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Beneath the Rising Sun

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a Pink Floyd page by Jonas Kvinge


Biography | Discography | Videography | Links

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Biography

 

Syd Barrett
Lead guitar (1965-1968)
Syd Barrett
Born: January 6, 1946 in Cambridge, England

Syd was the main songwriter and lead guitarist in the early days until departure in 1968 (during the "A Soucerful of Secrets" abum) due to a metal health problem and many times unwilling to play live. He was heavily influenced by drugs which might be the main reason for his mental problems. Syd Barrett wrote their first singles and nearly all songs on their first album "The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn", on their second album "A Soucerful of Secrets" David Gilmour was brought in to help play live when Barrett suddently stopped playing, they both play guitar and share vocals on the album. Syd Barrett is still the soul of Pink Floyd. He did three genius albums after Pink Floyd, "The Madcap Laughs", "Barrett" and the compilation "Opel". I have all three on 180g vinyl pressing! True classics.

 

Roger Waters
Bass guitar (1965-1983)
Roger Waters
Born: September 6, 1944 in Great Bookham, Cambridge, England

Roger is the primary songwriter and creative force in Pink Floyd from 1968 to 1983. He wrote all lyrics on their best albums including "Wish You Were Here", "Dark Side of the Moon", "The Final Cut" and "Animals". During the Animals tour he was upset with member of the audience and out of pure frustration he spat in the fans face, out from that he wrote his true masterpiece, The Wall, the biggest Rock'N'Roll show in the world. The story behind the music, show and film is about a rock'n'roll performer called Pink which lost his father in the war, the story which is told by the music is about his problems in the rock'n'roll world. After The Wall the band was more or less falling apart, the band members could no longer work with each other, and most of all Roger could not work with the rest of the group. Roger wanted the Pink Floyd name to rest in peace, but lost the case in court against David Gilmour. Pink Floyd continued with a world tour in 1989 and once again in 1994, with Gilmour, Mason, Wright as well as other musicians.

 

David Gilmour
Lead guitar (1968-1994)
David Gilmour

Born: Mars 6, 1946 in Cambridgeshire, England

David is considered by many to be one of the best guitar players in the world. He contributed some songs to albums and music and guitar work to many of the best songs including "Shine On Your Crazy Diamond", "Wish You Were Here", "Dogs" and "Comfortably Numb", Gilmour has two solo albums, the self titled "David Gilmour" and "About Face", their both good albums. I was on his last solo concert in London, it was amazing, the Barrett song "Dominoes" was definitely the finest song on the entire concert and even just that song was worth the money I spent on the journey.

 

Richard Wright
Keyboards (1965-1994)

Richard Wright

Born: January 28, 1943 in London, England

Rich is the keyboardist, pianist and organist in Pink Floyd and he also contributed music and a few songs. Rich was fired by Roger Waters during "The Wall" because Waters thought he was not creative enough. He rejoined Floyd without Waters for "A Momentary Lapse of Reason" but did not regain is full member status until "The Division Bell" in 1994. Rich has two solo albums, "Wet Dream" and "Broken China". "Broken China" is a true beauty, a MUST HAVE. Rich joined David on his London concert along with Bob Geldof. His song from Broken China was one of the highlights of the concert.

 

Nick Mason
Drums (1965-1994)
Nick Mason
Born: January 27, 1945 in Birmingham, England

Nick is the drummer in Pink Floyd. He is also the only member who has been in Pink Floyd from start to present. Mason has a big interest in cars and is car collector and race driver. Nick joined Roger on his concert in London for the In The Flesh Tour, that was the first time they played together again since 1983.

 

Discography

 

The Piper at The Gates of Dawn (1967)
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
Pink Floyd's first album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn is almost a pure Syd Barrett work, he wrote most of their songs in the early years. His lyrics are like short stories or fairytales. This album is considered by many musicians and fans as Syd Barrett's masterpiece.

 

A Soucerful of Secrets (1968)
A Soucerful of Secrets
The only album to feature all five members together. Both Barrett and Gilmour play on this album, they also share vocals. Waters has already begain to take more control over the songwriting.

