Scott Dolan

Excellent! Never heard that particular model, but B & W make excellent speakers. Fantastic price as well.

Then don't. Problem solved.

It seems incredibly silly to post this, but while I have nothing to add to this conversation, I do find it fascinating.

A Lark, you have made some really outstanding points here, but I'd like to take them one at a time, if you'd indulge me. Yes, I completely agree with this assessment. It's actually what I meant, but didn't find the right words to convey it. It is an album made by a great group of minds who seemed to know exactly what they were going after, but still hadn't found the exact way to execute it. It strikes me as more an EP than a LP proper. Many disparate parts, yet somehow accidentally pleasing. This sums it up for me, as well. A very good album, but I must admit that I still find it "overrated" to this very day. I use the quotations because in the grand scheme of things it is outstanding in almost every way, but somehow still granted a status I'm not convinced it has earned. If it were the only PF album I could listen to for the rest of my life, I'd be OK with that. But, they had better albums, IMO. Absolutely, and without any question. This is exactly why it has been my favorite Rock album for the past three decades. There is such a perfect balance between "radio ready" (sorry, I couldn't think of a better term) tunes and the extended workouts that they seemingly perfected on that album. And unlike AHM, it was cohesive from beginning to end. And the "full circle" nature of it just made it that much more astonishing. Another strong point, but one where we might diverge slightly. It wasn't until Echoes that I thought they competently established a sense of mood. Pretty much all of the extended workouts before that seemed to meander to their detriment. I'm willing to review and reconsider, but the live stuff on Umma Gumma, for example, just seemed like a band lost in the wilderness desperately searching for a way out. Perhaps that's mood, in a certain sense. But, it seems like Echoes and Shine On betray that argument. And later the excellent Dogs. But, I'm willing to concede I may be confusing mood with cohesiveness. Dunno... And to think that Kubrick essentially beat us to the moon! (though he and Arty Clarke got the weightlessness part wrong) But, your point is yet another good one. Reason being that Kubrick and Pink Floyd both gave us what can only be called "timeless" masterpieces. Whether you're watching 2001: A Space Odyssey, or listening to early-to-mid 70's Floyd (Dr. Floyd?), you can't help but get a sense of timelessness because they still have a certain level of modernity. Both were ahead of their time, yet both seem to hold their own era after era due to their forward-looking vision in their respective art forms. IMO, you could listen to something like Sgt. Pepper's and know right away it was a product of the 60's Psychedelic sound. But, could you pin something like Wish You Were Here as strictly mid-70's? The production is as good, or better, than any modern day production, and it lacks any actual context. Sorry, I'm rambling. I hope some of that made sense.

Not me. I still don't get the fascination with Pipers. It's kind of like the Bitches Brew of Rock. People swear by them, but I've never made heads or tails of either. Although, at least in Pipers case I won't turn it off out of irritation.

Not sure why you feel the need to thread crap, Chuck. You're better than that.

Hope you're having an awesome B-Day, brother!

I'm glad I wasn't the only one who didn't get that... BTW, I'll give my own little bit of love to both Umma Gumma and Atom Heart Mother. Both albums were incredibly uneven, IMO. But, their high points were quite high. I admit I'm not fond of most of their live stuff from the time. They always struck me as a band who loved to noodle, but were only decent at it. Kind of like a person who can juggle, but only a little bit. I think they finally found their stride with that long bridge on Echoes. Then they turned immediately towards stronger song writing, and that's when they figured out who they were, IMO. Oddly enough, their two most successful albums from the 70's were the two that contained no extended workouts.

So bands aren't allowed to evolve? We put their first album under glass and demand they sound like that forever?

With all due respect to Shawn, who is obviously a huge PF fan, I would likely accept Animals over Wish You Were Here more than I would Meddle. But, as I said before, pretty much everything they did during that era was so good it would be hard to argue. Meddle WAS a phenomenal album. Seamus kinda killed it, though. Would you not agree, Shawn? There was no Seamus on either Animals or Wish You Were Here. Even Pigs On A Wing made for great bookends even though they weren't all that impressive musically.

Just three? My Magic Trackpad for the iMac has a four finger function as well. Either way, it IS really cool, isn't it? You won't get that kind of cool shit out of a mouse!

Wow! Meddle over Wish You Were Here! Well, OK. I guess everything they did back then was too good to truly mount any kind of argument for one over the other. Nice list. And if I could only have five Pink Floyd albums, I surely wouldn't bitch if those were the five.

I'm glad you cats have figured out the secret formula, but it still eludes me to this day.

I've owned a Mac since 1984 and I still don't get (or consequently use) iPhoto ... PS - wholehearted recommendation for the Air of course! Good, that makes me feel better hearing that. It's got to be the clunkiest, grouchiest, most useless piece of software ever created. Apple really dropped the ball on that one.

