Music is a large field made of many types each having a character and a color. Through it, the audience is selected and the taste is acquired. Music genre differs and new styles get born. Few pioneers somewhat reached perfection and become a legend in the genre they play, such as Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd. Pink Floyd took psychedelic rock to a next level and became icons in their field. They lead flourishing years in the early ’60s and stayed on track despite the various problems they went through. Here is a glimpse of Pink Floyd’s stages from the early ’60s till present time.
Before Pink Floyd came to life Roger Waters formed few bands which all ended in a way or another. The recruit of Bob Close and Syd Barret, they changed their name into the Pink Floyd sound. Later that year, bob close left the band. After that, the band recorded their first album “The Piper at The Gates of Down.” They recorded their first album in the studio where the Beatles were recording, so the band got to know the Beatles very well. During their production to the first album, Syd’s addictions to LSD (better known as acid) lead him to write amazing songs but in the meantime, his performance deteriorated. The band decided to replace Syd with David Gilmour, an old friend of Roger and Syd. During the coming concerts, David was recruited to cover for Syd on stage. If Syd makes a mistake, David would fill the gap and fix it. But the situation was too messed up to be corrected in this way, so the band decided to pick him up; “he was institutionalized for drug abuse in 1974.”
The band continued playing without Syd in 1968 and that was going great in England but not in America. At that time, the band toured with Jimi Hendrix which helped it to increase its popularity. At the end of 1968, the band played a concert in France; they also played a rock opera on stage called “The Man and The Journey.” At the end of 1969, Pink Floyd released a double album called “Ummagumma”, the first disk consisted of live tracks and the second consisted of solo studio tracks. In the early ’70s, they released their newer album “Atom Heart Mother.”
Joy Boyd, Pink Floyd’s executive producer, made a compilation album in 1971 of both released and unreleased material from Pink Floyds past and called it “Relics.” In that time pink Floyd issued their new album “Meddle” with another peculiar song called “Echoes” which is 23 minutes long. In 1971, they were asked to do another soundtrack for a movie. After going to Rome to visit one of the two cities destroyed by “ Moun Vesuvius” 2000 years ago, they filmed a private concert and played the best of their material. They issued a video called “live at Pompeii”, which also included the video recording behind the album of their new work. When Pink Floyd was making “Obscured by Clouds” they wrote a 45 minutes opus of songs that they played live. This opus was called “Eclipse” and it concentrated on the society and how it isolates, controls and demolishes life. The initial name for the opus was supposed to be “Dark Side of the Moon” but the British blues band medicine head released an album the previous year of the same name. So they let the name go until they heard that the medicine album collapsed on Billboard charts, so they refurbished the name “Dark Side of the Moon” and also wrote an ending song for the opus which was called “Eclipse.” After that, they twisted their oeuvre into an album in 1973 called “Dark Side of the Moon.” (It was the second highest selling record in history). To continue the success of the album “Dark Side of the Moon” Pink Floyd issued the album “Wish You Were Here.” The album was devoted to original lyricist and guitar player Syd Barret.
During that tour, they wrote another opus, but it was mostly instrumental this oeuvre turned to be “Shine on You Crazy Diamond.” This song was split into two parts because it didn’t fit on the cassette.
After the accomplishment of the album “Wish You Were Here”, the band waited a year and a half before releasing another album. This album was based on the aristocratic and socialist way of life in the world. Each type of person was loosely based on an animal. On July 6th, 1977, the band played their final performance of the tour of the album animals in Montreal, Quebec where one of the fans was screaming relentlessly and accomplishing his way up toward the stage, Roger spit out on him to show misadjustment. Roger felt creepy about this and run away to his hotel room and started writing new music, about how much he and the audience have shattered. At the end of 1978, the band met together to discuss new projects. After David and Rich had made solo albums, Roger Waters made two projects and only one of them was taken, that project was “The Wall.” This album was released in UK and US and in both places the fans loved it. Between feb26th, 1980 and September 1981, Pink Floyd played the wall in earth’s court in London two times, as if they played in Los Angeles, and four times in Fallen Halle in Dortmund Germany. Rick Wright left the band in 1982 where the band recruited new keyboard players for a new project called spare bricks. Roger had plans for the new album in November 1983 but because of the anxiety between each of the members, Roger dismissed the plans and changed the name of the album to “The Final Cut” which it probably would be if David and Nick left, but they didn’t. In 1984, the band separated, Rick Wright created a solo project with Dave Harris called “Zee-identity”, David Gilmour made a new solo album called “About Face”, and Roger Waters made “Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking.” In 1986, David Gilmour discussed with Mason about getting the band back together. This caused a major law outfit. Roger Waters prosecuted David and Nick for the rights of the music, and the band name itself. Roger didn’t achieve in that because everything was recorded under the name of Pink Floyd.
“A Momentary Lapse of Reason” was an album made by Dave and Nick in 1986. Both Dave and Nick concreted a collection of musicians for the album, like Phil Manzenaral (Guitar), Richard Wright(Keyboard) and the twenty-three others. Pink Floyd started recording in 1993 for their new album “The Division Bell.” Richard Wright was finally back fully with the band. The band made a tour for six months, where they played twelve shows. Pink Floyd released a live album and video on their division bell tour. The band was successful once more. In 1969, the band was introduced into the Rock and Roll hall celebrity. Mason, Wright, and Gilmore performed “Wish You Were Here” with Billy Corgan of smashing pumpkins, and after that, the band didn’t make any concert, but Pink Floyd made a live album where they chose different recordings from different live shows with Roger Waters. Roger Waters toured in 1999 and 2000 and made a new live album called “In the Flesh”. At the end of 2001, the band created a new compilation “Echoes” with Roger Waters and the producer James Gathery. This album had a great influence on the market.
At last, we can’t but appreciate the band’s achievement and their major contribution to the improvement of music standards. Even though the band split at the end with prime disagreement but a reunion was organized in the “Live 8” in 2005 where they sang as a band. After 24 years of break up, Pink Floyd’s era finished, but they have left marks in the people’s lives.