New Pink Floyd Album 'The Endless River'

[raisemyrent]

Louder Than Words, TER album version (06:36)
https://m.soundcloud.com/felix-gauloises/sdfsf

thanks. that sounds like the real deal now. I quite like it and I am looking forward to listening to it in context (closing the album). I just didn't listen to the very end; I had a feeling that the ending on the Chris Evans show was not the real ending and that they'd keep the end of PF secret for a bit longer. So I stopped it short and will deal with that when I listen to the album.

Some thoughts:
- Sounds like they were able to do quite a bit with Rick's playing. I suppose the sessions were recorded professionally on multi-tracks. Not like with Real Love by The Beatles, where they had a crappy cassette with piano and vocals on the same track (not blaming anyone; Lennon surely wasn't planning on being shot). By the way, when they changed the key, they didn't end up quite on D# or E, you have to go from A 440Hz to about 445 or so for it to match what's on the record (and stay on D#). At least with the version I downloaded from iTunes. Really not sure what happened there. I tried googling a few times but all I get is comments on the change of key, etc. But I digress...
- Nick's in form. He'd been dying to get back behind a set with PF. Sounds like he was ready for it. Enough said.
- The chords are very rich, perhaps less-constrained. I think/hope that the rest of the album will be like that. It reminds me a bit of Wearing the Inside out in the sense that it took quite a few listens for me to appreciate its feel (not necessarily musically).
- I guess that from my point of view, this album is really coming out because TDB was not meant to be the end of PF and had defaulted into that more by circumstance than by intention. I think it bothered just about everyone and they figured there was a fix to that. Having recently listened to On An Island live again, it's really daft from us at times to assume that the record will not be up to snuff, in the sense that Gilmour can seriously produce an album. He's always said that with his own stuff he feels like he doesn't need to be such a perfectionist, yet, OAI is extremely rich in its production (regardless of the appeal of the source material). I can't even imagine the same amount of dedication, and then some, put into a new PF record over the course of a year. I think that we've debated the "leftovers" issue to death, and nothing we say or do will change the fact that TER is done and coming out soon; but if we go back to '93, we have to remember that there was a lot of pressure on them after they announced a new album, coming from AMLOR and the Roger thing. The album was trying to be a whole bunch of things at the same time, and they really did produce quite a few pieces of music that they could start from (over 20 or 40 or so? it's on Nick's book). I remember reading on Inside Out that Wright in particular even debated doing the tour at all because he felt that the way that they had chosen songs to make it onto the record was not entirely in agreement with him. We can speculate that this meant that he had more songs than we heard, for instance. Which brings me to
- I doubt (this is all speculation) that they asked Stephen Hawking to use his voice again for Talkin' Hawkin'. I saw the TV commercial not long ago, and I wonder if they'd just used other bits from his talking for a different song, perhaps with a slightly different message, and in the end decided not to use it on TDB (for whatever reasons). So instead of them relying on the same, 20 year old "gimmick", it's more a case of the original art not being changed later on. As I said, I really hope/like if/that this album is completely unconstrained and unpretentious.

32 days...

[bboynexus]

Someone by the name of 'grelch' shared his or her thoughts on Reddit. I thought it was so good it was worth sharing:

I'm not sure why there's so much griping about the lyrics. You've got to use context. David is a man with deep, deep soul, but as bright as he is, he isn't someone who can express himself in words. Even in his interviews, his answers are better discerned by looking at his eyes than listening to his words, and often he'll just pick up his guitar to offer his answer. Polly's job was to express David's feelings about being at the end of the line accepting at last that whatever that thing that Pink Floyd is, it is now, has always been and forever will be a living entity that is far, far greater than the individuals who have comprised the membership of the band over the decades. Pink Floyd the living entity wanders the reaches of the planet completely on its own, finding new devotees completely free from the control of any of its creators. And all its creators can ever do to change this entity while they're still alive is to feed it with new music or anecdote or the occasional live performance. Beyond that, while the geezers who sired it sit at home in their robes eating their oatmeal for breakfast day after day, the colossus that is Pink Floyd continuously circles the globe spreading its music, spreading its word.

