Other bands that sound like Pink Floyd?

[AltGrendel]

Gong, Nektar, Camel, Van Der Graaf Generator, Yes, King Crimson, ELP

Oh heck, all prog rock from the late sixties to the mid seventies while your at it.

 

[angelopb]

Love and Rockets, the older stuff

 

[Michedelic]

+1 on Spiritualized, and also their forerunner band, Spacemen 3, who also had some Velvet Underground influence. Yeah, Porcupine Tree/Steve Wilson, definitely, but they've gotten enough nods. If you want Barrett-esque, eccentric British stuff, check out Robyn Hitchcock, Kevin Ayers(ex-Soft Machine) and perhaps Hatfield and the North(a woefully over-looked Canterbury related band that did quite a bit of jamming). Australian band The Church is heavily influenced by the strummy, pastoral, acoustic stuff of PF, but can come up with psychedelic excursions as well. Love and Rockets had some PF flavors in their catalog, albeit more Barrett related. Then there was Levitation, and their album, "Need For Not", a totally obscure 90's Brit band, a spin-off of House Of Love(more obscurity!); here's a couple of tunes, but check out all of their youtube vids...


Another 90's Britband to check out would be The Chameleons, but they kinda come from the Echo and the Bunnymen style(also Barrett influenced). 70's Canadian proto-punk band Simply Saucer drew from the 'Astronomy Domine' era, as well as Hawkwind, Can, and VU. If you ponder PF's Allmusic 'related' page(scroll to the bottom), you've got a great research resource...
Pink Floyd | Similar Artists, Infuenced By, Followers | AllMusic

 

[Richland123]

Triumverat
Tangerine Dream
FM
Kraan
Crack The Sky
Klaatu

 

[wintremute]

These 2 instrumentals by The Flaming Lips have that Floyd vibe to me. Not as familiar with the rest of the music, though.

 

[Robroy]

I am about to enter a studio project and the goal is to write and record original songs with a heavy Pink Floyd influence and Floyd type instrumentation. Can you name some other bands/songs that have the Floyd sound.
I am always looking for additional inspiration before putting my writing hat on. Any help would be well appreciated.

Just an additional note. These song will be for recording only and there no plans to play these song live at this time. It would require too many backing tracks.

Create a Pink Floyd station on Pandora. Seriously. Keep track of the stuff they steer you to.

 

[Interspace Station]

Oh heck, all prog rock from the late sixties to the mid seventies while your at it.

Just throwing out some bands that might aesthetically have similarities to PF for inspiration.

 

[Freekmagnet]

The Pretty Things - SF Sorrow



According to legend, The Pretty Things recorded this album at Abbey Road in the off hours when The Beatles were recording and Floyd were recording. They'd sneak in at night and use the other bands' instruments. According to legend...

 

[Walfretless5]

I don't see why a lot of people are just mentioning RANDOM prog bands that really have nothing to do with Pink Floyd's sound....YES , KING CRIMSON, ELP?? Really? THIN LIZZY? Are they even considered prog? Pink Floyd have a pretty distinctive sound.
One band not mentioned that actually HAVE been compared to Pink Floyd back in the day was a German band called "JANE". Porcupine Tree...perhaps in a more modern setting.

 

[Rimbaud88]

This is gonna be endless. Someone mentioned Hawkwind. I have discovered this band recently and the album In search of space is said a pioneer album of the space rock. You can find there a lot of keyboard stuff similar to Richard Wright ´s playing.

 

[Hues]

A lot of Kate Bush....who Gilmour helped get started.

 

[higain617]

I say this as a fan of a lot of their music, but PF were the arena rock version of psychedelia. There are some very strange, adventurous bands in the annals of rock history worth exploring.

 

[electracoyote]

Queensryche.

Yes. They went through a short phase with Operation: Mindcrime and Empire. I love those two albums. Required listening if you like concept- or theme-based compilations in the pop/rock genre.

 

[bassdude51]

Porcupine tree. In the 90s they composed a whole album dedicated to the Pink Floyd fans.

Actually, your TalkBass avatar from King Crimson album #1 is a band some what like Pink Floyd.

 

[moody]

I don't see why a lot of people are just mentioning RANDOM prog bands that really have nothing to do with Pink Floyd's sound....YES , KING CRIMSON, ELP?? Really? THIN LIZZY? Are they even considered prog? Pink Floyd have a pretty distinctive sound.
One band not mentioned that actually HAVE been compared to Pink Floyd back in the day was a German band called "JANE". Porcupine Tree...perhaps in a more modern setting.

I agree, the random prog bands just aren't right. The canterbury scene the 60's psych stuff I agree with, but bands like ELP and Yes imho don't really come close.

If you want to cop pink floyd you will need an incredibly good internal metronome. Keeping a slow song slow is tough.

 

[homecooken]

Pink Floyd was just about as much as a funk band as Prog and Psychedelic. kind of like a Progressive Prince.

 

[Sweet Willie]

wintremute suggested a couple of tunes from the Flaming Lips. I'm not familiar enough with their catalog broadly, but I've definitely been struck by some of their work as having a Pink Floyd vibe.

 

[didid007]

If you maybe want to go a little heavier into the progressive, you could try out Tool. But mind you they are a lot harder, but songs such as 10,000 days or Right In Two are a little mellower. But if you want to stick in the classic rock era, you could try Emerson, Lake & Palmer

 

[wintremute]

People have been saying Tool, and I've been mentally disagreeing - but that's because I prefer their earlier/harder stuff. But then, as didi007 pointed out, 10,000 days does have more a long and awesome space jam quality to it. So yeah, newer Tool could definitely get you in a Pink Floyd mood.

 

[Walfretless5]

If you maybe want to go a little heavier into the progressive, you could try out Tool. But mind you they are a lot harder, but songs such as 10,000 days or Right In Two are a little mellower. But if you want to stick in the classic rock era, you could try Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Neither one is even close......