Pink Floyd can be considered as one of the leading bands in progressive rock from the seventies, together with YES and GENESIS. Their first line-up consisted of guitarist Syd BARRETT, bassist-singer Roger WATERS (who left the band in 1983), drummer Nick MASON and keyboardist Rick WRIGHT. Their early material was mostly written and sung by BARRETT, at that time the central figure of the group. The first album "The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn" of 1967 contains come catchy pop songs, together with more experimental and longer instrumental pieces. They even reached the Top-20 in England with the song "Arnold LAYNE". In the beginning of 1968, guitarist David GILMOUR joined the band to replace BARRETT in live performances. In 1970 the band recorded some songs for the cult movie Zabriskie Point including an alternative version of 'Careful With That Axe, Eugene'.PINK FLOYD became even more successful, whilst playing psychedelic progressive rock with a touch of classical music. 1971 saw the release of "Meddle" (a clever mix of short mellow jazzy tunes and lengthy experimentaltracks) and the soundtrack for the film "La Vallée" ("Obscured By Clouds") was released in 1972. But their most successful album was definitely "Dark Side Of The Moon" (1973), cosmic rock produced by an excellent sound engineer Alan PARSONS. This album is a milestone in progressive rock, great songwriting with lots of special effects and including saxophone and great female vocals. The successor "Wish You Were Here" included the well-known epic song "Shine On You Crazy Diamond". "Animals" is a dark and underrated gem, featuring scathing lyrical accounts on humanity.
End 70's, Roger WATERS influenced both musical and lyrical the albums of the band. In 1979, they released "The Wall", a double album rock opera. After the release of "The Final Cut" in 1983 the band split up for a while. PINK FLOYD released a few albums afterwards without Roger WATERS, but they never reached their previous status. "Echoes", The Best of Pink Floyd, was released in 2001. To celebrate this 30th anniversary a new version of "Dark Side Of The Moon" has been released. This release is a must have for all music lovers young and old. Highly Recommended!
