The Pink Floyd Journey
Posted by: SNAIC in the Grass on 06 June 2016
Hello,
After Kevin bought a few of the older Pink Floyd vinyl I realized there were many Pink Floyd albums I'd never really sat down and listened to, then I proceeded to get on Spotify and start at the beginning. What a Journey!
Seems there were (at least) three distinct eras in the PF history:
- With Syd
- Recently without Syd, addition of Gilmour
- Modern Sound
Growing up I have listed to #3 so much I actually can't stand to hear most of it now, played over and over--the radio stations in the US didn't help with this. The very first record I remember was a 45 single of "Another Brick in the Wall", and did I wear that out when I was 8 years old. Heard "Comfortably Numb" so many times I hate it now unfortunately. Obviously great stuff though, just listened to all of it too much for one lifetime I think.
Listening to the first couple of albums I was not really enamored by them, but boy the middle era (2) is where I really found what I was looking for. It was not as polished as the 3rd era stuff, and not as much random noise and incoherence as the 1st era...mellow, and pleasing, with lyrics that claw at this mid-life crisis bloke's heart. You can really hear the modern Pink Floyd sound build through the albums, and by Meddle its there in full. Meddle was released in 1971, the year I was born.
My favorites: More, Atom Heart Mother, Obscured by Clouds. I have just received the heavyweight remaster of More, and will be working on the others. "The Nile Song" is a real treat to me, and does *not* sound right on digital, but on Vinyl is great. The entire album is *incredible* on vinyl! Another one I'm fond of is "Fat Old Sun." As a new found friend of Jazz, I'm amazed by "Up the Khyber" which has a real Jazz feel to it.
Lastly, no band can make that "grand" (sound as I'll call it) like Pink Floyd--you know the one where it sounds like you have just jumped off a mountain in a hang-glider and can see the world below you...floating; that grand sound. Not sure how to explain it, but its in many of their songs...all of a sudden just a euphoric, smooth, other worldly sound that seems like it couldn't get more amazing, but it does, and they are able to find many variations on it. Its a feature of Pink Floyd, and I've never quite heard any band that does this particular thing.
Cheers
SITG
Kevin-W posted:SNAIC in the Grass posted:Wondering if Atom Heart Mother and Obscured by Clouds are going to be re-released...
Found them on Discogs, but many are "unnoficial" colored vinyl. Anyone have any idea how these would sound?
Yes they are, in July.
Oh goody, it's going to be a good summer. 
SNAIC in the Grass posted:
Lastly, no band can make that "grand" (sound as I'll call it) like Pink Floyd--you know the one where it sounds like you have just jumped off a mountain in a hang-glider and can see the world below you...floating; that grand sound. Not sure how to explain it, but its in many of their songs...all of a sudden just a euphoric, smooth, other worldly sound that seems like it couldn't get more amazing, but it does, and they are able to find many variations on it. Its a feature of Pink Floyd, and I've never quite heard any band that does this particular thing.
You'll find that same euphoric, otherworldly sound on Nils Petter Molvaer's album 'Khmer'. Every time I listen to it, I can't help but think that this is what Pink Floyd's music might have evolved into.
SNAIC in the Grass posted:Kevin-W posted:SNAIC in the Grass posted:Wondering if Atom Heart Mother and Obscured by Clouds are going to be re-released...
Found them on Discogs, but many are "unnoficial" colored vinyl. Anyone have any idea how these would sound?
Yes they are, in July.
LIES!
Ha! I know - pushed back to September now I think, maybe even further...