The second Pink Floyd had its origins before Barrett joined, and then reached full pretentious flower after his departure this aggregation was one of the founders of progressive rock, a psychedelic, space-rock-y, quasi-improvisational ensemble it proffered a whole bunch of those multipart suites and played around with atonal bashings and funny sound effects in soi-disant psychedelic happenings in Swinging London, most of it of little or no aesthetic interest this many years on. The first was a goofy and absurdist pop-rock band, led by one Syd Barrett, whose contributions were limited basically to a couple of singles and one album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn more on him anon. “ Round and Around ,” A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987): To understand Pink Floyd, you have to understand that there are at least four, or arguably five, Pink Floyds. In its massive confusion, this accounting - which, whether we like it or not, hangs above our cultural world, as the band itself might have put it, motionless upon the air, like an albatross - is a testament to the good humor of the gods of rock, which now and again smile upon otherwise unemployable, gangly British nitwits.ġ65. The list that follows ranks all of the band’s officially released studio work, from the worst song to the best.
If you’re not familiar with Barrett’s tragic tale, read on. Few Pink Floyd fans can read those words, taken from a chapter heading of The Wind in the Willows by the band’s fey original leader, Syd Barrett, without a twinge of sadness. Much of the rest of it was filled by wildly veering musical approaches, big misfires, aesthetic excesses, pratfalls, and wide-ranging acts of buffoonery you wouldn’t find surprising in a This Is Spinal Tap outtake reel.Īnyway, this month marks the 50th anniversary of the band’s first album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Floyd recorded over a longer period, of course, but both groups have released about the same number of albums, and had about the same span of decades to sell their work to new generations - and in new configurations.Īnd yet … the band’s famous works were recorded over an extremely short period, in a recording career that has now stretched nearly to five decades. The upshot: Pink Floyd has sold more albums worldwide than the Beatles.
You can read his 51 pages of Pink Floyd sales data here. He obsessively collects worldwide sales data. Over the years, I’ve become extremely impressed with an amateur music-industry analyst who lives in France, Guillaume Vieira. The members of the band - Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Nick Mason, and Richard Wright - approached their work seriously and blew minds in the process.Īnd it’s possible this perennially popular band has had its popularity underestimated. Its mid-’70s sonic triumphs - including The Dark Side of the Moonand Wish You Were Here - are both aural delights and meaningful works of art whose message is conveyed through sound. Pink Floyd may be the only rock band that can credibly be compared to both the Beatles and Spinal Tap.
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