Author: David Added: October 31, 2011
Pink Floyd (formed in 1965 in Cambridge, England) is an English rock band, noted for progressive compositions, philosophic lyrics, sonic experimentation, cover art, and elaborate live shows. The group is one of rock music's most successful acts, believed to have sold an estimated 73.5 million albums in the U.S., and 175 to 200 million albums worldwide.
Pink Floyd enjoyed moderate success in the late 1960s as a psychedelic band led by Syd Barrett. After Barrett's erratic behavior caused his colleagues to add guitarist David Gilmour (who eventually replaced Barrett), the band went on to record several elaborate concept albums, achieving worldwide success with 1973's Dark Side of the Moon, 1975's Wish You Were Here and 1979's The Wall, some of the best-selling and most enduringly popular albums in rock music history. In 1985, bassist Roger Waters declared Pink Floyd defunct, but the remaining members continued recording and touring under the name. Waters attempted to stop them via court action, but the remaining members won the legal battle, giving the post-Waters band rights to the name and most of the songs.
  
Waters rejoined the band on 2 July 2005 at the London Live 8 concert, playing to Pink Floyd's biggest audience ever. On 3 February 2006 Gilmour gave an interview to the Italian magazine "La Repubblica" which indicated the band would no longer tour or produce any new material, although various members still plan on producing solo or collaborative material, as Gilmour’s On An Island was released in March of this year. The possibility of an appearance similar to Live 8 has not been ruled out by either Mason or Gilmour.
During this era, Waters asserted more and more control over the band. Wright's influence is almost absent, and he was fired from the band during the recording of The Wall. Much of the music during this period takes a back seat to the lyrics, which explore Waters's feelings about his father's death in World War II and his increasingly cynical attitude towards politics and political figures such as Margaret Thatcher and Mary Whitehouse. The music, still polished, became somewhat less atmospheric but was otherwise similar to the previous era's. Guitars became more prominent at the expense of keyboard work and saxophone, with the latter being entirely absent from two of this era's three albums. A full orchestra, something which had not been used on any previous Floyd album except Atom Heart Mother, played a significant role on The Wall and, especially, The Final Cut.
By January 1977, and the release of Animals (UK #2, U.S. #3), [12] the band's music came under increasing criticism from some quarters in the new punk rock sphere as being too flabby and pretentious, having lost its way from the simplicity of early rock and roll. [29] Animals was, however, considerably more guitar-driven than the previous albums, due to either the influence of the burgeoning punk-rock movement or the fact that the album was recorded at Pink Floyd's new (and somewhat incomplete) Britannia Row Studios. The album was also the first to not have a single songwriting credit for Rick Wright. Animals again contained lengthy songs tied to a theme, this time taken in part from George Orwell's Animal Farm, using "Pigs" ( sample (help·info)), "Dogs" ( sample) and "Sheep" as metaphors for members of contemporary society. Despite the increased guitar influence, keyboards and synthesizers still play an important part, but the saxophone and female vocal work that defined much of the previous two albums' sound is absent. The result is a more hard-rock sound. Many critics did not respond well to the album, however, finding it "tedious" and "bleak", [30] although some celebrated it for those very reasons. [10] For the cover artwork, a giant inflatable pig was commissioned and floated over London's Battersea Power Station. However, the wind made the pig balloon difficult to control, [31] and in the end it was necessary to matte a photo of the pig balloon onto the album cover. The pig nevertheless became one of the enduring symbols of Pink Floyd, and inflatable pigs were a staple of the band's live shows from then on.
1979's epic rock opera, The Wall, conceived mainly by Waters, developed themes of loneliness and failure of communication, inspired by Waters's feelings of having constructed a metaphoric wall between himself and his audience. This album gave Pink Floyd renewed acclaim and another chart-topping single with " Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)". [32] The Wall also included the future concert staples " Comfortably Numb" ( sample) and " Run Like Hell", with the former in particular becoming a cornerstone of album-oriented rock and classic-rock radio playlists as well as one of the group's best-known songs. The album was co-produced by Bob Ezrin, a friend of Waters who shared songwriting credits on "The Trial" and from whom the band distanced themselves after fighting with him over several different issues. [33] Even more than during the Animals sessions, Waters was increasingly asserting his artistic influence and leadership over the band, prompting frequent conflicts with the other members. The music had become distinctly more hard-rock, although the large orchestrations on some tracks still recalled the early 1970s, and there are a few quieter songs such as "Hey You" and "Nobody Home". Wright's influence was absent, and he was fired from the band during recording, returning on a fixed wage for the album's live concerts. Ironically, Wright was the only member of Pink Floyd to make any money from the Wall shows, the rest having to cover the extensive costs. [34]
Despite never hitting #1 in the UK (it made it to #3), The Wall spent 15 weeks atop the U.S. charts during 1980.[12] Critics praised it,[35] and it sold well over 30 million copies worldwide and is often regarded as the best-selling double album ever, as well as being the third-best selling album of all time in the U.S. It has been certified 23x platinum by the RIAA, for sales of 11.5 million copies in U.S. alone.[1] The huge commercial success of The Wall made Pink Floyd the only artist since the Beatles to have the best-selling albums of two years (1973 and 1980) in less than a decade.
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