New Pink Floyd Album 'The Endless River'

Hadrian · Post by **Hadrian** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 5:12 pm

The Gunner's Dream wrote: The only piece I really hate is "A New Machine".

"A New Machine", as a single song (somebody put it together on YouTube) and with some better lyrics would've been a solid post script to the album, starting as a bonus 10 seconds after the last song ends, containing another long silence break between the two parts of the song. This is how I would sequence it on AMLOR.

kjek1 · Post by **kjek1** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 5:24 pm

The Gunner's Dream wrote:I think the problem with these lyrics is that they seem to be written without regard to how they'll fit into the meter of the song. When Gilmour sings the words, they don't flow. It feels like he's rushing to get all the words within the proper amount of beats. Never mind that the actual content of the lyrics is banal. That is something Pink Floyd fans have adjusted to over the past 25 years.

I didn't get that at all, though ironically I did get that with Roger's new tune he sang at European parliament.

Post by **drafsack** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 7:20 pm

Just listened to "Louder than words" and it is what it is and what you would expect of this era Pink Floyd. Its a natural progression from the Division Bell via On an Island.

Hudini · Post by **Hudini** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 7:22 pm

The Gunner's Dream wrote:I think the problem with these lyrics is that they seem to be written without regard to how they'll fit into the meter of the song. When Gilmour sings the words, they don't flow. It feels like he's rushing to get all the words within the proper amount of beats. Never mind that the actual content of the lyrics is banal. That is something Pink Floyd fans have adjusted to over the past 25 years.

I somehow got the impression that the metrics are deliberately uneven, and it sounds pretty good to me. However, no vocal line good or bad can repair the damage done to the song by bad lyrics.

Now that I've heard the song more than 10 times, I'm starting to get used to most of the lyrics and even though I still find them banal there are parts I'm actually starting to think are OK, and I also like the ABBA rhyming pattern in the second part of chorus. Still, the opening verse is a new low and nothing we've been adjusting to over the course of years could have prepared us for that. I don't think I'll ever stomach it.

Flathead · Post by **Flathead** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 8:09 pm

FransT wrote:http://www.glidemagazine.com/125225/pin ... ng-review/

Great review, he's damn right!

Spot on review.

hypermikem · Post by **hypermikem** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 8:21 pm

I don't think that surprises anyone. About right. Birds of a feather.......

Flathead · Post by **Flathead** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 8:35 pm

Hudini wrote:Still, the opening verse is a new low and nothing we've been adjusting to over the course of years could have prepared us for that. I don't think I'll ever stomach it.

Indeed.

raisemyrent · Post by **raisemyrent** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 11:49 pm

Wolfpack wrote:
lurkingfear wrote: About Waters...
I think it would be very funny if someone made a parody on 'Louder Than Words',
writing parody lyrics that look as if they could have been created by Waters:
"We splish and we splash..."
Maybe lyrics that rant on and on about politics,
making the 6:40 minutes almost too short to cramp them all in.
Accompanied by lots of manic laughter, and the sound of a television.
And, of course, lots of explosions to keep the listener awake.

don't forget a thousand verbal syllables per musical one. and manic screaming. lots of screaming. and a section which sounds like the news being read. haha that Lennon parody was spot on. Louder than Bombs too hehe

and to those saying that the same syllables thing happens in louder than words, I think it's on purpose. whether it works or not for you, is up to you. same goes for the lyrics. do you lot honestly think Polly writes whatever the heck she wants? Let's not forget Gilmour wrote Sorrow and Yet Another Movie, which are underrated, IMO. I'm not going to say that I'm 100% behind the lyrics, but I haven't listened to them enough to judge them yet, nor do I really care as much.

speaking of lyrics; it's so sad/funny and I guess not surprising to see the double standards. Man, haven't you ever listened to Vera Lynn? Nobody Home? The Final Cut? Three Wishes? It's A Miracle? Amused to Death, The Ballad of Bill Hubbard? To Kill the Child? [My Stomach] Is Turning? Have a Cigar (of the mighty Wish you Were Here)? Even Each Small Candle, which seems to be regarded by a few as the best modern Waters track (including meself), has a first verse which just about kills the song, luckily the second one is actually pretty good. And the recycled Wall Riffs and subdued guitar and synth solos (that's plural because it's 2 guitar guys). Yawn.
I'm glad this guy has stayed away from Pink Floyd; not sure what he could really bring to the table. He's a spent force. Oh wait, politics.
Even on Pros and Cons and Amused to Death, we have the mighty Eric Clapton and the even mightier Jeff Beck, and it's like Waters set a limit on how many notes they could play. I hope at least he paid them well.

