I'm way less a Floyd listener than most of you but I too find it an intimate record.
― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 6 August 2023 19:33 (nine months ago) link
It always struck me (esp compared to adjacent albums, Floyd and otherwise) as a marvel of “clean production”, it sounds just miles ahead of any other contemporaneous album in this regard, even Steely Dan stuff
― If you hate movies, this Barbie is for you (flamboyant goon tie included), Sunday, 6 August 2023 19:40 (nine months ago) link
I should probably hear this album, I think the Wizard of Oz thing is all I really know about it. Enjoyed "Fearless" on the radio the other day and was surprised to learn who it was.
― soup of magpies (geoffreyess), Sunday, 6 August 2023 19:59 (nine months ago) link
dark side is probably the least psychedelic-sounding floyd record, certainly their album most in debt to the sounds of contemporaneous r&b. for all its high concept lyricism and sound collages, its an astonishingly easy album to listen to. it’s languid and loose, lots of two chord minor two-major v7 progressions that invite improvisation, saxes and gospel choirs all over the place. there’s a reason it never left the charts
― ludicrously capacious bag (voodoo chili), Sunday, 6 August 2023 20:03 (nine months ago) link
"Fearless"
one of the very best post-Syd tunes imo (it helps that david sings)
― budo jeru, Sunday, 6 August 2023 20:30 (nine months ago) link
fearless rules.
― scott seward, Sunday, 6 August 2023 20:33 (nine months ago) link
great album, bust your windows what a classic, that should get best old music instead of this student poster crap
― your original display name is still visible (Left), Sunday, 6 August 2023 20:39 (nine months ago) link
blame Clintonism, dear
― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 6 August 2023 20:41 (nine months ago) link
this is the post-syd pink floyd that i have listened to more than any studio album. its just all so beautiful. this 2LP boot is cobbled together from different sessions. but i'm used to it.
https://i.discogs.com/8nggd6FvcTnZSE1Cvq7TGGgNGN66pxyJ3K1H8YqIJE4/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:591/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTE5OTcz/MzctMTM4ODM1OTYz/MC0yMzAwLmpwZWc.jpeg
― scott seward, Sunday, 6 August 2023 20:43 (nine months ago) link
https://archive.org/details/pink-floyd-bbc-archives-1970-1971-london/02_The+Embryo_Pink+Floyd.mp3
― scott seward, Sunday, 6 August 2023 20:44 (nine months ago) link
ty!
― budo jeru, Sunday, 6 August 2023 20:47 (nine months ago) link
https://archive.org/details/pink-floyd-bbc-archives-1970-1971-london/02_The+Embryo_Pink+Floyd.mp3🕸
― BlackIronPrison, Sunday, 6 August 2023 20:47 (nine months ago) link
1970 to 1972. love them. and david gilmour was such a hottie. (1970 to 1972 my fave grateful dead years too. strength upon strength. running on all cylinders. all that. youth. talent. luck. pompeii. before the drugs went sour.)
― scott seward, Sunday, 6 August 2023 20:47 (nine months ago) link
fwiw when it comes to the floyd worship culture on this board, i have no problem admitting that on my part it's half-jocular. i say "pink floyd rules" in the same way that i would say e.g. "megadeth rules" -- have not interest in declaring either band the "greatest" or "most advanced" or any other tired boomerism that the pfork article trotted out
― budo jeru, Sunday, 6 August 2023 20:49 (nine months ago) link
i have played that 80s-era boot so many times and it staggers me every time by how great it sounds! the sound is unholy good on those sessions.
― scott seward, Sunday, 6 August 2023 20:50 (nine months ago) link
and david gilmour was such a hottie.
I keep reading this!
― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 6 August 2023 21:06 (nine months ago) link
and Left otm: Jazmine Sullivan rules.
yeah budo jeru the "pink floyd rules" this was kind of a joke at first but then pink floyd does also does pretty much rule so it's sort of a loving half joke now plus saying "pink floyd rules" rules
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Sunday, 6 August 2023 21:12 (nine months ago) link
i asked a group of writer friends who are all pretty music-obsessed (on a Discord) and they are in agreement with me— a fine band to which the hyperbole can never match. also otm re: psychedelia, I truly think some of the journalism featuring talk of the music’s psychedelic elements was written by people who have never melted face off a hit of clean blotter.
