Pink Floyd... A history6649980

Following a modest good results as a psychedelic outfit in the 1960s beneath surreal wild man Syd Barret. Pink Floyd dumped him for guitarist David Gilmour  and went on to turn out to be 1 of the world's most prosperous bands ever, selling greater than 200m albums worldwide.

Their Dark Side Of The Moon  album was first to hit mega sales in 1973 followed by monster album hits with Wish You Were Here (1975), Animals (1977) and The Wall (1979). In 1986 singer Roger Waters declared the band finished even though the other people continued with out him and with considerable achievement. Waters then rejoined them for the 2005 Reside Help concert and there had been hopes of an album release, but in 2006 Gilmour suggested the band would no longer tour or develop records - so effectively dead then.

Pink Floyd's debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, with many of the songs by Syd Barret, is at this time regarded and 1 in the greatest examples of British psychedelia. The adhere to up album A Saucerful Of Secrets  consisted largely of noise, feedback, loud bangs, oscillators and tape loops and was a disaster. Wayward experiments in atonal, jarring, meandering pieces with extended percussion solos typified their output till the 70s once they ditched the 'psychedelic' nonsense for a extra mellow sound, polished performance and pieces of epic length.

This is the era many take into consideration the finest with two wonderful albums, The Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here. The first was a watershed providing them their 1st major break inside the US staying #1 for an unbelievable planet record breaking 741 weeks, the other the primary Pink Floyd album to reach #1 in UK and US charts.

Within the late 70s, jazzy keyboard and sax lines were dropped as the band turned additional 'orchestral' and moans grew at the pretentious lyrics and tediously long songs. The criticism was stemmed party by the release in the rock opera The Wall in 1982 which sold over 30 million copies globally, became the third-best selling album of all time in the US and presently certified 23x platinum even though it only ever created #3 inside the UK.

A film Pink Floyd: The Wall grossed $14m in the US. Within the wake of such acclaim the band did what most bands do when fame reaches astronomical levels - they went their separate means. Gilmour and Waters released solo albums and other opted for collaborations with other artists.

In 1986 Walters announced he was quitting the band prompting a bitter legal wrangle over the Pink Floyd name and song credits. The band (ex Walters) released A Momentary Lapse of Reason which was fairly properly just that, based on the critics, though it hit #3 within the UK and US. In 1987 came a double live album along with a concert video taken from some 1988 shows, referred to as Delicate Sound of Thunder followed by a nine disc box set release of Shine On that included re-releases in the studio albums.

Pink Floyd had been in danger of becoming empty and formulaic although it didn't stop the 1994 The Division Bell hitting #1 within the UK and US. It turned out to be the final studio album to be released. There was the splendid Echoes album in 2001 - an incredible profession compendium and some recordings of live shows and remastered disc releases.Hopes that the band's Reside 8 look would trigger a reunion tour failed to materialise regardless of rumours of a $250 million tour deal.

In January 2006 Gilmour issued a joint statement for the group stating that they had no plans to reunite. Gilmour plugs away with solo releases. Waters and Wright are each reported to be operating on solo albums. For all their achievements they never ever escaped the lengthy shadow of loony Syd Barrett who died in 2006.

Making use of music by Floyd to interpret the passion of Christ is unlikely to turn quite a few none-believers, but it really is essential to note that Christians will need to see some thing deep in the music which nevertheless sets my pulse racing after all these years.

Pink Floyd ideal album: Dark Side Of The Moon (1973)

Pink Floyd rated albums:

Piper At The Gates Of Dawn (1987), Wish You Were Here (1975), The Wall (1979), Echoes (2001)

Pink Floyd missable albums:

Atom Heart Mother (1970), Delicate Sound Of Thunder (1988), The Division Bell (1994), Pulse (1995), Is Anybody Out There? The Wall: Reside (2000)