The Great Pink Floyd?

Question

For years now I have been hearing the debate
What is Pink Floyd's Masterpiece
Dark Side Of The Moon
Or
The Wall
And I though, why not get Your opinion.
Which album of the two is, in your opinion
Pink Floyd's Masterpiece?
And, if You don't mind, what makes it so?

Wish You Were Here
Is My second fave
Animals is about fifth for Me

Gee
It's gonna be a cast iron ----- picking a winner for this one
Chunga
Silver
Sarah
Awesome Answers

Thank You All
It is going to be a cast iron pain picking a winner between Sarah Chunga and Silver here

Answer 1

Darkside of the Moon, personally, I feel that it's more melodic and mesmerizing. I first time I heard it... the heartbeat, the coins clicking, the background voice, the Rogers' scream and than BREATHE. That what I literally needed to do, I was just so out of breathe because it was such a buildup. The whole album leaves me in a daze.... it's beyond description a first Pink Floyd trip. Everything on the album strikes a chord for me, and it has so many layers. The Wall is a little too angry and bitter for me. While it has it gems (Comfortably Numb, Good Bye Blue Sky, Mother) there are just some songs that just don't really leave me winded. The magic isn't consistent. I don't feel like I'm lost in the music for the whole thing.
Richard Wright is also a huge reason I love Floyd and he had a huge role in Darkside (Us and Them, Great Gig etc.) and he was fired during the Wall. I want my Floyd with all 4 members collaboration, not having Waters dictate it all.
I personally can talk about Floyd for hours so I should stop now....

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With all this being said, Meddle is still my favorite Floyd.

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Chunga's Revenge: I love Atom Heart Mother, but Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast was weird, even for Floyd. Though Atom Heart Mother Suite was just marvelous.

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Chunga's Revenge: Weren't they working on a project called Household Objects in which they were trying to record a whole album using radom household objects like pots and pans? Is there any recording of that or is it one of those forever lost things?

I do have Wet Dream... but I don't have his newer one.... don't even remember it's name... oh boy, I'm losing my memory already?

Answer 2

Well, for me it has to be Dark Side of the Moon, though I do also love Wish You Were Here, and Meddle {haven't heard the album for years, but Echoes is permenantly in my memory ~ ping!}.

I never liked The Wall, though, as Sarah says, it does have a couple of stand-out tracks {Comfortably Numb, Another Brick in the Wall (part 2), The Happiest Days of Our Lives}.


I think DSoM appeals to me so much because it is such a 'broad' album ~ it contains something everyone can like.

From the opening to the close, it carries the 'heartbeat / pulse' through everything {even when you can't hear it, you can feel it!}.

The little interview snippets throughout were a stroke of genius ~ I always love the ones in The Great Gig...
"And I am not afraid of dying. Any time will do; I don't mind. Why should I be afraid of dying? There's no reason for it - you've gotta go sometime"
"I never said I was frightened of dying"

It is also one of the only albums where all four members participated in the writing and production.

Everyone knows Money ~ although the version played on the radio edits out the middle instrumental section! ~ the opening with the cash-registers is now used on TV programmes and is instantly recognisable.

Personally, I have a favouritism for Clare Torry's incredible vocal on The Great Gig in the Sky {which she actually composed, on the spot in the studio}. I also love Time {what an intro}, Brain Damage {I love the line "There's someone in my head, but it's not me"}, and Eclipse.

Of course, the iconic cover holds a certain appeal. I bought the 30th anniversary edition of the album {never had my own copy before!}, where the cover has been specially re-done as a huge stained glass window.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dark-Side-Moon-30th-Anniversary/dp/B00008CLOA/ref=sr_1_1/203-7343334-7728767?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1193578417&sr=1-1