― butt dumb tight my boners got boners (the table is the table), Sunday, 6 August 2023 21:50 (nine months ago) link
who are your writer fiends? Name names
― brimstead, Sunday, 6 August 2023 21:51 (nine months ago) link
Is this thread now responding to some “if you don’t like Pink Floyd you don’t like music” straw man?
― brimstead, Sunday, 6 August 2023 21:52 (nine months ago) link
I am not sure what the debate is here, but re: BBC sessions this is essential:
http://www.profstoned.com/2023/02/pink-floyd-bbc-sessions-1967-1971-prof.html
― out-of-print LaserDisc edition (sleeve), Sunday, 6 August 2023 21:57 (nine months ago) link
a marvel of “clean production”
Yeah, this is where I fall, I think. It's like this impeccably crafted jazz-rock fusion (but not "fusion") that's mostly a joy to listen to (maaaaaan). It's simply too slick, too smooth to be psychedelic, imo; "Echoes" is probably the best or only example of Floyd pseudo-psych that is also pretty smooth. But yeah, on the rare occasion I play "Dark Side" (not because I don't like it, just because I have other things to listen to) I almost have to concentrate extra hard to get beyond the baggage, the familiarity, the ubiquity, to hear the album on its own terms, with a fresh ears mindset.
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 6 August 2023 22:35 (nine months ago) link
i don't think that's the point?
― Deflatormouse, Sunday, 6 August 2023 22:41 (nine months ago) link
like, the 2 most important things about DSoTM
1. the audio feat of creating a pure black backdrop where the negative space around the parts is an infinite void
2. the cover art looks the way this sounds
― Deflatormouse, Sunday, 6 August 2023 22:43 (nine months ago) link
Re psychedelia, there's the Butthole Surfers from 1983-1987, and then there's everybody else. Pink Floyd are far closer to Steely Dan than the Butthole Surfers. I would never call them a psych band (or a prog band, for that matter). They make really smooth, drifty/dreamy rock. And they rule.
― but also fuck you (unperson), Sunday, 6 August 2023 22:43 (nine months ago) link
(this is one of those threads where it's impossible to load the skipped posts so walking in on the middle of a movie here)
― Deflatormouse, Sunday, 6 August 2023 22:45 (nine months ago) link
i always felt like all music was psychedelic when on...psychedelics.
― scott seward, Sunday, 6 August 2023 22:55 (nine months ago) link
isn't dark side kinda alan parsons' vision of the universe. felt like he spent the rest of the 70s trying to replicate it.
leslie duncan is on dark side. i heart leslie duncan.
― scott seward, Sunday, 6 August 2023 22:57 (nine months ago) link
― butt dumb tight my boners got boners (the table is the table), Sunday, 6 August 2023 23:02 (nine months ago) link
like, the 2 most important things about DSoTM1. the audio feat of creating a pure black backdrop where the negative space around the parts is an infinite void2. the cover art looks the way this sounds
― corrs unplugged, Monday, 7 August 2023 08:48 (nine months ago) link
i have nothing to add on dark side, just wanted to say that "childhood's end" on obscured by clouds has my favorite gilmour solo
― Heez, Monday, 7 August 2023 14:40 (nine months ago) link
that $17 Springsteen article ran more like an ad for TickPick
― Western® with Bacon Flavor, Tuesday, 8 August 2023 02:39 (nine months ago) link
“Did you have a strategy?” I went on some websites and these were the cheapest. (write up that story!)
― Nonhuman biologics enthusiast (morrisp), Tuesday, 8 August 2023 02:44 (nine months ago) link
I'm always baffled this thread has never been split. Makes me sad that I can't find old parts of discussions for future reference.
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Tuesday, 8 August 2023 20:14 (nine months ago) link
waiting for pitchfork to do another dumb thing so we can start the next thread
― hardcore technician gimmicks are also another popular choice f (President Keyes), Tuesday, 8 August 2023 20:15 (nine months ago) link
giving it a 10 is too predictable, 9.9 too much of a troll, 8.0 too confrontational. 9.3 is the perfect rating to piss everyone off for reasons that sound silly when you actually type them out. idk folks maybe Pitchfork's still got it
― frogbs, Tuesday, 8 August 2023 20:28 (nine months ago) link
I knew my fellow young p4k readers would be quick to draw comparison with the 10 afforded Appetite for Destruction
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Tuesday, 8 August 2023 20:31 (nine months ago) link
Wow, don’t think I ever read that before… great piece by Maura J. (tho an album said to have “songs that feel like filler” prob shouldn’t qualify for a 10).
