Has anybody else heard it yet?

[uwe]

Floyd's swansong (for the time being!) "The Endless River" I mean.



I just heard the first (with Floyd needless to say: lengthy) track while getting ready for the office this morning and it sounds like they have stumbled on a long-lost second disc of Wish You Were Here (the album, not the song). Which to me is not a bad thing as Wish You Were Here remains my firm favorite with them. Probably because it owes more to krautrock ambience music than anything they did before or after, it rings a Teutonic (division) bell in me! You know how I like to be dead-serious, sullen and melancholic while I solemnly stare into the eternal nothingness that Nietzsche has predicted for all of us. Schwermut ... Dark Side is a fine collection of (mostly poppy) songs to me, Animals interesting in its jaggedness and The Wall no doubt a Roger Waters classic (not a band album though), but there is no other Floyd album I can mood-immerse myself as much in as WYWH (not even Meddle which is in some ways a close relative to it). That first track continues that immersion.

Rick Wright was no keyboard wizard like Wakeman or Emerson, but he sure could paint sonic landscapes!

[gearHed289]

I have not heard it yet, but based on your review, I think I want to. I love Meddle thru Animals. The Wall was weird for me. It came out at the height of disco, and has disco beats and funky rhythm guitars. Here in Chicago we had a thing called disco demolition, and "Disco Sucks" was a very big catch phrase. So... as a young teen, I was put off by that. Then there was the maudlin filler material - it felt like going to a play more than listening to a rock band. But like many things that I turned my nose up at as a teen, I can appreciate it more today. I think you could make one great album out of the two discs.

[uwe]

Bob Ezrin did it!!!  Neither Waters' original demo nor the following band demo had the "disco bass" (which I love too - today!), Ezrin came up with it and talked the band into it.  Of course it made all the difference.



Just like he invented the trademark Detrot Rock City bass run, lifted from an old Stax recording. He is a bassist himself and has an ear for catchy R'n'B bass runs. Wouldn't be surprised if he was behind some of those classic Dennis Dunaway bass runs as well.

It's not even clear whether Waters played the bass on Another Brick (the song, final version), it might well have been Gilmour. Waters saw himself as a composer, lyricist and as the brain of the band, he wasn't obsessed with laying bass parts down himself. He has a utilitarian approach to bass playing.

[TBird1958]

 It'll probably get me strung up - I've never cared much for Pink Floyd. 

[drbassman]

I like them in small doses. After the first couple minutes into a song I flip to the next track.  Works for me.

[Highlander]

Gilmour partly lives about a mile from here - has a houseboat on the Thames near Hampton Court... guitar sounds have been known to waft across the river...
Not a big fan but they have produced some exceptional material over the years...

[Denis]

I think they did some recording in that houseboat.

I love Pink Floyd, especially from around '68 to '71 or '72 and dreadfully miss Richard Wright's contributions. Mason's drumming to me was always hypnotic. All of them knew the value of silence in the music. Much of those years fit into a category I've always called "Space Music".

Here's one of my favorites: "Embryo".

[the mojo hobo]

If it reminds one of WYWH that is a good thing. WYWH, Echoes, and Atom Heart Mother are my favorite Floyd albums.

[rahock]

 It'll probably get me strung up - I've never cared much for Pink Floyd.

I reckon it's time for a fair trial and a hangin .
Actually, I'm no more than lukewarm on their recordings. I appreciate what they do , but it's not exactly my thing. However, I did catch their act a couple of times in the late 60s and early 70s and I have got to say they are one incredible live show .
Considering where technology was in the late 60s, what they were doing live could easily pass for magic. These days just about anything is possible in a good studio, but to see them pull off what they did back in the day, was nothing short of breathtaking.
One of the best live shows I've ever seen.
Rick

[patman]

Meddle was my favorite...

[westen44]

I was never a fan.  But my sister was, so I was around the music a lot.  I do appreciate it even if it might not be what I'm normally drawn to. 

[4stringer77]

Fat Old Sun has some great bass playing over the guitar solo. I'm thinking David was playing bass for himself on that one. It's a shame Rick checked out early, he was killing it with the eastern scale tinged keyboard playing in the Syd Barrett days and his song "Stay" is one of my favorites. Post Wall, I kind of loose interest. Learning to fly is a classic Stoney track though.

[4stringer77]

It's on the radio right now and yes it sounds an awful lot like wish you were here.