Pink Floyd... A history1065049

Following a modest success as a psychedelic outfit inside the 1960s below surreal wild man Syd Barret. Pink Floyd dumped him for guitarist David Gilmour  and went on to develop into 1 of your world's most prosperous bands ever, selling greater than 200m albums globally.

Their Dark Side Of The Moon  album was initial 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 although the others continued without him and with considerable achievement. Waters then rejoined them for the 2005 Live Aid concert and there had been hopes of an album release, but in 2006 Gilmour suggested the band would no longer tour or create records - so successfully dead then.

Pink Floyd's debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, with a lot of the songs by Syd Barret, is currently regarded and a single of the best examples of British psychedelia. The stick 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 account the finest with two good albums, The Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here. The first was a watershed giving them their very first massive break in the US staying #1 for an unbelievable world record breaking 741 weeks, the other the primary Pink Floyd album to reach #1 in UK and US charts.

Inside the late 70s, jazzy keyboard and sax lines had been dropped because the band turned much more 'orchestral' and moans grew at the pretentious lyrics and tediously extended songs. The criticism was stemmed party by the release from the rock opera The Wall in 1982 which sold over 30 million copies worldwide, became the third-best promoting album of all time inside the US and presently certified 23x platinum even though it only ever made #3 in the UK.

A film Pink Floyd: The Wall grossed $14m inside the US. In the wake of such acclaim the band did what most bands do when fame reaches astronomical levels - they went their separate strategies. Gilmour and Waters released solo albums as well as 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 pretty well just that, based on the critics, even though it hit #3 in the UK and US. In 1987 came a double live album and a concert video taken from some 1988 shows, known as Delicate Sound of Thunder followed by a nine disc box set release of Shine On that included re-releases of the studio albums.

Pink Floyd had been in danger of becoming empty and formulaic though it didn't stop the 1994 The Division Bell hitting #1 inside the UK and US. It turned out to be the last studio album to become released. There was the splendid Echoes album in 2001 - an awesome profession compendium and some recordings of live shows and remastered disc releases.Hopes that the band's Live 8 appearance would trigger a reunion tour failed to materialise despite 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 both reported to be operating on solo albums. For all their achievements they under no circumstances escaped the lengthy shadow of loony Syd Barrett who died in 2006.

Working with music by Floyd to interpret the passion of Christ is unlikely to turn a lot of none-believers, but it really is essential to note that Christians need to see one thing deep in the music which nevertheless sets my pulse racing just after all these years.

Pink Floyd most effective 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: Live (2000)