Jueves 18 de Agosto, 2005.
Hola a todos:
Pues hoy ya fui a trabajar pero al saber que he estado enferma, que por cierto, ya me siento mejor, gracias a todos :o), me enviaron temprano a casa, así que para las 4:30 ya estaba aquí :o)
Aproveché el tiempo para hacer investigación, buscando enciclopedias de rock y la que yo considero la mejor, o cuando menos de las que yo conozco, una llamada "The Harmony Encyclopedia of Rock Salamander Press LTD", no parece existir en línea :o(
Aunque encontré otra, la llamada: "New Gibraltar Encyclopedia of Prgogressive Rock PH-PL ", de la cual quiero incluir un extracto referente a Pink Floyd:
Pink Floyd [UK]
Updated 6/18/01
| Discography |
| The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (67) A Saucerful of Secrets (68) More (69) Ummagumma (69) Atom Heart Mother (70) Relics (71) Meddle (71) Obscured by Clouds (72) The Dark Side of the Moon (73) A Nice Pair (73, first two albums repackaged) Wish You Were Here (75) Animals (77) The Wall (79) A Collection of Great Dance Songs (81, Compilation) The Final Cut (83) Works (83, Compilation of early material) A Momentary Lapse of Reason (87) A Delicate Sound of Thunder (89, Live) Shine On (92, boxed set) The Division Bell (94) Pulse (96, Live) Is There Anybody Out There? (00, The Wall Live, recorded in 1980-81) |
| Reviews |
 Pink Floyd, 1968 - I think it's Rick Wright, Roger Waters, Nick Mason and Syd Barrett Pink Floyd is probably the most well-known psychedelic band, although most of their output can't really be considered psychedelic. Their music is, by turns, surrealistic, lush, rockin', avant-garde, quirky, mellow, abstract. The original lineup featured Syd Barrett on guitar, Rick Wright on keyboards, Roger Waters on bass, and Nick Mason on drums. After the first album, Barrett's drug use rendered him into a state of total disfunctionality. The others recruited David Gilmour to reinforce the band, to give them a reliable guitarist. After a short time in a five-piece Pink Floyd, Barrett left. Later, during the 70's, Roger Waters gradually began asserting more dominance over the band. By the time The Wall was being recorded, Waters was ruling with such a heavy hand that the album is sometimes spoken of as one a solo album; Gilmour had to fight tooth-and-nail to be allowed to co-write a handful of songs. Wright was gone for The Final Cut; depending on which story you believe, Waters fired him; or feeling completely stifled, Wright quit. At any rate, it wasn't long before the others got fed up with Waters, and it became impossible for the band to work together any more. Amid much fighting and unseemly insults and contemptuous remarks about each other in the press, Waters and Gilmour came to a parting of the ways. Gilmour, having ended up with the legal rights to the name Pink Floyd, continued with Mason and the returning Wright under the name (much to Waters' displeasure). Since each album is distinctly different, I'll offer what I hope will be brief comments about each one: The Piper at the Gates of Dawn - Nice, dreamy, surrealistic, storybookish, childlike (but not childish) type stuff. Syd Barrett was the band's leader for this one, and it has a distinctively different touch from anything that followed. A Saucerful of Secrets - Barrett's gone now. This music continues in sort of the same vein, but harder-edged. The showcase of the album is the title cut, a sort-of avant-garde type piece everyone needs to hear. Ummagumma - A two-record set. The first record consists of live performances, all of which are, in my opinion, improvements over the studio versions. The guys stretch out with some psychedelic jams. The second record gives each member of the band a half-side to do anything he wants, all by himself. Kind of interesting to see what they did--some of it's pretty off-the-wall stuff, especially Waters' "Several Small Species..." - but the live record is what justifies the album. Soundtrack to More (not sure of date, but pretty sure it belongs here). Something a completist would want, but the casual listener could put it at the bottom of his music-to-buy list. Atom Heart Mother -- the title track is a side-long suite, complete with orchestra, a bluesey guitar solo, electronic effects, a section that could only be described as (and I know how ridiculous this sounds) a choir scat-singing, and ... well, the kitchen sink. In terms of pure inventiveness, probably their standout piece. Meddle - Another side-long epic, "Echoes." It's not the large-scale composition the AHM Suite is; rather, "Echoes" is more like an extended song: intro, two verses, bridge with solos, third verse, and they're off to