 

More (1969)
More
More is the soundtrack album to the film under the same name. The album has only Pink Floyd musioc is beautiful and proves Pink Floyd with Roger Waters has something to offer even without Barrett writing the songs. One of the songs of the album "Green is the Color" is one of their best songs.

 

Ummagumma (1970)
Ummagumma
A double album with one side containing solo compositions by each member of the band, and a live concert on side two.

 

Atom Heart Mother (1970)
Atom Heart Mother
This album is not for the avarage Floyd listener, it's for true Floyd fans mostly. It has a musically masterpiece "Atom Heart Mother" with contributions from all four members, you need to listen carefully to this piece to actually understand it's brilliance, your not a true Floyd fan until you like it! ;) It also has a beautiful Waters (If) song, equally good Gilmour song (Fat Old Sun) as well as a nice Wright song (Summer 67). There is however one last piece on this album that is hard to understand even for true Floyd fans (Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast), it's not even a song.

 

Meddle (1971)
Meddle
Meddle might be the best Pink Floyd album since "A Soucerful of Secrets". The front cover is a picture of a cow's ear. This album has the same musical and lyrical feel as Dark Side of the Moon.

 

Obscured by Clouds (1972)
Obscured by Clouds
This album was a original soundtrack to a film called "Le Vallee", the film is not well-known to others then Pink Floyd fans. But it is still a Pink Floyd album in its entirety, the music and lyrics on the album are great.

 

Dark Side of the Moon (1973)
Dark Side of the Moon
This album is seen as the most brilliant Floyd album, were all members contribute music to one or more Waters song. It's also the most commercial successful album, spending over 300 weeks in the charts. Dark Side is a true classic.

 

Wish You Were Here (1975)
Wish You Were Here

Maybe the finest Floyd album ever, and most romantic if you can define Pink Floyd as romantic. Wish You Were Here is dedicated to Syd Barrett who also turned up in the studio while the band was recording "Shine On Your Crazy Diamond"!!! Believe it or not, it's true.

 

Animals (1977)
Animals
Animals is likely the most underrated Floyd album. The lyrics on this album is different then WYWH, more like DSOTM with some heavy guitar riffs which are fucking wow! This album also has the most interesting design, which was invented by Waters. A flying big above the Battersea Power Station in London! The cover might look like a painting, but it's NOT. They physically put a pig over the the station and took a picture of it (Not a real pig however). But the pig flew away!

 

The Wall (1979)
The Wall
The Wall is Roger Waters masterpiece. It is a story about a rock'n'roll performer named Pink, the charcater Pink is based both on Syd Barrett and Roger Waters life.

It took me years to realize how good this album really is, The Final Cut took me by storm but The Wall was always a harder piece to see through.

 

The Final Cut (1983)
The Final Cut
The Final Cut is Roger Waters last album with Pink Floyd. Released under the name Pink Floyd, but it's not actually a Pink Floyd album, it's a Roger Waters solo album, as its says on back: "The Final Cut - A Requiem For The Post War Dream by Roger Waters performed by Pink Floyd" (without Rich Wright). It's a smaller concept than The Wall, but in some ways it might be lyrically better than The Wall. Lyrically it might also be the finest album Roger Waters wrote. It's dedicated to his father who died in the war.

 

A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987)
A Momentary Lapse of Reason
The first album without Roger Waters, this is Gilmour's attempt to continue with Nick Mason as Pink Floyd and Rick Wright as a studio musician. This is a solo effort from David Gilmour's side with some help from Bob Ezrin. It's a nice album with a very cool cover design, but it does not measure up to any albums with Waters.

 

Delicate Sound of Thunder (1988)
Delicate Sound of Thunder
Delicate Sound of Thunder is a live album from the "A Momentary Lapse of Reason" tour.

 

The Division Bell (1994)
The Devision Bell

David Gilmour with Rick Wright back and other musicians. This is a good album but totally different from any previous albums with Waters.

 

 

Pulse (1995)

Pulse is a live album to the "The Devision Bell Tour". Pink Floyd without Roger Waters lacks much in the studio, but there is no doubt that they still can do great concerts without Waters.

 

Links

 

 

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