I'm not quite having a go at Waters. He contributed some great things back in the day before it got out of control. Then he peaked and crashed apparently for good. Shame.
I've seen him live 3 times. For some songs it's just as good as PF could be, but for the most part, it's like a big budget cover band, but with Waters on it, which somehow makes it worse (especially when he can't sing his own 'genius' lyrics anymore).

the other double standard is in respect to weak point in an album. They all have them. Nobody ever really makes a big deal out of Have a Cigar being sung (very well at that) by a studio neighbour (because no one else could jam so many words in). TDB has Lost for Words and possibly Take it Back and A Great Day for Freedom. AMLOR has more bad ones than good ones. The Final Cut has that song that goes from the beginning to the end (also, a Pink Floyd album WITHOUT Richard Wright? no thanks). The Wall is actually mostly the same song over and over (which gets old quickly) with VERY good songs interspersed throughout, and some utter tripe too (I'm looking at you, Bring the Boys Back Home). Animals is a monster of its own, but personally, I don't like any of the Pigs at all and only listen to Dogs now and then. DSOTM, does anyone listen to Eclipse or Brain Damage as a stand alone? Or On the Run? I know they are contextual, and not necessarily bad in themselves, but my point is that there are always parts of an album that just get less traffic. You also have to remember that some of the 70s albums were not as long as some of the other ones (most of them anyhow).

p.s. has anyone seen footage of Jeff Beck at Ronnie Scott's relatively recently? Man, he just keeps getting better, and he's 70 now. That kind of shows it is possible to stay at the top into old age if you keep at it.

also, Hadrian
Post subject: Re: New Pink Floyd Album 'The Endless River'PostPosted: Sat Oct 11, 2014 10:02 am

very well said, mate.

The Gunner's Dream · Post by **The Gunner's Dream** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 11:54 pm

Does that rambling diatribe have a point?

thefinalcut · Post by **thefinalcut** » Sun Oct 12, 2014 12:31 am

still so much Waters hate on to this forum, that's the reason why I'm not posting on a regular basis...

kjek1 · Post by **kjek1** » Sun Oct 12, 2014 12:49 am

thefinalcut wrote:still so much Waters hate on to this forum, that's the reason why I'm not posting on a regular basis...

You don't do irony do you?

hypermikem · Post by **hypermikem** » Sun Oct 12, 2014 1:34 am

Hahahaha. Pot meet kettle. Wow.

bboynexus · Post by **bboynexus** » Sun Oct 12, 2014 1:36 am

thefinalcut wrote:still so much Waters hate on to this forum, that's the reason why I'm not posting on a regular basis...

I don't see any Waters hate. I see Waters criticism. Are you saying you'd only post if everyone was glowing about Waters?

Coming from the person who ludicrously accused Gilmour of being greedy and money hungry...dear me.

hypermikem · Post by **hypermikem** » Sun Oct 12, 2014 1:46 am

bboynexus wrote:
thefinalcut wrote:still so much Waters hate on to this forum, that's the reason why I'm not posting on a regular basis...
I don't see any Waters hate. I see Waters criticism. Are you saying you'd only post if anyone was glowing about Waters?

Coming from the person who accused Gilmour of being greedy and money hungry...dear me.

Imagine that. Criticism being a two way street. Oh the injustice of it all.

Hudini · Post by **Hudini** » Sun Oct 12, 2014 8:00 am

raisemyrent wrote:p.s. has anyone seen footage of Jeff Beck at Ronnie Scott's relatively recently? Man, he just keeps getting better, and he's 70 now. That kind of shows it is possible to stay at the top into old age if you keep at it.

Of course it's possible. Then again, Jeff Beck is first and foremost a performer. His own songs rely heavily on outside contributions and they have never been about substance as much as great musicianship. One of the examples of being at the top into old age is Leonard Cohen (has a very good new studio album out at age 80!), who might have lost some of his voice but still keeps his pen sharper than razor. Still, he's been in his own league for almost half a century.

If you judge Gilmour strictly by musicianship standards, he is also still at the top: his guitar playing is still top notch and I think that his voice sounds very good too. Only if you start to analyze his songwriting (and note that he utilizes outside contributors much, much less than Beck), you notice he's going downhill.

When we're at it, let me say that even though I don't enjoy Roger Waters' new stuff as much as anything he made in the 20th century, I still don't think he's too out of shape either. He is no less of a singer than he was in Pink Floyd and his lyrics are still very good, although his themes and his presentation style are getting boring. Someone must tell him that he is no Bob Dylan and that he sounds best with a full band playing his songs richly arranged.