lunch. The other side is mostly accoustic-type stuff, very nicely done, and also contains the rather intense "One of these Days." Obscured by Clouds - See comments for More; however, this album would be slightly higher on your list. Dark Side of the Moon - I suppose this is the "turning point" Floyd album. Waters' domination over the band began to really kick in here. For the first time, we see a whole albums' worth of lyrics that show a sad, cynical outlook on the world. Fortunately, Waters still had some poetry in him at this point, and the music itself is gorgeous. Wish You Were Here - Their tribute to Syd Barrett. Poignant, even sad, this album captures in its lyrics and music the sense of life's quiet tragedies. The only negative thing is that there are a couple places where the music seems to ramble on a bit too long. If not for that, I could almost consider this a perfect album. Animals - In my opinion, their most "progressive" album. What I particularly like about this one is that Waters and Co. managed to get some fascinating, innovative, evocative music recorded without doing anything that was truly weird. (Oh, yeah, some barking dogs. Big deal.) Weird is okay, actually, but to get the same effect without weirdness is a major accomplishment. The poetry I mentioned that Waters had in him four years earlier is now wearing thin; the metaphor of people-as-animals isn't exactly fresh. And he puts the idea across with "the subtle touch of the sledge hammer," as some of my writer friends sometimes say. What saves the album, lyrically, is that this idea just happens to be one that's possibly better off treated this way. The Wall - Overblown, self-pitying "World War II was a world-wide conspiracy to deprive me of my father' BS. This is not to belittle the tragedies of war and/or the loss of fathers. It can make for compelling subject matter. But notice I said "can." Any subject matter, no matter how important or compellingly tragic, can be given a treatment that would make even the most indulgent listener want to slap the songwriter around and shout, "WHO CARES???" To be honest, I don't see much effort on Waters' part to actually write lyrics; many of the songs seem not to be much more than notes for an autobiographical story or an essay. To be fair, though, it does have some nice moments--mostly on the songs Gilmour co-wrote - but I can't imagine listening to all four sides at once. The Final Cut - more of The Wall, only not as interesting. Wake me when it's over. A Momentary Lapse of Reason - Waters is gone now, leaving the leadership role to Gilmour. This album has some nice Pink Floyd style pop music, which puts it ahead of most of what you hear on the radio. Unfortunately, many of us who were seriously into the band in the mid-70's or earlier have to just shake our heads and mutter, "Surely they can do better than this.." Delicate Sound of Thunder - The live album from the Momentary Lapse tour. I didn't bother with it. |
| The Division Bell shows little recovery from the Momentary Lapse decline and is of little interest to those not in the grip of the Floydian dogma. |
| OK, then, count me as one of those "in the grip of Floydian dogma". Although I do like the early and mid-era Floyd the best, Momentary Lapse of Reason has its charms, particularly "Learning to Fly" and "The Dogs of War", which I think are as interesting as anything on Dark Side of the Moon. But then I'm a sucker for Gilmour's guitar solos. And just look at what it lacks ... namely Roger Waters' angst-filled lyrics about the death of his father in WWII. I loved The Wall, and I have no trouble sitting thru all four sides at once when I listen to it, but really, did we need another dose of this same Watery angst in The Final Cut? The Division Bell does have a fair number of yawners on it, but "Keep Talking" and "What Do You Want From Me?" are vintage Floyd style, and these two songs alone are worth the price of admission. It was also an incredible tour they gave for this album, and recorded for Pulse resurrecting some of my favorite old stuff, including really old stuff like "Astronomy Domine". And, how can you not love all of Dark Side performed live, in the same order as the album? I wish they would do another new CD ... I guess they aren't poor enough yet. Personally, I hope to hear from these guys again. -- Fred Trafton |
| Links |
| [See Barrett, Syd | Wright, Richard] Click here for the official Pink Floyd page at Sony Records |
A ver si me sale bien ésto de los frames :D
Buenas tardes a todos.
Pd. Le hice unos pequeños cambios en la forma pero no en el fondo.
Desde la mente de Mirabai @ 6:44 p.m.
<< Home