FBG'S TOP 100 PINK FLOYD SONGS - #01 - Comfortably Numb from The Wall (1979) (1 Viewer)

[Anarchy99]

There is one tune I always despised that still hasn't gone off yet. I mostly hated it because my radio station played the crap outta it, and the Dj's also tried to imitate the headmaster dude and all kinda other cringe. I hates it for other reasons also, but I'm trying to be semi positive here.

Etited to add, Money is a much better song, but overplaying is a huge problem there also.

Still love sheep. :bahh:

Looking at your list, there are only three songs left that you didn't vote for, and two of them were obvious (Wall songs). I'm surprised about the other one. Where I live, I would never have said it was overplayed. In fact, I would say it was barely played. Not sure if the lack of positivity is for one of The Wall tracks or the other non-Wall one.

 

[BroncoFreak_2K3]

Local small theatre house in town will be showing Have You Got It Yet? The Story of Syd Barrett and Pink Floyd in July. Cant wait.

HAVE YOU GOT IT YET? THE STORY OF SYD BARRETT AND PINK FLOYD​

 

[FatMax]

Local small theatre house in town will be showing Have You Got It Yet? The Story of Syd Barrett and Pink Floyd in July. Cant wait.

HAVE YOU GOT IT YET? THE STORY OF SYD BARRETT AND PINK FLOYD​

Didn't know about this. I'll definitely check it out once someone is streaming.

 

[Scoresman]

Money may be overplayed but those transitions from the guitar and sax solos is top ****ing notch and I never tire hearing that part in particular.

 

[PIK95]

There is one tune I always despised that still hasn't gone off yet. I mostly hated it because my radio station played the crap outta it, and the Dj's also tried to imitate the headmaster dude and all kinda other cringe. I hates it for other reasons also, but I'm trying to be semi positive here.

Etited to add, Money is a much better song, but overplaying is a huge problem there also.

Still love sheep. :bahh:

Looking at your list, there are only three songs left that you didn't vote for, and two of them were obvious (Wall songs). I'm surprised about the other one. Where I live, I would never have said it was overplayed. In fact, I would say it was barely played. Not sure if the lack of positivity is for one of The Wall tracks or the other non-Wall one.

It was a Wall tune I was talking about. Headmaster should have given it away.

 

[Anarchy99]

It was a Wall tune I was talking about. Headmaster should have given it away.

You have already griped so much about The Wall that I thought you were talking about a different (so far not mentioned by you) song. There were 11 people that didn't vote for the headmaster song (which is right around the corner) . . . myself included.

 

[PIK95]

It was a Wall tune I was talking about. Headmaster should have given it away.

You have already griped so much about The Wall that I thought you were talking about a different (so far not mentioned by you) song. There were 11 people that didn't vote for the headmaster song (which is right around the corner) . . . myself included.

You do have me wondering what tune I may have forgotten. Hmm

And my Wall hate schtick has really driven traffic in this thread. Yw.

 

[plinko]

Not to pile on, but my playlist based on this thread got a lot more enjoyable once I took out all the Wall baloney

 

[FatMax]

@Pip's Invitation - I think you're in the wrong thread

 

[Pip's Invitation]

@Pip's Invitation - I think you're in the wrong thread

I was.

 

[zamboni]

Like clockwork, the "overplayed" argument rears its blessed little head. I was waiting for it with "Money" and was not disappointed. I suspect we're not done with it yet.

I agree, although everyone seems to be posting their favorites, not which is best. So I can see the discontent with the song if they’re tired of it. Now if people didn’t rank Money because they think it sucks, that would lose a lot of credibility.

 

[PIK95]

Like clockwork, the "overplayed" argument rears its blessed little head. I was waiting for it with "Money" and was not disappointed. I suspect we're not done with it yet.

I agree, although everyone seems to be posting their favorites, not which is best. So I can see the discontent with the song if they’re tired of it. Now if people didn’t rank Money because they think it sucks, that would lose a lot of credibility.

Money is in my top 35 for sure.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

#19 - Money from The Dark Side Of The Moon (1973)

My rank: 10

I don't care if it's overplayed, or if it's a little out of place sonically with the rest of DSOTM, it's just that good. And so is the band -- who else would have their first big US hit be something in 7/4 for part of the time? This also gets a boost from the excellent arrangement on the AMLOR tours, as captured on Delicate Sound of Thunder. I love the back-and-forth between Gilmour's guitar and the backup singers.

 

[Rand al Thor]

For me, it's not about being overplayed or whatever, I just don't love Money. I think I had it at 25. I didn't really like it when I was a kid and I would hear it on the radio, and then several years later when I started listening to the entire album, I didn't really like the way it interrupted the flow of the album and it never really grew on me. Once I got a stereo unit that I could record my vinyl albums to cassette, I re-recorded the album to cassette and eliminated Money completely. I guess the only reason I ranked it at all is because the guitar solo section is pretty epic and one of my favorite solos of all time.

