The fall of Pink Floyd

It really depends on what you call "a fall" - if we consider A Momentary Lapse Of Reason as being the nadir of their entire career (as some here suggest) then we have to take into account that it was a multi-platinum album that spurned tour that grossed £60M and a multi-plantimum live album (Delicate Sound Of Thunder). Critically and artistically it is not "up to the standard" of previous Floyd albums, but that standard is remarkably high for a band that had been in existence for 20+ years and had recorded 12 studio albums up until then - no other psyche/prog band had achieved that feat with that sustained level of success, 17 years after their first No.1 album (AHM). However, the relative success of AMLoR wasn't carried solely on the Floyd name either (unlike The Final Cut) - it was an album of its time and for that time it was actually a good one when compared to what else was being produced in 1987 by any band with Prog credentials (Rush, Marillion & Tull). It is easy to sit here in the relative comfort of 2010 and say it was a weak album, but from the perspective of 1987 it wasn't ... that we on the PA can rate Savatage's Hall Of The Mountain King as a "better" 1987 album is frankly laughable (and I love Savatage and HotMK) and is more a reflection of how we view AMLoR with respect to previous Floyd releases than how it stands up against releases by any other band in that year. We must remember just how dire 1987 was from a Prog perspective - Tull won the Grammy for Best Hard Rock/Metal album in '89 for their 1987 album Crest Of A Knave (not a bad album in itself either, but a long way short of being a good Tull album) - Marillion and Rush were being held aloft by "pop" singles success, not "prog" album sales (Hold Your Fire spurned three top 20 singles in the US, Clutching At Straws three top-30 hits in the UK) - Floyd sold AMLoR without radio airplay and without "hit" singles.

Edited by Dean - December 01 2010 at 12:42

ferush wrote: Floyd's got ups and downs and they started too bad by four or five bad albums one by one at the beginning.

Floyd's got ups and downs and they started too bad by four or five bad albums one by one at the beginning.

Jake Kobrin wrote: They dissipated just like any other band, from the inside. It even happened to The Beatles. Roger Waters sort of took over the band, and David Gilmour hated that which fueled a grudge between them. Meanwhile Richard Wright became unmotivated and uninspired and was ultimately fired. Plus they lost a lot of money on tours, etc, etc, etc... It's no mystery.

This sounds about right. Should've stopped after A Momentary Lapse of Reason (not that it's so outstanding it's a winner to go out on, but it proved they could go on successfully without Waters). The Division Bell is lesser, and had they continued, no doubt some downright embarassing stuff would've resulted.

Piper, Saucerful and AHM are the only PF albums I really enjoy. So after that I guess.

In all honesty, I would have not really enjoyed The Wall had the movie not gone along with it. The Final Cut just sounded like outtakes from The Wall. 45 minutes of continuous whining by RW. Come to think of it, Animals doesn't do much for me. Wish You Were Here has the 3rd best campfire song ever. Dark Side would be fine if it wasn't so freaking overplayed. Meddle is the only one that I can't live without.

Slartibartfast wrote: Adams Bolero wrote: clarke2001 wrote: The Wall of Pink Floyd. Did they fall off the wall?  And was it a great fall, y'all?  Then there's that whole kings horses and mens thing.

The Wall fell at the end of the Wall.

Floyd never fell.

infandous wrote: I'd say, considering the enduring popularity of Floyd (arguably the only prog band to have such universal and prolonged popularity), that they never fell.  I wasn't crazy about the post-Waters albums, but the Division Bell is a nice psudo-Floyd album that at least has reminders of what made them so great, and at best is not their worse album (even considering the ones with Waters).  Final Cut is a great Waters solo album, with Gilmour and Mason as guests.

It would be virtually impossible for me to put it any better than this