The challenging twist for Polly is that for this song she had to compose lyrics using David's voice and plumb his near 50 years of experience wrestling with the Floyd and all that comes with that. In David's voice, the prose had to be simple, very simple, deeply ruminative and melancholy. The words had to sound like they were coming from David's mouth, simple, slightly mawkish, colloquial all while simultaneously expressing the depth of his experience. Imo she did a great job. The middle verse about favorite blues and tapping out a rhythm swung a bit toward the cringe zone, I grant you that, but overall, I think she's tapped into David's psyche very insightfully. And why wouldn't she, she's borne witness first hand to his struggle at defining what Pink Floyd is, and who he himself is in relation to that behemoth. In my mind the song is David's admission and acceptance that Pink Floyd isn't about him or the other lads. It's the offspring of the 5 men (and perhaps 1 woman if you're feeling generous) that long ago outgrew its parents and who has moved on to live its own life. And Polly's words tell us that at long last David sadly recognizes that he and his mates have been left to face their mortality having finally let go of the immortal force that is Pink Floyd. She is an accomplished author. She has a facility with language. I would submit that to simplify (dumb down, if you will) the lyrics to the song while expressing the depth and sincerity of David's relationship to the music and the band, is in fact a fairly impressive and very difficult act of artistry. I, for one, applaud the effort.

[Jimi Dean Barrett]

Louder Than Words, TER album version (06:36)
https://m.soundcloud.com/felix-gauloises/sdfsf

OK! I give in! I'll listen to it! And- "We can't find this page"

NOOOOOOO!!!!!

[Hudini]

Louder Than Words, TER album version (06:36)
https://m.soundcloud.com/felix-gauloises/sdfsf

OK! I give in! I'll listen to it! And- "We can't find this page"

NOOOOOOO!!!!!

The PF management is quicker than lightning these days. This must be third or fourth version of 'Louder Than Words' I run across too late.

[Felix Atagong]

Col Turner of Fleeting Glimpse warning people that the Floyd / Warner gestapo is hitting hard on people leaking Endless River tracks, including LTW. The (longer) studio version of the song has been removed from Soundcloud by the person who uploaded it.

[Jimi Dean Barrett]

http://www.openculture.com/2014/10/loud ... -1994.html

Quick before it gets pulled!! On second listen now and the guitar solo is gorgeous. The song is growing. Still a sale!

[alb123]

Man, I've probably listened to 'Louder Than Words' over 10 times. I try to be more than a fanboy, but sometimes I just want to lock myself away for a couple of days and just listen to anything that is Floyd-related over and over and over. I go through these phases and now that something new is out I'm feeling one of those phases coming on.

I know that I've already commented on Polly writing the lyrics. I don't know...it honestly has nothing to do with the quality of the lyrics. I think they're fine. They're not complex, or to use a word I hate hearing when describing lyrics, deep, but they are concise. If you have even a remote interest in Pink Floyd's story you should have no problem interpreting these words. I just have a problem with the lyrics being written by someone who is not in the band. Someone made a comment along the lines that "the music is more important than the lyrics" and I completely disagree with that. Maybe that's why I love artists like R. Waters and Leonard Cohen. They aren't great singers by any stretch of the imagination, but they are fantastic writers! Musically, they are average at best. Their message speaks to me whether it is accompanied solely by an acoustic guitar or a 10 piece backing band.

I just wish Gilmour would have given it a shot at writing the lyrics to this song. Shit, we aren't talking about filling up an album's worth of songs with lyrics. It's one song. Gilmour is the sole writer of "Coming Back To Life", "Sorrow" and 99% of his first two solo albums. This is the last song Pink Floyd is ever going to release. It would have been really nice if Gilmour could have penned it himself. This might be conceived as nitpicking and perhaps it is. I know that Gilmour's strength was always his brilliant musical acumen, not his song writing, but in this instance I think it was important that he at least try. Again, he has written some fantastic lyrics in his career.

I just can't stand that I have another month to wait before I can hear the full album. I had a lot of skepticism when I first heard the announcement and learned what the album consisted of, musically. After hearing "Louder Than Words" that skepticism has been replaced by pure excitement. I remember how long the days felt in 1994 waiting for the release of The Division Bell. This is starting to feel very similar.

[FreeFour]

http://www.openculture.com/2014/10/loud ... -1994.html

Quick before it gets pulled!! On second listen now and the guitar solo is gorgeous. The song is growing. Still a sale!

Thanks Jimi, I am quite enjoying all the rummaging around on the internet to find this. This was my first listen of the album version and enjoyed the extended intro.

