TS: Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon vs. Wish You Were Here vs. Animals vs. The Wall

http://991.com/newGallery/Pink-Floyd-The-Dark-Side-Of-385009.jpg

http://www.cyber-heritage.co.uk/floydlive/floyd1.jpg

er...

"Wish You Were Here". Love DSOTM too, while "The Wall" is slightly overrated.

Easily "Wish You Were Here"

I can easily say that I prefer Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were here to Animals and The Wall. After that, though, it's a little harder to say. Probably Wish You Were here for the creepy, icebound synth-psyche stuff. Still gives me chills.

Wish You Were Here when I was in high school, Animals now.

animals by a long shot. but in general i'm not a floyd fan, so... all i know is that album is as compact and concise as any album can be with 15+ minute songs.

Wish You Were Here > Dark Side >> Animals >>>>>>>>> The Wall imho

exactly, but you got the symbol backwards

how bout:
WYWH+DS+Wall <<<<< animals :-)

meddle

O boy. I've never encountered, either in reals or virtuals, such a number of WYWH preferrers (of which I do remain one) in the same place in less than six hours.

Wish You Were Here

WYWH

Poll options should be Meddle vs Dark Side of the Moon vs Wish you Were Here vs Animals.

The Wall is more like Roger Waters and friends than Pink Floyd.

My vote goes to meddle.

Meddle is not an option

Atom Heart Mother

I have to say that while I generally agree with those who favor Wish You Were Here amongst this bunch, the production on The Wall seems a good deal smarter to me than on any of the rest. I think Dark Side has maybe the most over-the-top production-as-component-of-the-aesthetic quality, certainly the most celebrated, but the attention to the sounds on The Wall - the bass, the guitar, the cymbals - is sweet stuff. It has a better vibe. But it doesn't have the supremely shit-assed "Have a Cigar," whose sniffy pretentiousness is absolutely irresitible.

OTOH it has "Crazy Diamond," which sucks & is interminable. Tough call.

, which rules and is irresistible.

I might be able to go along with Wish You Were Here on a purely musical level -- some sweet tuneage there -- but yecchh, some of the lyrics are pretty godawful. "Crazy Diamond" is sort of enshrined as a classic, but when you think about the lyrics, it is pretty dumb. And Animals -- I never got into that one when I had my Floyd phase in 8th grade. Maybe I'd like it more now. The Wall, ugh, I don't ever want to hear again. Dark Side all the way!

i'd go for wish you were here these days, and maybe because it's the only one that still envelopes me in its atmosphere each time i listen to it. the build up to 'crazy diamond' is thrilling every time - sort of dreamy and lucid, and measured enough for the chorus to hit home with real force. 'welcome to the machine' is pretty creatively starved however, and filled with those doctor who channelled space synths that were seemingly default for a lot of bands in the 70s trying to emulate machine-like qualities. the title track is of course a complete winner and truly effective in its nostalgia-swept sensibilities.

animals tends to find waters at his most gratingly obnoxious. i'm perfectly fine with him when his persona speaks for him on a more lyrical basis, but listening to him sing those drawn out notes on 'sheep' is almost comic, and not in the satirical sense. 'dogs' is a fantastic track that might have profited from some editing, while 'pigs' is mostly interesting for its pent up anger, masquerading beneath the veneer of everyday social commentary.

the wall, has plenty of moments and is a nicely executed concept. but it ultimately falls prey to the narrowness of its own convictions as well as its literary shortcomings, and has a short-term span of resonance that can only have you under its spell for so long.

DSOTM probably transcends the boundaries of conventional criticism, but somehow i don't feel the urge to vote for it.

actually, i think there's another thread somewhere where i claim 'the wall' to be my favourite PF record. that sentiment has obviously changed.

It's Dark Side. I'm too old to be saying Wish You Were Here just because I don't want to say Dark Side.

I'm frankly a bit chuffed that Animals isn't getting more love here.

Certainly, it's Waters at his most bitter and cynical -- but lyrically, it also is the least self-absorbed thing he did in the 1970's. I like "Sheep" fine, though I've never been terribly hot for "Pigs (Three Different Ones)" which has always been a bit too strident.

But Animals has the best convergence of music, lyrics and production on any of these four albums: "Dogs," which is arguably the most dynamic and successful extended piece of music PF ever recorded. Unlike "Shine On," which loses it in the second half, not a note of "Dogs" feels out of place -- no section feels overlong, with much credit due, me thinks, to the fact that Gilmour co-wrote it and Wright's always subtle keyboard work.

That said, Waters' lyrics on it just KILL ("Who was broken by trained personnel...")-- I defy anyone to point to a more thrilling moment on any record of theirs than the build-up to "Dragged down by the stone" climax to end the first side.

All of which is to say, I'm not totally sure Animals the "best" record of this period, but "Dogs" is certainly the best track.

ditto animals not being the best

ditto animals kinda sucks, plus WTF at me being dyslexic (ha) abt ">" up above

it's kind of funny that i'm approaching these records like old friends i don't want to see that much of anymore.

