Bookmarks: Dark Side of the Rainbow ~Tributes
From: "Michael Irish"
"Pink Floyd at Pompeii" is still one on of my favorite movies: It still has
pride of place in my video collection (which is primarily opera). There are a few things I
would have done differently, though:
--Nick Mason's drums are over-miked, especially on "One Of These Days." I know
that's what they were after here, but I can hardly hear Dave's stellar guitar-work.
--I would have cut the interviews in favor of more shots from the studio of the Floyd
working on "Dark Side of the Moon." Though I don't know if anyone had an idea
that this would become one of the seminal recordings in rock n roll. I think the band knew
they were on to something special, but not somebody outside of the music, in this case the
film directors.
--I wouldn't have had the band chop-up "Echos" mid-way through the music, then
pick it up again for the end of the film. "Echos" remains my favorite Floyd
number. I remember as a teenager, listening to WABX in Detroit, which was a great station:
Born in post-hippie days, there was no format, with the DJ's playing what they wanted. For
instance, there was the famous night when John Sinclair was smoking marijuana and playing
"Space is the Place" by the Sun Ra Orchestra over and over again. So, and people
were always calling in asking "play Echos!" we'd get to hear this music, unusual
in that it runs from first bar to last, at about 23 minutes length. I'm not crazy about
the transfer to CD; I've the feeling (as with "Atom Heart Mother") that
the original transfer wasnt remixed for digital format. Perhaps the "Meddle" now
on the market has been remixed? Finally, this was Pink Floyd at their power and glory to
me.
A great rendition of "Saucerful of Secrets" is one highlight here. Roger Waters
had not yet become utterly cynical about everything; David Gilmour was reinventing the
possibilities of electric guitar with each recording; and both Rick Wright and Nick Mason
were chiming in for a unified Floyd that would gradually disintegrate as Roger assumed
more control over the band's thematic content, falling apart by the time of "The
Final Cut" (an underrated recording). It is difficult (even given my verbosity) to
overstate the influence Pink Floyd had on my listening at this time. They opened up the
world for me, musically.
From: "Alejandro =?iso-8859-1?Q?Gonz=E1lez?="
As I read it somewhere, the riff was originally from an Arthur Lee (Love) song, whose
exact identity I still ignore; someone sang that to Syd Barrett, which I assume should be
sober at that particular time :-), and he played it in his guitar, found it lovable and
built Insterstellar Overdrive. Musically, this riff is unique in his oddness and
simplicity: is a chromatic pattern which descends semitone by semitone (C-B-Bb-A-Ab-G),
except the last interval which is a whole tone (G-F). If you start on C you end in F,
isn't it? And when the theme has been repeated a few times, the bass line is still a
chromatic sequence from C to F. So I guess it is in F, as long as it is tonal at all
(well, now I am hearing it once again —first time in some years— and, with all
its meanderings, it is far more F centered that I would have guessed; now I doubt if most
of it may be considered really atonal at all, even if it sounds like it were. What do you
think?).
Waters or Gimour (I am not used) once said that Pink Floyd were not space rock at all, the
only spatial songs they ever performed being _Astronomy Domine_ and _Insterstellar
Overdrive_, both by Syd Barrett. Sure it is a well know truth that artist seldom are good
or even passable critics of their own work, and PF sound is IMHO well labeled as
space-rock, as heard in many other songs, _A Saucerful of Secret_ and _Cirrus Minor_ for
obvious examples (if Kubrick thought of them to make _2001_ soundtrack, there must be
something of that kind of them, isn't it?).
_Insterstellar Ov._ were actually one of the first pieces of music I heard (I would be
seven, perhaps, when those funny pictures on _A Nice Pair_ LP awaked my curiosity...), and
if you allow me to use that wonderful expression, it certainly blew my mind and left me
speechless. After that, only ITOTCK by King Crimson, the late Beatles and the Incredible
String Band have really both surprised and moved me in a similar way.
From: "Michael Irish"
> Granted Meddle is Pink Floyd approaching the polish of Dark Side but the album as
a whole is superb,except for Seamus, which is a blot on thelandscape of >progressive
rock! >Having no redeeming qualities whatsoever, the song just jars one right out of
the flow of the album.
