Curious on members favourite choices when it come to the “solo” efforts of members of Pink Floyd.
This is not meant to be a member A is better than member B - I don’t want to get into the arguments and politics of Floyd.
I basically love all that they have done both together as a band and as solo artists - and I’m wanting to focus on the positives - please???
Any how here is mine:
1: Amused To Death - RW
2. Is This The Life We Really Want - RW
3. Broken China - RWr
4. Pro’s & Cons - RW
5. David Gilmour - DG
6. On An Island - DG
7. Radio Kaos - RW
8. Rattle That Lock -DG
9. About Face - DG
10. Music From The Body - RW
I asked for solo Floyd recommendations on here a while back, and the consensus was that the best from each member was:
Amused to Death
Broken China
On an Island
I bought all three and have tried them several times but can’t quite enjoy any of them as much as the Floyd group albums (even the post-1985 ones). They’re not bad, I just find they do more for my enjoyment under the group name.
Here’s all 20 of the studio albums ranked 've (Ileft out the two DG lives and the four RW live albums; as well as the two SB compilations, the RW comp and the NM box set)
01 Amused To Death – RW
02 David Gilmour – DG
03 The Madcap Laughs – SB
04 Fictitious Sports – NM
05 Is This The Life We Really Want? – RW
06 Broken China – RWr
07 Barrett – SB
08 Opel – SB
09 Music From The Body – RW
10 On An Island – DG
11 Rattle That Lock – DG
12 A Soldier’s Tale – RW
13 Pros & Cons – RW
14 Radio KAOS – RW
15 Wet Dream – RWr
16 When the Wind Blows – RW
17 Ca Ira – RW
18 About Face – DG
19 Profiles – NM
20 Identity – RWr (as Zee)
Bit hard to adhere to the latter when RW’s calling card is very much tied up in his politics, world view. Partly why I love Amused and Life so much, but yes, no bickering is a good intention!
I only have Roger Waters’ albums plus two Syd Barrett.
I think my preferential order on balance is as follows, though it does very much depend on mood Amused to death RW Pros and cons of hitchhiking RW Is this the life we really want RW Ça Ira RW Radio KAOS RW The madcap laughs SB Barrett SB
I haven’t heard any RWr or NM solo, and the only DG I’ve heard I wasn’t keen on, though not sure what it was.
Thanks guys - I suppose my challenge for want of a better phrase, was to look at it as just purely the music and keep the rest out of it - sorry to Nick.Lees if I sounded rude.
Personally I’m not too bothered by lyrics my focus is more on the sound - the guitar, bass, keyboards and a voice the way they interact is what I go for - in a way if I want a story I read a book - hope that makes sense and doesn’t come over as a bit snobbish!
The overall sound and sometimes within it individual components was how I started out with music buying and hifi, possibly because my introduction to music was classical. However over time I discovered the added value of good lyrical content - if lyrics poor, then my original approach still works, but if lyrics powerful, and meaningful to me (such as RW’s solo, plus various PF from DSOTM onwards, especially The Wall and Final Cut, then all comes together with the emotion of the music itself, and can be, variously, cathartic, uplifting, even joyful. The only thing that does it more for me is live tragic opera, combining the emotions of music, exquisite human voice, theatre - and story.
Exactly - couldn’t have put it better myself - fist time I got goose bumps was when I was on a school visit to Nottingham Playhouse for a Holst Planets Concert - at home it was listening to Floyds Animals and the guitar and bass lines during Sheep! Later it was the power I felt from Numan’s use of the moog synths on The Pleasure Principle album - it wasn’t until after that I read the lyrics and got the story. And I also like a lot of german music - where the native language seems to give an extra layer of power somehow. And thinking about it when Peter Gabriel or David Bowie sing in German or other artists sing in a different language, its that language which seems that seems to be able to better portray the emotion.
Must admit these days my musical tastes although somewhat different to younger days still veer towards rock - I do like some classical but never really heard or listened properly to a tragic opera but I can appreciate what you mean. Closest I’ve ever got was Les Mis - there are several bits of that which really get to me. One song “Bring Him Home” makes me think of my father and nearly always causes me to shed a few tears, and he’s not even dead yet!
But yes - music first - lyrics second!
Thanks for that!
I’ve enjoyed:
David Gilmour
Pros and Cons ( partly because I think it’s maybe Claptons best album!)
Rattle that Lock
Radio Kaos
I haven’t heard Amused to Death or Is this the Life. Suspect they may be quite good and certainly good HiFi, but personally I don’t need any more of his cynical misery…
Which is why I wanted this topic to purely focus on the good and musical side of things - and put aside any arguments as to the break up of Floyd and the politics etc of respective members etc. Personally I love musically what RW has done since Floyd - but I also get tired of his political stance being thrust upon us!
Pink Floyd were an excellent band and each of the members were/are excellent musicians - I suppose what I was after was to see who members thought wrote the better tunes from a musical standpoint!