 

[Anarchy99]

#18 - Speak To Me / Breathe (In The Air) from The Dark Side Of The Moon (1973)

Appeared On: 22 ballots (out of 33 . . . 66.7%)
Total Points: 276 points (out of 825 possible points . . . 33.5%)
Top Rankers: @Rand al Thor @Todem @Yo Mama @ericttspikes @Just Win Baby
Highest Rankings: 3, 4

Demo, Early Mix, London - 1972, London - 1973, London - 1974, Los Angeles - 1975, Pulse, Roger - 2000, Live 8, Remember That Night, Gdansk, Dave In Studio, Roger - 2018

Live Performances: PF: 173, DG'S PF: 110, RW: 412, DG: 31

Covers: Shins, Sea Of Green, Robin McAuley, Capital Cities, Flaming Lips, 50 Cent Haircut, Dream Theater, Lana Lane, Collide, Red Mesa, Gov't Mule, Bush, Umphrey's McGee <-- !!!

The song is composed by two sections: a main theme (written by Gilmour) and a bridge section (written by Wright). Roger Waters originally recorded a song called Breathe for Music from "The Body", a soundtrack album which he recorded with Ron Geesin, which contained a section of lyrics with "Breathe In The Air." It's about an older man speaking to a baby, telling it to breathe. The old man then describes the unfortunate working life the baby will have to face: "Run, rabbit, run. Dig that hole, forget the sun." The song implies that we need to overcome these messages and do what inspires us. Dave has said that the whispers that can be heard throughout the album are references to Syd Barrett's madness.

Roger: "Dark Side is a little adolescent and naïve in its preoccupations, but I'm not belittling it. It's like a rather wonderful, naïve painting. 'Breathe in the air / Don't be afraid to care' – that's the opening couplet. Well, yeah, I can cop that, but it's kind of simplistic stuff. The lyrics are an exhortation directed mainly at myself, but also at anybody else who cares to listen It’s about trying to be true to one’s path. I was definitely less dominant than I later became. We were pulling together pretty cohesively. Dave sang Breathe much better than I could have. His voice suited the song. I don’t remember any ego problems about who sang what at that point. There was a balance."
Wright, who shared musical credit with Waters and Gilmour on the song, added textures of keyboard, namely twinkles of Fender Rhodes electric piano and erupting swells of Hammond organ. He also brought in a hint of jazz, via his choice of a minor chord on the way from G to E, right before the verse begins. “I came from jazz basically … that’s my favorite, that’s my inspiration,” Wright said . “The interesting thing about this song … that is totally down to a chord I had heard on, actually, Miles Davis’ album Kind of Blue. … That chord, I just loved.”

The song was played at the Live 8 concert, and for that performance, Breathe and Breathe (Reprise) were combined, something the band had never before.

Originally, Pink Floyd was going to name the album The Dark Side of the Moon, but the band Medicine Head had recently released an album with the same title. Pink Floyd then reverted to calling their album Eclipse: A Piece For Assorted Lunatics. However, since Medicine Head's album did poorly, Pink Floyd changed it back to the original title that they wanted.

The album has gone on to sell an estimated 45 to 50 million copies. It was due to hit 1,000 weeks on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart this year but recently fell off the chart at 981 weeks. It also spent 759 weeks on the Pop Catalog albums chart when Billboard changed their methodology, bringing the total to 1,740 weeks combined (33 and a half years). Some how, it only peaked at #2 in the UK. It did top the U.S. charts for one week only.

Vulture Ranking (out of 165 songs): 16
UCR Ranking (out of 167 songs): 15
Louder Ranking (out of 50 songs): 12
WMGK Ranking (out of 40 songs): 13
Ranker Ranking (out of 132 songs): 11
Billboard Ranking (out of 50 songs): 32

Vulture Ranking (16 out of 165 songs): The first sung words of this iconic album are bracing — “Breathe / Breathe in the air.” Gilmour is strumming his guitar almost carelessly; Waters’s bass is mixed high up serving as a contrapuntal melody line; but the MVP here might be Wright, driving his organ and pulsing other keyboard sounds into the mix. This is a plainly electronic album, but much of what we hear sounds human, organic. Waters seems to have read — or at least intuited — some philosophy, and makes clear his sympathies with positivism, among other things.

UCR Ranking (15 out of 167 songs): If you listen to Pink Floyd’s discography in chronological order, when you arrive at Dark Side, it’s like the band doubles in size. Not in membership or the fullness of the sound, but the scope of this album. They’re working on a bigger canvas, the proportions stretched by DG’s shooting-star pedal steel in the opening moments of “Breathe.” It’s big but graceful, slow but so richly detailed – like watching Lawrence of Arabia in 70mm. As with the child who enters the world in the song’s first verse, there’s so much to take in here. Yet there’s still room to breathe.

