I just don't understand Pink Floyd

[I am Soma]

i love pink floyd but this thread rules for people actually talking about porcupine tree and king crimson

[eyeballkid]

Originally Posted by Stormer

Cannot stand them!!
I have tried on numerous occasions to "get into" their music but i find it so dull it should come with a health warning.
Say Pink Floyd and i get the image of arty farty posh schoolboys called tarquin or jeremy sitting around discussing how "totally spiritual and atmospheric" the music is.

Drugs probably help, but get stoned enough and you can listen to anything and find
it deep.

now THAT'S funny!!

[mcblahflooper94]

Originally Posted by tjnkoo

First off, I am a HUGE prog guy. I listen extensively to Yes, ELP, King Crimson, Porcupine Tree, The Mars Volta, Jethro Tull, Genesis (Peter Gabriel era of course), Gentle Giant, Renaissance, Rush, Tool, Dream Theater, Obscure, etcetera. Basically if its considered prog I'll often at least give it a shot.

Notice though that Pink Floyd wasn't on that list. I've really tried liking Pink Floyd. I've listened to nearly every album of theirs, including the 'masterpieces' (Dark Side of the Moon, Animals, etc) and find them to be so boring its almost ridiculous. On my first complete listen of Dark Side it actually put me to sleep, literally. Its like watching paint dry. There are small highlights here and there, but that's about it.

In no way am I trying to trash them though, honestly! I want someone to help me understand the Pink Floyd phenomenon. Fellow musicians are practically offended when I say they bore me to tears, especially being how much I am into progressive music (its my favorite genre). Nearly all my favorite bands are prog (minus Primus and earlier Modest Mouse), but I just don't get Pink Floyd. Please help me see the light, o' talkbass.

Their's a good chance you just don't like them. I just don't like Aerosmith, Grateful Dead, Pachelbel, and numerous others. That's fine. You might just not get what a lot of people get, and that's totally fine. Grateful Dead bores me too, but I respect them, but I just don't find them interesting.

[4dog]

Heres a trick, think of any PF guitar solo you like, now sing it , so awesomely lyrical its spooky, whats not to like.?

[RS66LB]

I've always had the same feel (or lack thereof) from Pink Floyd, I like and listen to material from the classic composers, 40's pop all the way to current pop, funk, speed metal, old prog, current prog, jazz etc. however for some reason Pink Floyd never did it for me, since so many people I grew up with swore how incredible they were I was subjected to pretty much all of their musical offerings however it just seems I always end up falling asleep in my Rice Chex, of course Pink Floyd did make tons of money on album sales so I understand it's simply a 'subjective' issue

[jmverdugo]

Originally Posted by sarcastro83

It is okay to not like things... for real!

Exactly ... for instance I have never liked Rush ... and do not make start with Iron Maiden....

[gregmon79]

Dude, you're not the only one. I give credit where credit is due, but I'm not a big rush and or iron maiden fan either.

[MrMeacham]

I don't care for studio Floyd. Try getting your hand on some bootlegs from Pomeii/Animals thru Animals era. They rock much harder live. It;s a much better band. The solos have more edge as well. It has to be boots. The official live stuff has too much polish.

[That Axe]

Originally Posted by MrMeacham

I don't care for studio Floyd. Try getting your hand on some bootlegs from Pomeii/Animals thru Animals era. They rock much harder live. It;s a much better band. The solos have more edge as well. It has to be boots. The official live stuff has too much polish.

some of my favorite

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFanURdyPyQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PywCnFYX6Rg

[manintanvan]

Echoes ftw!

[kevteop]

I think some of their earlier stuff is interesting but then they became a stadium rock band fronted by a blues guitarist. How terribly pedestrian.

[Mike in Chicago]

Love how the OP keeps throwing the hook in the water..."not trying to start", "can't believe I'm not getting flamed" , "wow, you Floyd fans are really laid back", " don't shoot"...

Not gonna bite.

Floyd is great. DSOTM is one of the best ever.