― Nonhuman biologics enthusiast (morrisp), Tuesday, 8 August 2023 20:40 (nine months ago) link
(Honestly, that's what I wish more of these retrospective reviews were like – a few paragraphs of background and the rest focusing on the album, instead of the other way around.)
― Nonhuman biologics enthusiast (morrisp), Tuesday, 8 August 2023 20:45 (nine months ago) link
Same generally I think. When I read the Labi Siffre one I had the same feeling I had when I read the Aaliyah one: this is a really nice piece of writing but if it was me I'd have to write more about the record itself.
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Tuesday, 8 August 2023 21:07 (nine months ago) link
(tho an album said to have “songs that feel like filler” prob shouldn’t qualify for a 10).
― Nonhuman biologics enthusiast (morrisp), Tuesday, August 8, 2023 3:40 PM (twenty-eight minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink
i disagree. i will explain more whenever i write my treatise titled "in defense of skips"
― ludicrously capacious bag (voodoo chili), Tuesday, 8 August 2023 21:09 (nine months ago) link
an album said to have “songs that feel like filler” prob shouldn’t qualify for a 10
it's the opposite. an album can't be a 10 if it doesn't have skips. means they weren't taking enough risks
― flopson, Tuesday, 8 August 2023 21:43 (nine months ago) link
there's that funny story about Jodorowsky thinking Pink Floyd was some serious mystical band and when he met with them to get them to record the music for his Dune movie he got really depressed after walking in the room and seeing a bunch of normal looking guys eating fast food
― Bongo Jongus, Tuesday, 8 August 2023 21:50 (nine months ago) link
xp That's an interesting thought... but don't think I can really relate to the idea of factoring "effort" into what makes a perfect album, as opposed to actual results (or can think of many "skips" stemming from noble risks that didn't pay off, as opposed to just weak tracks).
― Nonhuman biologics enthusiast (morrisp), Tuesday, 8 August 2023 22:06 (nine months ago) link
...although that said, I guess if I were inclined to give (say) Exile on Main Street a 10.0, I'd say something similar to what Maura wrote for Appetite – some tracks may initially seem like filler, but upon further listening (etc.)
― Nonhuman biologics enthusiast (morrisp), Tuesday, 8 August 2023 22:20 (nine months ago) link
man it is GNR, they're supposed to be a mess, if they can hold it together for more than 2 or 3 songs they don't deserve better than a 6
― Deflatormouse, Tuesday, 8 August 2023 23:07 (nine months ago) link
I don't really completely buy the 'risks' factor because I don't think an album has to 'take risks' musically to be a straight 10, necessarily.
but even if it did - a 10 to me would be for the albums that swung for the fences and got all of it. doesn't mean all of the songs are of equal quality, meaning there can still be somewhat of a gulf between the best and least. but there's a reason why nobody was giving T.I. vs T.I.P. a 10 despite that being his 'most ambitious' album at the time.
most of the time music that is adventurous doesn't necessarily hook you at first, it just has to make you not want to get off of the ride. like it's saying "trust me, this may not make sense to you now, but just wait until you see where it's going".
― linoleum gallagher (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 8 August 2023 23:16 (nine months ago) link
i don’t buy the argument that an album not making you want to actively stop listening at any point is sufficient for 10/10 status. often indicates an album that sounds the same all the way through (a favored buzzword, cohesiveness) which is fine but not a virtue in and of itself. nor is an album with one or more tracks you don’t need or want to hear more than once necessarily worse than one that has no such tracks (an entry level example being the white album, an obvious 10/10 to me with multiple songs i skip 90% of the time)
― ludicrously capacious bag (voodoo chili), Tuesday, 8 August 2023 23:23 (nine months ago) link
ya white album is a good example. also goldberg variations
― flopson, Tuesday, 8 August 2023 23:26 (nine months ago) link