Pink Floyd Album Tournament, Round 3

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 Logan wrote:

Chris, I don't demand that they enjoy it either (at least Geesin enjoys it).  If any musician wants to sl*g their contributions to a project, more power to them.  I used the term douchey because of the cleansing properties of a douche (washing oneself of...).  In this case, though, and I was trying to highlight the point, it's not just a matter of being very dismissive of one's own work, it's about dismissing other people's work.  That was rather the crux of my post.

Roger Waters had collaborated with Ron Geesin before (on Music From the Body), and Waters had this big idea for orchestra that they didn't know how to execute, so the composer/ arranger Geesin was called in.  They gave him a  backing track to work from while they went on tour and asked him to arrange it for orchestra and put it together.  Geesin ended up doing far more and added new melodies, and really shaped it.  He called on others to work on it (most notably John Aldiss for choral work and he deserves credit), and in the end I think it became very much a Geesin work (a collaboration, but one heavily indebted to Geesin).  Still, it was released, they had the band's name put on it, and they toured with it.  

So it's not just about Waters and Gilmour sl*gging their own work, they're calling the work of another rubbish.  They've also been dismissive of Syd Barrett's work.  I have wondered if it is an ego thing. Gilmour, despite having been dismissive of Atom Heart Mother for mnay years -- he had called it "absolute crap” -- played guitar for it when Ron Geesin revived it in 2008, complete with orchestra and chorals.  

I think one of the reasons for them being so dismissive of AHM, is the fact that it essentially was Ron Geesin who was the brains behind the whole thing. Both Waters and Gilmour were sonic control freaks, and here they are practically out of the equation. I love PF to pieces, but I am not too keen on artists being dismissive of their own output, especially when it involves another great musician, who put his blood, sweat and tears into that specific record. What Ron Geesin did was a stroke absolute genius, and part of me still thinks that they secretly are a bit jealous of him, for doing something that was beyond them at the time. They almost lost control.
You can probably guess what I picked Just because Echoes sits on Meddle like a giant anchovy on your pizza, and it´s my fave PF song - I think AHT blows it out of the water. Alans psychedelic breakfast is just amazing too.
BTW - Ron Geesin also put out a brilliant solo record called As he Stands. Pretty weird but very recommendable.   

Poll Question: Which of these two Pink Floyd albums is the best?
Poll Choice	Votes	Poll Statistics
Atom Heart Mother	33	[24.09%]
Meddle	104	[75.91%]
This topic is closed, no new votes accepted

Pink Floyd Album Tournament, Round 3

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