Do Pink Floyd have any good songs?

Philly_Q

Just thinking about the thread title, you could ask if any band has any good songs (I'm not suggesting it as a new sub-forum).  Why Pink Floyd in particular?

fastonebaz

OK I skim watched 2 concerts on yt, one from 70s and one from 89 I think and I found little to my liking,  lots of similar songs, huge drum kit but under utilised and lots of ambient background sounds.

I also listened to the suggestions made above with similar thoughts. 

Thanks team I now feel informed but satisfied I'm not missing out.  

Handsome_Chris

fastonebaz said:

...  lots of similar songs, huge drum kit but under utilised ...

So like kinda like Mötley Crüe then!

fretmeister

No.

They are awful.

Hurling_Fruitmig

prowla said:

Sassafras said:

I liked the Syd Barrett days.
Unless you smoke loads of dope, the Gilmour years will seem a bit dull.
I can't listen to them anymore now I'm off the drugs.

Curious - I thought you had to be on drugs to like the Syd Barrett era ones.

Different drugs.

digitalkettle

I just played 'Wish You Were Here'...quite enjoyed it...apart from the crap acoustic guitar playing on the title track*

Conclusion:

• be in the right mood
• commit to a full album in one sitting

Might have to try 'The Wall' next.

* come at me!

ArchtopDave

I like a fair bit of Pink Floyd. As I have mentioned in other Threads on them, I am of such an age that, in my student days, I used to go and see them play on the stage, that existed in front of the screen of one of the cinemas in Cambridge. Cannot remember how much a gig ticket cost, but it must have been shillings, or at most a pound. Those were the days when they were touring Dark Side Of The Moon and Ummagumma.

Blueingreen

Philly_Q said:

Just thinking about the thread title, you could ask if any band has any good songs (I'm not suggesting it as a new sub-forum).  Why Pink Floyd in particular?

If you look at Rolling Stone's list of 500 best songs, PF have 3 entries, at 314 (Comfortably Numb), 316 (Wish You Were Here) and 375 (Another Brick in The Wall).

For avoidance of doubt, I'm not claiming any great authority for a list that will have huge elements of bias and extreme randomness.  (Although as a major rock band who peaked in the 60s and 70s I think the various biases at play will on the whole tend to work in their favour rather than against them).

All the same it's a snapshot of how critics see the band. And 3 songs in the top 500, none in the top 300, represents extremely thin pickings for a band who've had their level of mainstream success.  They suffer very badly by comparison with many artists PF fans would regard as their peers - The Beatles, Stones, Dylan etc.

You won't have to look hard to find PF fans complaining that the list is a load of bollocks, of course, but I still think it suggests there's a prima facie case to answer that whatever you think of the band their success isn't built on their talent as songwriters.

steven70

If you're looking for something to cover, may I suggest 'Careful with that axe Eugene'.
Always goes down well when we throw it in the set.

LastMantra

They have sold a few albums though. DSOTM is one of the best selling albums ever isn't it?

ICBM

Blueingreen said:

If you look at Rolling Stone's list of 500 best songs, PF have 3 entries, at 314 (Comfortably Numb), 316 (Wish You Were Here) and 375 (Another Brick in The Wall).

For avoidance of doubt, I'm not claiming any great authority for a list that will have huge elements of bias and extreme randomness.  (Although as a major rock band who peaked in the 60s and 70s I think the various biases at play will on the whole tend to work in their favour rather than against them).

All the same it's a snapshot of how critics see the band. And 3 songs in the top 500, none in the top 300, represents extremely thin pickings for a band who've had their level of mainstream success.  They suffer very badly by comparison with many artists PF fans would regard as their peers - The Beatles, Stones, Dylan etc.

You won't have to look hard to find PF fans complaining that the list is a load of bollocks, of course, but I still think it suggests there's a prima facie case to answer that whatever you think of the band their success isn't built on their talent as songwriters.

I would say that it indicates just that their strong point is writing cohesive albums, not songs which can be cherry-picked by critics for superficial "best of" lists.

Those probably aren't even their three best songs, although I think they are among them.

Yes, I am a PF fan, and I do feel slightly stupid responding to a post about a Rolling Stone list.

ToneControl

probably more positive songs in the Samson era

but if you've not liked stuff that gets played on the radio, probably move on and try other artists instead

PolarityMan

I thin porcupine tree did the British malaise thing strictly better so oink Floyd aren't really needed anymore.

darthed1981

Philly_Q said:

fastonebaz said:

I think comfortably numb might be one of the mind numbingly boring ones I've heard in the radio. 

So it made you uncomfortably numb?

Not been here much recently, maybe things have changed, but that deserved more than the one lol ive given you.

Jfingers

As a teenage stoner, 15 or so, I discovered Dark Side Of The Moon, Sergeant Pepper, !3th Floor Elevators first and second albums, A best of Jefferson Airplane thing, all sorts.

I was already into the Beatles earlier work, Stones, Elvis, Buddy Holly, The Beach Boys and various other things thanks to my parents tiny record and cassette collection.

I can recite Floyd's Bike almost word for word. It reminds me of some of my favourite comedic poets, but I doubt I'd sit down to listen to it unless someone in my company had never heard it and it came up in conversation.

I agree the albums are designed as a 'journey' But wish you were here, comfortably numb and several others are ubiquitous travelling campfire songs much like redemption song.

Danny1969

I remember hearing The Wall for the first time when I was a teenager. I was so knocked out by it I couldn't stop listening to it and basically listened to it non stock for about a year. I love the other albums bit that one just floored me and I still think it's the best rock album of all time. 
I'm very much a Waters man, as much as I rate Gilmour's guitar playing he isn't much of a songwriter. Water's is a superb song writer and I prefer his solo stuff to the post Waters-less Floyd. 

It would be a boring world indeed though if we all liked the same thing so I don't doubt some people just won't get Floyd. I don't get Hendrix, Prince or GnR in much the same way. 

fastonebaz

I don't get Hendrix Prince or GnR either  

diap

Do Pink Floyd have any good songs?

No.

They are all great!*




* except for songs with lyrics by Dave Gilmour and Polly Samson. They are terrible.

Philly_Q

Danny1969 said:

I remember hearing The Wall for the first time when I was a teenager. I was so knocked out by it I couldn't stop listening to it and basically listened to it non stock for about a year. I love the other albums bit that one just floored me and I still think it's the best rock album of all time. 

I remember Tommy Vance playing the whole album on the Friday Rock Show on the day, or the day before, it was released.  I went out and bought it the next day and listened to it loads of times.

It was the first Pink Floyd album I bought and although I did subsequently buy a few of the others, I never really became a big fan of the band, even though I loved The Wall and I still think it's a fantastic album 40-odd years later.

Stuckfast

Jfingers said:

As a teenage stoner, 15 or so, I discovered  !3th Floor Elevators first and second albums

Easter Everywhere! Now THAT is a great album.