Awesome Music / Pink Floyd

As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.

There's a very good reason that Pink Floyd — Roger Waters, Syd Barrett, David Gilmour, Richard Wright, and Nick Mason — is one of the most successful acts ever.

---

• Sitting down and listening to a Pink Floyd album from start to finish almost always counts as Awesome Music. Meddle, The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals and The Wall are particularly well put together. The Piper at the Gates of Dawn and A Saucerful of Secrets are awesome too. Some may find The Final Cut fits into this category.

The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967)

• The whole album is 42 minutes of prime space rock/psychedelia, including "Astronomy Domine", "Lucifer Sam", "Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk", "Interstellar Overdrive", and "Bike", as well as the singles, "Arnold Layne" and "See Emily Play", that were spawned during this period.

A Saucerful of Secrets (1968)

• "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" (the only song to feature performances by both Syd Barrett and David Gilmour) is one of the masterpieces of Pink Floyd's early psychedelic era. Roger Waters' haunting, whispered vocals, Richard Wright's wizardry with the Farfisa organ and vibraphone, and Nick Mason's soft drumming make this song an unforgettable classic.
• The darkly satirical "Corporal Clegg" does the improbable and makes a kazoo solo awesome. It is also notable for being the only Pink Floyd song to feature lead vocals by Nick Mason (though only in the verses).
• "Jugband Blues", Syd Barrett's swan song with Floyd, is an Awesome Music moment in its creepiness. It's a Sanity Slippage Song by a singer who knows he's being fired from his own band, and yet it's so deliberate, showing that the guy who was Pink Floyd just 12 months earlier is still there, if only for the last three minutes of the album.

More (1969)

• "The Nile Song" and "Ibiza Bar" AKA the heaviest Pink Floyd songs ever written. Heck, they even helped with the development of Heavy Metal!!

Ummagumma (1969)

• The entire live half is an absolutely fantastic journey into what Pink Floyd shows were like in their psychedelic years (particularly for those too young to have actually experienced it in the flesh). All four songs are superbly done, but "A Saucerful of Secrets" in particular is utterly sublime.^note  And it could have been even more awesome; the band felt that their performances at Mothers Club in Birmingham were superior to those at the Manchester College of Commerce, but their recording equipment malfunctioned at the Mothers gig, so the majority of tracks on the album - "Astronomy Domine", "Careful with that Axe, Eugene", and the first two sections of "A Saucerful of Secrets" - are taken from the Manchester concert.

Atom Heart Mother (1970)

• "Atom Heart Mother Suite", a six part movement that clocks in at nearly 24 minutes, that somehow manages to sound both classic and esoteric.
• "If" is an important track as well, as it is similar to "Brain Damage" from The Dark Side of the Moon.
• "Summer '68" is a major stand-out from the album. Influenced by The Beach Boys, it's generally considered to be one of the stronger compositions by Richard Wright.
• "Fat Old Sun" shows that even Pink Floyd can show their calmer side every once in a while.

Meddle (1971)

• "One of These Days", anyone? The bass line is simple yet haunting, and the slide guitar jam in the second half is icing on the cake. This is the reason why Meddle is a great album. Even more awesome is the Ascended Meme of playing the Doctor Who theme halfway through it, something which began on the "Delicate Sound of Thunder" tours. So awesome that every tribute act, including and especially the Australian Pink Floyd Show, does it.
• "San Tropez". Waters said this was his attempt at writing a Burt Bacharach-type song. It also has a sweet slide guitar solo from Gilmour.
• "Echoes". With 2001: A Space Odyssey. You cannot get more awesome than that. As for the song itself... the reprise and release, the band jam with the two guitar solos in a row, the whale song. Just unbelievable. Hell, even the intro. Just hearing the empty, ethereal ping...ping... leading into the main theme, you know you're in for something truly epic. The fact that Pink Floyd created such an atmosphere with a single repeated note is proof of their greatness. (Especially Wright's greatness, as he came up with the intro. He wasn't as visible as Waters or Gilmour, but his contributions were nonetheless vital.) After the eerie whale song section, the band slowly builds a crescendo over Rick Wright's organ solo until the song bursts into what can only be described as a musical orgasm.

Obscured by Clouds (1972)

• The title track. Recorded in 1972. Prototype electronica.

The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)

If you had to narrow Pink Floyd's awesome output down to one album, it'd be The Dark Side of the Moon, their most critically acclaimed and commercially successful work. It was on the Billboard Top 200 for 14 years and would have re-entered the chart again had Billboard not changed the rules to prevent that (instead, it remains a mainstay of their "Catalog" chart). When they changed their rules in 2009 to allow catalog albums and re-entries into the Billboard Top 200, The Dark Side of the Moon re-entered the chart a few weeks later and has popped in here and there ever since.

• "Time". The intro alone is awesome. The contrast between the more aggressive sections sung by Gilmour, and the more mellow and melancholic moments sung by Wright is breathtaking, particularly so at "Breathe (Reprise)". It should go without saying that the guitar solo is one of David Gilmour's best.
• "The Great Gig in the Sky"... set to a simulation of an asteroid impact. There is no Pink Floyd song like it, thanks to all of Clare Torry's energy and passion pouring into the vocals (one of two guest performances in the discography) and Nick Mason's most brilliant yet overlooked drum playing.
• "Us and Them" contains some of the best harmonies Floyd ever created with excellent saxophone playing from Dick Parry and beautiful piano and Hammond organ playing by Richard Wright.
• "Any Colour You Like" is an epic instrumental track, and a much-needed cooldown after the beautiful and moving "Us and Them".
• "Brain Damage" is a highlight. What with Richard's beautiful organ playing, and the amazing singing from Roger and backup singers, the song really does make you feel like you've almost made it to the end.

