When it comes to bands from the 1960s and 1970s, Pink Floyd is the one that altered the most and evolved into their style over time. They evolved tremendously over their time together, and it wasn’t until they moved on to more intricate and layered concept albums that the band truly came into their own. Now, no rock fan in the world hasn’t heard of them, but getting there was a wild voyage. Jimi Hendrix spoke out on Pink Floyd on occasion, describing their music as relying on presence rather than sound. “Here’s one thing I hate, man,” he added when analyzing the new growing scene in which Floyd was involved. “When these cats say, ‘Look
The trio admits to writing some poor songs, particularly after Syd Barrett left. As Roger Waters and David Gilmour attempted to encapsulate his sound, they created ‘Point Me At The Sky’, a piece that has since been widely regarded as one of the band’s weakest outings and, as Waters puts it, “One notable failure when Syd left the band”. Pink Floyd took some time to find their stride. They had some success because their brilliance as musicians and live performers was evident, but it took years before they put something together that they knew they could believe in and that they hoped would push them to legendary status.
This came with their album Dark Side of the Moon, which has since been heralded on more than one occasion as one of the best records ever made. When Waters was asked if they knew it would be as successful as it was, he said he always knew the band were onto something. Whether he thought the record would reach the heights it did remains to be seen, but when he took a first pressing home to his wife, her reaction was all he needed.
“When we’d finished making it, I took a quarter inch home, and I played it to my then wife, and she burst into tears,” he recalled, “I thought, well, she feels the same way I do. This, we finally cracked it. So, it’s at that point, which was 1973, where I felt, we’ve been at this since 1965, so it was eight years later, during those eight years we have honed our craft to the point where we’re capable of making a piece of work that is homogenous and well-crafted and well put together.”
It’s tough to say whether any of them thought it would become such an iconic album, as can anybody really predict such a massive level of success in anything they do? What they did know, however, was that they had made something they could be proud of. “You know,” he concluded, “If we were cabinet makers, we could stand back now and look at that cabinet, or the chair, or whatever, and go, you know what, that is well made”.