Louder Ranking (12 out of 50 songs): Breathe is a sea of tranquility: gentle wafting rhythms, lush guitars, a gliding lap steel, lyrics that conjure up the calm of those first minutes after waking up, before you remember all the things you’re meant to be doing. And yet you already know this peaceful feeling is misleading. The opening heartbeat, the murmuring voices, and maniacal laughter that gets drowned out by a surge of Apocalypse Now-style whirring helicopters, have already given you the sense that Breathe is a temporary lull. And so it proves. The song’s perfectly realized mood is born of familiarity. It was performed for almost a year before it was recorded. “It made a big difference,” explains DG. “You couldn’t do that now of course, you’d be bootlegged out of existence. But when we went into the studio we knew the material, the playing had a natural feel.” Waters later had misgivings over the simplicity of the lyrics – “It always amazes me that I got away with it really because it’s so Lower Sixth. You know, ‘Breathe, breathe in the air/Don’t be afraid to care’” – the simplicity of the words helps create the song’s atmosphere.

WMGK Ranking (13 out of 40 songs): Speak To Me is a sound collage that prepares you for the audio experience of the album. Breathe is a chill song… but it lays out a lot of the dark themes that RW would address on not just Dark Side, but the next few albums. At the beginning, he says “don’t be afraid to care.” But he also warns of the consequences of caring: “smiles you’ll give and tears you’ll cry.” He also warns of the never-ending rat race.

Billboard Ranking (32 out of 50 songs): The beginning to one of the most famous albums in rock history pretty successfully lays the groundwork for what’s to come, with the Speak to Me intro essentially acting as a teaser trailer for the album’s action highlights (the Money cash register, the Brain Damage cackle) and the sighing guitar slides of Breathe establishing the album’s gorgeous Neil Young-across-the-fifth-dimension core jamminess. “Don’t be afraid to care,” DG advises, words the band would either ignore or follow way too closely later in their career, depending on your perspective.

Up next, @BassNBrew 's numero uno selection.

 

[zamboni]

#18 - Speak To Me / Breathe (In The Air) from The Dark Side Of The Moon (1973)

Another gem (obviously) but just couldn't carve it out from "On The Run" to vote for it separately.

 

[BassNBrew]

Like clockwork, the "overplayed" argument rears its blessed little head. I was waiting for it with "Money" and was not disappointed. I suspect we're not done with it yet.

Great rock songs get over played,

 

[Ghost Rider]

I had Speak to Me/Breathe in the Air at 17, so I was super close on this one. Dark Side is the GAOAT and this is a tremendous way to kick it off.

 

[Anarchy99]

Dark Side is the GAOAT.

Hmmmm. Dark Side is a great album, no doubt. But I don't have it in my Top 3 PF records (WYWH, Animals, and The Wall in some order that varies from day to day). I sort of agree with Roger that Dark Side is a little bit too simplistic, whether it be lyrically or musically. IMO, their next 3 albums had more complex composition, instrumentation, lyrics, and creativity. For my palate, I find those album have a deeper fabric, texture, and a broader, fuller sound than DSOTM. Maybe that's because they had unlimited production and development budgets by then. Don't get me wrong, I'll take any of the Dark Side material over 99% of music . . . but for me I like other PF albums more.

 

[PIK95]

I had Speak to Me/Breathe in the Air at 17, so I was super close on this one. Dark Side is the GAOAT and this is a tremendous way to kick it off.

I had it at 8, obviously love it.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Thoughts on the songs since p. 18 that are not on my list:

#30 - Pigs On The Wing (Parts 1 & 2) from Animals (1977)

I always liked the contrast of how the lyrics to part 1 started vs. how the lyrics of part 2 started. "You know that I care" packs a big punch that way. Snowy White does a good job of sounding like Gilmour on the guitar solo.

#29 - Goodbye Blue Sky from The Wall (1979)

Nice dynamics, sound effects and harmonies on this one. And its antiwar message is timeless.

#26 - Learning To Fly from A Momentary Lapse Of Reason (1987)

Before this, my main exposure to product generated by members of Floyd after The Final Cut was Radio Waves, the single from Waters' Radio K.A.O.S. I thought it was horrible and still do. So I was relived when this came out. Even if it wasn't a genius concept, it SOUNDED like Floyd, and that was a big deal for teenage me. So I went with a group of friends to one of the first AMLOR shows in fall 1987 (this was the only AMLOR song I had heard before the show), then got the album, then saw them again when they returned the following spring. I love DG's guitar work on this song, and the soaring harmonies of the backing singers.

#25 - Astronomy Dominé from The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn (1967)

One of my high school friends was obsessed with Piper and Syd, so I got to hear this a lot whenever I was at his house. To me it sounded a little like the freakier songs from Country Joe and the Fish, another psychedelic band he was obsessed with. I think the Piper version is kind of neutered compared to what the band could do with this live.

#24 - Young Lust from The Wall (1979)

I might have voted for this had we been allowed to combine it with Empty Spaces, which is how I usually heard it on the radio. The guitar and organ rock hard, and the exchange with the operator at the end is great.

#23 - The Great Gig In The Sky from The Dark Side Of The Moon (1973)

Absolutely haunting. Wright's piano, Gilmour's slide guitar and Torry's vocal are all chill-inducing. I'm glad she got properly compensated for her work after the fact. If I'd made my list on a different day, this could have been on it.

