Pink Floyd - The Division Bell

[snifferdog]

Of course not. The sun shines out of Roger Waters' backside dontcha know.

[oz1701]

well its good enough for MY RRRRS

[Sonic Destruction]

Ghastly.

It reaches its horrific climax with that scientist guy giving his little speech about how we need to keep talking. Holy crap is that weak. Trying soooooo hard to be creative and they think that covers it. It is awful.

And that album is why Echoes is not in any way shape or form Floyds best of or greatest hits or anything else.

Yeah, sadly that just about says it all, as far as the overall concept is concerned.

However, there are a few moments that are musically (if not lyrically) good, and that sort of lifts it a little. The afore-mentioned "Keep Talking" is one of those, as is "What Do You Want from Me?" (although the lyrics are self-pitying tripe) and the two instrumentals.

[AnyColourYouLike]

I love the David-led Floyd...mainly because ever since Dark Side..Roger's fire was breaking through and becoming more and more prevalent through WYWH, Animals, The Wall especially and then The Final Cut where it just got so depressing...I LOVE how uplifting the later albums sound compared to TFC...a natural progression.

As for TDB? Love it. Marooned is amazing.

[506am]

Apparently going way against the grain on this one, but as a long time {since 1977} fan of Pink Floyd and one who despised everything about Momentary Lapse, save for On The Turning Away, I find The Division Bell to be a wonderful album.

From the first sparse notes of Cluster One there is one thing quite evident here... Richard Wright is back! People can go on and on about how much Roger wrote this or did that... and he did! But Pink Floyd... in any form, is not Pink Floyd without Richard Wright. It's that simple. The man's musical knowledge and skill were so integral to the sound of Pink Floyd and sadly, particularly during the Waters vs Gilmour feud, this fact was lost on many.

With Cluster One Mr. Wright announces his return and does so gloriously. What Do You Want From Me can be described many ways, but it is a very powerful follow up to the laid back, melancholy opener. David's guitar just screams through the speakers and pulls you in. What an amazing opening 1-2 punch these two tracks are.

Poles Apart is dreamy and a breath of fresh air. An opportunity for you, the listener, to catch your breath and regain your senses. Marooned is another classic Floyd instrumental with David treating us to more inspired guitar playing.

A Great Day For Freedom is another wonderful moment.

Now frontiers shift like desert sands
As Nations wash their bloodied hands
Of loyalty, of history, in shades of grey...

I don't know about you... but I find that quite compelling.

Wearing The Inside Out is a welcome surprise and is noteworthy for Rick's return to vocal front man. I'm creeping back to life is so beautifully poetic...

Take It Back seems like a radio friendly attempt to perhaps win over new fans. It isn't bad for that, though it isn't one of the superior tracks here either.

Next up is Coming Back To Life... and another grand intro courtesy of Richard and Dave. The guitar here can only be described one way; Heavenly. The lyrics, though sparse, are equally riveting...

Where were you...
When I was burned and broken...
While the days slipped by
From my window watching...

Haven't we all been there? Felt that way?

Keep Talking... Haunting music... a plea for mankind to change... a song that, oddly enough, could slip comfortably onto The Wall or Amused To Death...

Lost For Words is another song that seems to be trying for commercialization, though again, this isn't a bad thing. David's acoustic guitar is incredible here and the words are something many of us can relate to.

All of which brings us to the albums closing song... High Hopes. To me, this is a great song in every sense of the word. The oddly timed bell and piano work beautifully and David's voice is at once captivating and chilling. The music is perfectly blended, as David weaves acoustic and electric guitar solo's in and around the melody.

As epic and haunting as anything Floyd has ever done.

There has been, and probably will continue to be, much debate over who is Pink. Roger? Dave? Roger-Dave-Rick-Nick? Syd? While I love Roger Waters, his song writing and his ideas and themes, The Division Bell proved to me that Pink Floyd could exist without his input. I find it sad that today, all these years later, Roger seems tinged with regret over walking away from the band he helped create.

We have been treated to some good music... Pros & Cons has some wonderful moments, K.A.O.S. was much better if you understood the idea behind it and had the Project KAOS extended version to listen to. Amused To Death is his best solo work and certainly Division Bell is Dave-Rick-Nick's best work w/out Roger. What could the four of them have done had they remained intact? Who knows. But I am quite fond of Division Bell and some 15 years after its release I still listen to it frequently.

[LarsO]

506am that was creepy close to how I experience the album. It is surprisingly good after these years and is in my view much more than "the 3 guys left trying to cash in with the tour". It's a solid album from start to finish.

[FUloyd]

Without a doubt in my mind, this is Floyd's best album. It is complete. Not a bad sound on it.

There are no low points. Every song supports the other songs and tells the story of communication. Not only Floyd's best music but their best lyrics as well. Pure poetry.

What a great way to end the epic Floyd band. The greatest band in our lifetimes ends with their best work.

BRAVO!!!!

[jtull]

...but their best lyrics as well.

What about Dark Side Of The Moon, Animals, The Wall, Wish You Were Here,...lyric?

[FUloyd]

those also have some decent lyrics. dont get me wrong, mate.

But Roger did have a tendency to go on a bit about the same topics over and over, eh?

[Damn!t]

[jtull]

Well done Bran! One picture is worth more than a thousands words!Really...

[Damn!t]

Ha!

Actually, I dont really think that TDB is that bad.
It's better then the AMLOR.
I came across this interesting photo on flickr and since this album is
enduring some heavy artillery in this thread I decided to gave a more graphic identity to all that lol.

[jtull]

Ha!

It's better then the AMLOR.

I agree, definitely!

Even if Division Bell is not my favourite PF album, it's much better than AMLOR.
Rick was back, and Division Bell was much more team work than AMLOR.

[Steph22]

Not much to say on this one, although i did see them live at The Vet in Philly and that show was the crowning glory in my life at that point. I was 18.
The only song that i can say that I will listen to is Marooned. Even though I know how David's guitar skips three octaves, I still love the way it sounds. Kind of impossible, like old Pink Floyd was...*sigh*

[Faint]

Interesting opinions whose people who's heard DB live or have done some practising with albums analizes or smth. But heh... for me and for millions of people who's gigs top worshiping High Hopes, DB stays almost at the top. I really don't understand people who voted this album "Worst" even 7 people in this forum. Such a masterpieces as HH, LFW, AGDFF, I don't know...
Lyrics don't have that strong connection maybe like the Wall have, but...
5/5
Maybe it's a new generation of Floyd fans.