Faded honkies motor

Wish You Were Here >>>> Dark Side >>>> Animals >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> The Wall

Animals, and Naive Teen Idol completely OTM about 'Dogs'

I actually think they come off pretty even...I mean Sheep is my favourite track (alright Waters can't sing, but that jazzy keyboard intro? the Lord's Prayer travesty? the Meddle-worthy gallop? those guitars at the end? Sheep rules!) but rly they all have at two or three really cool things going on...and thats about it. I'm almost tempted to vote Dark Side, bcz it has not only "Us & Them" (A personal fave) but those instrumental tracks, like Any Colour You Like and Great Gig in the Sky, are some of the best things Waters-era Floyd has ever done.

Problem: the only time I listen to Dark Side is when I'm having trouble falling asleep...

bus! stop! rat! bag!
you! fucked! up! old! hag!

Nice

ha ha sharaahd you are

I'm tempted to vote for WYWH based solely on my deep abiding love for the title track but if I were object I would probably be voting Animals.

"WYWH" is far and away my favorite Floyd song, though.

I have a T-Shirt with an Animals image (a pig rotating a globe or something? you'd think I'd remember), but that said I am not super crazy about any of these albums. Animals has some disco stuff pushing in that is way better than the disco stuff on "Another Brick in the Wall pt whatever." Also I like overlong creepy tracks that 16-year-old boys can relate to, I guess?

Least favorite: Dark Side. Too grating and too whimsical and too ham-fisted. Like in the movie of "The Wall" when the teacher quotes Pink's "poetry," which is the lyrics to 'Money,' and bitches the kid out for his shitty poetry? It is bcz those lyrics are retardo and I totes sympathized with the teacher. "Us and Them" and and 'Breathe' are pretty good & I think it is the Wright factor there.

The Wall: Spawned my least favorite movie but gave me a stupid catchphrase I say to myself: "Look mymmy, there's a little cloud up in the sky."

Other two: equal. WYWH has the best art going on.

Doesn't "chuffed" mean "happy"?

And it's always worth remembering Christgau's line re Wish You Were Here, which he gave an A minus or something, that it was pretty good for a travails-of-a-rock-star epic.

Abbott, my ex-gf swears that the artwork on Wish You Were Here inspired McClusky's album title The Difference Between You and Me is That I'm Not on Fire.

I always found it weird that the Floyd (or maybe just Waters) was so hung up on "the travails of a rock star" ... I mean, those guys weren't exactly super-recognizable celebs or anything, they were generally beloved for their music ... I guess Waters was shook up by Syd's decline, but that really doesn't seem all that related to the rock star thing. Does it?

'wish you were here' and 'dark side of the moon' are pretty close but that intro on shine on you crazy diamond is what pushes wywh into the win column for me. 'the wall' is okay, i guess, but not my thing.

tylerw, Wish mashes them all together.

I guess Waters was shook up by Syd's decline, but that really doesn't seem all that related to the rock star thing.

I half-suspect the whole Syd thing is a crock of shit...I saw a documentary on Syd on Vh1 Classic and I swear that everyone in the documentary who didn't stand to make anything off of the royalties of these four albums said that, yeah, Syd was out there, but he was also sly and clever (see "Have You Got It Yet?") whereas whenever anybody from Floyd or their managment or whatever came on the screen, well, let's just say that the phrase "jumping up and down & brushing his teeth" was bandied around...

I haven't heard most of it (surprise) but I guess The Madcap Laughs heavily supports Pink Floyd's "loonier-than-a-leprechaun" thesis, so...

just sounds like Waters using the whole "genius/madness" paradigm to trump his own band's million-dollar mythology to me though

I think "rockstar pain" angle gave Waters a chance to say something profound (read: angst-ridden) that he could present as authentic, from experience. Plus the meta angle enhanced the art-status of the conceit.

Doesn't "chuffed" mean "happy"?

Yes it does.

Yeah, it does. Def. Didn't mean that, obv.

Really have no idea wtf I meant.

'Sokay. I useta use "chuffed" to mean "mildly piss'dorff" until brit friends corrected me, too.

old friends i don't want to see that much of anymore. Yes. I had the most fun with my friend The Wall while the friendship lasted, though, so he gets m'vote.

"Look mymmy, there's a little cloud up in the sky."

Isn't it "Look mummy, there's an airplane up in the sky"?

i always heard it as "look mummy, there's no plane up in the sky"

Complaining about lyrics? IT'S PINK FLOYD. Totally OTM from John D re production of The Wall, that album sounds so nice, but I voted Wish You Were Here and would have voted Meddle if it'd been offered. Been listening to Pink Floyd for 25 years but never like Animals, seems like just one long bloozy solo.

Relics,,,,
After Syd there was no Floyd....