I don't think Seamus is that bad! But it is a bit of a throwaway piece, which doesn't
contribute to the overall brilliance of the album. In anycase, you can program around it
now, rather than melt Seamus off the vinyl. Thinking about this number: The Floyd were
many great things, but a blues band was not one of them. Meddle remains my favorite Floyd
album, Echos still one of my favorite pieces of music. Something that's been bothering me:
I bought my first CD player in 1988, and immediately bought my favorite Floyd records on
CD format. What bothered me is what seemed to be careless transfers, especially with
Ummagumma, Atom Heart Mother, and Meddle. The top frequencies on Atom Heart Mother are
distorted: so, nobody did remixes, which I'm geussing somebody associated with the band
(perhaps David Gilmour) has rectified? If I buy a new copy of Meddle, will there be a
significant improvement in sound?
From: Mark Fonda
<>
(back to top)
> In commemoration of the re-release of the 1939 fantasy classic "The Wizard
of Oz", could someone repost the links to the sites that analyze the timing
synchronization with "The Dark Side of the Moon"? I remember quite a few
mentions of this in the news group a couple of years back, and I checked out my wife's
copy and found that it made amazing sense. Good thing this issue doesn't include any new
scenes- that would screw up the timing!
I don't believe there was ever anything on e-Prog about this, but I once posted this
on GoldTri: (the link is still good)
> Speaking of Pink Floyd, anyone tried the synchronicity bit between DSOTM and 'The
Wizard of Oz' movie? There's a lot of hype about it... if you synchronize the music with
the start of the movie (when the MGM Lion roars) there's all sorts of neat parallels
between the music and the picture. It's worth setting up and trying a couple of times,
because there are a few variations on when you start the music. Something to try on a
rainy day.
> see more about it here: http://www.xnet.com/~arkiver/dsotr.shtml
From: "Andrew J. Rozsa"
<>
Very briefly.....
1. Pink Floyd (PF) were the single most important musical sound for me (1971) that
re-birthed my musical tastes and eventually, my son's (he is 12);
2. PF are the only group/musician(s) on whom my wife agrees with me;
3. I have used the lyrics from The Wall, Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, and
Animals in the graduate psychotherapy classes I teach;
4. My wife, son and I have more music(ian) T-shirts with PF, than any other;
5. My single most precious album possession is the 4-CD "Total Eclipse," a
Recording of Indeterminate Origin (RoIO);
6. PF is the ONLY music (perhaps, excluding Leonora No. 3) that I cannot get tired of, no
matter how much play it gets;
7. The PF concert, May 1, 1994 in Birmingham was our most memorable musical experience
ever;
8. Don't care much for Syd Barrett - the man or the music;
9. The wallpaper on my computer and ALL the PC-sounds are PF themes;
10. Roger Waters' break-away from the band served NO ONE well; PF has not been the same
since; and neither has Roger. Musically, that is.
11. There exist 409 CD, 312 LP, 19 Video, and uncounted audio-tape PF RoIOs.
From: Roy DeRousse <>
Simply put, I don't see what the big deal is about these guys. To be honest, I don't even
consider them prog. They have almost none of the elements that I think of when I think of
prog (great musicianship, complex music, etc.). I don't _dislike_ Floyd, but I don't see
much that is special about them either. Their high production quality is the only
stand-out thing that I can think of. I must admit that I don't know much about their early
years (pre-Darkside). It seems that those years were very influential on entire genres of
music (space rock, psychedelia, etc.). Dark Side of the Moon is a classic, no doubt, but
what is so progressive about it? The use of sound effects and the segueing (sp?) of songs
doesn't make it prog to me. All of their music, at least from that album-on, are much more
song-oriented than most of the prog that I listen to.
From: Nick Zales <>
Well, they are the second greatest rock group in history (after the Beatles):
1. From beginning to present no group has changed it's sound as much as Pink Floyd and
still remained wildly popular. (i.e. Floyd can sell out giant football stadiums while
groups like Genesis and Yes struggle to fill 2,000 seat theatres).
2. Floyd puts on GIGANTIC shows that are spectacles designed for everyone in a large
stadium to see. The focus is on the music, not the band members.
3. Floyd ticket prices have always been VERY low considering the show they put on and what
other groups charge.
4. Rather than pretend we live in some fantasy world full of peace and love, populated by
little faeries and other such nonsense (i.e., Yes & The Moody Blues), Floyd tells it
like it is with a sledgehammer effect on albums like DARK SIDE, ANIMALS and THE WALL
5. Floyd has written some of the coolest Prog music in history. (i.e. Astronomy Dominie,
Echoes, Atom Heart Mother, Time, Wish You Were Here, Sheep and Comfortably Numb).
