Probably every song on this album has special relevence for an XJW . . . this one's no exception.
True Pink Floyd Fans Only...(ok everyone is invited)
by charlie brown jr. 96 Replies latest social entertainment
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Sic Semper Tyrannis
I feel sorry for anyone who thinks Pink Floyd is Momentary Lapse of Reason and The Division Bell. Like Roger said, all gravy and no meat. Both are a forced and hideous attempt at combining typically Floyd keyboard and guitar riffs with an 80's style beat, and putting meaningless lyrics and vocals on top of them. David Gilmour is a talented guitarist, and a half way decent singer, but he definitely can't carry an album. I listened to his "On An Island", and it sounded like a movie soundtrack to a movie that doesn't exist. I was driving at the time and nearly fell asleep. The real Pink Floyd is the holy Quadrilogy of Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals, and The Wall. The Final Cut was a Waters solo album in all but name. Whereas I can pick up any of those albums and put them on regardless of my mood, I haven't listened to the Division Bell or Momentary Lapse since they were first released. It's a shame that David found himself forced to carry on the Floyd name in order to provide for a cozy retirement. He wasn't getting much of songwriter's royalties as Roger was, and realized that if he released a couple more albums under the Pink Floyd name with the huge tours that followed (and two completely pointless live albums and DVDs), he'd be mega-rich. I wish there was a way that David could have set himself up financially and not have to put the fans through nearly ten years of albums and tours which were completely forgettable. Even the tours he put on had no imagination or creative passion. He was just reusing and expanding on Roger's ideas for the tours. I went to Pink Floyd's Division Bell tour and I got what I expected. Later when I went to Roger's "In The Flesh" tour, I came out pleasantly surprised. The part on "Dogs" when he plays cards with the other guitarists and the back up singers during the instrumental break was a stroke of genius.
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TTWSYF
Loved the Floyd. Too bad that Water's ego ruined great chemistry. He wrote the words, but Gilmore has that sound that others wanted on their albums [Pete Townsend and Paul McCartney to name a couple] I do not know of anyone asking Roger Water's to play on their album, but I may be wrong.
Although Momentary lapse of reason was not the typical Floyd rock opera, it did set up a much better division bell. That is one of my favorites [just like the final cut]
just mho mind you.
dc
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Sic Semper Tyrannis
Roger Waters isn't the type of person who will collaborate on another person's album like David is. Even Roger admits that he's not the musician that David can claim to be. However, Roger was the creative spark for all of the Floyd's best work. He wrote all lyrics from Dark Side to Final Cut. In addition to that, look at the songwriting credits on the individual songs. On Dark Side, Roger is solely credited on Money, Brain Damage, and Eclipse, co-credited with Rick Wright on Us and Them, and with everyone else on Breathe and Time. While Roger is at very least co-credited with songwriting on virtually every song Dark Side to Final Cut, David can lay claim to co-writing credits only on the following songs:
- Breathe (with Roger and Rick)
- On The Run (with Roger)
- Time (with everyone)
- Any Colour You Like (with Nick and Rick)
- Shine On You Crazy Diamond (with Rick and Roger)
- Wish You Were Here (with Roger)
- Dogs (with Roger)
- Young Lust (with Roger)
- Comfortably Numb (with Roger)
- Run Like Hell (with Roger)
Everything else is Roger alone.
The Division Bell was indeed better than Momentary Lapse, but that was due in no small part to the fact that David let his wife write the lyrics while it allowed him to focus on the music. TDB is listenable and radio friendly, but it didn't age too well. I can't think of any song on either album that I just have to have on my MP3 player. It remains as a product of the mid-Nineties, and not much else. I respect David Gilmour and his contributions as a guitarist, but for most of the Floyd's glory years, he was only an occasional songwriter.
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charlie brown jr.
I agree Waters was the Heart and Breath of Floyd..........
Even his Solo work..... Wasn't a Floyd Copy... it was Waters being Waters!
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Sic Semper Tyrannis
I don't mean to keep dumping on Gilmour, but what he did with the band still irritates me. For those not too familiar with the inner workings of Pink Floyd, let me offer you an analogy:
Imagine if Paul McCartney, in the mid-70's, took Wings, added Ringo as the drummer, and released two albums as "The Beatles" which sounded vaguely like something out of Revolver and Rubber Soul, and went on and on in interviews about how he brought "The Beatles" back to their glory days. And all this while John Lennon was still alive. That's pretty much what Gilmour did. The fact that he had to nerve to call that "Pink Floyd" bugs the shit out of me.
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charlie brown jr.
I love David's Style... but I agree he butchered Floyd after the "Break up"
I heard he wrote songs for The New Floyd after Waters left and The Company said it didn't sound like Floyd ...
so they hired Studio Musicians .... Don't know if it's true...
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Sic Semper Tyrannis
That's true according to Nick Mason's book. He wrote some stuff, but they rejected it as not sounding a thing like Floyd. Nick Mason couldn't even drum anymore and they used the drum machine on most tracks, while Rick Wright was brought into the process too late for him to even do much. So it was basically David Gilmour and a bunch of session musicians who were trying desperately to mimic the Pink Floyd sound. And it worked for the most part since people knew the Pink Floyd name, and not the individual members of the band. They could have had four stand-ins and they would have sold both albums and tickets. As Roger Waters put it, "I'm competing against myself and losing". Just a really bad period for any real Pink Floyd fans. Newbies and posers couldn't taste the difference between Coke and Diet Coke.
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charlie brown jr.
Sic Semper Tyrannis..............
Nice to hear from a Real Fan......
I'm a Zep Head,
but in High School there was no better band than Floyd!
Everytime I felt Bummed or Depressed I listened to The Wall.............
Until 1994 when the MOST Depressing Album came out... Downward Sprial........
Yet The Wall........... Please !!! Seems like Yesterday when I heard Another Brick in The Wall for the first Time!!!!!
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flipper
I for one think that David Gilmour is one of the top guitarists among rockers still . I feel that " Division Bell " holds up quite well to ANYTHING Gilmour did with Roger Waters. I'm a bigger Gilmour fan than I am of Waters. Try this song out for size :