Two different bands, same name.

stuff they did after syd that i like better than the stuff they did with syd: all of Meddle, most of Dark Side, half of WYWH. i'm not sure i've ever listened to all of animals.

dammit why can't I vote for more than one

I went with Dark Side, because I love all its songs except one ("Money"), and really really really love a few of them ("Us and Them", "The Great Gig in the Sky"). Plus Dark Side laser shows rule. I'd rep for all of these, esp. Wish You Were Here; I agree with whoever said "Wish You Were Here" fabulous, probably my fav. Floyd song.

voted "Sheep".

It's fashionable to say Floyd sucked after Syd, it's like the rock snob calling card.

Yeah, but it's ok if you do actually think Pink Floyd sucked after Syd -- I mean, the Floyd of Piper is pretty unrecognizable from the Floyd of Dark Side of the Moon and beyond ... I just think of them as different bands altogether.

And Euler, yeah, the Dark Side laser show was killer. I saw it at Griffith Park when I was 13 or so ... While we were in line, some dude asked me if I had any acid! Far out. (This was in 1992 or so ...)

I saw Pink Floyd laser shows in Atlanta in the early 90s (I think at the Fox?) when I was an early teenager. I remember how when the lights went out, there would be an instantaneous flash as hundred of pipes lit up, and cannabis smoke filled the air shortly thereafter. Actually, lots of Atlanta shows then were like this; I imagine smoking bans must be altering this perception quite a lot.

Haha, yeah, I enjoyed the laser show more than the time I saw Pink Floyd on what turned out to be their final tour in 94. That show completely turned me off of seeing big stadium shows. I think I've only been to one or two since ...

same for me! I saw the Division Bell tour at the Alamodome and it was not very far out at all.

Haha, yeah it sucked. Though to bring it back to Syd, they DID open with Astronomy Domine at the show I saw ... I could hear it from the parking lot.

WYWH will win this in a landslide.

The idea that Pink Floyd was two different bands is a good one. But clearly both were very good! It is similar to the way that Fleetwood Mac was two different bands except the second version of the band in the case of Fleetwood Mac was not nearly as successful as the first version of the band.

haven't listened to pink floyd in years but if i were going to, it would be either animals or meddle.

Big man, pig man, ha ha charade you are

yeah Fleetwood Mac is a good comparison, or maybe even Soft Machine or something. Obviously, there are "transition" records for the Floyd where Barrett's influence was lingering, but by the time they released Dark Side, they may as well have chosen a new name ...

second version of the band in the case of Fleetwood Mac was not nearly as successful as the first version of the band.

wait, 2nd version would be with Nicks & Buckingham, right?

That would be 3rd version.

2nd = Bob Welch

oh duh. right. carry on.

Animals probably although WYWH has its moments. Prefer pre-Dark Side stuff like Meddle to any of these albums.

All of this really comes down to Floyd's perplexing way of working post-Dark Side... The band came up with "Shine On...," "You Gotta Be Crazy," and "Raving And Drooling" before going on tour in 1974 and then spend the following three years recording them as leaden as they possibly can.

I love all these albums for various prehistoric reasons, but these days I listen to the live shows (especially the 1974 tour) much more. Voted for Animals mainly for the cult-fave value (the folks who like it, REALLY like it), but really just for "Raving And Drooling." Gilmour's outro is just tremendous.

Maybe not too-perplexing. In 1975 they signed with Columbia in the states and I suppose they didn't know what to do with expatriate architects who hung out with The Soft Machine and listened to AMM. "erm, could we have another hit song like 'Money' please?"

Also, the live stuff from this era has a lot more of Moog/VCS3 in it.

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I love all these albums for various prehistoric reasons, but these days I listen to the live shows (especially the 1974 tour) much more. Voted for Animals mainly for the cult-fave value (the folks who like it, REALLY like it), but really just for "Raving And Drooling." Gilmour's outro is just tremendous.

From the Wikipedia entry on "Sheep":

On Animals Roger played bass on "Dogs" and I played bass on "Sheep" and "Pigs." Most of the bass line on "Sheep" (apart from the ending) was what Roger had been playing onstage, as we had been performing it as "Raving and Drooling" for a couple of years. However, in the studio Roger had a rhythm guitar part he wanted to play, so we swapped roles. On "Pigs" the part and the playing are mine. ”

David Gilmour, 1998, to Karl Coryat, "Bass Player"

Live "Raving and Drooling," 1975:

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

I mean it's so obviously WYWH

went animals for some reason. that was my favourite back when i liked pink floyd.

i guess that was the reason. anyways.

All are great but I am a very devout fan of Animals in particular.

i have cast my lonely honest vote for the wall, and look forward to getting last place

The Wall has some good songs, I am actually an unashamed fan of "The Trial", for instance

ammonals!

I just hope you guys can tell blue skies from pain.

i am also the kind of dick that really enjoys the final cut so there is obviously something wrong with me and i have accepted this about myself

you're not a dick, but probably bad to hang out with when the question of "should we listen to the final cut?" comes up

ha yeah probably

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Correct.

Automatic thread bump. Surprised but not surprised. kind of.