New Pink Floyd Album 'The Endless River'

[danielcaux]

They should have definitely spent more time mastering the whole thing. I know it's just a poor radio recording, but you can still tell this is nowhere near their own production standards. It basically feels as if it was flipped inside out, with all the instruments that should have been in the background (such as the slide guitar and that pulsating keyboard) becoming too loud and the instruments that should have been in the front (such as the piano and the sax, I didn't even hear the listed clarinet) ending up buried too deep in the mix. Plus the guitar sound is incredibly dry. Melody set aside, I don't like how this sounds at all.

I havent heard it, but the way you describe it sounds like it probably was one of the tunes that were recorded just on stereo DAT at Brittania Row and not on multitrack at the Astoria. That would explain the odd mix, the original recording would be the skeleton of the track, and that is way it is more prominent on the mix. Or viceversa, they put the original stereo mix way to low on the 2014 mix and the new overdubbs is the stuff that jumps at you. That is my hypothesis anyway.

[tjrrockandrollmaster]

Anisina is awesome. Louder Than Words is epic! I just pre-ordered the CD and LP and my dad will grab me the CD/Blu-Ray edition. The Anisina online last year was a whole step up and now sounds superb. The ending solo is epic!

[tjrrockandrollmaster]

The production on the released tracks so far is clear, but extremely dry, and extremely cold. It lacks the analog warmth of their 70's productions and the instruments wind up almost sounding midi at times.

Could not agree more. "Midi"" is a great way to describe it. No matter what one thinks of the songs, the Floyd always had amazing production. It appears that David and Nick have completely lost this skill (and Manzanara, who should take equl blame, IMHO).

at this point, one needs to engage in ego-release and hire a younger producer who still has a grasp on the Pink Floyd sound. An artist interested in challenging himself and growing would not hire a long time friend in his 60's to produce the album, but rather younger phenoms who have upated the Pink Floyd sound, and continue to do so. Two top choices would be Steven Drozd of The Flaming Lips ad Athony Gonzalez of M83.

Listen to this very Floydy track from 7 Skies H3 by the Lips. Pay attention to how the piano and effects sound, then compare it to the brittle midi sound of what we've heard from TER:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnGf0yc3Njw

That, right there, is the warm 70's Floyd production. It sounds organic, alive, not crystalline and brittle like your everyday cheap studio session. It seems Gilmour's entire life is based around not being uncomfortable for even the slightest moment, and the music we've heard from TER reveals this sludgy complacency.

BTW, the cd version of 7 Skies H3 is a real joy, and I highly recommend it to Floyd fans. It's exactly what Floyd would have done, IMHO, had Waters and Gilmour not lost the plot after The Wall, and focused on the pioneering Syd sound with the Meddle sound.

SHUT UP JACK*SS! The Flaming Lips are the most pretentious pieces of trash I ever heard. They are re-hashing things that bands like Jethro Tull and so forth did (Tull had the rabbit suits idea first, also did albums that consisted of ONE SONG). Their stage sets and concerts are like watching paint dry IMHO! Wayne Coyne is a pretentious d**ch* bag, at least Ian Anderson (who went from looking like an Elizabeth-ian madman to a country squire to a pirate to a spaceman), Martin Barre (who mainly wore sport coats and smoking jackets and spaceman suits), Barriemore Barlow (who wore a kilt and soccer cleats onstage), Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond (who pogoed onstage before anyone else did) and John Evan (who looked like a circus clown) were a hoot to watch onstage and fun to listen to. I may be the most unorthodoxed Floyd fan but I will listen to Nostradamus by Judas Priest before torturing myself with The Flaming Dorks. To quote Beavis and Butthead (to make fun of them) "I know a guy, his hair is orange and he sucks".

[The Gunner's Dream]

Seems like a few people here enjoy throwing around the word "pretentious" as an insult. Likely for its syllabic length rather than actual meaning. It has been used in the incorrect context several times already.

At the very least it is great to see some life left in this forum and that the music of Pink Floyd can still incite passion within fan conversation. What is not so great is the intolerance of opinions. There is a useful "block" feature on this forum you can select that hides posts from people you don't want to hear from.

