The Pink Floyd guitarist/vocalist turned 66 yesterday...here's a clip of one of my favorite songs of his from Floyd's post-Waters era in the '80s. This song was a staple on the radio station I listened to in middle school, WRIF out of Detroit.
Some say the Floyd album this song came from was glorified Gilmour solo, but I think that is unfair. The band was finding their voice without Waters, and I found the music they put out to be very good. This song is Floyd-style mellow, with some interesting percussion. The video is cool in how it juxtaposes the industrial sounds of a factory with the agrarian worker using his scythe. I always loved the symbolism Floyd used, on album covers and their in-concert video back-drops. When it came out this song signaled that Floyd was back, and it's too bad this line-up was only good for 4 albums (2 studio, 2 live).
On VH1 Classic over the weekend I saw a documentary about the making of "Wish You Were Here." It was incredibly fascinating, especially the part where the album cover designer described how the album cover and interior photos were shot.
I'm holding my breath for a reunion, but it's hard to see Waters and Gilmour ever collaborating again. Plus, it would not be the same without keyboardist Rick Wright, who passed in 2008.
NEXT: Teen Wolf Too. Promise.
Dude this is one of my favorite Floyd songs of all time. I've always dug the "Gilmour years." Waters had bogged Floyd down to a point where they were just The Roger Waters Band. With out him, I agree...a new sound was needed and Gilmour rocked that shit. I never liked this whole album (it's got like 4 good songs), I always enjoyed "The Division Bell" a lot, even though that one gets shitty reviews everywhere. But it was an album I grew up listening to, because it was my mom's favorite Floyd album.
ReplyDeleteI'd say "Division Bell" was superior to "Momentary Lapse of Reason" overall, but I think the few songs that were good on the latter were better than the best songs on the former (if that makes sense).
ReplyDeleteRoger Waters got too caught up in his "crazy Irish guy yelling" schtick, and the one album he had absolute control over ("The Final Cut") was their least memorable, IMHO.
Yep, I agree with everything you just said. I actually got rid of my copy of The Final Cut on vinyl, just because I never listened to it and didn't care. That shit album had one good song, tops.
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