Pink Floyd The Endless River

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

Rate this Album

5 - Best
5
12%
4
15
35%
3
11
26%
2
7
16%
1 - Worst
5
12%
 
Total votes: 43

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drafsack
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Pink Floyd The Endless River

Post by drafsack »

Pink Floyd The Endless River

This thread is to discuss Pink Floyds The Endless River.

It is available in Vinyl, CD, DVD and Blue ray versions

Feel free to discuss any of the formats!

Image

Track listing

Things Left Unsaid
It's What We Do
Ebb and Flow
Sum
Skins
Unsung
Anisina
The Lost Art of Conversation
On Noodle Street
Night Light
Allons-y (1)
Autumn '68
Allons-y (2)
Talkin' Hawkin'
Calling
Eyes to Pearls
Surfacing
Louder than Words

The Endless River deluxe edition

TBS9
TBS14
Nervana
Anisina (video)
Untitled (video)
Evrika (A) (video)
Nervana (video)
Allons-y (video)
Evrika (B) (video)
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Re: Pink Floyd The Endless River

Post by Yucateco »

So much potential, so much wasted oportunities. There´s a lot in there that could have been made into great songs, but instead we got stuff like Anisina and On Noodle Street...

Things left unsaid - Typical Floydian Opener, which means it´s totally lazy. Stuff thrown together to copy something we already had with Signs of Life, Cluster One or Castellorizon... 1/5
It´s what we do - Sounds like Shine On Part III and i totally love it. Thankfully one of the longest tracks 5/5
Ebb and Flow - Glorified outro... nothing to see/hear 1/5
Sum - Tempo picks up, very unusual stuff to hear here from the post Waters Floyd 4/5
Skins - Nick! A shame he has to sit at home since 94, i always enjoyed his drumming 4/5
Unsung - Filler... those one minute snippets are just annoying, work on it, make it more than an intro to ...nothing 1/5
Anisina - Urgh. By far the most cheesy and horrible song on the album 1/5
The Lost art of Conversation - Oh another intro to ... nothing 1/5
On Noodle Street - Fair Title... just noodling 1/5
Night Light - Some actually nice tunes in there. Make it into a song!! 2/5
Allons-Y (1) - Some nice rocking there, although i think Nervana is the better track 3/5
Autumn 68 - Sounds cool, but eventually goes nowhere 3/5
Allons-Y (2) - See above 3/5
Talkin Hawkin - A nice throwback to Keep talking and it shows what is missing on this album: vocals! It is (for me) so refreshing to finally hear some words on that record! 3/5
Calling - Nice sounds again, but again i get the feeling with just a bit of work this would have turned into a great song 3/5
Eyes to pearls - Again nice, but again going nowhere 3/5
Surfacing - Finally something that doesn´t sound like an intro to something 3/5
Louder than words - Nice to hear Gilmour singing, but oh my those lyrics! Polly at her worst again. Could be a nice song otherwise, but there is also way too much going on 3/5

As nice as it is to give us some nice material, some more work and there could be some awesome songs on there. It is even more annoying that not more work went into this, as Gilmour just released another album after that were he did finish the ideas into proper songs. Shows to me how little this release was cared for. Horrible artwork aside, I also don´t understand the booklet: No explanation or whatsoever on why it was released, where those tracks come from, what work went into it. Also no interviews or documentary stuff of the new recording sessions on the DVD. That is just lazy.

Summary: Some nice tunes, but would have worked better as an bonus disc to the 20th anniversary Division Bell set. For me it does not work as a stand alone album. 2/5
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Re: Pink Floyd The Endless River

Post by Jimi Dean Barrett »

Things Left Unsaid- A really atmospheric introduction. More successful than Signs Of Life. It touches SOYCD but just hangs there. 4

It's What We Do- The familiar Pink Floyd beat. Like an undiscovered part of SOYCD but played with the battle weary of The Wall. 4.

Ebb And Flow- A perfect ending to the opening trilogy of music. Not a complete stop, but just a hang until the instruments cooled down into nothingness. 3

Sum- I hear stuff from Umma Gumma on this track and I normally skip straight to this track when I play this album. 5.

Skins- This is my favourite of the sided grouped pieces. Mason still got it! 5

Unsung- A lot like Ebb And Flow but if you didn't know the delay in recording the album you could be easily fooled into thinking Wright and Gilmour's had call and response playing spot on. 4

Anisina- Bit disappointing end to that sequence. The biggest Pink Fraud on the album. Although at least we are spared Jeremy Clarkson on the BBC filmed smiling as he drives a car he put his shit on to this track. 3.