The folks vehemently defending the new album come off looking the most childish. Rather than responding to negative views of the album with infantile insults such as calling someone a "troll" or "pretentious", perhaps engage them in an intelligent conversation as to why you disagree with their opinion.

[danielcaux]

lt's not that I choose to like the album unconditionally. It's that I realize that this is it for my favorite band of all time. There will be no more. So I choose to appreciate the album for what it DOES offer instead of knit picking it to death before it's even released, for what it LACKS.

That's kinda biased, isn't it? I respect more Houdini's and Gunner's position, who let their ears do the judging and don't just love the music by the default because it is made by Pink Floyd.

The same way it offends you that I seem to take the stance you describe, which was not accurate by the way, I find it offensive that some choose to crap on the album before its release. Dislike it if you don't like it, but to crap on it knowing it's the last thing you will ever get from PF? ...Times have indeed changed, but we can appreciate it for what it is, which is the last PF album EVER.

Well, I'm happy it IS the last album ever because it totally sounds like crap!

Nah, I'm just kidding. I kinda like what I have heard so far. Kinda. But if the album does indeed sound like crap I will be the first to defend my right to crap on it. Last album or not I think art and music should be judged by its content and not by who's behind the work. Otherwise is just fanboy worshipping.

Gilmour is still playing guitar on it, Wright is on the keys and Mason is still on the drums, so it can't be ALL bad now can it? I guess that's the gist of my stance.

Have you heard A Momentary Lapse of Reason? Point Me At The Sky? Pink Floyd are humans perfectly capable of writing and playing mediocre music.

What I've heard sounds nothing like Pink Floyd, but rather soft, inoffensive elevator music. It's quite common for older acts who do not consistently release new music or challenge themselves annually by exploring the latest bands to lose their ear. Often, these acts will hire younger producers to bring some edge back.

You mean, like what they did in 1987 with AMLOR and Radio KAOS when they tried to modernize their sound and get some edge back? Thanks but no, that didn't turn out very well. I prefer a more authentic approach in music, to show yourself as who you are instead of worrying about trying to sound hip and cool and cutting edge.

I do agree with you about this new track sounding like elevator music though, or like someone else said earlier, the soundtrack for a viagra commercial. You can almost picture in your head the precise moment when the old man in the ad takes the pill!

But that is what Pink Floyd are now, old men, and so, for me it's OK if they sound just like that, is what they are. Do I like it? No. But I can respect it, and even appreciate it. I'd rather listen to old men playing old men music than to old men pretending to be hip and modern like ol da cul kidz now :insert random skrillexxx trademark square wave noise here:


Now the thing that really worries me is the 8 keyboardist thing. I mean, the whole gist of this album is that it features Wright's long lost forgotten recordings with the Floyd, and that so this is our last and final opportunity to listen to him playing with Gilmour and Mason, the "whole" band together. But now, with all those keyboardist in there I will not know when I'm really listening to him and when I will be just listening to the hired guns... the whole historic/documentary aspect of the album get lost with that. No?

[The Gunner's Dream]

Now the thing that really worries me is the 8 keyboardist thing. I mean, the whole gist of this album is that it features Wright's long lost forgotten recordings with the Floyd, and that so this is our last and final opportunity to listen to him playing with Gilmour and Mason, the "whole" band together. But now, with all those keyboardist in there I will not know when I'm really listening to him and when I will be just listening to the hired guns... the whole historic/documentary aspect of the album get lost with that. No?

Not 100% relevant but this reminds me of the situation on the Yes album "Union". Apparently after Rick Wakeman had gone home for the evening each day, the producers had gone behind his back and hired extra keyboardists to overdub his parts. Apparently Wakeman now refers to the album as "Onion" because it makes him cry when he thinks of it, having thrown the album out of his limousine window onto the freeway after recognizing none of his own playing on it.

Eight keyboardists DOES seem really over the top. Even 2 hired keyboardists in addition to Rick Wright's original keyboard tracks would in my opinion be excessive and a risk of obscuring Wright's playing. But with eight...there's no way of knowing for sure who played what...or really if any of it is Rick at all. Surely the music wasn't challenging...I can't comprehend why they had to go through 8 to get the album finished...