Roy, your a good man so I won't blast you. Not Prog? Listen to MEDDLE (Echoes), ATOM HEART
MOTHER (AHM Suite) UMAGUMA and OBSCURED BY CLOUDS. That's for starters. DARK SIDE is
clearly Prog. Songs like On the Run, Time, Any Colour You Like and Eclipse are as Prog as
it gets. WISH YOU WERE HERE is likewise full of Prog (i.e. Shine on you Crazy Diamond).
Even THE WALL has Comfortably Numb amongst a few others. Even ANIMALS has touches of Prog
in it (i.e. Sheep). Mind-boggling live performances, inexpensive tickets, really cool
music. Live they put on a show that puts other Prog bands to shame for their simplicity.
How about a quadraphonic sound system in Soldier's Field in 1977 for the Animals tour? How
about brining the giant Pig out over the crowd? How about the GIANT mirrored ball used
during Comfortably Numb during all tours since THE WALL, but the biggest being on the 1994
tour that turned football stadiums into a grand spectacle of light and sound? Nothing
special? Nonsense. I could go on, but as Roy is a big Yes fan I think his problem is (1)
he does not know the Floyd's music and (2) apparently has never seen them live.
From: "Luna Negra S.C."
<>
You will not believe this, Roy... there's a spanish mail list about progressive music
(just like e-prog) called LA CAJA DE MUSICA (The Musical Box) and someone said the same
about YES' "Fragile"!!!!! If PF is not considered "prog", then I don't
know what "prog" is.... And the have ALL the elementes to consider the band
"prog"... GREAT musicianship (find a weak point on TDSOTM, WYWH, or AMLOR),
COMPLEX music (just listen to UMAGUMMA, PATGOD, or ANIMALS and tell me if this is easy
listening).
EVERITHING on PF is special.
1.- Better than just post that He, probably, hasn't heard PF music, why don't we post our
top-5 PF albums!
Here's my list: (in no particular order)
The Wall, The Dark Side of The Moon, Animals, Umagumma, Wish You Were Here
From: Rob <>
Can't speak for Roy, but I have every marginally worthwhile Floyd album, i.e. Atom Heart
Mother through Animals, and the three following that as well. I really dug them back when
I also liked Rush and didn't yet laugh hysterically at drunken college kids lying on the
floor forlornly singing along with "Comfortably Numb" at 3 in the morning. At
their best, they were moody arena rock with an experimental tinge, but quickly slipped
into a rut (a pleasant one, but a rut nonetheless) following DSOTM. At this point my
favorite album of theirs is "Meddle", which I think balances their experimental
and mainstream sides pretty nicely. I think the melancholy prog thing was done much better
by Tony Banks when he wrote for Genesis up to "Me and Sarah Jane", but Pink
Floyd was something entirely different and irreproducible (well, unless you happen to be
Porcupine Tree.) Maybe they are the most successful example of "ambient rock".
From: "Grant Penton"
<>
I usually tend to agree- then I take out Atom Heart Mother, SOYCD, Ummagumma and recall
what the big deal was way back- hey that's about as long as it's been since Genesis were
truly prog. But they certainly had their compositions and arrangements of wonder, and
while I don't think that they should have had the musical representation in that prog
manual, less from Jan.'67, their pre-DSOTM work deserves much more scrutiny for its
complexity. Shame that burst of energy was burned out by the time of Animals, let alone
The Wall... Don't neglect the solos- Ummagumma was amazing for the quality of compositions
for a band only in their third year. I quite enjoy Wet Dream 20 years later; has anyone
any review of Wright's latest? The Nick Mason LP (Fictitious Sports), while not much more
of a drummer's solo effort than Ramshackled, really shows up his adept jazz playing. Check
out the OOTDIGTBYILP solo from the Pompeii video for great percussion. Sure he didn't get
into tuned percussion, but then neither did White. As for Gilmour- while scarcely the
experimentalist, he does contribute tuneful monster solos, and has handled most of the
bass work since Animals- Waters clearly was the guiding light and the morose one- gave PF
events a sort of ritual quality. They should have kept Saucerful of Secrets in their
repertoire! As for their continued popularity, the concert quality certainly has a lot to
do with it, as does the strategic milking of the DSOTM reputation. The Division Bell
doesn't get all that much play (though I often here the tune that contains the female
choral refrain "why don't you talk to me... how are you feeling..." 'cus my wife
gets after me with the same line- wondered if that enhanced its popularity with potential
female fans!), but I find many more boomers have that CD than AMLOR, TFC (jeez, I've never
met anyone who's bought that one, so can't remember any of it), WYWH, or Animals. Many
don't have The Wall because they were put off by its length and were terrorised by the
movie images. I take the movie out every now & then and wonder why they didn't get
Geldolf to replace Waters! Fav review- Animals from a local paper that also reviewed Songs
from the Wood which came out the same week. The writer compared Water's morose bleak image
of social decay with Anderson's idyllic romp through the countryside paradise as probably
the most stark contrast in progrock styles imaginable! I and presumably many other
contributors here perversely enjoy both!
