The best song will never get sung/The best life never leaves your lungs/So good, you won’t ever know/I never hear it on the radio/Can’t hear it on the radio – “The Late Greats,” Wilco (2004)
If you don’t know, I’ve been doing a radio show, “Here’s What to Think,” with Dr. Rob of Shrinktalk.net and my long time editor, Donika. This week’s installment, “The Elephant in the Room,” is an interview with Paul Shirley, ex-NBA power forward, author of Can I Keep My Jersey? and creator of FlipCollective.com.* Among the myriad topics we discussed, including a smear-job some media outlets did on Shirley after he wrote an article criticizing Haiti’s well-known societal and infrastructural deficiencies on ESPN.com after the earthquake, we talked a good bit about music.
Specifically, we talked a lot about Pearl Jam. And more specifically than that, why Pearl Jam will never be the world’s greatest rock and roll band. That they’re not Zeppelin, the Stones, or even the Velvets… But that they just might be the world’s most dependable band – pumping out consistently great songs and performances record after record, tour after tour. It’s true. If you’ve listened to Pearl Jam’s catalog, or seen them play live, you know: The group simply Delivers. No pomp and circumstance. Minimal, if any, marketing. They follow the Grateful Dead’s approach – just play the tunes, and play them well.
Can’t ask for much more than that, can you? What’s better than a band that records and tours incessantly, banging out a killer set every night?
And yet as fans we rarely laud that approach – that dedication to persistently, methodically, without fanfare or drama, pumping out one great piece of art after another. That’s a tragedy, I think, because there are a lot of Pearl Jams out there, performers who are more “professionals” than “personalities.” Performers who focus more on the arc of the guitar solo or the timing of the drum fill than the next controversy they can stir by bad-mouthing ex-lovers in Rolling Stone.**
There ought to be an award for these performers – an “Underacknowledged Genius” or “Consummate Professional” Grammy. But I’m not holding my breath. In a music landscape dominated by ghoulish deformities like Lady Gaga, American Idol plasti-pop shiite and auto-tuned McCountry stars Hank Williams would have gored with a broken whiskey bottle rather than share the stage with at the Opry, I don’t think professionalism is going to be celebrated by the music industry any time soon.***
So I’ll do it here. This is a list of brilliant, understated rock stars we ought to recognize more often – the frequently underappreciated who create the classic sounds we associate with the more self-promotional members of their bands, or whom we never pay attention to at all… A “Supergroup of the Often Overlooked.”
Lead Guitar: David Gilmour
Think of Pink Floyd and you think of Roger Waters. And you think of Waters, of course, because you think of the The Wall, Water’s autobiographical two-hour rock opera. Not surprising either takes center stage in the band’s history. In the twilight of the group’s most productive and creative phase, Waters’ egomania consumed the band. Consider The Wall, with its limitless pubescent angst and endless, whining introspection. Who but a terminal self-promoter, a monstrous pathological narcissist, would produce such an epically bloated opera focused persistently, maddeningly, on nothing but his own tedious neuroses?****
But Waters wasn’t the whole of Pink Floyd. Thankfully, not even close to it. The sound of the band – what made their music majestic, unlike anything before or since – is all David Gilmour.
There are three phases of Pink Floyd, and David Gilmour’s been the backbone of the group in each. First, of course, was the Syd Barrett Phase, where the band put out psychedelic pop like “See Emily Play” and “Arnold Lane.” Piper at the Gates of Dawn and Saucerful of Secrets were disjointed and flimsy albums, but still brilliant in spots, showing Barrett’s promise as a songwriter. Unfortunately, before any of that could be realized, as a result of underlying mental illness, or gross overuse of LSD, or both, Barrett lost his mind. Gilmour stepped in to cover for him at live shows, and that was where Pink Floyd’s sound shifted from thin and trippy noodling to a feedback-drenched sonic attack. Compare a 1967 “Astronomy Domine” with Barrett to one from 1968 with Gilmour. Gilmour brought The Heavy.
From there, after a few shaky records, the band hit its stride, a run of amazing records dominated by Gilmour’s guitar. More, Obscured by Clouds, Meddle, Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Her and Animals – the list’s amazing, on par with the Beatles’ Revolver through Abbey Road phase, the Stones’ Beggar’s Banquet through Exile on Main Street period or, for a more updated equivalent, Wilco’s string of perfect records running back to Being There (yeah, Tweedy’s that good). Unlike a lot of those comparisons, however, Floyd’s peak isn’t characterized so much by amazing songwriting, but by the sweeping walls of sound it created, all built around Gilmour’s unique style of playing. Many have tried, but no other band sounds as immense as the Floyd of “Echoes,” “Sheep” or “The Nile Song.” Some things defy replication.
