Best Pink Floyd album ...

As cliched as it sounds, I would put Dark Side first, and it's not even close. Just a spectacular achievement in every way -- songwriting, sound, musicality (the guitar solos on "Time" and "Money" are exquisite and hard), album cohesiveness. For me, anyway, no matter how many times I listen to Dark Side, my head isn't the same afterward as it was before. No doubt, what helps Dark Side is that Pink Floyd was at its peak as a band, not merely as Roger Waters' mouthpiece about his dad dying in World War II, and Syd Barrett.

Speaking of Syd, saying that having Piper at the Gates of Dawn as your favorite means you're not really a Pink Floyd fan is preposterous. Sure, because Barrett is the guiding force instead of Waters, the music is different. But it's a great, great album, and I would say it ranks second behind Dark Side. Plus, if you want to understand what Waters is prattling on about, you have to listen to Piper at the Gates of Dawn to hear what a musical genius Barrett was, and how unfortunate it was that he blew his mind out so quickly. It seems for Waters, losing his musical guide so early had the same psychic effect as losing his father before he knew him.

 

Agree completely. I'm not the common Springsteen admirer. I'm younger and am looking at his work from hindsight, not the present where Born to Run,Darkness On the Edge of Town and The River are not just albums, but life soundtracks. And I always give precedence to the opinion of someone who lived through an album's release to more properly judge its importance.

 

I'm about the same age as you. I love Nebraska, especially "Atlantic City," "Highway Patrolman," "Mansion on the Hill" and the title track. But it's not at all a typical Springsteen album.

 

Meddle is my favorite Floyd album, because of Echoes, but let's be real. Dark Side of the Moon is one of the top five best rock albums ever made, and by far Pink Floyd's meisterwork. And, strange as it may sound, I have always been partial to Atom Heart Mother and Ummagumma; they were the records that introduced me to Pink Floyd when I was in junior high.

 

Momentary Lapse of Reason might be at the bottom of the list as far as albums go, but there are several very good songs on there. (Learning To Fly; On the Turning Away; Sorrow)

And if Run Like Hell doesn't get you beebopping around first thing in the morning.......well then, you have a broken beebopper.

 

Learning To Fly is a pretty good song. And pretty much every song from Comfortably Numb to the end are awesome. I'm quite fond of Waiting for the Worms.

 

I've never been a Pink Floyd fan and, in fact, actively dislike them. My son, 14, is near-obsessed with them. He's practically a Floydopedia, rattling off details of how certain songs came to be, the relationship between Waters and Gilmour, etc., etc., etc. His ranking:

1/Animals
2/Dark Side
3/The Wall

 

The communists have won.

 

Don't worry. Several of my friends and I were like that at his age and grew out of it.

I still generally like Pink Floyd but almost never make time for them. That's the case for almost all of those friends.

 

We've got some good discussion here. Anyone holding?

 

I will listen to anyone who argues for Wish You Were Here. Shine On You Crazy Diamond is beautiful and can stand on its own, easily. Wish You Were Here (the song now) is just a great ballad that I think you can find great nuggets of metaphors within it.

That said, Dark Side of the Moon is far and away the definitive Pink Floyd album. The continuity from beginning to end is tremendous. It does what I think Lennon was hoping to accomplish with Revolution 9 in blending so many sounds together to create this almost terrifying audible sensation.

 

Here is what Norman Smith, the producer of The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, was up to by the time Dark Side of the Moon was being recorded. It ain't pretty.