#22 - On The Turning Away from A Momentary Lapse Of Reason (1987)

At that first AMLOR show where I didn't know most of the new material, this was the one that stuck out most to me among the songs I hadn't heard before. A lot has already been said about the performance of this song, but I would like to shout out the bass fills by Tony Levin.

#18 - Speak To Me / Breathe (In The Air) from The Dark Side Of The Moon (1973)

Sets the tone for one of the greatest works of the 20th century in any medium. I never thought of the sound of it (or the rest of the album) as "Neil Young-across-the-fifth-dimension core jamminess," but it makes perfect sense.

 

[Tau837]

Sheep also was a surprise, think it deserved a little better than it did.

I had Sheep at #12 - one of the more interesting things about the song is that despite it being over 10 minutes long, there is no David solo. Just some incredible riffing.

As for Money, I didn’t rank it in my top 25. Nothing against it, and it being overplayed may have had some influence, but just liked a lot of songs over it. Here Dave’s solo is awesome though, of course.

I had Sheep at 14 and did not have Money in my top 25.

 

[zamboni]

#22 - On The Turning Away from A Momentary Lapse Of Reason (1987)

At that first AMLOR show where I didn't know most of the new material, this was the one that stuck out most to me among the songs I hadn't heard before. A lot has already been said about the performance of this song, but I would like to shout out the bass fills by Tony Levin.

Agree on the great bass fills - thought that was Guy Pratt (a.k.a. Rick Wright's former son-in-law).

 

[Pip's Invitation]

#22 - On The Turning Away from A Momentary Lapse Of Reason (1987)

At that first AMLOR show where I didn't know most of the new material, this was the one that stuck out most to me among the songs I hadn't heard before. A lot has already been said about the performance of this song, but I would like to shout out the bass fills by Tony Levin.

Agree on the great bass fills - thought that was Guy Pratt (a.k.a. Rick Wright's former son-in-law).

Live, it was, but Levin played on this track in the studio.

 

[zamboni]

#22 - On The Turning Away from A Momentary Lapse Of Reason (1987)

At that first AMLOR show where I didn't know most of the new material, this was the one that stuck out most to me among the songs I hadn't heard before. A lot has already been said about the performance of this song, but I would like to shout out the bass fills by Tony Levin.

Agree on the great bass fills - thought that was Guy Pratt (a.k.a. Rick Wright's former son-in-law).

Live, it was, but Levin played on this track in the studio.

Interesting - didn't know that was Levin in the studio. Thought Pratt was with them with the recording too.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

#22 - On The Turning Away from A Momentary Lapse Of Reason (1987)

At that first AMLOR show where I didn't know most of the new material, this was the one that stuck out most to me among the songs I hadn't heard before. A lot has already been said about the performance of this song, but I would like to shout out the bass fills by Tony Levin.

Agree on the great bass fills - thought that was Guy Pratt (a.k.a. Rick Wright's former son-in-law).

Live, it was, but Levin played on this track in the studio.

Interesting - didn't know that was Levin in the studio. Thought Pratt was with them with the recording too.

Not on AMLOR. He did play on TDB.

 

[Manster]

Dark Side is the GAOAT.

Hmmmm. Dark Side is a great album, no doubt. But I don't have it in my Top 3 PF records (WYWH, Animals, and The Wall in some order that varies from day to day). I sort of agree with Roger that Dark Side is a little bit too simplistic, whether it be lyrically or musically. IMO, their next 3 albums had more complex composition, instrumentation, lyrics, and creativity. For my palate, I find those album have a deeper fabric, texture, and a broader, fuller sound than DSOTM. Maybe that's because they had unlimited production and development budgets by then. Don't get me wrong, I'll take any of the Dark Side material over 99% of music . . . but for me I like other PF albums more.

I always felt like everything after DSOTM is a bit contrived.......don't get me wrong, love the albums to follow, but I listen to Meddle and Dark Side more than what came after. imo, those two albums were when Floyd was at their creative best.

 

[Anarchy99]

#17 - Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2) from The Wall (1979)

Appeared On: 22 ballots (out of 33 . . . 66.7%)
Total Points: 280 points (out of 825 possible points . . . 33.9%)
Top Rankers: @BassNBrew @lardonastick @DocHolliday @BrutalPenguin @turnjose7 @New Binky the Doormat
Highest Rankings: 1, 2

Demo #1, Another Demo, Single Version, Live Version, Film Version, DSOT, Cyndi Lauper - 1990, Pulse, Roger - 2018

Live Performances: PF: 31, DG'S PF: 308, RW: 739, DG: 1

Covers: Will create a separate post.

@PIK95 may want to sit this one out. Our second song that was performed 1,000+ times. I could do several write ups just on this one song. ABITW2 topped the Billboard singles chart for 15 weeks. The single and album were banned in South Africa in 1980 after it was adopted by supporters of a nationwide school boycott protesting instituted racial inequities in education under apartheid.

