1994 - Your Thoughts on The Division Bell Album?

[Mike Eder]

I like the vinyl LP's sound and I think it flows better when edited down a little.

[thirdofnever1]

I think the Division Bell was/is a great Pink Floyd album.

I lose interest in Floyd around the time of Animals as things started to get a bit too bleak and the soul seemed to start seeping out of the music. I think The Wall - although it has six or seven great songs - is a bloated work that was padded with filler to make it a double album. The Final Cut is plain awful.

AMLOR has some great songs (Learning To Fly, One Slip, On The Turning Away, Sorrow), which is four more than The Final Cut. As for The Division Bell, I love every song and think it plays well as an album. Just because EVERY SONG isn't about death or war doesn't mean it's less substantial.

Furthermore, on a bad day, AMLOR and Division Bell kick the crap out of KAOS and Amused To Death. I don't care how great the lyrics may be, without music and melody it's nothing.

They made some great music without the egomaniac; get over it.

[ricky66]

I think the Division Bell was/is a great Pink Floyd album.

I lose interest in Floyd around the time of Animals as things started to get a bit too bleak and the soul seemed to start seeping out of the music. I think The Wall - although it has six or seven great songs - is a bloated work that was padded with filler to make it a double album. The Final Cut is plain awful.

AMLOR has some great songs (Learning To Fly, One Slip, On The Turning Away, Sorrow), which is four more than The Final Cut. As for The Division Bell, I love every song and think it plays well as an album. Just because EVERY SONG isn't about death or war doesn't mean it's less substantial.

Furthermore, on a bad day, AMLOR and Division Bell kick the crap out of KAOS and Amused To Death. I don't care how great the lyrics may be, without music and melody it's nothing.

They made some great music without the egomaniac; get over it.

I tend to agree with most of your comments, particularly regarding the quality of AMLoR and TDB. I dont think any of PF's albums are great in their entirety, though Animals and WYWH are very close for me. They made some truly outstanding music in every era IMO but the Syd Barrett years I enjoy the least. I am very grateful they did the work though.

[usandfloyd]

I love Division Bell. Gilmour's tones are some of his best ever! More of a Gilmour solo album like On An Island than a Pink Floyd record though.

[bonjanee]

There are glimpses of greatness on this album, I love the flow from Cluster One through to Marooned - the playing and production are fantastic. However it takes a serious drop in quality with Take It Back and Coming Back To Life. I used to love Wearing The Inside Out, but I think it may have more to do with it being proof that Wright was back in the band and full contributing member than the song itself. High Hopes is just fantastic, a great final song in the Floyd canon.

Purely speculating, I think the weaker parts of this album (especially Take It Back, and Coming Back To Life) are a result of them tailoring it to fit the live shows. The songs are almost designed for stadiums, which is a pity as the more interesting elements such as Marooned and Cluster One and Poles Apart work best on headphones. Only really on High Hopes do they bridge this. Wright and Gilmour play beautifully together on this - some of the lyrics are cringeworthy (great day for freedom)

Was 17 and got to see them in Earl's Court. Still have the ticket. Was an amazing gig. Went with two of my best mates, booked flights to london back in pre-ryanair days when you had to go into a travel agent. Concert was incredible - very happy memories.

Anyhow - quite disappointed in this release as it was a great opportunity to showcase material that could have become the much talked about instrumental album. Based on the quality of playing between Gilmour and Wright this is something that I would love to hear some day.

[Painmaster]

Painmaster says: They should just release the demos like Gilmour has hinted at for years. Good album not great.

[duffOnTheRun]

Hello! It's my first post! I'm from Quebec city, Canada. English is not my first language but i'm ok.

Just one thing : I don't like fight between Gilmour fans vs Water fans. For me, Division Bell is an authentic PF album with its quality and its default. Of course, Water lyrics are missing.

Ok. I think Division Bell is a good album, not a masterpiece. I give 6/10. There's good and very good songs, but also some boring and banal songs. It's nice to ear Rick Wright. For me, Rick is the fundament of Pink Floyd sound, as well as David.

1-Cluster One: 8 /10:
Very good intro! Interaction between Dave and Rick awesome! Good ambient music and sound fx.

2-What do you want from me: 7/10
fairly good bluesy song with some nice vintage vibes, as DSotM & WYWH.

3-Poles Apart: 8/10
I like this one! There's something special... Great acoustic guitar and vocal melody from David. Great synth job form Rick ( maybe with Jon help..)

4-A Great Day for Freedom: 5/10
Boring, sorry. Lack of originality. Too much "MoR". A good guitar solo from Mr Gilmour is "not enough for me".

