Pink Floyd... A history7893992

Immediately after a modest achievement as a psychedelic outfit within the 1960s beneath surreal wild man Syd Barret. Pink Floyd dumped him for guitarist David Gilmour and went on to turn out to be one particular of the world's most profitable bands ever, promoting greater than 200m albums worldwide.

Their Dark Side Of The Moon album was 1st to hit mega sales in 1973 followed by monster album hits with Wish You Were Here (1975), Animals (1977) and The Wall (1979). In 1986 singer Roger Waters declared the band completed although the other individuals continued with out him and with considerable good results. Waters then rejoined them for the 2005 Reside Aid concert and there were hopes of an album release, but in 2006 Gilmour suggested the band would no longer tour or develop records - so effectively dead then.

Pink Floyd's debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn , with many of the songs by Syd Barret, is these days regarded and one particular with the most effective examples of British psychedelia. The comply with up album A Saucerful Of Secrets consisted largely of noise, feedback, loud bangs, oscillators and tape loops and was a disaster. Wayward experiments in atonal, jarring, meandering pieces with extended percussion solos typified their output till the 70s when they ditched the 'psychedelic' nonsense to get a much more mellow sound, polished performance and pieces of epic length.

This can be the era many contemplate the finest with two great albums, The Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here . The very first was a watershed providing them their initial significant break inside the US staying #1 for an unbelievable globe record breaking 741 weeks, the other the initial Pink Floyd album to reach #1 in UK and US charts.

Within the late 70s, jazzy keyboard and sax lines had been dropped because the band turned additional 'orchestral' and moans grew at the pretentious lyrics and tediously long songs. The criticism was stemmed celebration by the release with the rock opera The Wall in 1982 which sold over 30 million copies worldwide, became the third-best promoting album of all time within the US and at present certified 23x platinum although it only ever produced #3 in the UK.

A movie Pink Floyd: The Wall grossed $14m in the US. In the wake of such acclaim the band did what most bands do when fame reaches astronomical levels - they went their separate approaches. Gilmour and Waters released solo albums along with other opted for collaborations with other artists.

In 1986 Walters announced he was quitting the band prompting a bitter legal wrangle over the Pink Floyd name and song credits. The band (ex Walters) released A Momentary Lapse of Purpose which was pretty properly just that, based on the critics, though it hit #3 within the UK and US. In 1987 came a double live album plus a concert video taken from some 1988 shows, called Delicate Sound of Thunder followed by a nine disc box set release of Shine On that included re-releases on the studio albums.

Pink Floyd were in danger of becoming empty and formulaic even though it did not cease the 1994 The Division Bell hitting #1 in the UK and US. It turned out to become the final studio album to be released. There was the splendid Echoes album in 2001 - a great career compendium and some recordings of reside shows and remastered disc releases.Hopes that the band's Live 8 look would trigger a reunion tour failed to materialise in spite of rumours of a $250 million tour deal.

In January 2006 Gilmour issued a joint statement for the group stating that they had no plans to reunite. Gilmour plugs away with solo releases. Waters and Wright are both reported to be operating on solo albums. For all their achievements they never escaped the extended shadow of loony Syd Barrett who died in 2006.

Employing music by Floyd to interpret the passion of Christ is unlikely to turn lots of none-believers, but it really is essential to note that Christians must see one thing deep in the music which nonetheless sets my pulse racing just after all these years.

Pink Floyd best album: Dark Side Of The Moon (1973)

Pink Floyd rated albums:

Piper At The Gates Of Dawn (1987), Wish You Were Here (1975), The Wall (1979), Echoes (2001)

Pink Floyd missable albums:

Atom Heart Mother (1970), Delicate Sound Of Thunder (1988), The Division Bell (1994), Pulse (1995), Is Anybody Out There? The Wall: Reside (2000)