New Pink Floyd Album 'The Endless River'

[mastaflatch]

Well, according to Discogs credits listing, the arrangements were made by Rick Wentworth and Roger Waters, in that particular order. I wasn't particularly acquainted with Wentworth's work so I googled it a bit and it appears that he is most notable for being a film scores conductor. So Waters did have a professional working for him and even gave him a proper credit.

That's weird. Of all musical styles, I thought that classical music (contemporary or else) was one where a composer = an arranger. You know, like a composer that writes notes on a staff with a pen or a software. So if Roger isn't responsible for most arrangements, he came up with the themes, melodies and overall concept?

[raisemyrent]

I'll take your word on the capabilities of software but a computer does not a composer make.
Regardless, wasn't his opera mainly complete sometime in the 80s anyhow?
Now I want to find it and hear it, though I hate opera.

[Hudini]

I'll take your word on the capabilities of software but a computer does not a composer make.

Agreed. No software can help you if you have no musical idea, however if you do have an idea but don't know how to realize it that's where the software kicks in.

And yes, as far as I know 'Ca Ira' has been written in the late 1980s, though it wasn't publicly performed until the early 2000s so we can't really say it was the same orchestration.

[Chaim]

Except for two or three songs I don't care for what they did after Roger left. So I wasn't expecting too much here. But the album was a pleasant surprise for me. I really enjoy it, with the exception of the first instrumental. I can understand a band playing the tired old E minor - C chords if something worthwhile happens on top of it. Without that it's just, well, a bunch of guys playing the E minor - C major chords. I guess Rick's sound there is supposed to make people go "Oh! Back to the days of Wish You Were Here!!". But with no melody or anything new to offer - they had gone that route before - it's just boring. When this torture is finally over, the album starts for me, and I like it a lot. My favorite bit is Nick's little Saucerful moment. Rick's organ bit isn't that exciting - there must be better bits in the vaults - but it works in the context.

The album has a great flow. There are moments when I go, "Where are Rick's interesting chord changes?". There are perhaps one too many Em, C -bits on the album.

[Guilherme Martini]

The Endless River = the best album ever

[Jimi Dean Barrett]

It couldn't make it to 20 weeks, TER has now left the UK top 100 album charts.
Will probably pop back in when David Gilmour's new album comes out.
But it was fun while it lasted!

[lurkingfear]

I for one am still enjoying TER. Many of the songs mix very well with the rest of their catalog. It's quite enjoyable to slip a few TER tracks in between OBC or More. Like nearly every PF albumk though, there are some tracks I just don't care to hear. Allons-y (both) and Anisina I just tend to skip. Can't win them all. I listen to more tracks on this album than the Final Cut though.

[Flathead]

Album is a turd except for the opener.

[jambo]

Still enjoying the album, especially Sides 2 and 3.

[danielcaux]

I'm really tired of this "TER is awful/great" thing. It seems like there's nothing interesting left to say about TER. Guess we will have to wait 20 years for the anniversary edition and see what happens then...

[raisemyrent]

We haven't said much, but all I can add is that I still listen to the entire album about once a week. I maintain that I'd never really listened to anything so many times in such a short period of time.

and well, on an unrelated note, since meeting my gf over a year ago, I've turned her into a full-on Pink Floyd and Sir David Gilmour fan (she's a soprano so she was relatively unfamiliar with -call it modern- music). We just got a puppy and brainstormed puppy names. Gilmour came up very quickly, as TER was playing in the car, and that soon landed us on Floyd. His collar is pink.


p.s. she's always saying that Gilmour (young and old) is actually quite a good singer, and that Waters had a crazy range and eeriness back in the day.

[PooF]

Haven't listened to this yet. Is this record any good? I mean, does it sound like Pink Floyd?

[mastaflatch]

Haven't listened to this yet. Is this record any good? I mean, does it sound like Pink Floyd?

It surely sounds like what it is: a bunch of relatively brief instrumentals recorded circa The Divison Bell stitched together. I think that TER goes to many more "weird" places than TDB though. I still consider that it's a nice album and I really like the fact that it's almost a completely instrumental one too.

[Jimi Dean Barrett]

Haven't listened to this yet. Is this record any good? I mean, does it sound like Pink Floyd?

It surely sounds like what it is: a bunch of relatively brief instrumentals recorded circa The Divison Bell stitched together. I think that TER goes to many more "weird" places than TDB though. I still consider that it's a nice album and I really like the fact that it's almost a completely instrumental one too.

Well I still hear bits that sound like their 60's stuff. The keyboards from the live version of Astronomy Domine pop up and then met with the 80's guitar sounds.
The tracks are short, and you might feel short changed, but once you get over what you hoped it'd be as opposed to what it is, it's a pretty good listen and a really great way to end their story.
Take the plunge, PooF!

[moom]

I went into listening to this album with quite a bit of fear of getting a heartbreak - didn't most of us!?

But honestly, listening to the first track already brought me close to what some call "a religious experience" No, I don't rank the album among my all-time best PF albums... but it's a welcome addition in my book.