The last era of Floyd, excepting the post-Waters records, which I’m not considering here, is what I’d call the Waters’ Soapbox Phase. If you’re the kind of person who pays attention to the lyrics, which I doubt most Floyd listeners are, you can hear a “Don Henley” effect slipping into the music starting as early as Wish You Were Here.***** Like Henley in “Hotel California” or “Life in the Fast Lane,” Waters whines about the crass commercialism of the record industry in “Have a Cigar.” By Animals, he’s bludgeoning the audience with Orwellian metaphors on the desperation of cogs in the industrial system.
By The Wall it’s all gone to shit… The audience is his therapist. His father’s death, the disconnectedness of being a sheltered, obscenely wealthy rock star and flailing rants against World War Two (as if England had a choice)… his axes are all ground, then ground some more, then a couple more times, just for good measure. Thankfully, the music’s so inspired, and the guitar on tunes like “The Thin Ice,” “Run Like Hell” and the solo in “Comfortably Numb” stunning enough that you needn’t pay any attention to the words. The Final Cut, Floyd’s aptly titled last record with Waters – a criticism of England’s attack on the Falkland Islands subtitled “A Requiem For the Post-War Dream” - is almost a bad joke.****** But I say “almost,” of course, because despite Waters’ attempts to turn the album into a spoken word diatribe with more extraneous verbiage than a Kevin Smith movie, Gilmour floods the record with amazing guitar work, not only rescuing the thing, but turning it into a great record.
Below are three exhibits proving my point about Gilmour – examples of him doing what he does best in a song from each one of the Floyd phases. The first is “The Fletcher Memorial Home,” a languid, meandering tune Gilmour turns on its head with a staggering solo that can’t be more than twenty notes long. I’ve been in the condition to “visualize” music enough to describe this solo without being ludicrous. And this thing appears as jet, or the wing of one – drafting long, flawless lines in its wake, puncturing through the fog of an otherwise forgettable dirge. Where a million other guitarists would have fired off dozens of notes, Gilmour selects a mere handful. But he makes every single one count, bending them to maximum impact. The effect is soaring, sweeping – more like the symphonic movement than a single instrumental solo. Comes of like something Wagner might have scored… optimal dramatics, but never overdone.
The second’s a somewhat obscure song from Atom Heart Mother, “Fat Old Sun.” Perfect “Echoes” era Floyd. The solo in this clip, from Gilmour’s Live from Gdansk disc, simply smokes.
The final one is a Syd Barrett era tune written by Richard Wright, the late Floyd keyboardist. The clip’s taken from a television show aired shortly after Wright’s death. The song’s got a lot of space in it, Gilmour’s playing slide, and considering it was a tribute to Wright, he could’ve gone nuts – played a mad, epic solo… interpolated elements of other Wright compositions. Instead he plays it tight, economical. Keeps it the way it was written, but as no one else – not even the other members of Floyd with any other guitarist, including the greats like Clapton, Beck or Page – could make it sound. Because like everything else he’s done, Gilmour “owned” the song the minute he started to play it. You just might not have known, as he never gave a damn about credit. That was for Waters, the tortured artist of the band.
Part II, “Drums,” to follow soon.
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* If you like the stuff I’ve written about the economy in the past, particularly our refusal to acknowledge and constructively address our financial circumstances on both a personal and national level, you need to read Shirley’s piece, Confessions of an Economic Simpleton.
** John Mayer doesn’t suck simply because he’s a pathetic scandal hound. John Mayer sucks because his music is shit. Even when he’s actually trying (the three songs per record that aren’t aimed exclusively at 16 year old girls), he’s sleep-inducingly dull.
*** Hank Williams III has my proxy on the rest of the argument against modern county: Play This Loud.
**** There are confessions to be made, and indictments to be handed out, regarding the sources of any artist’s neuroses. And perhaps it was Waters’ aim to splay his private life across the canvas in a manner the society he grew up in would abhor as a form of rebellion. In listening to The Wall, however, and hearing Waters bleat and screech about the endless injustices he suffered in a nation treating its citizens as barbarically as England apparently did (perhaps it was just his neighborhood), you can’t help wishing he’d developed a British “stiff upper lip” in place of his sense of self-importance.