From: Roy DeRousse <>
OK, I think that I understand our (vastly) different opinions now. I think it's a matter
of semantics. I honestly don't think of those songs as prog, although they have some
elements of prog. It gets back to the ol' argument of "what is prog?" Regardless
of what the Progressive Rock Files (or any other book) says, I don't believe that there is
any agreed upon definition. Complexity and a high level of musicianship are key
ingredients to my idea of prog. I see little of those in Dark Side or any of the following
albums. Variations in tempo, keys, etc. are important. Pink Floyd songs have those
elements, but they are more drawn-out and less prominent. Floyd from DSOTM on seems much
more song oriented to me. That alone doesn't disqualify it, of course, but I need to hear
some other elements within the song to make it interesting. This is one of the things that
I think Yes does so well; they produce some very difficult music but usually manage to
have a memorable melody as well. Very difficult! Later Floyd has some memorable melodies,
but I sure don't get a sense of prog from a song like "Shine on You Crazy
Diamond." It's a very simple song, really. (Note: I am _not_ against simple songs; I
just don't consider them prog.)
From: Mark Fonda <>
PF has crossed over all sorts of boundaries - Psychedelic, Art Rock, Electronic,
Progressive Pop, whatever... there are PF fans in almost every genre of music. They were
truly different and almost chameleon-like in how their music evolved over time. You would
have to say that they were one of the most creative and influential groups of all time. I
saw PF twice in concert back in the 70's. Once for the WYWH tour and then the ANIMALS
tour. Their live shows were spectacular and unique... and their live performances were
musically superb. I still consider DSOTM to be the best album of all time... fabulously
original and instrumentally perfected. I also love WYWH for its high-tech electronics and
sound effects and MEDDLE for its ambient electronic soundscapes. ANIMALS is good, but I
lost interest in them starting with THE WALL... too pop oriented. Going back in time, I do
like ATOM HEART MOTHER for its orchestral textures, but have a tough time getting into
UMMAGUMMA, PIPERS AT THE GATES OF DAWN and A SAUCERFUL OF SECRETS... too psychedelic and
strange for my tastes. I am not sure about OBSCURED BY CLOUDS (OST) since I just got it a
while back. DIVISION BELL is not bad either. I consider ATOM HEART MOTHER through ANIMALS
to be progressive rock. I would love to see them live again, with or without Roger Waters.
The funny thing is that PF's individual artists are so obscure. I guess that is
intentional... they want the group or the music to be the attraction. Not many people can
name all the band members. Only a few solo releases are out by band members and IMO none
of them are very good.
From: Mark Fonda
<>
(back to top)
Anyone have any comments on any Pink Floyd Tribute Albums or Cover Bands?
The British group THINK FLOYD (album called HOPE) seems to be gaining popularity based on
the sales charts at SMD: http://www.neuharm.demon.co.uk/chart.htm
(#19). There is a Chicago based group called ZODIAC BLUE with an album called BRIGHT SIDE
OF THE SUN: http://searchfind.com/floydian/.
I believe there are a few tribute albums out too, but I don't know the names of any
details.Here's one (anyone have it?):
THE MOON REVISITED Dark Side tribute with tracks by Cairo, Magellan, World Trade, Enchant,
etc...
From: "Carsten Busch"
<>
There's also the Dutch coverband The Pink Floyd Live Experience a.k.a. Anderson Council.