[mastaflatch]

There was/is a list of credits for each song somewhere and someone "in the know" said it was legit. I'm sure someone screencaped it. Among other things, one could notice that Wright wasn't on Anisina at all.

[raisemyrent]

A bit late to the party. Travelling for formula 1.
First off, I do think that we have to consider that there is some significant conmpression for the lack of s better term that goes on for the bbc radio broadcast. I'd really hold judgment on the sound until a proper release (not even iTunes download).
second. Wow. It is a super relaxed track but very beautiful. What a way to turn the boring, borderline (or fully) cheeses Wright chords (signature Wright to me too) into a beautiful piece.
I honestly feel that this might just turn out to be their bravest record. Their least PRETENTIOUS a (see what I did there?) and a proper ending to an incredible legacy. That guitar solo wow. Cuts right through you. I got side tracked. Oh right. Here goes a cliché, but:
KEEP CALM, AND TRUST DAVID GILMOUR.

[Hudini]

I can't remember for sure if Wright was listed as a musician on 'Anisina', but I do remember that the track is credited to Gilmour alone. For a piece that reportedly evolved from an improvisation by Rick Wright that surely seems odd.

As if that wasn't enough confusing, Wikipedia has now removed the credits and track length information, so it may even turn out that the credits info we had was false. Wiki also lists only two keyboardists other than Wright and Gilmour: Jon Carin, who was at some point involved with the original recordings 20 years ago, and Damon Iddins, who is a long time collaborator of David Gilmour and was credited as assistant on OAI.

I guess we won't know anything for sure until those CDs finally arrive.

[raisemyrent]

Good info. It sounds like Wright to me though eh? As I said a bit summer '68 a bit wet dream a bit lost for words, oh and
The track feels a bit reminiscent of What's Uh... THe deal at first glance. I don't mean that in any bad way or strictly musically either just the type of floyd track


Ps to whomever said it was not a melody but a chord sequence going nowhere, isn't it a repeating melody in chord form, over a true chord sequence (listen for the bass cues)?

[bboynexus]

I am quite positive that it is, in fact, Gilmour on keyboards.

[raisemyrent]

Interesting. They take from each other then.

So how are dealing with spoilers? It comes out Friday (late Thursday really) for some. Even some of the reviews have been spoilers to me. hard to say...

[kjek1]

Seems like a few people here enjoy throwing around the word "pretentious" as an insult. Likely for its syllabic length rather than actual meaning. It has been used in the incorrect context several times already.

At the very least it is great to see some life left in this forum and that the music of Pink Floyd can still incite passion within fan conversation. What is not so great is the intolerance of opinions. There is a useful "block" feature on this forum you can select that hides posts from people you don't want to hear from.

The folks vehemently defending the new album come off looking the most childish. Rather than responding to negative views of the album with infantile insults such as calling someone a "troll" or "pretentious", perhaps engage them in an intelligent conversation as to why you disagree with their opinion.

Complete and utter bollocks. Is that plain enough for you?

Intelligent discussion? That's not always possible with pseudo-intellectuals sadly. Apologies if that sounds overly harsh, but I can't stand the condescending tone that's often very prominent on here.

[Keith Jordan]

Take your argument into PM, don't argue in front of other people on the forum as it breeds negativity and takes away other people's enjoyment of the discussion. Don't say anything more about it on this forum. That goes for all of you.

Anyway....

This is the month in which the new album is released. Have you ordered your copy yet or will you be buying it on the morning of the release from a shop??

[Jimi Dean Barrett]

This is the month in which the new album is released. Have you ordered your copy yet or will you be buying it on the morning of the release from a shop??

I hope to buy it from a shop. Sadly, probably ASDA as that's the nearest.
Still think there'll be parts I like and parts I hate but then listen to it again and hate the parts I liked and like the parts I hate!

Also, I really think a lot of people outside of this forum are going to be disappointed in the album. There's no way it can be the highest pre-ordered on Amazon and satisfy everyone. But as others have said, it's all about did you like it?
"Umma Gumma" gets really bad press, but it's still one of my favourite albums.