***** Yes, I realize it’s almost impossible to compare something as awful as the Eagles to Pink Floyd. It’s also impossible to discuss self-important rock stars without dropping Don Henley’s name. He’s the archetype asshat of the category.
****** Not a joke. Along with providing an excuse to release a pile of outtakes from The Wall, the album is a response to Margaret Thatcher’s decision to go to war over the Falklands, an obscure and utterly useless British colony off South America the neighboring Argentinians had decided to annex. England famously won this dire conflict in large part by parking its ships just beyond the range of the invaders’ artillery, then shelling the shit out of the place. Waters later wrote a song critical of the use of such mechanized warfare during the Persian Gulf War titled “The Bravery of Being Out of Range.” Though Floyd employed every technological advance in its music, in matters of combat, he appears to be a stickler about fair fights.
And here I sit in my office listening to Kiss…
PL: “Beth,” of course…?
One of the things that I have always respected about Gilmour was the way that his playing, or solo’s, were so unique to a persons own style. You could say that about alot of artists but for me it has always been more apparent concering Gilmore. You are right in saying that his solo’s are not pretentious and he doesnt spend time trying to fill every second with as many notes as possible. I have always wanted to emulate his ability to bend the notes as he does in a way that leaves you saying “yes” “that was the shit I wanted to hear.” It doesnt leave you wanting. Nevermind coming head on with a blistering axe shreading (which is great in the hands of Page, Tweedy: ghost is born, ect.. and others talented enough to handle it with class, not fucking Van Halen, goddamn it I hate Van Halen) that leaves you numb. Instead its a methodical approach to the same conclusion. Also, Roger Waters is starting his wall tour soon. I know for fucking certain that I will be attending one of the shows. I saw him on the Dark Side tour a few years ago and it was great. Its the closest Ill ever get to being able to see some form of Pink Floyd. he will be in Philly for three nights in a row in November.
PL: BB King does something similar. Plays only a couple notes, but stretches them in this inextricable way…
The craziest note bend, however, goes to Page. He plays this crazy little run in old live versions of Whole Lotta Love – just after the song restarts following that mid-section of noise – where he bends a note in a manner I’ve never heard elsewhere. Might be simple as shit, but it sounds really amazing.
PL: Great post; it was a lovely read. I didn’t get into Floyd until college (gee….wonder why) and wish now that I had taken the opprotunity in 1994 when they were on tour to see them live. Oh well, my loss on that one I guess…
And I have to agree that Pearl Jam is under-rate and under-appreciated by most people out there except for their die-hard fans. There most recent album I wasn’t a fan of when I first listened to it…but it’s grown on me ever since and four of their new songs are on constant rotation on my MP3 player.
Finally, I’m looking forward to part II, though I wonder if you’re going to write about just a drummer or a percussionist (definition wise they are different, but the names are usually interchanged regardless of the performers overall skill(s)….which is wrong IMHO).
Keep up the great work PL!
PL: Thanks. A drummer. A brilliant one hiding in plain sight.
I missed Floyd on that tour as well and regret it like hell. Seen the Allmans, the Dead, Traffic, Stones, Neil Young… Never saw Floyd. Fucking kills me.
PL: Great post; it was a lovely read. I didn’t get into Floyd until college (gee….wonder why) and wish now that I had taken the opprotunity in 1994 when they were on tour to see them live. Oh well, my loss on that one I guess…
And I have to agree that Pearl Jam is under-rated and under-appreciated by most people out there except for their die-hard fans. With their most recent album, Backspacer, I wasn’t a fan of when I first listened to it…but it’s grown on me ever since and four of their new songs are on constant rotation on my MP3 player. So sometimes it does take a PJ fan to come around to what they’re laying down.
Finally, I’m looking forward to part II, though I wonder if you’re going to write about just a drummer or a percussionist (definition wise they are different, but the names are usually interchanged regardless of the performers overall skill(s)….which is wrong IMHO).
Keep up the great work PL!
Nice post. I’ve been wondering what’s with the less-than-frequent updates of the last few months. Don’t get me wrong – I’d rather quality over quantity any day, and if you’re feeling out of material after the book take all the time you need. Take a year off. Take five if it’s what you need. Creativity needs air, and there’s nothing more depressing than seeing a once promising outlet be bled dry by some producer/manager/agent’s greedy notion of ‘let’s strike while it’s hot’.
But i can’t help but wonder what your literary plans are after Happy Hour Is For Amateurs. Feel free not to answer that of course.