Wish You Were Here (1975)

• "Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I–V)". Proof the Floyd could go into different genres in a song and make it an epic for the ages.
• "Welcome to the Machine". One of the best criticisms of the music industry, which has only gotten more and more apropos over time.
• "Have a Cigar". More excellent hard rock from Pink Floyd.
• "Wish You Were Here". A great way to pay tribute to a fallen friend or family member.
• "Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts VI–IX)". The parting musical eulogy to Syd Barrett, but especially the guitar solo from Part VI and the transition from Part VII to Part VIII.

Animals (1977)

• "Dogs". Once you hear this song, you'll understand why many people say it contains some of David Gilmour's best guitar work.
• "Pigs (Three Different Ones)". An absolutely badass song that just... fills you with the urge to just get up and become an absolute rebel. Charade you are for hating it.
• "Sheep". Especially near the end with the Epic Riff.

The Wall (1979)

—we came in?

• "In the Flesh?" with its epic guitar opener, and invitation into the mind of Pink, setting up the rest of this amazing album.
• "Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)" will always kick major ass. ALWAYS. At exactly the 2:49 mark is one of the most amazing note bends in musical history. Just that 5 seconds there is one the finest moments in music. It's even more insanely awesome when mashed up excellently with the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive". And while not everyone is a huge fan of the Korn version, it speaks to the staying power of this song when they play it live and you hear people who weren't even alive when the album came out singing along to "HEY! TEACHER! LEAVE THOSE KIDS ALONE!" with every fiber of their being.
• "Hey You", and the moments where Pink realizes he has spent his whole life making a mistake and tries to reconnect to humanity, even though he knows his efforts are doomed to failure. Although written by Waters, it's another showcase for Gilmour, who plays the haunting riff at the beginning, the great guitar solo in the middle, and even the memorable fretless bass part throughout.
• "Comfortably Numb" is a huge fan favorite and gains more radio play than any other Pink Floyd song these days, for a reason. Especially the live version from Pulse. The ending guitar solo almost hurts, and the light show isn't exactly a detractor. Here's a live performance of "Comfortably Numb"...featuring David Bowie!
• "Run Like Hell" is seriously badass.
• "Waiting for the Worms". The epic anthem for pure Neo-Nazi evil.
• "The Trial" anyone? (Warning, that link leads to one of the weirdest and scariest music videos ever. Still a fantastic climax track.)
• "Outside the Wall", particularly the movie version, is a haunting reflection of the events that transpired throughout the story prior, serving as a reassuring acceptance that we all have our own social difficulties and barriers, and that while not all of us can overcome them, we can at least reconcile with them.

Isn't this where—

The Final Cut (1983)

• While certainly not one of their more well-regarded musically, this album does have its highlights, including "The Gunner's Dream", "The Fletcher Memorial Home", "The Final Cut", and "Not Now John". "Not Now John" can also be a contender for not only being one of Floyd's heaviest songs, but infamously the one with the most (badass) profanity.

A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987)

• A Momentary Lapse of Reason gets a lot of flak, but it has its share of highlights. They include the aforementioned "Learning to Fly", "Yet Another Movie"/"Round and Around", "Terminal Frost" and "Sorrow". Especially the section of "Learning to Fly" from "Above the planet on a wing and a prayer..." to the song's end.
• "One Slip". A great chorus and one of the most badass bass solos you will ever hear. Especially when it was played live.
• "The Dogs of War". The perfect Villain Song, starting with menancing synths mimicking a marching army, the lyrics talking about a Badass Army, another great chorus and two awesome solos, one guitar solo by Gilmour and a saxophone courtesy of Scott Page. The live version even included a "duel" between both sax and guitar after both solos.
• In spite of "On the Turning Away" being a tad Anvilicious, it's nevertheless a soothing, yet powerful ballad that really pushes against the act of leaving the pale and downtrodden behind.

The Division Bell (1994)

• "High Hopes" (music video) is very mesmerising and beautiful, and "Poles Apart" and "Coming Back to Life" are awesome too. There's so much emotion in some of these songs that it hurts, and this album should never be overlooked. "High Hopes" might also count as a Tear Jerker because it seems like the band's farewell to their loyal audience. On the Echoes compilation, though, it's cleverly segued into Syd Barrett's "Bike" (by cutting from the closing church bell to a bicycle bell) so that they form a pair of reverse Bookends to the band's career.
• The Grammy Award-winning instrumental "Marooned" is also an eerily moving listening experience with its marine mood reminiscent of "Echoes" and its vibrant guitar wails.
• One of the often overlooked masterpieces of this album would have to be "Keep Talking". The song has been made worthy of this article thanks not just to its powerful lyrics, but to its musical components: a dual electric guitar/synth solo, a gospel choir, the return of the talk-box, and samples of Stephen Hawking's synthesized voice from a British Telecom commercial that actually made David Gilmour cry. The song's music displays just as much prowess as its lyrics.

The Endless River (2014)

• "Anisina" (meaning "in memory of" in Turkish), a wordless tribute to the late Richard Wright.
• "Louder Than Words", a Grand Finale to the band as a whole that declares how despite Pink Floyd's turbulent history and the members' rocky relationships with each other, they were able to leave a wonderfully significant impact with their music.

Other

• "Vegetable Man" is one of the best Barrett songs that was never properly released until the Early Years boxset came out in 2016. Its powerful vocals, psychedelic guitars, and bizarre lyrics make it one of Barrett's finest.

---