As the song ends you can hear a teacher (Roger himself) yelling in a Scottish accent "Wrong, do it again" then "If you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding! How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?!" then "You... Yes, you behind the bike shed... stand still laddie!" and ends with kids screaming and yelling on what sounds like a playground or outside area fading into a faint connecting line signal from a phone with a deep sigh at the very end. The "bricks" are traumatic events that make the mental "wall".
Roger Waters wrote this song about his views on formal education, which were framed during his time at the Cambridgeshire School for Boys. He hated his grammar school teachers and felt they were more interested in keeping the kids quiet than teaching them. The wall refers to the emotional barrier Waters built around himself because he wasn't in touch with reality. The bricks in the wall were the events in his life which propelled him to build this proverbial wall around him, and his school teacher was another brick in the wall.

Waters said the song is meant to be satirical. He explained: "You couldn't find anybody in the world more pro-education than me. But the education I went through in boys' grammar school in the '50s was very controlling and demanded rebellion. The teachers were weak and therefore easy targets. The song is meant to be a rebellion against errant government, against people who have power over you, who are wrong. Then it absolutely demanded that you rebel against that."

"My school life was very like that. Oh, it was awful, it was really terrible. When I hear people whining on now about bringing back Grammar schools it really makes me quite ill to listen to it. Because I went to a boy's Grammar school and although... I want to make it plain that some of the men who taught (it was a boy's school) some of the men who taught there were very nice guys, you know I'm not... it's not meant to be a blanket condemnation of teachers everywhere, but the bad ones can really do people in — and there were some at my school who were just incredibly bad and treated the children so badly, just putting them down, putting them down, you know, all the time. Never encouraging them to do things, not really trying to interest them in anything, just trying to keep them quiet and still, and crush them into the right shape, so that they would go to university and 'do well.'"

Pink Floyd's producer, Bob Ezrin, had the idea for the chorus. He used a choir of kids when he produced Alice Cooper's School's Out in 1972. Ezrin liked to use children's voices on songs about school.The children's chorus that sang on this track came from a school in Islington, England, and was chosen because it was close to the studio. It was made up of 23 kids between the ages of 13 and 15. They were overdubbed 12 times, making it sound like there were many more kids.

Waters' original demo for this song was just him singing over an acoustic guitar; he saw it as a short interstitial piece for the album. He explained: "It was only going to be one verse, a guitar solo and out. Then we recorded the school kids, at my request. It was brilliant. It wasn't until I heard the 24-track tape that I went, 'Wow, this is now a single.' Talk about shivers down the spine." The addition of the choir convinced Waters that the song would come together: "It suddenly made it sort of great."

There was some controversy when it was revealed that the chorus was not paid. It also didn't sit well with teachers that kids were singing an anti-school song. The chorus was given recording time in the studio in exchange for their contribution; the school received £1000 and a Platinum record. There was no contractual arrangement for royalties for the children. After a change in UK copyright law, the children in the choir 25 years later) were successfully tracked down and awarded royalties.

Vulture Ranking (out of 165 songs): 7
UCR Ranking (out of 167 songs): 28
Louder Ranking (out of 50 songs): 14
WMGK Ranking (out of 40 songs): 6
Ranker Ranking (out of 132 songs): 10
Billboard Ranking (out of 50 songs): 7

Vulture Ranking (7 out of 165 songs): Ezrin is the guy who came up with the idea of turning a dirgey song fragment into what was essentially a disco mix; over Waters’s objections he stretched out the material they had as much as possible over a thumping beat — and said it was a single. Waters bought into it. (Again, this was the 1970s, and it was a pretty radical fusion.) Someone came up with the idea of adding the kids’ chorus. This was farmed out to London, where a subproducer recorded a group of schoolkids — without asking the school’s, or the kids’ parents’, permission. The single spent four weeks at number one. A good part of The Wall is labored; Ezrin and Waters had given themselves an impossible job. But this is a hell of a production — Gilmour sings with utter authority, and Waters, owning his own instrument, kicks in on the “Leave those kids alone!” line. The sound and engineering on this song is extraordinary, from the disco beat to the sax to the washes of guitar, and that thin but monotonous rhythm guitar track — right down to that flimsy little guitar break that somehow brings the song together. Gilmour is MVP for the killer guitar outro. You have to give Waters credit; 6 years after Money, he’d crafted another of the most improbable classic singles of the era.

UCR Ranking (28 out of 167 songs): Is this song good in spite of the disco beat or because of it? Does the addition of a child choir repeating the only verse and chorus transform it from a song fragment into a full-blown composition? Is PF’s only No. 1 single this high on the list because it’s a great recording, or because it’s merely famous? Do we need an education or is it just thought control? But there’s no question about Gilmour’s great guitar solo.

Louder Ranking (14 out of 50 songs): Roger: “I hated every second of Cambridgeshire High School For Boys, apart from games. The regime at school was a very oppressive one. It was being run on pre-war lines, where you bloody-well did as you were told, and there was nothing for us but to rebel against it. Most of the teachers were absolute swine.” Part 2 was a runaway hit for a band widely perceived as dinosaurs in the wake of punk, reaching No.1 in 16 countries. Yet its success was soured by dissenting voices, from Islington Green’s headmistress, Margaret Maden, who distanced herself from the song and barred pupils from appearing on Top Of The Pops, to The Daily Mail (“It seems very ironical that these words should be sung by children from a school with such a bad academic record. The grammar is appalling too…”).