But about the post: Nice idea for a series. Pink Floyd-wise, my favorites have always been Meddle through Animals. It’s the perfect sweet spot for my taste. Albums before or after seem to fall into the extremes. The post-“the wall” era is by far more irritating than the early period however. Water’s very tone of voice seems to metaphor whatever on-the-nose whiny teenager lyrics he’s gonna sing.
Can’t wait to see who’s next. God knows there are a lot of examples to draw from.
I also cant help but wonder if any of our favorite old-school rock geniuses would turn out to be bratty narcissistic ass-hats ala John Mayer, had they had access to “teh internets” back in their day. What on earth would Keith Richard’s twitter feed look like? David Bowie’s? Would Elton John have a blog? Would Jagger and Richards have a “twitter feud” every other fortnight? Would Bonham’s death be aired and discussed and frowned upon on E! entertainment television by this army of “comedians” nobody’s even heard of that they always have in line to comment on every goddamn thing anyone even remotely famous does? Would some clueless, soul-less marketing/social-expert, blackberry-addicted ghoul try to convince Jim Morrison to be a guest judge on American Idol? Tom Waits on The View?
Id like to believe they would all collectively puke at the very thought of it, and hopefully get all the people who produce this dribble fired. Most of the new breed of mention-worthy musicians seems blatantly uninterested in blogs, twitter or media-scandals, to the point of feeling anachronistic. And the few that are still alive seem to elegantly steer clear of all that crap, but my pessimistic side tells me more than one would slip down that slope and embarrass themselves. Of course, opposed to Mayer, these embarrassments would eventually be forgiven in the face of well, I dunno, talent.
PL: Turn it off, dude. That’s all you need to do. I’ve never watched the reality stuff and never will, except to gawk at it like a car accident. Or start writing. You’ll find you don’t have the time, or inclination, to bother with watching what the Kardashians are doing.
I don’t know where my literary future goes, but its not troubling me. The industry inevitably will come to this medium, on this medium’s terms. There’s a reason I write solid carefully edited shit, rather than coughing out volume.
I always thought it appropriate that Bob Geldof was in the film. Like Bono, I respect that he is involved with Africa, but so whiny.
PL: Agreed. Good on Bob for doing what he did. But that doesn’t change the fact that he’s an insufferable ass with minimal, if any, talent.
I always love your posts about music, man. Definitely looking forward to Part II.
PL: I like writing them. I could write about music for the rest of my life. Sadly, that would require me to live under a bridge and eat Raman noodles.
Forgot to add: I think When the Tigers Broke Free is the shit, though. I can see how it could be taken as angsty, but that song honestly gives me goose bumps.
PL: That is a cool piece. I wonder why they cut it. Length, probably.
Just to put all of this into perspective, in the time it took me to read this, Ke$ha probably made $400,000.
PL: Gilmour works on a yacht on the Thames. You know that scene in Wall Street where Larry Wildmon says to Gekko, “I could break you mate… Bend you in two… I could dump the shares just to burn your ass”? Compared to the bank people like Page, Gilmour, Clapton, etc… made (back when being a rock star paid obscenely well), Ke$ha’s not even Gekko in that scene. She’s Budd Fox.
Hollywood, music, books… It’s a whole lot of money for the thinnest .00001, decent pay for a few in the top 5%, and not much for everyone else. Nothing cracks me up like people asking me about royalties. “Inbreds… Cromwell has my proxy.”
Now we are talking… If you love guitarists as much as I do – Part of soloing,involves knowing the pentatonic scales and keys. Just like a ‘good lover its all in the technique. David Gilmour, is a master and just intuitively knows what sounds right and can call upon that knowledge instantly while playing. Roger Waters…not so much. Gilmour is one of my favorite guitarists next to Page,Vai, Perry, Tony Iommi & Malmsteen. Why in the world would you cite Mayer (rolls eyes) he is not worthy of this post.
PL: I don’t know it beyond what I like (Duane Allman is my favorite of all time). But I know what’s well played, and Gilmour clearly chooses and plays his notes well. He’s not nervous, wired or out to impress, and it makes all the difference.
Mayer’s not cited for playing. He’s cited for being an over-rated ass.
Duane Allman …in a league of his own…. called ‘take your breath away.’ agreed.
