Epignosis wrote: 3000 Posts! Wow.  Now I feel so empty inside.

It gets worse with each 1,000.





Edited by MovingPictures07 - December 15 2008 at 11:57

Wish You Were Here

by PINK FLOYD (Psychedelic/Space Rock)

Perfection is something every musician wants to achieve. It’s also something that virtually none can accomplish. A music listener will generally have one, maybe two albums that he or she considers perfect. Wish You Were Here was an album that Pink Floyd did at a time when the success of what is still today their most famous album, Dark Side Of The Moon was at it’s height. Despite this being extremely rewarding financially for the band, the constant touring and wild lifestyle of being successful rock stars was taking its toll. The band’s original plan was to record an album that would consist only of household noises. This idea was quickly abandoned, and a new plan surfaced. This plan was to record three unreleased songs that the band had played during their recent tours. These songs were titled “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”, “You’ve Gotta Be Crazy”, and “Raving And Drooling”. However, the recording sessions that followed were miserable times for the band members, as they were all overly tired. It wasn’t until Roger Waters took control of the album that they began to have productive recording sessions. Waters wrote three new songs, called “Welcome To The Machine”, “Have A Cigar”, and “Wish You Were Here”. The band then went on to record these three songs, along with “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” as a concept album about their former bandmate and friend, Syd Barrett. As for “You’ve Gotta Be Crazy” and “Raving And Drooling”, they were later rewritten, and became “Dogs” and “Sheep” on Animals, the band’s next album. This decision may have been the best the band ever made. Even David Gilmour and Richard Wright consider this to be the band’s best album. The album fits the definition of the word perfect…well…perfectly. Possibly the most incredible part of the album’s story is that during the late stages of the recording of the album, on the day of David Gilmour’s wedding what’s more, the band was in the studio finishing off “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”, when a fat bald man walked in. The band had no idea who this man was, until it was revealed that he was Syd Barrett himself, who no-one in the band had seen since he left them back in 1968, with the exception of when Waters and Gilmour produced his first solo album, “The Madcap Laughs”. To this day, no one in the band has seen Syd again. The album opens with the above mentioned “Shine on You Crazy Diamond, Parts 1-5”. These first five parts of the nine part epic go together to form one of the greatest songs in music history. Part one, if you listen closely, begins with a little bit of influence from the band’s original idea to make an album of just household noises. Richard Wright’s eerie synth playing then comes in, followed by David Gilmour’s emotional guitar playing. From there on, pure brilliance begins to develop. It begins with an eerie four-note guitar bit from Gilmour, which has today become the most recognizable guitar part in Pink Floyd’s entire catalogue, known as “Syd’s Theme”. The song and album then take off, as Gilmour and Wright start up a great guitar/synth jam, which features some breathtaking Gilmour guitar. Roger Waters then launches into an incredible vocal performance, which was so hard on his voice that he was unable to sing “Have A Cigar” later on. The song then closes with a saxophone solo from Dick Parry, a close friend of David Gilmour’s, who also played saxophone on the Dark Side of the Moon songs “Money” and “Us and Them”. A perfect way to close a perfect song. “Welcome To the Machine” then starts up. This is a typically cynical Waters song, which takes a look at how record companies bring in and then spit artists constantly. The songs highlights are an awe-inspiring vocal performance from Gilmour (at least, it sounds like David Gilmour), and the impressive assortment of sound effects and synth playing from Wright. This is one of the songs that defined the Pink Floyd sound, with the synths and sound effects. “Have A Cigar” is another cynical Waters song, about the same subject as “Welcome To the Machine”. The song is sung by folk singer Roy Harper, since singing “Shine on You Crazy Diamond” had worn out Waters’ voice too much, and Gilmour didn’t think he could do the song justice, although he later admitted that he didn’t sing it because he disagreed with it’s message. Harper gives an outstanding vocal performance, while Gilmour had clearly not decided he didn’t want to play Guitar on the tune, delivering some vintage Gilmour lead guitar, finishing with a great solo. This is the album’s most rocking song by a long shot. The Floyd classic “Wish You Were Here”, written for Syd Barrett, then starts up. This is one of the band’s more well known songs, and for damned good reason. The song is one of the best ballads Pink Floyd has done, and features what is un-questionably David Gilmour’s best vocal performance, as well as some of Roger Waters’ best lyrics, such as “We’re just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl/year after year”. The album then ends the way it started, gorgeously, with “Shine On You Crazy Diamond Parts 6-9”. This final section of the epic masterpiece is far more sythn driven than the one that opened the album, which is emphasized by an incredible keyboard solo to end the song and album. Ending an album more effectively is impossible. If you listen to one Pink Floyd album in your life, make it this. An absolutely perfect balance of Gilmour’s guitar, Waters’ lyrics and Wright’s keyboards, heck, even Nick Mason’s drums allows for Pink Floyd to reach their peak. That kind of collaboration is something that would never be found again on a Pink Floyd album, unfortunately. This album did as much as, if not more than Dark Side of the Moon to establish what is now known as the Pink Floyd sound, and could be regarded as the best album ever to grace the ears of the human race.

You don't have to read that second review.  I was just doing some review reading, and these two (by the same reviewer) caught my attention.

I simply think it's funny that TFTO, which really doesn't have that much soloing from Howe (the first two songs have almost none) except for "The Ancient," is a such a problem for this person, while he gives WYWH a whopping five stars.

Has he heard "Shine on You Crazy Diamond?"  It's like 16 minutes of nothing but guitar soloing between the two parts.

Bored.

Partial exam tomorrow.
Friend coming from Austria at my house, at 5 o'clock in the morning.


Edited by Ricochet - December 15 2008 at 13:20

June wrote: Epignosis wrote: Epignosis wrote: June wrote: When the heck did I become a senior member? I was a junior last night! You hit 100 posts.  That'll do it. Sorry there's no benefits, like social security or free coffee.   That's all right. I don't get much benefit in my real life either... But you guys don't offer dental, by any chance?

I don't believe you've seen my teeth. 

June wrote: You don't do jolliness, eh?

Well, see, this is Christmastime, so I'm being wonderful.

More so than usual, anyway.

Not sure anyone to speak of is here, Ansen.

I am, if that's any consolation.

I'm back...

Edited by June - December 15 2008 at 16:40

Good morning... nearly dinner time here though (although I'll probably just have cereals for dinner cuz I'M lazy )

I'm roundish.