+1 'Nuff sed... Though, I will admit after all these years that I still can't make heads or tails of iPhoto. That app irritates the living shit out of me...

And just to underscore how all over the map I am when it comes to Floyd, here are my top five albums, in order: 1. Wish You Were Here (by a mile. Maybe two) 2. The Wall 3. Momentary Lapse Of Reason 4. Animals 5. Dark Side Of The Moon I wanted to squeeze Meddle in there, but couldn't. And 3 and 4 could switch positions depending on the day and my mood. And my top five "post-Floyd" (solo, or actual) albums, in order: 1. Momentary Lapse Of Reason 2. Amused To Death (Waters) 3. Broken China (Wright) 4. About Face (Gilmour) 5. The Division Bell

Woohoo! Don't sweat the OS, David. I switched from Wind'ohs a few years ago. The learning curve might seem steep at first, but OS X is really quite intuitive and user-friendly, IMO. You may struggle with certain things at first, but when you finally figure it out you'll say to yourself, "now that makes perfect sense". And although I've only fiddled with MacBooks in the Apple store, the quality and build are superior to any other laptop. And that becomes apparent immediately. Have fun. And though I'm no Mac expert by any stretch of the imagination, feel free to ask if you're having a hard time figuring something out. Though, I don't use Office, so I'd be worthless in that department. I mean, more so than usual...

As far as I know, they don't make boxes that big. Larry, can't you use Apple Mail and just enter your account info into it? Or is AOL proprietary that you have to use online?

Last two minutes of this one are about as classic Floyd as it gets. Not only is Wish You Were Here my favorite Floyd album, but it is my favorite Rock album of all time. And has been for about three decades now.

I used to like The Wall, The Final Cut, and some of Roger's solo output better (20 years ago), but personally have little use for any of it any more. I know plenty of others see value in it (and I respect that), but I can't abide all the speak-singing, and the musical content (i.e. musicality) just isn't there for me either -- like it is with most of what Dave's been involved with since the mid-80's. That isn't to say everything Floyd 2.0 did is equally fulfilling for me (and some of it is a mixed bag), but almost nothing Roger's been involved with since 1979(!) connects with me any more (not even in the slightest). Nothing he (Waters) does sounds even remotely like the Pink Floyd (and Floyd-related) projects before or since. The Wall was my very first Pink Floyd album, so it still holds a special place in my ear. As I said before, The Final Cut is actually quite brilliant, but has to be taken sparingly, and in very small doses. I probably haven't heard it in at least a decade. As for post-'79 Waters, Amused To Death most certainly sounds VERY Floydian. And unlike everything he had done starting with The Wall, ATD is actually more a biting modern sociopolitical commentary, rather than a dark and depressing WWII remembrance. I think that's why it connected far better with its audience. Not to mention one of the greatest headphone albums of all time.

No, it depends on the group dynamics, the roles of the members, and who leaves. Some groups can maintain a thread of consistency and identity as members come and go. Others cannot; the Byrds come to mind. Fair enough. But Pink Floyd doesn't qualify even using those parameters. Pink Floyd was best know for the psychedelic polyphonic synthesizer sound that underscored much of their music, brought to you by Rick Wright. They were also know for some of their most popular singles like Time, Money, Wish You Were Here, and Comfortably Numb. Three of them strictly David Gilmour vocals, and the other still had him singing half of them. Not to mention a song containing two of his most popular and memorable guitar solos. Aside from Another Brick In The Wall Pt. 2, and songwriting credits, Waters was never a focal point. Nor all that memorable. Hell, even the courts came to that conclusion when they awarded Gilmour/Wright/Mason the right to continue using the name Pink Floyd.

I've tried to do Pros & Cons, but I just don't find it a compelling listen. I feel the same about Radio KAOS.

Well, when The Division Bell was released in 1994 it sold a half million units just in the U.S. alone. And well over 5 million people attended their concerts on that tour. So there is a ton of folks out there that disagree whole-heartedly with you both. And Guy, you're doing yourself a serious disservice refusing to listen to Amused To Death.

Just...fucking...awesome. Thanks, Xybert! I had not seen that before.

OK, so since there are at least a few Floyd fans in this thread, I have to ask: what is your favorite post-Waters album from the Floydian universe? I personally would say that, hands down, it is Amused To Death. Whatever one thinks of Waters, this album is an absolute masterpiece, IMO. But to be fair, I also think The Final Cut is a masterpiece. Though, in the case of TFC, I REALLY have to be in the mood and fully prepared to listen to it. But, Your Possible Pasts/One Of The Few/The Hero's Return/The Gunners Dream/Paranoid Eyes might be, for my money, the most amazing five song sequence of all time. I still only own the original CD release, so I don't have When The Tigers Broke Free to mix into that. If there are any other fans of TFC here, is it worth getting the 2004 re-issue? Seems like When The Tigers... would fit into that sequence well enough, but I've never been inclined to pull the trigger.