What's the "Darkest" and "Happiest" Pink Floyd albums?

[space triangle]

no those 2 songs from the album are rather dark & bkeakest imo I would say Animals is the darkest album

What is happiest pink floyd album?

[ZiggyZipgun]

I would agree that Meddle is the "happiest" Floyd record, unless we count The Early Singles. Much of Atom Heart Mother through Obscured By Clouds, they kept it pretty light. Even Dark Side, for all of its focus on "madness" which in modern terms is just stress and depression, the music is very "uplifting" as they say.

The Wall is the darkest, in my opinion - he may have tried to shoehorn some cathartic conclusion in there, but in the original draft, they don't even tear down the wall. And sonically, it's much more bleak and aggressive than The Final Cut. Nuclear war can't be too scary if there's still time for lighthearted sax solos.


I'll also agree that the NME article referenced at the beginning of the thread is just garbage journalism, name-dropping already forgotten artists alongside Leonard Cohen and David Bowie to make them still seem relevant. And Bowie's darkest album is 1.Outside by far, even if it is just a fragment of the original concept.

[Luke Balika]

The Wall and Animals is for sure the darkest, and I would say either More or Atom Heart Mother are the happiest

[Arnold Lane]

Piper at the gates of dawn is the happiest . As previously mentioned it's the youthful exuberance , 4 young guys living the dream
For me saucerful of secrets is the darkest . Syd's apparent breakdown and expulsion midway through . Jugband blues is a dark song coming from a guy in a dark place , difficult to listen to .

[Kerry King]

DSOTM has the darkest album cover and it has the word "dark" in it's title. That makes DSOTM pf's darkest album.

The Wall is pf's happiest album because it has the song Happiest days Of Our Lives on it.

Lyrically, Obscured by Clouds is the happiest pf album. An album that leads off with a song called One Of These Days I'm Going To Cut You Into Little Pieces is not a happy album.

[ZiggyZipgun]

An album that leads off with a song called One Of These Days I'm Going To Cut You Into Little Pieces is not a happy album.

Unless it's referring to a sound collage made from analog tape.

[Kerry King]

An album that leads off with a song called One Of These Days I'm Going To Cut You Into Little Pieces is not a happy album.

Unless it's referring to a sound collage made from analog tape.

I think you'll find that all of my logic was flawed on that last post.

[theaussiefloydian]

Piper is definitely Pink Floyd at their happiest (even if it does have a song about a scarecrow with crippling depression), but for their darkest album it's a tossup between The Final Cut (lyrically the darkest) and The Wall (musically darker than The Final Cut)

[moom]

*chuckles* A happy Pink Floyd album

Well, I think the closest to a happy PF record is whether Piper or Bell (you know, it's one of their emotionally serenest albums, not least because not a single Roger Waters was involved in it and not least because I think the other three had pressure off overall). Darkest? Some would say Cut, but that one is rather sad than dark. Now, Animals, on the other hand... or The Wall, being a combo of quiet desperation and violence...

[theaussiefloydian]

Now, Animals, on the other hand... or The Wall, being a combo of quiet desperation and violence...

I'd consider The Wall closer to being the darkest of the two. Animals is more just angry than anything else in my opinion.

[ZiggyZipgun]

The Wall's continued popularity with wannabe fascists should cement its status as the "darkest".

[Kerry King]

Nothing on The Wall is as dark as "If It's In You" from The Madcap Laughs.

[Jimi Dean Barrett]

Nothing on The Wall is as dark as "If It's In You" from The Madcap Laughs.

Yeah. Waters and Gilmour needed to be up before a committee hearing giving evidence of their decision making during their Madcap Laughs production.
"Were you aware of the existence of his track, Opel?" would be the question asked over and over as they evaded answering.

[moom]

Now, Animals, on the other hand... or The Wall, being a combo of quiet desperation and violence...

I'd consider The Wall closer to being the darkest of the two. Animals is more just angry than anything else in my opinion.

I feel a lot of pain and frustration beyond that anger.

[theaussiefloydian]

I feel a lot of pain and frustration beyond that anger.

True that, especially on "Pigs (Three Different Ones)". But the somewhat lighter edge of "Pigs on the Wing" also makes it a little less dark than The Wall (in my opinion).

The Wall, being a combo of quiet desperation and violence...

Was that a deliberate from "Southampton Dock", by the way?