The Lost Art Of Conversation- This section is the Rick Wright showcase. Reminds of a bar. Not closing, but not opening, later than what you'd expect them to be busy. 5

On Noodle Street- The sound of Pink Floyd being in neutral 3

Night Light- The Ebow makes this the more successful of the Gilmour's/Wright collaborations. 5

Allons-y (1)- Like the main riff to an unwritten post The Final Cut hit single. Could have appeared as an instrumental on a Dave Gilmour album.

Autumn '68- The album's peak. Like the band was back in 1968. Mason's gong the undiscovered highlight. 5

Allons-y (2)- Better than the first part, but still as slight and unfinished song. Despite the fantastic production. 3

Talkin' Hawkin'- The better of the closing sequence to the album's suites. 5

Calling- The assembled musicians assemble a good cover for no Rick on this. Bit cheesy. 2

Eyes To Pearls- It's A Saucerful Of Secrets bred with side two of The Wall tastic! 5

Surfacing- Beautiful acoustic guitar on the shoulder of Pink Floyd marching forward with their sound once again. Greatest slide on this album 4

Louder Than Words- The equivalent of the bands "Free As A Bird"? It's the most commercial of the album. Imagine if this song, sound and sentiment was on the end of Animals? 4

Considering the should have been a bonus disc arguement and countering with The Endless River is a museum of Pink Floyd history used as the painting in an instrumental predominantly experience. I think it is the perfect ending to the Pink Floyd story.
And I hope it gets re-evaluated more than "They also did this with no words though" casual mentions.
5
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Re: Pink Floyd The Endless River

Post by azza200 »

This album was originally going to be part of the 20th Anniversary re-release as a bonus disc for TDB but the record company changed their mind and released it separately
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Re: Pink Floyd The Endless River

Post by danielcaux »

Source?
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Re: Pink Floyd The Endless River

Post by twcc »

danielcaux wrote:Source?
+1
I would also be interested in the source of this story ... :shock:
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Re: Pink Floyd The Endless River

Post by raisemyrent »

I'm almost positive that it's on Mason's book, and commented by Both Gilmour and Mason heavily upon release of TER. Though I seem to remember them saying that they ran out of time, or perhaps that they thought an instrumental album was too much to go with the division bell. nowhere had I read that it was the record company's call. keep in mind that the music was unfinished (some of the stuff on this album is actually from a DAT in the room! - which brings me to why they never released it... they considered it too low quality, which brings us to a Gilmour misinterpretation when he asked Youth to 'make it sound like us' he meant quality-wise, not forgery). Don't forget that the tour actually started before TDB was out, so that contributes to them running out of time.

back to topic, I absolutely LOVE this album, as I have made clear many times. I can't stand nor care about the direction loyd started going during animals, and I don't care for most of the wall (I don't even own it). same goes for roger's solo stuff, but that's another can of worms. I don't find myself longing for lyrics on this as I don't really care for lyrics and don't need that particular avenue to be able to enjoy something, but sometimes, and especially right after it had come out, I too felt that there was so much music in this, that it could've well been a double album with an overall concept. Had they been young, perhaps, but I take what we got happily. I get the sense as well that many of the short pieces were left as such ages ago and Gilmour didn't feel comfortable taking them further without Wright, but that's my own speculation. I also feel that he did what he had to do (he gets cold sweats thinking about doing more he's said) and left it at that to go work on his solo album. In fact, he took a break from his solo album after asking Nick to play on it (not to be used in the end) resulted in them doing TER first.
agreed on the e-bow; is there a guitar technique Gilmour doesn't master?
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Re: Pink Floyd The Endless River

Post by Massed Gadgets »

I spent many hours cutting up and editing this album into what I felt was a much better album (three long tracks that flowed more seamlessly than they do on TER and feel more sonically coherent). I dropped some of the weaker cuts, such as Anisina, and included most of the bonus tracks from the deluxe edition. I also chopped up Louder Than Words and turned it into an instrumental ending to the last of the three tracks, again giving the album a much more natural flow and not standing out like a sore thumb with those awful lyrics. I listened to it a few times and enjoyed it so much more than in it's original form. There was so much potential there for a great album to close out their career. I know, because I've heard it! Sadly, my hard drive fried less than a week after I completed it and before I had thought to back it up, so I lost it, and haven't had the energy to rework it again. But every now and then I listen to TER and think....one of these days I'm going to cut you into little pieces...again.
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Re: Pink Floyd The Endless River

Post by Vegetable Layne »

Massed Gadgets wrote:I spent many hours cutting up and editing this album into what I felt was a much better album (three long tracks that flowed more seamlessly than they do on TER and feel more sonically coherent). I dropped some of the weaker cuts, such as Anisina, and included most of the bonus tracks from the deluxe edition. I also chopped up Louder Than Words and turned it into an instrumental ending to the last of the three tracks, again giving the album a much more natural flow and not standing out like a sore thumb with those awful lyrics. I listened to it a few times and enjoyed it so much more than in it's original form. There was so much potential there for a great album to close out their career. I know, because I've heard it! Sadly, my hard drive fried less than a week after I completed it and before I had thought to back it up, so I lost it, and haven't had the energy to rework it again. But every now and then I listen to TER and think....one of these days I'm going to cut you into little pieces...again.
I want to listen to your fan-edit.
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Re: Pink Floyd The Endless River