PL: The mix on this isn’t great, but if you ever wondered what Duane Allman and Wilson Pickett going balls out on “Hey Jude” might sound like, here it is (Duane starts in earnest around 2:40; Pickett’s nuts the whole way through): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IFB9Q_3t_k
If you don’t own it, buy the Allman Brothers Live at Ludlow’s Garage: http://www.amazon.ca/1970-Live-At-Ludlow-Garage/dp/B000001FWM The “Mountain Jam” is 44 minutes, and it’s raw and frenzied as hell. I like it better than the Fillmore Concerts’ version.
Never heard this (thought I was an aficionado)… 2:40 Duane gave me the chills;) In my ipod now. Your very right about ‘Mountain Jam’ from Ludlow’s Garage (already have that) the wildest song on that album;) It blew away the Fillmore stuff.
And yes, in case you were wondering… I did open up the page, then go down to the beach for beers and burgers.
Oh yes, on topic… Iommi has to get a great tip of the top hat for one of the most amazingly unique sounds. Townsend is another. Maybe not the best, but each a sound that definded a style. And a sound all their own. (Insert devil’s note here.) PIZZA! PIZZA!
PL: Iommi is the father of all hard rock. Cream, Hendrix, the Who… yeah, they invented the monster riff. But Iommi perfected it. Exhibit A: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMtqVoZl8TA&feature=PlayList&p=2E2782C70F0EBA16&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=28
Gilmour is nothing short of the man. Absolutely the best guitarist ever. Now, for my comments:
1) the idea that “Floyd fans dont usually listen to the lyrics”: You seem to be lost in the typical stereotype that PF flans are tripped out saying “WHOOAAA!” while they blast PF. Simply not true (or, I am heavily in the minority). If people dont actually listen to and/or understand the lyrics to these songs, they are missing one of the biggest pieces of the puzzle. Best example, obviously, is DSOtM. If there are PF fans that dont listen to that album and say, “Wow. That is truly profound” then that is simply pathetic.
2) Gilmour can shred on a level achieved by basically no one. He doesnt have to hammer out scales as fast as possible to “ooh and awe” the audience. No way. He plays everything perfectly. As if the solo was not placed in that exact portion of the song, something would be noticably missing. IE, he would be Hendrix. Who, while an epic guitarist, often times seems like he is playing just to play.
3) Time is Gilmour’s best solo. If you havent already, go to youtube and watch a 30 second clip of Gilmour shredding the intro to the Time solo. Its from a documentary on the making of DSOtM. Its astonishing. Bone chilling.
4) The fact that Waters and Gilmour wont play together (I get the Rick Wright element but hang with me) is just ridiculous. Why? Why after 25+ years could they still possibly against the idea? They’re people who are abused by their parents who get over such trauma faster.
5) If I were to rank my top 3 artists groups of all time you have: 1. PF 2. Neil Young 3. LZ
6) In other related news and truly astonishing facts, of all the interesting people I have read about, no one has been dealt a Royal Flush more than Brian May of Queen. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_May
Best.
PL: As to #1, I wasn’t flogging that stereotype. My suggestion was that Floyd’s far more about the music than the lyrics. Re #3, I have seen that. Pretty amazing shit. On #4, they turned down $100mil to tour just a few years ago. From what I’ve read, Gilmour figures its more annoyance to be around Roger than any money could overcome. And they’re both so obscenely wealthy they don’t need to do it. Waters sounds like a truly enormous asshole.
May’s a brilliant guitarist. He was actually someone I considered writing about as a runner up. Shame there was so much camp in their music. Much of it is truly classic stuff, but Mercury went in for such pomp and studio embroidery. Made it almost satirical.
I have long said that David Gilmour is the greatest rock guitaristas far as I’m concerned. Until now, I’ve never found anyone that agrees with me. Even my friends who are die hard Floyd fans always default to Jimmy Page, SRV or Hendrix whenever this discussion arises.
Somewhere in my mess of crap I have a Guitar Player magazine that declares Gilmour THE master of the bend. And that should have been obvious to me when I bought the magazine, but I guess I’d never really thought about it. It’s what immediately defines a Gilmour solo. Even though he didn’t realize it at the time, Leo Fender created the Stratocaster specifically for Gilmour’s style.
Nick Mason once described Gilmour as the quintessential “stiff upper-lipped Brit”. If the guy never picked up a guitar, you’d never know the breadth of emotion and sensitivity the guy possesses.
