Endless River

My first listen did not impress.  BUT that was in the car, and no gapless playback.  I'm having a listen this morning at home, and it does hang together a much better with gapless playback.  "Background music" fits. 

Whilst I'm a huge Pink Floyd fan (by my own standards), my interest in the band does not exist pre-Meddle, or much at all post-The Wall.  That does color my review and opinions.

Downloaded the High-res version from Qobuz yesterday, and listening to it now for the first time.

Not my favourite Floyd album, but I do really like it. Well worth having in my opinion, and the high-res SQ is very good.

I seem to have downloaded a single video clip lasting around 5 min 30 secs (or is that all 6 clips) of very poor quality video. If that's all there is, the video content isn't worth having.

The 3 extra tracks are there, however.

All in all, a thumbs up from me - glad I bought it!

It's growing on me.  

Jan,

As I said in my previous post, I really like 'The Endless River', but your Avatar is a picture of my favourite Floyd album of them all. The band themselves may not particularly like it, but 'Atom Heart Mother' was the first Floyd album I bought while still at school, and it still has a special place in my record collection.

Parts of it remind me of the album DG did with the ORB!

Can't  get the feeling of Blade  Runner meets The Matrix out of my head. To say I'm disappointed is an understatement. RW is probably turning on his grave and thinking: WTF!

I can imagine Nick popping round Roger's for a nice cuppa, clutching the album and playing him "Louder Than Words", Rog hearing the lyrics and spitting out his tea before breaking his ribs in laughter.

Oh, yeh. Rog... Me old mucker. I could almost forgive him for not being part of this sorry somnambulistic exercise!

I was a devout fan of Pink Floyd from the very early 70s up until the split with Roger Waters. Dabbled with a few of the subsequent releases by both PF and RW, but kind of lost interest in their music for a while.

Got back into the later stuff in a big way some years ago & now really like quite a lot of the later stuff that hadn't grabbed me earlier. 

Strange how this release seems to have polarised fans - some obviously hate it, but I am now enjoying my 3rd play of the hi-res download version. I really like the album - even the extra tracks on the hi-res album like 'Nervana' which sound nothing at all like traditional Pink Floyd but are great fun.

I'm certainly not disappointed - my expectations were low, but this is way better than I had expected it to be.

Received the CD today, just giving it it's second playing. It reminds me of various traits from previous albums, classic Gilmore guitars though totally different style from Division Bell, Momentary Lapse of Reason, two albums I really love. I think its appreciation may grow with playing, we will see.

I love it.

2014 eh? - Kate Bush gives us the best gigs in the history of sound and Pink Floyd deliver very enjoyable new album. 

Keith

I caught DG being interviewed on the Simon Mayo Show this evening. He commented that as well as paying homage to the musical input of the late Richard Wright, the album echoes(!) and references some very early PF material. And so it does.

Not a bad way to bow out. I've really enjoyed the album straight through twice again this evening.

John.

I just ended my first listen on CD and have to say that I'm neither impressed nor disappointed. Had I not read reviews and known what was coming, I'd have been let down. I like my rock music with lyrics, and more vocal tracks would have helped here. Music is a part of the story, but words sung help transmit the mood and emotion of the song. I think the music captures the essence of Pink Floyd, even from their early more experimental sound, but it's also nice to hear a story. As for a swan-song, well it's no Abbey Road, but it's still a fitting swan-song and better than no final LP at all. Now we can all accept the end.

The packaging is quite nice for a $12 CD. I like the hardbound book structure, something rarely done, and enjoyed the inner photos. The front and back cover art are very good as well, and seem to fit the mood of the music. First I've seen a neoprene CD holder; will be interesting to see how it and the book binding hold up over time.

Gilmore's 'On an island' is the same book form with neoprene CD holder.

Ken

Ken,

Interesting bit of continuity. And thanks for the reminder on the Gilmour trilogy. That's one I have still have to get. I should give up hope of ever finding it affordably on vinyl and just order the CD. Maybe put it on the Xmas list . 

Cheers

My Endless River LP is still sitting in it's packaging. I've listened to the AutoRip on the MuSo and can't make up my mind whether I like it enough to open the vinyl. 

I listened to it a few times on Spotify and to my ears it's pretty poor, noodly, formless stuff. But then I never liked any of their albums after The Final Cut.

Lets put it this way, I won't be bothering to get a vynal version after playing the cd! Very disappointed!

I've been enjoying it. 

I missed used out on Pink Floyd first time around, but I've liked getting to know their catalogue over the past few years.

FWIW I think Wish You Were Here is better than DSOTM, and one of the best albums I've ever listened to. 

The only people who will be disappointed with this are those who expect a new Pink Floyd album to compete with their best work made 40 years ago. Anyone living in the real world will have expected very little and been pleasantly surprised.

Keith

Oh, you poor child. You really haven't a clue, have you?

Oh, dear! Keith, judging by your avatar you should have known better about living in the "real" world. 

KRM originally posted:

"The only people who will be disappointed with this are those who expect a new Pink Floyd album to compete with their best work made 40 years ago. Anyone living in the real world will have expected very little and been pleasantly surprised".

Keith,

Exactly how I feel about the album.

Actually, I can also remember buying DSOTM as a student when it first came out, and being disappointed that it wasn't a bit more like Atom Heart Mother or Meddle.

DSOTM did grow on me though - pretty quickly!.

H, I think Ummagumma is a better album than all of the above together.  Meddle only does for me on B side. DS, again, A side, stronger and lyrically more incisive. AHM lacks depth.  Their latest is not a proper record, is it? It must be getting expensive insuring those Ferraris. Lazy bar.....ds!

You misjudge my age, I didn't say I wasn't around, only that I missed out on them.