My 13yr old walks back and forth from school with his Monster's on listening to stuff like Dark Side, Caress of Steel and anything Foo Fighters, while all the little beatoffs he goes to school with are listening to skrillex and s--t like rap.

Told him he should put his headphones on, close his eyes, lay back, turn the lights off and listen to Dark Side front to back...

"Dad, this is pretty great"

[scorpionldr]

Originally Posted by SBsoundguy

I don't know what the say, you either like them or you don't. I love the atmosphere of their music, very airy, very ambient. Give Live in Pompeii a shot and that'll then you'll know for sure if you don't like them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1yxNjU7u_8

but would you say ambiance and air comes from good recording/mastering, or actual talent?

[Mike in Chicago]

There's live stuff and studio stuff. Floyd's stuff can be pulled off live. Look at all the Floyd trib bands. WE do a couple Floyd tunes. Then you take Queen stuff that's virtually impossible to re create live...

On the other end "Aja" is clean as a whistle, and if you've ever seen SD it seems to be written open ended enough for these great players to take that framework and add their "way" to it live.

Gilmour has a great base to show his "doctorate in the economy of the study of notes" style.

[Davyo]

Not sure if this was mentioned yet in this thread but one the ways to "get" or really appreciate Pink Floyd is to have listened to them while on hallucinatory drugs.

Floyd wrote a lot of there music while being very high on LSD,,, their music, especially the Echoes album "sounds" like an acid trip,,,(yes, I'm speaking from first hand experience).

The other bands mentioned in the op were not really about music to listen to on drugs, while Flyod and Hendrix were all about trying to create the sound of a good or bad drug experience with music,,,, you can clearly listen to the Beatles and know which albums were influenced by their taking of LSD.

Cheers
Davyo

[JimK]

Originally Posted by tjnkoo

...but I just don't get Pink Floyd.

I guess I'm in your camp. Since the late '60s, I have bought 1000s of albums/cds (trust me, there is a lotta crap in there, too)...never bought anything by Pink Floyd.
About 10 years ago, a co-worker gave me his Dark Side Of The Moon LP...still haven't gotten around to it.
I am, though, considering their debut...I do like collecting debut albums...and early Floyd is vastly different from their more popular stuff.

On a tangent-
I read Michael Bruce's bio a few years ago...he talked about meeting Syd Barrett...Bruce called Barrett the 1st ever
Space Cowboy he had ever met...he was OUT THERE!

[JimK]

Originally Posted by Davyo

...yes, I'm speaking from first hand experience.
...you can clearly listen to the Beatles and know which albums were influenced by their taking of LSD.

So...how does "Tomorrow Never Knows" stand up?

[bggeezer]

I would just like to add that PF never made it 'big' in the US. They have a very 'English' sound (like The Kinks, Blur, Squeeze, Oasis), which doesn't seem to transfer across the pond so well. Rick Wright's playing is certainly not as 'busy' as Wakeman's or Keith Emerson's ( I can't stand ELP; they are essentially a covers band and I would rather listen to Mussorgsky than a 'pop' cover). Having said that, PF were famous for NOT overplaying. 'Us and Them' from DSOTM is incredibly beautiful and spacey, Water's lyrics are deep and thought provoking, and you simply cannot deny Gilmour's class as a guitard.

But If you don't like 'em, you don't like 'em... not a crime

[baba]

Originally Posted by bggeezer

I would just like to add that PF never made it 'big' in the US.

It may have taken The Wall to get widespread recognition in the US, but Pink Floyd is HUGE in the US. I love them, but the radio here has destroyed entire swaths of their catalog for me due to overexposure.

Some older tracks I really like are Lucifer Sam (the lick sounds like a spy hunter theme), Interstellar Overdrive, and Bike (sounds like Syd is in a padded room, go figure).

I saw them 4 times in 87 and 88, and caught Roger Waters in 87 as well. Floyd started off a show at JFK with what must have been a 15 minute Echoes intro.

[bggeezer]

Oh, ok. Back in the day, or have you caught up?

I would say they are a bit of a 'musicians band' over there?

'Bike' is an amazing track... bit like the end of 'A Day In The Life' off Sgt Pepper