Pink Floyd - The Division Bell

Discussions about Pink Floyd and Solo Official Album CDs and DVDs.

Rate This Album

5 - Best
28
21%
4
47
35%
3
24
18%
2
24
18%
1 - Worst
10
8%
 
Total votes: 133

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progo
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Re: Pink Floyd - The Division Bell

Post by progo »

Not as good as AMLOR but it's listenable. :-; Cluster One and Wearing the Inside Out really tickle in the right spots.
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czgibson
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Re: Pink Floyd - The Division Bell

Post by czgibson »

4/5

I can't think of another album that has taken longer to grow on me. I must have first heard The Division Bell in the week it was released, and it's literally only in the last eighteen months or so that I've grown to adore it. For a long time, the initial boredom with hearing 'Take It Back' played to death on TV and radio during 1994 must have remained a traumatic memory that coloured my view of the whole album.

Gilmour's guitar has always been a big draw for me, and given the amount he plays on The Division Bell it's weird that it hadn't worked its way into my affections earlier. I used to find the massive guitar tones he uses on this album a bit "overproduced", but now I revel in them, jealous. Yes, he's just having a blast with his Whammy pedal on 'Marooned', but I'd rather listen to him use it than anyone else. The pure filth he plays on 'What Do You Want Form Me?' is outrageous; through the talkbox on 'Keep Talking' even more so. These sections are nicely balanced by the tidy acoustic playing on 'Poles Apart' and 'High Hopes'.

Rick Wright's playing is tremendous as always, and it's the combination of Wright and Gilmour that has been the musical heart of Pink Floyd for most of its life anyway. Roger Waters wrote many legendary songs and lyrics, of course, but his bass playing was not as important a factor in the band's sound. (Anyone know if there's any truth in the rumour that Gilmour apparently put about, that he recorded many of the bass parts that Waters was receiving awards for?)

'Coming Back To Life' and 'Take It Back' are a little weak in parts, but overall I think there are very good songs here. Sure, it's not the Floyd of earlier days, but this is definitely their best album since The Wall.
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danielcaux
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Re: Pink Floyd - The Division Bell

Post by danielcaux »

czgibson wrote: Roger Waters wrote many legendary songs... but his bass playing was not as important a factor in the band's sound.
I couldn't disagree more. Roger's simple but hypnotic bass lines were integral in creating the Floyd sound. Without those they sound fluffy, like an amorphic body that lacks a skeleton.

After Syd's departure, all the Floyd sound was constructed around Roger's bass lines. Take a listen to all their albums until The Wall and you can feel that common thread in their sound. That's also why the double core tribute album didn't strike me as being Floydian at all, most songs centered around reproducing the guitar and synth sound, but were missing the trademark Waters' basslines.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMpGdG27K9o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4SKL7f9n58
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Re: Pink Floyd - The Division Bell

Post by Hudini »

danielcaux wrote:
czgibson wrote: Roger Waters wrote many legendary songs... but his bass playing was not as important a factor in the band's sound.
I couldn't disagree more. Roger's simple but hypnotic bass lines were integral in creating the Floyd sound.
+1

Pink Floyd without Waters doesn't lack creativity as much as focused minimalist bass. Even the songs with Gilmour on bass from the early years somehow don't have the edge that Waters' playing had. The same goes for most of Waters' solo albums, due to the fact he let other bass players lay down the bass lines and he stuck mostly to just singing.
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Re: Pink Floyd - The Division Bell

Post by czgibson »

I love Waters' basslines as much as anybody, but I still believe that Gilmour and Wright's playing contributed more to the overall Floyd sound.
Hudini wrote:Even the songs with Gilmour on bass from the early years somehow don't have the edge that Waters' playing had.
Which songs are those?
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danielcaux
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Re: Pink Floyd - The Division Bell

Post by danielcaux »

I know for sure that one of the bass tracks in One Of These Days is by Gilmour and the other is Waters. And I believe that Gilmour also played bass in some parts of Pigs (3DO). Other than those two I don't know about.
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Re: Pink Floyd - The Division Bell

Post by Hudini »

For what I can remember of now, Gilmour played all instruments (including bass) on "The Narrow Way" and all instruments except keyboards on "Fat Old Sun". Gilmour also played all bass parts on both "Pigs (3DO)" and "Sheep" (and I stand corrected here, these two do have the edge I've been talking about even though they don't feature Waters on bass) and "Hey You", which incorporates apparently much more subtle bass guitar playing than any other song on "The Wall". These are the songs that Gilmour played bass guitar on while Waters was still in band, and there may be other songs as well but I can't remember them at the moment. As for AMLOR and TDB, I think I don't have to mention that Gilmour played most of bass parts on both albums, although there are other people credited for relatively small contributions.
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czgibson
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Re: Pink Floyd - The Division Bell

Post by czgibson »

Thanks for the information - there's a few there I wasn't aware of. The bass part on 'Hey You' stands out, I think; it's a very melodic part.
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Re: Pink Floyd - The Division Bell

Post by Hudini »

"Hey You" was the first time they used a fretless bass. When it turned out that Waters was unable to play it, Gilmour jumped in. The same could be said for both songs on "Animals" Gilmour played bass on. Waters never even played bass on those songs live, leaving Snowy White to play it and settling on rhythm guitar instead.

As for fretless bass on "On The Turning Away", it was played by Tony Levin.
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Re: Pink Floyd - The Division Bell

Post by SteveB »

:lol: After reading through some of this thread I finally realise that 'Take It Back' sounds a bit like U2.
I watched Live Aid and hadn't a clue who U2 were. <.8.>
I don't mind TDB that much.
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Re: Pink Floyd - The Division Bell

Post by Annoying Twit »

SteveB wrote::lol: After reading through some of this thread I finally realise that 'Take It Back' sounds a bit like U2.
I watched Live Aid and hadn't a clue who U2 were. <.8.>
I don't mind TDB that much.
But didn't U2 copy the highly echoed guitar sound from RLH in the first place?
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Re: Pink Floyd - The Division Bell

Post by Flying pig437 »

I've decided to try and like this album and am doing quite a good job of it atm. I might have heard it once before but now I'm giving it a chance and am going to familiarize myself with it.
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Re: Pink Floyd - The Division Bell

Post by thefinalcut »

I don´t like the post 'Final Cut' albums by Pink Floyd at all. Even so, gotta say that some nice tunes were included on TDB, the obvious example: High Hopes.

3/5.
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Re: Pink Floyd - The Division Bell

Post by TheFloydian1 »

A lot of people seem to like this album more than AMLOR. I have no idea why. AMLOR had a darker tone to it, and I just think On the Turning Away, Yet Another Movie, and Sorrow are fantastic. Even the sax solo in Terminal Frost is just...well, it sure has that Floyd sound to it, at least to me anyway.

The Division Bell ~ 3/5
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Re: Pink Floyd - The Division Bell

Post by Flying pig437 »

I'm glad I gave this more of a chance. I think it's almost a great album although the lyrics are pretty bad. Most of them are just a litany of complaints and harangues.