As far as Pearl Jam not getting the credit they deserve for being dependably good and always delivering, I think it would be a shame if they did. Nowadays, there’s something about commercial appeal and media endorsement that seems cheap. I suppose it’s always sort of been that way. But at this point and time it seems even more “plastic”. The non-stop media coverage of pop culture and celebrity idolatry makes me feel uncomfortable and itchy. I’m grateful that acts such as Pearl Jam can find a way to continue working.
Speaking of supergroups… My friend tuned me into Liquid Tension Experiment. You should check em out, though I’m not sure if it’s too new-school for you.
I must just have different tastes, pesonally I can’t stand PF but Gilmour certainly has it.
Frankly I loves me some Angus Young, and I loves it loud. I even like CC and some of the other 8-’s hair banders. Technically sound like Gilmour? Certainly not, although I’m not sure if they have ever had a chance to play like Clapton, Gilmour, or Beck and the like.
Here’s my beef with your notes. Mayer is a douche for sure, but to say he sucks is a knee jerk reaction to his jackassery not his musical ability. Most people can’t critically listen to his stuff because of their feelings to his verbal, not diarrhea, but tragically hip anti social wanna be intellectual BS.
One thing you did say is that his music is aimed at 16 year old girls, which begs the question: When you say his music is shit do you really mean his lyrics?
“A drummer. A brilliant one hiding in plain sight. ”
Charlie Watts.
Pearl Jam was never a huge band for me. I actually was just in NOLA for jazz fest and caught the first half hour of their act but had to leave to see Jeff Beck play which was infinitely more awesome. As “great” as Pearl Jam’s 2 note guitar solos were, seeing Jeff Beck live with his current backing band was amazing.
And to tie it back to your original post, I just found out that when Barrett was too far gone to play with PF anymore, they were going to ask Jeff Beck to join but didn’t have the balls to do so and got Waters instead. What a different band that would have been.
Saw Pink Floyd live in 94 and will try to see Waters playing his “limitless pubescent angst and endless, whining introspection” rock opera The Wall, which he is about to start a tour to do, at the end of this year.
Yes, Pearl Jam has always been dependable to make music. But from about 2000 to 06 they were in no man’s land musically. Too busy fighting ticketmaster and thinking they wouldn’t join a record label. It hurt the band in my opinion. Meanwhile the chili peppers, going 25 years focus more on the music, even if there have been some detours. Frusiciante is a great understated and underrated guitar player. It’s too bad he left the band again.
PL: Frusciante’s great, no doubt, but IMO, that band peaked with Blood Sugar Sex Magic and hasn’t recaptured that high point since.
the chili peppers will never duplicate blood sugar sex magic, much like pearl jam will never duplicate ten. It’s not because they can’t, it’s because they are in their mid 40′s and probably don’t feel like singing about pussy or, in Pearl Jam’s case, youthful angst.
Californication and Stadium Arcadium are great albums, much better than Blood Sugar Sex Magic.
Fuck yes. Gilmour’s genius lies in his subtlety and restraint- which is why he isn’t as firmly seated in the guitarist pantheon as Page and Co. I think the ensemble nature of Pink Floyd also makes him less conspicuous than, say, Hendrix, who spent half of every show squeezing in shamelessly self-indulgent solos and tounge-fucking his stratocaster. I’ve loved Pink Floyd since I began listening to music, and no matter how many times I go to the well, there’s always more. I was just listening to the album Meddle, and even now, 40 years after it was recorded, it still sounds like the future.
I guess this might be because I am younger and never listened to Floyd seriously before hanging out with guitarists in college, but I’ve always thought of Gilmour as the center of the act. I mean, listen to “Comfortably Numb” on Pulse, for example. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAxByEpDveQ If any song should be pure Waters, this is one, but they don’t sound a man down at all. No way! I question whether you have a soul if you aren’t simply consumed by the solo, which should elicit some type of physiological response.
I know I am way late to the party, but I thought this deserved comment, if by chance you still dip around your old stuff.
Why have you chosen not to include the post-Waters Floyd? I’m a huge fan of the band, and while not tending to break it down so much myself, would easily agree that it’s Gilmour’s guitar that really does it. I thought the later albums were great proof of this. I know many people who consider the last two albums as not true Floyd, but it’s an attitude beyond me. Some of the lyrics are perhaps weak. I’ll agree with occasional directionlessness, but there are some incredible songs (see ‘On the Turning Away’), and some incredible guitar (the duet beginning ‘Lost for Words’ is pure beauty, and the entire song carries me off). Awesome stuff.
Fun fact: Roger played guitar on the album version of “Sheep”.