time I've come to see how it fits. The biggest difference in its sound (apart from obvious tangents like "The Trial") is the fact that it's so packed with Roger's vocal performances and not Dave's. Musically, "Run Like Hell" sounds like it could be on Animals, "Goodbye Blue Sky" could be a leftover from More, "Another Brick In The Wall Pt. 2", at least instrumentally, sounds related to "Welcome To The Machine", there's a lot of sonic continuity there.

 

I thought DB had vibes more similar to that 69-75 period and AMLOR similar to the Wall (mostly because of guitar work and Bob Erzin layered production).

 

I share a lot of your reservations about The Wall. Like you, I enjoyed as a teenager but now find it to be pretty bombastic and heavy handed, an unfortunate turning point for the band (despite some great moments). I can almost understand why some fans regard AMLOR/DB as kind of a return to their classic sound, but somehow AMLOR always feels like a put on to me. I think I would have enjoyed it more if it were simply a Gilmour album without these contrived attempts to make it sound more conspicuously Floydy (like the opening track with all of the sound affects, which just feels pointless to me). The 80's production doesn't help much either. Naturally, Division Bell feels like a more organic group effort, but even there it feels like something is missing to me. I think that Roger added an essential edge to the proceedings.

 

Don't get me wrong, I love Roger Waters, but I just don't think there is a current common ground between his music since leaving the band and what they've done since he left. I personally feel that new music from them together would be like oil and water... spacey and serene on one side, anger and vitriol on the other, coming together into something that would be fighting against itself and just wouldn't work.

 

I would assume that in the unlikely event that Floyd and Waters (sounds like a law firm, don't it?) were to get back together, especially on this kind of project, it would not be a return to the Waters-dominated concept album but just him playing bass/singing/constructing sound collage etc. That's what I would welcome, and I would not expect that after all this time and all that has gone on between them that Waters would insist on sitting in the captain's chair again. Now, maybe he's incapable of stepping back at this point, who knows, but I don't think anyone's saying, "Roger should come back and completely dominate everything again make 'No, Really, This Time It's The Final, Cut.'"

 

Thankfully Waters is not involved. If only he had left sooner! Perhaps after DSOTM or WYWH.

 

Why stop there? Maybe he should have left after Saucerful! Maybe after Piper! "Arnold Layne"! "King Bee"! MAYBE HE SHOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN BORN!!!

 

Yeah, then we could have gotten all the soaring guitar solos and keyboard atmospherics without all those dumb songs getting the way!

 

I mostly just listen to my own edits for this reason

 

Sounds great. Sounds like a David Gilmour solo album. Exactly what I like. I prefer his song writing.

 

I actually thought Roger Waters had no talent at all until I heard "The Wall" demos included with the Immersion set. Given his track record: "Take Up Thy Stethoscope...", "If", "Several Species...". His good songs were few "Cymbaline" and the bass playing not so hot. My opinion of his work changed with the Immersion set of "The Wall". He actually can play and write when he wants to do so. So, I won't be so hard on him...although I found Radio KAOS unlistenable.

 

But then we would have never had the pleasure of The Final Cut.

 

Cymbaline is a great song. It reminds me of Seattle in summer for some reason.

 

I think that Gilmour has good ideas but he's not a great songwriter on his own. He often needs strong collaborators to make the material more memorable. Lovely guitar solos alone don't cut it for me. But then to be fair, I don't really enjoy Roger all by himself either. I still maintain that Pink Floyd was at its best when it was more of a democracy.

 

First of all Pink Floyd always changed their sound while they were a four-piece. "Atom Heart Mother" had nothing in common with "The Piper". And "Dark Side" was again a very different band. Never forget, that "The Wall" was the first album after a huge creative gap. The Animals - songs dated from the "Wish you were here" - times. And unlike all albums before, which were tested live before a studio recording they used a different approach for "The Wall". What I find interesting is, that after "The Wall" both Waters and the band seemed to have found their definite sound and never ever experimented as they used to do before.

 

I care less about songs and more about the playing these days. Often the song could just be a launching point for some beautiful musicianship. That said I still like Gilmour's songs but it is always the performance that does it for me. It doesn't matter if David plays his own songs or someone else's, he always plays and sings beautifully. Can't say the same about the other guy.

 

Sure, they changed all the time, and The Wall was a big change. I'm just pointing out that there is some continuity in their work.

I would say that the Floyd sound became pretty "fixed" after DSOTM. Perhaps that's why they initially tried the Household Objects project - they knew that two paths were open to them - embrace the professionalism or tear everything down and start over.

 

Probably "Lost Boys Calling" from The Legend of 1900 soundtrack. This came out in 1999. (And this is NOT his demo version on Flickering Flame!)

 

I've never heard this song. Whether Roger sings or "speaks" his voice gives me chills (in a Neil Young/Tom Waits way). Gilmour's voice gives me thrills. Can't seem to understand why you have to choose one over the other. Viva la difference!

 

True, and I think it's sad that during The Wall sessions, Roger was supposedly upset about the others not pulling their weight, perhaps not realizing that back when they were pulling their weight, it wasn't entirely in service of his vision. But that's what was going on at the time, and according to the story as I've heard it, they ended up picking from Roger's bin because nobody else had anything.

 

There are some bands where the songs are almost secondary to me, like with a lot of progressive rock. King Crimson is a great example--the songs work almost more like springboards into the instrumental interaction. I don't quite put Pink Floyd in that group though. As talented as they were, I don't think they were quite the same class of musicians overall, so I wouldn't necessarily want to hear them just jamming endlessly all the time (which I gather is what we'll be getting with the new album!). In their case, I think it all gelled better when they had a more solid foundation in the songwriting department and then they could add those instrumental flourishes on top, or else using the instrumental bits as interludes between the songs.

Both Gilmour and Wright made their solo debuts in '78, so maybe they were a little short on fresh ideas there, whereas Roger was funneling all of his ideas into the band. Or maybe after Animals, they felt like Roger wasn't as receptive to their ideas as he used to be, so they were more comfortable fleshing them out on their own.