They have at least one 7" single with cool versions of really old stuff
("careful with that axe" etc). Please check my book for details (yep another
shameless plug). Holland has/had two more cover bands: Pink Project who have had much
success with their versions of "The wall" and "Dark side". Members of
this band are now active in neoprog band Nangyala and the keyboarder as electronic
musician Void. Please visit their websites through my website. The other one was Pros
& Cons, first mainly occupied with Roger Waters solo, later also including work by PF.
They have at least one 3 track live demo and some live tapes exist. Keyboader from this
band has now a new band The Longing and is active as electronic/soundtrack composer
Galian. Both highly recommended. Check their websites via... bla bla bla...
Tributes: I believe there's one on Cleopatra or Purple Pyramid (well the label that
did the KC tribute "Schzoid dimension") with partly rather alternative bands and
the Magna Carta tribute "The moon revisited". The latter is not really
excellent, but a nice version of the original. There's another tribute to Barrett but I
forgot the details.
From: "Knauer, Rainer"
<>
here's the track listing to Cleopatra's (well remembered, Carsten...) Pink Floyd tribute
2CD album:
DISC 1:
1. Psychic TV-Set Controls for the Heart Of the Sun
2. Controlled Bleeding-Another Brick in the Wall (part 1&2)
3. Spahn Ranch-One of these Days
4. Sky Cries Mary-Wots...Uh the Deal
5. Spiral Realms-Interstellar Overdrive
6. Leaether Strip-Learning to Fly
7. Ron Geesin-To Roger Waters, Wherever You Are
8. Eden-Jugband Blues
9. Din-On The Run
DISC 2:
1. Alien Sex Fiend-Echoes
2. Furnace-Hey You
3. Nik Turner-Careful With That Axe, Eugene
4. The Electric Hellfire Club-Lucifer Sam
5. Helios Creed-Pigs on the Wing
6. Pressurehead-Let There Be More Light
7. Penal Colony-Young Lust
8. EXP-A Saucerful of Secrets
9. Melting Euphoria-Point Me At the Sky
10. Farflung-The Nile Song
As you'll probably guess from the bands involved it's more alternative than prog, some is
even space rock and very good. This one is much better than Magna Carta's "The Moon
Revisited" - the note by note replay was a disappointment to me... Sound samples of
"A Saucerful of Pink" can be found at: http://www.cyberden.com/cyberden/cleopatra/Compilations/A_Saucerful_Of_Pink/A_Saucerful_Of_Pink.html
Regarding PF tribute bands: Some months ago there were ads in British music
magazines announcing a tour of "The Australian Pink Floyd Show". The poster has
a flying kangaroo instead of the pig over Battersea power station! They have a web page
at: http://www.eyesee.co.uk/apfs/index2.shtml
From: "George Khouroshvili"
<>
>I've got it! I'm sure that we can all manage to quibble over Magna Carta tributes
but this one is actually pretty decent. It's basically Dark
Side redone note for note - or as near as some of these guys could get. One of the better
"tribute" albums.
I could never find anything interesting about this CD. It's a best exemple of
_boring_ tributes. I don't see why these guys released this one. Of course, you are right
when you say that "Dark Side redone note for note" but I don't understand what
is good about that. The main things about tributes is the new approach to the well-known
songs that you like. And on the "Moon revisited" they just copied the Floyd, the
arrangements, manner of singing, etc. Hell, I'd better listen to those awful dance remixes
of PF by certain italian guys! Because of this release I become very suspicious to Magna
Carta tributes.
From: "Jeff Marx"
<>
(back to top)
Hmmm...well, I agree that the biggest problem with The Moon Revisited is it's note-to-note
literal translation. When I listen to a tribute, I prefer to hear tracks played with the
spirit of the originals, but with some new musical 'ideas' brought to them. Compared to
the Magna Carta YES tribute, the Floyd Tribute is way too literal a translation for me. No
thanks, I'll just stick with PF's DSOTM.
From: Tony Kennedy <> I always thought More was the weakest album of that era. Even the much maligned "Atom Heart Mother" is better.
From: Richard Zywotkiewicz <> About half of More is nice spacey mood music and some great hard rockers (for 68!) that predate metal and grunge. I think for those songs, the lp was ahead of it's times. The other half, as mentioned is lame film soundtrack stuff. Hey, no knocking AHM. One of Floyds best, IMveryHO. A classic lp way way way way ahead of it's time.
From: "publiusisreal" <>
Subject: Pink Floyd - The Publius Enigma
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