Post by theaussiefloydian »

Massed Gadgets wrote:I spent many hours cutting up and editing this album into what I felt was a much better album (three long tracks that flowed more seamlessly than they do on TER and feel more sonically coherent). I dropped some of the weaker cuts, such as Anisina, and included most of the bonus tracks from the deluxe edition. I also chopped up Louder Than Words and turned it into an instrumental ending to the last of the three tracks, again giving the album a much more natural flow and not standing out like a sore thumb with those awful lyrics. I listened to it a few times and enjoyed it so much more than in it's original form. There was so much potential there for a great album to close out their career. I know, because I've heard it! Sadly, my hard drive fried less than a week after I completed it and before I had thought to back it up, so I lost it, and haven't had the energy to rework it again. But every now and then I listen to TER and think....one of these days I'm going to cut you into little pieces...again.
That sounds like a really good edit, and I would love to hear it. A little while ago I started working on an edit I titled "Down to Earth", which was me imagining what The Division Bell might have looked like if they had gone with their original idea, which was one LP of instrumental and one LP of songs. I really feel like I should revisit that project...
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Re: Pink Floyd The Endless River

Post by space triangle »

It's been more than half a decade since the release of Pink Floyd's latest album. What is your take on this album today? Is the overall rating of the Endles River still overwhelmingly negative?

BTW, I like this album pretty much, and I listen to it often. :)
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Re: Pink Floyd The Endless River

Post by Jimi Dean Barrett »

The compulsion to listen to it every day seems to have moved on, but I did hear it recently and it still stands up. An album full of SHORT instrumental pieces. Surprised it took them that long to realise it. I wouldn't necessarily want to hear the raw takes.
But I'm picking it over anything from their 80's, 90's even late 70's if honest about it.
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Re: Pink Floyd The Endless River

Post by Kerry King »

Jimi Dean Barrett wrote: Sun Mar 01, 2020 1:47 pm
I'm picking it over anything from their 80's, 90's even late 70's if honest about it.
Why would you NOT be honest about such a thing? Sure, it's totally outrageous to pick it over Animals and The Wall, but so what? Obviously you have heard Animals and The Wall for years and years, over and over again, while The Endless River is still new to you. This has most likely caused you to lose perspective. 20 years from now if you still pick Endless River over Animals and The Wall I'll see you on the dark side of the moon.
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Re: Pink Floyd The Endless River

Post by space triangle »

Jimi Dean Barrett wrote: Sun Mar 01, 2020 1:47 pm But I'm picking it over anything from their 80's, 90's even late 70's if honest about it.
I like the Endless River a lotI. I like it more than AMLOR and The Division Bell. The album hearkens back to the older Pink Floyd sound of Ummagumma, Atom Heart Mother(Autumn '68), Set the controls of.....(Eyes to Pearls), Run like Hell(Allons-Y)...etc.

But, I can hardly imagine that The Endless River can ever become a classic as Animals and The Wall.
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Re: Pink Floyd The Endless River

Post by DarkSideFreak »

azza200 wrote: Sat Jun 17, 2017 10:03 pm This album was originally going to be part of the 20th Anniversary re-release as a bonus disc for TDB but the record company changed their mind and released it separately
No, this isn't true. They would've never put as much editing work into it if it had only been meant as a bonus disc to a bloated box set. They wanted people to hear it, it was too important (and also different) to just languish as some extra.

Of course the original idea back in the 90s was to do a double album - one half vocal, one half instrumental - but as has been said before they ran out of time, and so we got the rather commercial single TDB instead.
Kerry King wrote: Mon Mar 02, 2020 1:37 am Why would you NOT be honest about such a thing? Sure, it's totally outrageous to pick it over Animals and The Wall, but so what? Obviously you have heard Animals and The Wall for years and years, over and over again, while The Endless River is still new to you. This has most likely caused you to lose perspective. 20 years from now if you still pick Endless River over Animals and The Wall I'll see you on the dark side of the moon.
It's just as outrageous to pick Piper over the rest of the catalogue. Actually it isn't. If somebody doesn't particularly like Waters' musical ideas, it's totally OK to prefer other sides of PF to The Wall or even Animals. It's called different taste. I know somebody on the Steve Hoffman forums who has stated he's now already listened to The Endless River more often than The Wall - despite owning the latter for decades. So it's possible.