5- Marooned. 8/10
Very good instrumental. Great job from Rick on piano and keyboard. David's work on guitar is very good too, especially with the whammy effect.

6- Wearing the Inside Out: 8 /10:
One of my favorite. Maybe a bit sad or nostalgic, but a really heartfelt song. Very good jazzy work from Rick on keyboard. it's nice to hear Rick voice and of course Dick Parry on sax!

7-Take It Back: 4/10
The worse song for me. Good for U2 or Cold Play, but not a Floyd song, sorry.

8-Coming Back to Life: 5 /10
Too much popy. Vocal and guitar from David are good but the song lack of originality. No Floyd vibe here, sorry

9-Keep Talking: 6/10:
Good song, a bit weird. Not a classic PF song but good Keyboard job.

10-Lost for Words: 6/10:
Not bad but nothing surprising. Good acoustic guitar and vocal.

11-High Hopes: 9.5/10
The best song, a classic! Great vocal, Great slide guitar solo! I think this one is magic! Simple but good piano part too.

[Wolfpack]

Just one thing : I don't like fight between Gilmour fans vs Water fans. For me, Division Bell is an authentic PF album with its quality and its default. Of course, Water lyrics are missing.

And Wright and Mason need lots of help by additional musicians.

[duffOnTheRun]

Just one thing : I don't like fight between Gilmour fans vs Water fans. For me, Division Bell is an authentic PF album with its quality and its default. Of course, Water lyrics are missing.

And Wright and Mason need lots of help by additional musicians.

Another useless contribution...
What are your references to say such a thing?
On AMLoR it's true and well documented, but not on Division Bell.

[Wolfpack]

And Wright and Mason need lots of help by additional musicians.

Another useless contribution...

I'm so sorry that my contributions don't have the brilliant, high quality of your contributions.

What are your references to say such a thing?
On AMLoR it's true and well documented, but not on Division Bell.

I don't have 'The Division Bell', but here are credits taken from Wikipedia:
Jon Carin – programming, piano, additional keyboards
Gary Wallis – percussion
Bob Ezrin – keyboards, percussion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Divisi ... #Personnel

[duffOnTheRun]

And Wright and Mason need lots of help by additional musicians.

Another useless contribution...

I'm so sorry that my contributions don't have the brilliant, high quality of your contributions.

Sorry Mr Wolfpack. My response to your comments was not that of a gentleman. Normally I'm the first to dislike negative comments.

Yes, it's true that Gary Wallis, Bob Ezrin and Jon Carin played on Division Bell, but I don't agree with your expression "need lots of help". IMHO, they played, they helped , but not a lots...

Unlike AMLOR, all music were composed by the band members. Nick and Rick especially played on all songs.

Gary Wallis played percussion only on Keep Talking. Bob Ezrin played or 2 ou 3 songs, Jon took care mainly programming synthesizers and additional ambiant sound.

Jon explains his role on Divsion Bell in this interview:
http://www.brain-damage.co.uk/other-rel ... n-d-3.html

Sorry again!

[Wolfpack]

Sorry Mr Wolfpack. My response to your comments was not that of a gentleman. Normally I'm the first to dislike negative comments.

Thanks! My apologies for being so annoyingly critical.

[The Crazy Diamond]

I like the album..Guy Pratt comes through nicely , and I rate him as a bass player , he is def a more tighter player than Waters , without the ego simmering behind everything .
The album is a real master piece and proved that Floyd lived on post Waters .

[Hudini]

Guy Pratt comes through nicely , and I rate him as a bass player , he is def a more tighter player than Waters

Gilmour plays a lot of bass on TDB too, but I agree on Guy Pratt. He definitely has a recognizable style on his own but was also perfectly able to mimick Waters' style albeit with slightly different dynamics, more precise but a lot less aggressive. One thing that stopped me from not hearing 'Take It Back' ever again after the first time was the bass, especially the clever use of octave leaps which were one of Waters' trademarks during the 1970s.

[ChickenStu]

I have a funny relationship with this album. There's no doubt about it: it's the album that got me into Pink Floyd. I was 16 when I got it.
After I started getting the PREVIOUS albums by the Floyd - and I LOVED those.
In my opinion Division Bells sort of pales in comparison. Especially when stacked up against the likes of Dark Side, WYWH, etc etc.
Now when I listen to it - I've got to be honest, I don't really think it's a great album. The only truly great song on it is High Hopes.
But even though objectively I don't think it's that great it still brings back POWERFUL memories of my teenage years.