WMGK Ranking (6 out of 40 songs): Part 2, reflecting a clear disco influence, was a protest against a rigid education system and strict boarding schools. With a catchy chorus that any kid could learn – “We don’t need no education” – the song became Pink Floyd’s only U.S. #1 hit single.

Billboard Ranking (7 out of 50 songs): An unlikely chart-topper on both sides of the Atlantic — though maybe not so unlikely when you consider the song’s blend of arena-rock muscle with punk snottiness and (most importantly) disco propulsion, making it enough of a sledgehammer to tear down walls a lot more fortified than Roger Waters’ metaphoric self-isolation. The band resisted it at first, but producer Bob Ezrin dragged Dave Gilmour into the discos and sent engineers off on secret kiddie choir-recording missions until they had a single as riotous as School’s Out and as club-ready as Miss You, one still soundtracking middle-schooler revenge fantasies nearly 30 years later. “It doesn’t, in the end, not sound like Pink Floyd,” Gilmour begrudgingly admitted in 1999. True!

Up next, Anarchy's best of the best all time Pink Floyd selection . . . and NO ONE will want to miss it.

 

[Dwayne Hoover]

Dark Side is the GAOAT.

Hmmmm. Dark Side is a great album, no doubt. But I don't have it in my Top 3 PF records (WYWH, Animals, and The Wall in some order that varies from day to day). I sort of agree with Roger that Dark Side is a little bit too simplistic, whether it be lyrically or musically. IMO, their next 3 albums had more complex composition, instrumentation, lyrics, and creativity. For my palate, I find those album have a deeper fabric, texture, and a broader, fuller sound than DSOTM. Maybe that's because they had unlimited production and development budgets by then. Don't get me wrong, I'll take any of the Dark Side material over 99% of music . . . but for me I like other PF albums more.

I always felt like everything after DSOTM is a bit contrived.......don't get me wrong, love the albums to follow, but I listen to Meddle and Dark Side more than what came after. imo, those two albums were when Floyd was at their creative best.

Contrived yes, tough to synch with the Wizard of Oz otherwise

 

[FatMax]

Contrived yes, tough to synch with the Wizard of Oz otherwise

lol

Many years ago, when this was "discovered" (or whatever, I'm not sure about the history), I went to a showing with a couple of friends in an old two level theater where they played Dark Side over Wizard of Oz. It was a pretty packed house in a very large room. We were sitting up high in the second deck, so could see out over most of the crowd. One of the things I remember most, is when the lights dropped and the movie started, there were an absolutely massive amount of lighters firing up all over the crowd. The pot smoke hung in that room was like a fog. Looking back, I'm not entirely sure why I was surprised, but I was.

 

[zamboni]

"If you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding!

I’m sure I’m not the only one to have used that line many a time at the dinner table. Very rarely resonates though.

 

[FatMax]

#17 - Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2) from The Wall (1979)

I had this at #20, so no quibble here. Except of course that Happiest Days and ABITW2 are one song, and THAT is the song I voted for.

 

[Anarchy99]

#17 - Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2) from The Wall (1979)

Covers: 10,000 Maniacs, Colin Hay, Controlled Bleeding, Tiny Tim, Korn, Stahlhammer, Class Of '99, Twizted Toyz, Fee Waybill, Holly Wilson, John Illsey, Pearl Jam, Hollywood Vampires,
Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine, Blurred Vision, Pink Turtle, Acid Drinkers, Nickelback, Moon Taxi, Hillbilly Goats, Lonestar, Hoobastank, String Cheese Incident, Bucky Covington, Afghan Wigs, Lenny Kravitz, My Morning Jacket, Sum 41, Frank Hannon (Tesla), Blankass

There's probably 500+ people that have covered ABITH2. Here's a smattering of 30 of them if people are bored and want to check some out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnMSHK-BQHc

 

[BassNBrew]

#17 - Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2) from The Wall (1979)

Appeared On: 22 ballots (out of 33 . . . 66.7%)

Not surprising, but let's hear the arguments why this doesn't crack your top 25.

 

[PIK95]

#17 - Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2) from The Wall (1979)

Appeared On: 22 ballots (out of 33 . . . 66.7%)

Not surprising, but let's hear the arguments why this doesn't crack your top 25.

:sniffsbaitswimsaway:

 

[FatMax]

Up next, Anarchy's best of the best all time Pink Floyd selection . . . and NO ONE will want to miss it.

I think I know ...

 

[Rand al Thor]

#17 - Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2) from The Wall (1979)

Appeared On: 22 ballots (out of 33 . . . 66.7%)

Not surprising, but let's hear the arguments why this doesn't crack your top 25.