I think I heard some extra lyrics in the album version ?

Is it just me, or do the drums drop out of the mix quite noticeably when the solo begins ?

On the first listen it almost sounded like a time signature change ?

[raisemyrent]

http://www.openculture.com/2014/10/loud ... -1994.html

Quick before it gets pulled!! On second listen now and the guitar solo is gorgeous. The song is growing. Still a sale!

Thanks Jimi, I am quite enjoying all the rummaging around on the internet to find this. This was my first listen of the album version and enjoyed the extended intro.

I think I heard some extra lyrics in the album version ?

Is it just me, or do the drums drop out of the mix quite noticeably when the solo begins ?

On the first listen it almost sounded like a time signature change ?

They do seem to drop out of the mix a bit, but right now I only have an air recording of the bbc live broadcast (iPhone voice memo; I was so excited I forgot to audio capture my browser session), so hard to say for sure (I haven't listened to the episode on demand yet).

It changed feel for the guitar solo, but the time signature seems pretty even at 4/4 with snare on 3 and variations every 2 counts. Guitar solo is announced by what I should say are some pretty nifty triplets by Mason (3•4 for a total of 12). The ooohs and aaahs, the drum beat, and Gilmour's phrases all last 2 counts (not uncommon in popular music), but it's not really 8/4 unless you really want to get academic. There's also a tambourine or so flying under the radar throughout perhaps technically creating a polyrhythm; I can't recall for sure.

Ps definitely some extra lyrics about sitting by the fire or so on that (leaked?) full version. Any links to the lyrics transcript btw??

[Hudini]

The song is too short...

[thefinalcut]

Listened to the song for the 4th time. No real strong impressions. It's ok. But it is a little dull sounding to my ears.

And "thefinalcut" is a she, not a he. English is not her first language so she doesn't always express herself with tact or articulation.

Ta Gus! And I agree with you.
I don't understand why I'm not allowed to express my point of view without upsetting a few people over here. If I don't like the 'new' stuff then I don't like it. Is that such a big deal to you?
Some poster questioning my fandom for the Floyd? whatss?? I'm an active member since 2004 or 2005, when many of you weren't at these boards discussing PF music, at all.
Cheers.

[bboynexus]

Listened to the song for the 4th time. No real strong impressions. It's ok. But it is a little dull sounding to my ears.

And "thefinalcut" is a she, not a he. English is not her first language so she doesn't always express herself with tact or articulation.

Ta Gus! And I agree with you.
I don't understand why I'm not allowed to express my point of view without upsetting a few people over here. If I don't like the 'new' stuff then I don't like it. Is that such a big deal to you?
Some poster questioning my fandom for the Floyd? whatss?? I'm an active member since 2004 or 2005, when many of you weren't at these boards discussing PF music, at all.
Cheers.

Of course, you are welcome to share your views. However, when you do so on a forum you open yourself up to criticism and scrutiny. You don't have to 'like' the new stuff but it's a different matter all together when you make baseless accusations like 'David Gilmour is only doing it for the money' which is almost certainly patently false.

[raisemyrent]

so did someone in the BBC leak the full song?

[Felix Atagong]

And the full version that could be found here
http://www.openculture.com/2014/10/loud ... -1994.html
has disappeared as well.

[Hadrian]

I found that "Louder Than Words" album file on SoundCloud by random chance, and I had no doubt that it would be pulled in a few hours. It was fascinating to watch the play count go up - it was 68 when I stumbled upon it; circa 90 minutes later, it reached 1,200 plays (this was the last time I looked). Like it or not, it is creating a buzz.

Hearing this online, by the way, cannot change my decision to buy the album (Blu-ray combo in my case) on the release day - and I am sure the same is true for most Pink Floyd fans.

A few thoughts on David and Nick's interview for BBC: I was surprised that Nick kept talking about 1966 as the first time he played with Rick and Roger, when the band started in 1965 (?). That, together with the fact that David underlined he started in (January) 1968 makes me conclude that they have no plans to celebrate Pink Floyd's 50th anniversary in 2015 in any shape or form (perhaps this will change, we'll have to wait and see; it would be a shame not to do something for that). Also, it was good to hear comments about Roger, how 2005 rehearsals immediately felt like rolling back the clock, a re-visit to why they went their separate ways (...and why he was not in their minds for TER, of course).