Answer 3

Hmmm...When Dark Side of the Moon came out in '73, everyone that had never listened to the band before, was suddenly raving about them! I'd already been a fan for many years, and was sort of shocked by this. Personally, at the time I felt it was inferior to Meddle, Atom Heart, etc.
But to us long time Pink Floyd freaks, it eventually became accepted as part of their repertoire.
Funny that today 'Dark Side of the Moon' encompasses the essence of Pink Floyd! I admit it was a great album, and a turning point in the bands style. But then suddenly it turned into this overplayed, commercialized pimple, and ruined what was at first a good thing. It was kind of like your own private little unknown underground British band, that the jocks and squares would pay no mind to back in 1969, had suddenly hit it big time! Now everyone that thought they weren't cool at one point, suddenly thought they were!
Personally, I wouldn't consider either Dark Side of the Moon, or The Wall to be their masterpiece. Maybe as far as record sales go, yeah they were both huge. I really can't explain it better than that.
To me their masterpiece will always be Atom Heart Mother.
Only my opinion.
Back in those days I was really into a lot bands that weren't quite so mainstream (over here anyways), Wishbone Ash, Juicy Lucy, VGG, Gong, Edgar Broughton Band, Camel, Babe Ruth, Atomic Rooster, Cactus, (these are some of the better known of the lesser known I guess), then we had Spermull, Hairy Chapter, Samurai, Pulsar, Tasavalan Presidenti, Affinity, Area, Fuzzy Duck, Aunt Mary, Bent Wind, Fresh Maggots, Incredible Hog, Chicken Bones, Greatest Show on Earth, Comus, Dr. Z, Troyka, Tin House, Fantasy, Gracious, May Blitz, Capability Brown, Gravy Train, and a million others. With all of that great music happening, I really didn't have the time or desire to spend on a band that I once really enjoyed that had become a commercial monster. I still have friends that are my age, and their musical tastes don't extend much further than Pink Floyd, Mott the Hoople, Sabbath, Led Zep, Deep Purple, Alex Harvey, Mountain, Nazareth etc. That stuff was good, but bands like that were only a very very small percentage of what was good in the 70s. Dark Side and The Wall are great albums, but their commercialism ruined them for me. I doubt I'll ever play either again. I did see the 'Animals Tour' in 1976 that 'Catwoman' is referring too, and it was great!
But to really appreciate Dark Side and The Wall the way so many do, I guess it really depends on how wide and varied your rock tastes are.
Age might play a factor also. I can imagine myself today at 17 years old just discovering 70's rock, while 4 years ago thinking Kid Rock was God. Then suddenly this great tune comes on the radio called 'Money' that I've never heard before. I'd flip to!
But for me the novelty wore off before it even had a chance to begin I suppose.

Edit - Sarah C - Alans Psychedelic Breakfast was weird, you're correct. But not many other bands employ bacon sizzling, and Rice Crispies popping as instrumentation...ha ha!
I tend to look at most of Pink Floyd's work from an album perspective, and try not to isolate single songs. I leave that to the radio stations. As a unit, the albums diversity captivates, and holds my interest through it's duration. Meddle, and Obscured by Clouds have the same effect on me also.
Oh, you mentioned Richard Wright? You should check out his 1978 solo album 'Wet Dream'. It's pretty good!
http://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/richard_rick_wright/wet_dream/

Answer 4

Dark Side Of The Moon definitely!!!
I didn't actually like the Wall at all!
In Dark Side.. all the songs are beautifully merged together, but even saying that stand just as strongly on their own..Also, the meanings behind the songs will ALWAYS be relevant to society, like just for one example, in Time, 'well you run&you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking, racing around, to come up behind you again. The sun is the same in a relative but you're older. Shorter of breath and one day, closer to death'. Like, that will always apply, as will the meaning behind all of their other songs, like Money stands for materialism..
Musically, well in my opinion, it's phenomonal, really, like here's a band, and whether someone likes them or not, are gifted musicians, and this shows in the album...And Great Gig in The Sky, gives me shivers every time I listen to it!!Like (well to me anyway), it can mean so much even though there are no lyrics!!!And at the same time, ALL of the songs are COMPLETELY different to the others..
Sensational/mind blowing/gigantic psychedelic trip of an album!!!

AND!I will NEVER, EVER bore of this album..
I always go back to it...


Oh, and how better to begin an album but have the heartbeat, the ticking and then this scream, and bursting into this trippy guitar!!!

Answer 5

I prefer "DSOTM", I grew up with it and, since I play guitar, I've really got a great deal of respect for David Gilmore's playing and taste on it. Also, I think that it was more of a collaboration between all members of the group in making this album. (at least as much can be possible in a group with Roger Waters)

Not to say that Roger is bad, but I think that "The Wall" was more "Roger" than anyone else, I also kinda think that "The Wall" is simply a rehashed "DSOTM" and "Wish You Were Here" combined.

Answer 6

Damn that is hard

I would say The Wall because when that album came out the 80's rock emerged so I have to go with that.

But Dark Side of the Moon was one of the greatest albums in the 70's.

Answer 7

pink Floyd have been strict followers of the Illuminati. The Illuminati is in the back of the fabrication of the manhattan Knicks, JFK, Rolling Stone, Beastie Boys warm Sauce Committe section 2, CBGBs, heroin, "Che" Guevara, Russia, The Beatles, techno, kites, flora, My Bloody Valentine, the la Dodgers, baseball often, Cuba, Wal-Mart, faith, college, conflict, electrical energy, and the rioting of la in 1992.

Answer 8

I like them both. Pink Floyd's work on both can be considered a master piece. But the only one that tops the other by a little bit is: The Wall.

Answer 9

Between the two, I'd go for the Dark Side, but as many already pointed out my favourite also is Wish You Were Here. Ican't explain why though, it just is.

Answer 10

i'm 54 years old and it's gotta be dark side of the moon. I saw them live at the cleveland stadium over 30 yrs ago and they had this big inflatable pig circling the stadium all night. it was a wonderful show i will never forget . I was probably the only one there who wasn't on drugs.