First, it's just so monotonous and there's not a lot going on vocally or musically in this song (except for the solo, which as always, is worth the price of admission). Second, I don't like how the four-note leitmotif that is used as a theme throughout The Wall is used here as the vocal melody that follows the underlying guitar line. Third, the kids singing in the chorus has always kind of made me cringe (I can't stand Lennon's Happy Xmas for the same reason). And finally, even though it's their biggest "hit," it's just not very Pinky Floydy in my opinion. Ezrin made it into something that top 40 stations would play sandwiched between the Stones' Emotional Rescue and Blondie's Rapture.

By the way, if you've never noticed the leitmotif that runs throughout in the Wall, check this page out. http://sparebricks.fika.org/sbzine32/musictheory.html I think he's reaching on some of them, but once you hear that same melody being used in all those songs, it adds another element of appreciation to their songwriting genius. Even on an album that was hot garbage.

 

[Anarchy99]

#16 - Shine On You Cary Diamond (Parts 6-9) from Wish You Were Here (1975)

Appeared On: 18 ballots (out of 33 . . . 54.5%)
Total Points: 297 points (out of 825 possible points . . . 36.0%)
Top Rankers: @Anarchy99 , @Dwayne Hoover , @PIK95 , @Yambag , @turnjose7 @FatMax
Highest Rankings: 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4

Alternate Version with Parts 1 + 2 Combined, DG Live Version, Montreal - 1977 <-- 23 and a half minutes of Dave going absolutely next level

Live Performances: PF: 110, DG'S PF: 0, RW: 122, DG: 6

Covers: Most covers are for the first half of the song.

It took awhile, but the WYWH album finally makes an appearance. Shine On the sequel is our first track with 6 Top 5 rankings and 12 Top 10 selections. I was the only one to rank the second half of the song above the first half. Just listen to the live version I linked above. Dave and Snowy White trade guitar licks in an explosive performance. Rick and Nick also contribute some of their best work as well. I don't need to sell it . . . the recording sells itself. Dave fans WILL NOT be disappointed.

That performance comes from the infamous final show from the 1977 tour in Montreal. The one where Roger spit at a fan. The one that prompted Roger to write The Wall. By that point, the band was about to implode. The other members couldn't stand Roger. Rick had threatened to leave the band and not finish the tour. By the final show, they were all just plain angry. The Montreal show, IMO (along with many other opinions) is the greatest PF show ever be performed. The crowd kept shooting off fireworks, and during Pigs On The Wing, Roger lashes out at the crowd and the band almost didn't finish the show.

Dave was upset over that final concert and felt he did not play very well that night (listen to the show . . . I linked it above . . . boy was he wrong). In an interview many years later, Gilmour noted that the responsibility of being both the lead guitarist and lead singer meant that he was afforded few opportunities to really experience the band. "Some of the time, with a radio mic (wireless system) on my guitar, I could go out front, play a little bit while they were playing, then stop them and do something to fix a problem," he said, before noting the sonic limitations posed by venturing far from his band. "But if you're a distance away, you're so out of sync because of the time it's taken for the sound to come to you."

"The only time I've ever seen Pink Floyd live was the encore in Montreal Stadium in 1977 — the last gig of the Animals tour, the one that Roger spat on someone," Gilmour said. "I was so pissed off about something, and I can't even remember what it was, that I refused to play the encore, and went out to the mixing desk to watch whatever encore it was, with Snowy White playing my parts. That was the only moment I saw a tiny bit."

As for the studio recording, SOYCD was initially intended to be one continuous track, but Roger later opted to split it in two. During the final mixing sessions of this song in June of 1975, Syd Barrett wandered into the studios), ready to help out. He was fat, bald, with shaved eye brows, and as crazy as they remembered, but they let him stay for a while. Barrett wanted to rejoin the group, but they learned in 1967 and 1968 that having an insane member was not good for a band. Before he was kicked out, Barrett would get on stage and either refuse to play or play the same note over and over.

Wright on that day in 1975: "Roger was there sitting at the mixing desk, and I came in and I saw this guy sitting behind him – huge, bald, fat guy. I thought, "He looks a bit... strange..." Anyway, I sat down with Roger at the desk and we worked for about 10 minutes, and this guy kept on getting up and brushing his teeth and then sitting – doing really weird things, but keeping quiet. And I said to Roger, "Who is he?" and Roger said "I don't know." And I said "Well, I assumed he was a friend of yours," and he said "No, I don't know who he is." Anyway, it took me a long time, and then suddenly I realized it was Syd, after maybe 45 minutes. He came in as we were doing the vocals for "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", which was basically about Syd. He just, for some incredible reason, picked the very day that we were doing a song which was about him. And we hadn't seen him, I don't think, for 2 years before. That's what's so incredibly weird about this guy. And a bit disturbing, as well, I mean, particularly when you see a guy, that you don't, you couldn't recognize him. And then, for him to pick the very day we want to start putting vocals on, which is a song about him. Very strange."

When asked what he thought of the song, Barrett said it sounded a "bit old". When someone tried to break the ice by asking Syd how he had put on so much weight, he maniacally replied, "I've got a very large fridge in the kitchen, and I've been eating a lot of pork chops!" That was the last time any of the Pink Floyd members saw him. Come on, you miner for truth and delusion, and shine!

