What's the "Darkest" and "Happiest" Pink Floyd albums?

[Jimi Dean Barrett]

Darkest: The Final Cut. By the time it got made, everyone in Pink Floyd was miserable, Roger had gone all political and there was no prospect of a duet with a singing dog

And now I'm imagining the 1980's TV ads for this album "Pink Floyd. The Final Cut. No prospect of a duet with a singing dog. Buy it NOW!"

[dreamsalone]

Happiest: Meddle.

Darkest: The Final Cut.

I agree with those two, exactly. I think Meddle is ubdoubtedly their happiest one, while The Final Cut has quite a lot of disturbances (let's say) in it, and thus deserves the darkest title.

As to the list, a lot of those albums I disagree with and it is possible that the author didn't listen to all of them before publishing it (or to a lot more to choose from). But, that's music journalism for you, it's all relative.

[Peter Beasley]

"Darkest": The Final Cut
"Happiest": Piper (not least because of the end of 'Bike')

[Hudini]

"Happiest": Piper (not least because of the end of 'Bike')

I wouldn't agree. "Piper" only sounds like a happy album, while in fact it's one of the darkest. The only two tunes on it I could call "happy" are "Flaming" and "The Gnome". The rest of it ranges from sad through dark and menacing to pure evil.

The only album I could remotely "happy" is "Obscured By Clouds", but again it has its moments of darkness. You can't really associate happiness with Pink Floyd, I guess.

"Matter of fact, it's all dark."

[Isntthiswherewe]

"Happiest": Piper (not least because of the end of 'Bike')

I wouldn't agree. "Piper" only sounds like a happy album, while in fact it's one of the darkest. The only two tunes on it I could call "happy" are "Flaming" and "The Gnome". The rest of it ranges from sad through dark and menacing to pure evil.

The only album I could remotely "happy" is "Obscured By Clouds", but again it has its moments of darkness. You can't really associate happiness with Pink Floyd, I guess.

"Matter of fact, it's all dark."

Classic! No wonder you are the Supreme Lord

[Hudini]

No wonder you are the Supreme Lord

No, I'm a Supreme Lord only because of my post count. I've been spamming hard all these years.

[Idisaffect]

Slayer - God Hates Us All isn't even on the list?

[Sordel]

Happiest: Ummagumma
Darkest: The Wall

That said, I'm not sure that I'd put a Pink Floyd album on my list of happiest or darkest albums.

I agree that that list is shockingly bad. I have to laugh at Pink Moon being considered a dark album, because I was bought it as a wedding present. Drake's darkest song, "Black-Eyed Dog" is a non-album track.

Here are some better candidates (not counting all the obscure metal albums that should dominate this list):

Throwing Muses, Throwing Muses (if you simply must have a really miserable album that sounds happy)
The Boomtown Rats, The Fine Art of Surfacing
Marc (Almond) and the Mambas, Torment & Toreros
Naked City, Absinthe
Towering Inferno, Kaddish
Eels, Electro-Shock Blues
Manorexia, Dinoflagellate Blooms (from this year!)

[Ruby900]

Happiest - Atom heart mother - Love this album, so underated IMHO.

Darkest - The Wall...........

Nobody seems to have mentioned any King Crimson for darkest...for example Red, Starless and Bible black and Red......

[rememberaday]

For all those who just mentioned Animals, could you guys just think again about your choice? My take is that Animals ain't as dark as it is bleak. In fact Animals has that cynical joy of dissing off the various classes of society, bookended by the geniune joy of love amidst all the hate. It's not dark really, the music is just bleak and the concept tedious. When you listen to Animals in the right mood, you'll be rocking out to it at full volume.

My Choices:

Happiest : Meddle. It has a very "holiday afternoon" feel to it, even Echoes has a very relaxed atmosphere (apart from that bizarre whalesong effect).

Darkest : It's either Piper or Saucerful for me. Piper, like danielcaux said, has an eerie tone to it once you shed off the happy child image, and Saucerful strikes me as a somewhat earthy, drab album for all too obvious reasons.

[Spacey]

I bet this list was made by someone who didn't even listen to a large number of the albums that are actually on the list. I, for one, could list at least five albums that would have easily made a "darkest albums" list instead of a some featured ones...

it's NME. we make fun of them on the Blur forums.

obvious omission: Blur- 13

happiest PF: Atom Heart Mother or Piper
darkest PF: Final Cut, album and tensions between Roger and everyone else

[henno]

. bookended by the geniune joy of love amidst all the hate. .

while i agree that i dont find animals as bleak as others, i certainly dont understand 'pigs on the wing 1 + 2' to be an expression of "genuine joy of love"

theres cynicism and sarcasm in there which cuts through.

[rememberaday]

How dare you try to think otherwise!

If you didn't care what happened to me,
And I didn't care for you,
We would zig zag our way through the boredom and pain
Occasionally glancing up through the rain.
Wondering which of the buggars to blame
And watching for pigs on the wing.

You know that I care what happens to you,
And I know that you care for me.
So I don't feel alone,
Or the weight of the stone,
Now that I've found somewhere safe
To bury my bone.
And any fool knows a dog needs a home,
A shelter from pigs on the wing.

[henno]

this where i see cynicism

Now that I've found somewhere safe
To bury my bone.
And any fool knows a dog needs a home,
A shelter from pigs on the wing.

to me it reads like theyve "settled" to live together and in no way fallen gloriously in love.
They care for each other..... yes, in love?? nope, not the way i read it.

hes found somewhere safe to

bury his bone

(definitley a sexual reference)

so "any fool" knows a dog needs a home...... not exactly the exhaulted bastion of a romance is it??

a shelter from pigs on the wing

is the most telling IMHO.

The pigs on the wing (or 'when pigs fly' which means something that is highly unlikely to happen) is the act of surprise.
So again it says to me that hes settling for something sure and steady and not passionate or volatile.

[Massed Gadgets]

Darkest album to me is The Wall. More so because of my personal relationship to it...it was one of two albums that formed the soundtrack to my teenage angst and depression. I mean, we've got the death of a parent, depression, violence, fascism, and isolation. Doesn't really get much darker.

Happiest? Like a lot of people here, I'd have to go with Meddle. Yes, One of These Days is pretty intense, but the rest of the album has a very relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere, from A Pillow of Winds, which is a beautiful, acoustic love song, to Fearless, well, what can you say...having no fear and never walking alone...quite happy sentiments. San Tropez, about a nice holiday, is jaunty and uplifting, and the silliness of Seamus always makes me smile. Sure, Echoes has some dark moments, but I don't think they're really that dark. The moody, wailing middle part I just see as a journey, a peaceful beneath the surface of the ocean 'echoing; the deep sea imagery of the first verse. And the last verse, well..."And through the window in the wall/Come streaming in on sunlight wings/A million bright ambassadors of morning." Possibly one of the brightest moments in any Pink Floyd song.

(Hi everyone, I'm back )