Is there anybody out there? One of the best concerts I have ever been to was seeing Roger Waters perform The Wall live in it’s entirety. It was fashioned after the old Pink Floyd shows, with the building of the wall between the band and the audience during the first half, before ultimately blasting it apart during the end of “The Trial.” At the end of the show, Waters addressed the audience, saying that when he wrote the album he…
Animals is Pink Floyd’s darkest and most bitter album, narrowing the entire human race into three classes, conniving, insincere and aggressive businessmen (“Dogs”), the hypocritical, greedy and callous upper class and government (“Pigs”) and meek, obedient and dim peasants (“Sheep”). Jeez, which one do you think you are? The album is loosely based on George Orwell’s Animal Farm, released in 1945. However, Animal Farm is a critique of communism and Stalinism, while Animals is a strong critique of capitalism. Pigs…
Wish You Were Here may not be as well known as the massive, globally successful Dark Side of the Moon, but it may be Floyd at their absolute peak. After breaking from their normal song structure on Dark Side, Floyd returned a bit to the style of their previous works, designing longer and experimental songs. It took awhile for the album to come together as the band was completely drained from the success of Dark Side and the touring that…
It starts with silence, like someone forgot to press the right button. But then here it comes slowly, a heartbeat. And it’s just a heartbeat for a short time, growing louder, a constant thumping coming through the speakers. Soon there’s a swooshing, then a chatter like noise, then some light, almost indistinguishable talking complemented by what sounds like the laughter from an insane asylum. Finally, there’s a woman’s voice that sounds like she’s screaming like a newborn. It builds and…
I think the first time I ever listened to Pink Floyd was when I was in junior high. I had started to discover my parent’s classic rock collection, and was regularly spinning their Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith and Lynyrd Skynyrd records. I don’t know if they had Dark Side of the Moon on vinyl, but I remember listening to it on CD. I remember it being a very good and enjoyable record, but at the time, I was a Zeppelin fanatic,…