No other rock band has had such a severe dual emphasis on both music and lyrics as well as Pink Floyd. The band had an incredible creativity for composing new parades of rock, as hardly can find two similar albums in Pink Floyd discography. Although Syd Barrett was officially the band founder and chose the band name from the first names of two ancient bluesmen (Pink Anderson and Floyd Council), the band members are actually bassist Roger Waters, guitarist David Gilmour, keyboardist Richard Wright, and drummer Nick Mason.
Pink Floyd is one of the few rock bands that all of their members are among the top instrumentals in their professional instruments. In addition, similar to the influential feature of Pink Floyd, all four members had pioneering roles in the development of their instrument in the rock history. Read more about their pioneering works in the first album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn.
Despite commercial success in the UK, Pink Floyd achieved an international fame just after releasing their legendary album, The Dark Side of the Moon, in 1973 (i.e. one of the top selling albums of all time). The mysterious characteristics of Pink Floyd in early works were successfully adapted into a more popular music in this album.
The apogee of Pink Floyd creativity was another legendary album The Wall, which was a perfect rock opera, as the lyrics were directly transformed to a screenplay for making a movie with the same name.
The Final Cut supposed to be the last album of the band, as Pink Floyd were disbanded in 1983. The members, then, released their own solo albums, but none of their solo albums was successful in comparison with the Pink Floyd fame. As a result, three members under David Gilmour leadership formed the band again in 1987. Despite serious conflicts between Roger Waters and other members, Pink Floyd started a new era without Roger Waters.
Roger Waters believed that Pink Floyd would be "a spent force". In agreement with him, many believe that quitting Pink Floyd at 1983 would make it a myth in the realms of rock, particularly as Pink Floyd released only two albums in their new career.
After 24 years, all four bands gathered together on 2 July 2005 at the London Live 8 concert, though Nick Mason had been joined Roger Waters live performances before. However, by death of Richard Wright on September 15, 2008; there should be no active future for Pink Floyd.
Pink Floyd Line-up
1965 – 1969
- Syd Barrett – guitar, vocals
- Nick Mason – drums
- Richard Wright – keyboards, vocals
- Roger Waters – bass, vocals
1969 – 1983
- Nick Mason – drums
- Richard Wright – keyboards, vocals
- Roger Waters – bass, vocals
- David Gilmour – guitar, vocals
1987 – 2008
- Nick Mason – drums
- Richard Wright – keyboards, vocals
- David Gilmour – guitar, vocals
Pink Floyd Discography
- The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967)
- A Saucerful of Secrets (1968)
- Soundtrack from the Film More (1969)
- Ummagumma (1969)
- Atom Heart Mother (1970)
- Meddle (1971)
- Obscured by Clouds (1972)
- The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)
- Wish You Were Here (1975)
- Animals (1977)
- The Wall (1979)
- The Final Cut (1983)
- A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987)
- The Division Bell (1994)
References
- Pink Floyd official website.
- Vernon Fitch, The Pink Floyd Encyclopedia, Collector's Guide Publishing, Inc., 3rd Edition, 2005.
- Glenn Povey, Echoes: The Complete History of Pink Floyd, 101 Distribution, 2009.
- Vernon Fitch, Pink Floyd-The Press Reports, Collector's Guide Publishing Inc, 2001.
- Mark Blake, Comfortably Numb: The Inside Story of Pink Floyd, Da Capo Press, 2008.
- Nick Mason, Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd, Phoenix, 2005.
- George A. Reisch, Pink Floyd and Philosophy, Open Court, 2007.
- Barry Miles, Pink Floyd, Omnibus Press, 2007.
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