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Which One's Pink?
Just what is Pink Floyd music, and why has a band which only released 14 albums of original material between 1967-1994 been so influential, & revered by so many people? I may not know all the answers, but I can give a personal view, and if I whet some new appetites then so be it!
The legendary DJ John Peel once described their music as "a mighty fine racket", and Roger Waters has commented that songs should be about the whole range of human predicaments. I can't put it any better; you can only go and listen to their albums and see what the music says to you.
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Battersea Power Station, London
Whence the inflatable pig escaped, only to be retrieved from a field in Kent. Rumour has it, the pig was heading home to Holland! |
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The Style
The Pink Floyd style is entirely their own. They started out as a rhythm & blues band with the manic genius of songwriter Syd Barrett; their early performances including long improvisations. Nick Mason has said that Pink Floyd's musical policy is "we have no musical policy". But whether you listen to such differing albums as "Piper", "Dark Side", or "The Wall", the Pink Floyd trademark is somehow always there. The only other musical influence I can identify is the composer Karlheinz Stockhausen... listen to his work 'Kontakte', and compare with Ummagumma...
Anyway, where would bands like Marillion, The Orb, and Future Sound Of London have been without the Floydian inspiration?
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The Songs
Rock & Roll songs are traditionaly about relationships, but with a few notable exceptions, Pink Floyd songs tackle just about everything else but! At the time they were starting up, so-called progressive or "prog" rock was in its infancy; a movement which was kick started by The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper album, and the dawn of the hippy movement. Indeed "Piper" was being created at Abbey Road Studios as Sgt. Pepper was being recorded just down the corridor. What is also notable is that all the tracks Pink Floyd have ever recorded are original compositions.
Prog Rock
Prog Rock is very often typified by much longer tracks than the traditional 3-minute single, and it has often been thought of as "self indulgent". So why does a track such as "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" hold you mesmerised when the first 5 minutes are one long chord & quite frankly not much happens? I can best describe Prog Rock as music which you simultaneously suffer and enjoy. Just go and listen to "Ummagumma" or "Atom Heart Mother" and see what I mean!
Other prog rock bands well worth investigating include, King Crimson, Yes (Rick Wakeman-era), Emerson Lake & Palmer, Genesis (Peter Gabriel-era), and Caravan.
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Concept Albums
Pink Floyd pioneered the "concept" album, an entity which is something more than just a collection of songs, with a common theme running throughout. Every album from "Dark Side Of The Moon" to "The Final Cut" can be considered a concept album. Imaginative use of sound effects plays a prominent part in Pink Floyd music, as has a "nothing but the best" policy. Album covers (Floyd's being mostly designed by Storm Thorgerson & his Hipgnosis company) became works of art. Oh, if you want to seek out the ultimate (albeit tongue-in-cheek) concept album, (just one 40-odd minute track!) try Jethro Tull's "Thick As A Brick". |
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