Vulture Ranking (out of 165 songs): 38
UCR Ranking (out of 167 songs): 13
Louder Ranking (out of 50 songs): 2 (considered one song)
WMGK Ranking (out of 40 songs): 8 (considered one song)
Ranker Ranking (out of 132 songs): 5
Billboard Ranking (out of 50 songs): NR

Vulture Ranking (38 out of 165 songs): WYWH, one of PF’s best albums, and SOYCD, one of the band’s best songs, together have a dirty little secret. The first 5 parts kick off the album and as a whole remains one of the band’s most beloved compositions. The secret is that the second iteration of the song, which closes the album with another 4 parts, goes off the rails after the first of these. Had it ended after six minutes it would have been an effective reprise. The last 2 parts mar this fairly magnificent conception with overindulgent, aimless, musically uninteresting, and out-of place wankery. Someone really needed to take Wright’s clavinet away from him, too. You’ve probably seen the WHYH cover with the two guys shaking hands, one of them on fire. The original LP came with a thick opaque blue shrink wrap with a sticker on the front, nothing more, and is so rare it’s hard to find a good pic of it online.

UCR Ranking (13 out of 167 songs): The second half of the band’s tribute to Syd Barrett can’t quite match its counterpart in terms of sweep and substance, but the four-part portion is as varied and compelling as any Floyd recording. The highlights, in order: Waters and Gilmour weave bass guitars into an undulating tapestry, David attempts to break the sound barrier on his lap steel solo, Roger’s vocals return and he pleads to his troubled pal (“Come on, you miner for truth and delusion, and shine”), the boys try on some neon-and-midnight funk with Wright’s clavinet in the foreground, and then the band goes catatonic as Wright pays elegiac tribute to his fallen band mate on piano and keyboard, quoting the “See Emily Play” melody before the whole dream fades away.

Coming up, @PIK95 might want to go outside for another cigarette while the rest of us discuss whether we should trust the government.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

I couldn’t really distinguish between the two Shine Ons so I only voted for the first one.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

Also I only listed SOYCD (1-5) and Wish You Were Here from the WYWH album.
I like the other two big songs but I guess not as much as others.

 

[Anarchy99]

I couldn’t really distinguish between the two Shine Ons so I only voted for the first one.

That was one of the reasons I wanted to count Shine On as one song. Most people didn't want to use two votes on it. Part 1 appeared on 31 ballots. Part 2 was only on 18.

 

[Ghost Rider]

I had Another Brick in the Wall II at 16. The guitar solo alone makes it worthy. One of DG's best ever. And the rest of the song is damn good as well. Yeah, yeah, it's catchy, but I don't buy this notion that being catchy is somehow a bad thing.

I had Shine On... Parts 6-9 at 10. Like its brother that kicked off the album, it's, to quote Jeff Spicoli, totally awesome. Richard Wright does some of his finest work ever in the latter half of this one.

 

[Anarchy99]

I am interested to hear feedback on the uber extended live version.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

#17 - Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2) from The Wall (1979)

Appeared On: 22 ballots (out of 33 . . . 66.7%)

Not surprising, but let's hear the arguments why this doesn't crack your top 25.

Because it’s only half the song. It we could have combined THDOOL with this, I would have voted for it.

 

[BassNBrew]

#17 - Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2) from The Wall (1979)

Appeared On: 22 ballots (out of 33 . . . 66.7%)

Not surprising, but let's hear the arguments why this doesn't crack your top 25.

Because it’s only half the song. It we could have combined THDOOL with this, I would have voted for it.

May have been against the "rules", but I did combine them. Who's idea was it to rank sandwiches and decided that a BLT had to be a bacon sandwich, lettuce sandwich, and tomato sandwich.

 

[BassNBrew]

I couldn’t really distinguish between the two Shine Ons so I only voted for the first one.

That was one of the reasons I wanted to count Shine On as one song. Most people didn't want to use two votes on it. Part 1 appeared on 31 ballots. Part 2 was only on 18.

I did burn two votes, had this portion at #15....so close to getting my first one "right".

 

[Anarchy99]

#17 - Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2) from The Wall (1979)

Appeared On: 22 ballots (out of 33 . . . 66.7%)

Not surprising, but let's hear the arguments why this doesn't crack your top 25.

Because it’s only half the song. It we could have combined THDOOL with this, I would have voted for it.

I hear what you are saying (and I pushed for that at the beginning). However, ABITW2 (without THDOOL) was released as a single and spent 15 weeks as the #1 song in the U.S., so clearly it was capable of standing on its own.

 

[turnjose7]

#16 - Shine On You Cary Diamond (Parts 6-9) from Wish You Were Here (1975)

Covers: Most covers are for the first half of the song.

Mule covers the second half.

 

[Ghost Rider]

Even though I didn’t list it as such, I did consider Happiest and Another Brick II the same song for the purposes of my list.

 

[joker]

I am interested to hear feedback on the uber extended live version.

Listening to it now while I work. This is fantastic, and I can't understand how Dave thought he played poorly. Simply amazing stuff - thanks for posting this link, you never cease to amaze us with your offerings