In Your Opinion the most Overrated and most Underrated Pink Floyd album

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Ha! Very well put. And like Brian said about Friends (his favorite album of that moment): Obscured By Clouds is an album you can just put on without having to get into some specific mood or head space. It's the closest the Floyd ever came to sounding like a few humans. It's a very sensual and sunny album. Not sunny as in positive, but more like a laidback, lazy, yet intense day out in the sun. Everyone's playing is relaxed yet off the hook, and there's probably more Rick on this one than any other.

[Dead Parrot]

Overrated: Dark Side Of The Moon
Primarily because of "Money", which to me is Pink Floyd's most overrated song

Underrated: Atom Heart Mother
Primarily becaue of "Fat Old Sun", which to me is Pink Floyd's most underrated song 

[Alex]

The Gnome>The entire DSOTM album

[G.C]

I don't think there is a overrated Floyd album. Most underrated: Atom Heart Mother & A Saucerful of Secrets.

[Niko]

Overrated: Wish You Were Here
It has never felt complete to me. Everyone I know loves it, but I just can't get into it. Shine On part 2 is too long for my taste, as is Welcome to The Machine. I'd probably like it more if there were another song on side 2.

Underrated: Animals
My favorite Floyd album, this thing is one of the most satisfying albums I have. I love the idea, and really the tone of the album is my favorite. Moody.
Favorite track:
Sheep...or Pigs?

"Fat Old Sun", which to me is Pink Floyd's most underrated song 

I agree on this one. I adore that song.

[bluesno1fann]

Underrated: Obscured By Clouds.

Just might be the best thing they ever did. Best playing, best singing, best songs, best everything but sleeve

Overrated: ...... Piper! ....... (ducks and runs)

I don't see how anyone could find "Piper" overrated. Just my opinion though

[Amazing Larry]

"Fat Old Sun", which to me is Pink Floyd's most underrated song 

I agree on this one. I adore that song.
[/quote]
Ever hear the live version? It kicks the piss outta the one on AHM.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttPNilF3v5A

[JK]

Overrated: The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (stereo)
Underrated: The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (mono)

[bluesno1fann]

Overrated: The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (stereo)
Underrated: The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (mono)

That's an interesting opinion. Just wondering, why do you think that?

[JK]

Overrated: The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (stereo)
Underrated: The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (mono)

That's an interesting opinion. Just wondering, why do you think that?

H'mm. Let's see...

It seems to me that the mono version has always been regarded as second best (if at all). i suppose the thought behind this is that psychedelic music, particularly of the spacy variety, requires a degree of depth that mono can't provide. That said, to my mind the stereo version adds not one jot----quite the reverse at times. Just compare the mono and stereo versions of "Interstellar Overdrive". I think Norman Smith must have been legless when he produced the stereo version----removing the organ at the beginning (what on earth are the advantages of doing that?), to say nothing of that primitive panning at the end. And yet if you look for a single-album version of TPATGOD it will always be in stereo...

What's my coat doing on the floor? ;=)       

[JK]

Overrated - Dark Side of The Moon & Wish You Where Here. I just don't consider them quantum leaps from their earlier 70s stuff.

Underrated - Atom Heart Mother or Obscured By Clouds. I love the title track of the former and as Pinder has already mentioned Obscured seems to get lost in the shuffle between Meddle and the massive breakthrough of Dark Side despite having some fantastic stuff on it. It's also Nick Mason's favourite Pink Floyd album.

Wow, I didn't know that about Nick Mason!  ..... His playing is great on Obscured By Clouds in particular. More loose and "normal" band-ish: propelling/driving the songs rather than just a piece of the overall picture/puzzle as it is on the post Dark Side stuff. Maybe them just going in and hashing out some tunes without some overarching concept was freeing to him?

Also, the fact that Obscured By Clouds is a soundtrack album has causes casual Floyd fans to not seek it out thinking it's just background music or something.... Same with More.

It might be that because OBC and More were commissioned film scores that they necessarily have less of Waters' often cynical vision stamped on them----and are more enjoyable as a result (for me at least). Generally though, I feel that the Floyd took themselves too seriously after Syd's departure. My two eurocents...   

[Bean Bag]

Under-rated = Animals
Over-rated = Wish You Were Here



Wish You Were here, to many the glittering diamond in the Pink Floyd catalog, had to do the impossible -- follow the greatest album ever made (Dark Side Of The Moon).  There was no way it could have lived up, much less surpassed its predecessor.  It's an awesome album, but given their new-found mass appeal, I think they went a little too lethargic and withdrawn for this one.  I have a hard time believing that your average music fan, drawn in by all the lovely, mysterious hooks of Dark Side -- would have had much interest in this somber, introverted album.

There's also a more appealing, fresher sound to the live versions of this material (on the Immersion set) that doesn't exist on the studio album.  As a result the studio versions sound a little claustrophobic to me, which, in addition to its somber introversion, makes it a fairly closed-off listening experience.

In the end, Wish You Were Here requires more from the listener than Dark Side does.  Dark Side seems to refresh the listener and deepen our understanding of the universe -- its symmetry, harmony and mysteries.  While Wish You Were Here (as the title suggests) leaves us to wallow in a single aspect of it less appealing outcomes.  While it's not fair to doom the album because of its proximity to one of mankind's greatest musical achievements -- it's hard to resist the comparison.

I really like the gloss of Dark Side.  It enables it to project this cauldron of colliding extremes, battles full of intensity and fierceness, yet able to keep the listener far enough away from the molten dangers, and safely cradled in a serene calmness.  Wish You Were Here, painfully avoids such glossy showmanship as it puts the listener dead-center in the middle of someone's tormented personal melodrama, something that The Wall does better, with more flare and fantasy.

I can see why a lot of people would pick The Wall as the most overrated but, to be fair, that album is a pretty brilliant and wild accomplishment.  In simple terms, The Wall should have fallen flat on its face, but it stands firm... that is, until it's brought down on its own.  Built up and torn down.



Animals on the other hand, is unfairly overlooked and underrated.  It doesn't seem to carry the weight (eh-hmm) that Dark Side, Wish You Were Here and The Wall do.  Hence, it was seemingly passed over for its own Immersion set.  Definitely overlooked.

Nevertheless, conceptually and thematically, Animals picks up where Dark Side left off -- attempting to again illuminate the ongoing battles we face in life.  This time, however, the battles are less universal, nebulous and ethereal.  Animals is touch more personal and human, honing in on what makes people tick.  It's a rather leisurely stroll through some sort of personality study, but it does it all with some of the best music the band would ever create.

You can hear some of the sparseness that would begin to dominate their later albums, especially on The Final Cut, but there's still a nice layered sound here to feast on.  And there's still no indication of full-on, broadway rock-opera to come.  I believe many of these songs were well baked into Floyd live shows for years (Raving and Drooling) and as such, seem to encompass the full range of the Floyd "sound" more than anything else they did during their mega-superstar years.  It even sounds like it could have pre-dated Wish You Were Here.

Overall, Animals is just a fun, easy listen.  It's not particularly demanding, like Wish You Were Here and feels somewhat like a more natural follow up to Dark Side.  It does seem like there should be more here... but what is here is quintessential 1970s Pink Floyd.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Under-rated = Animals
Over-rated = Wish You Were Here



Wish You Were here, to many the glittering diamond in the Pink Floyd catalog, had to do the impossible -- follow the greatest album ever made (Dark Side Of The Moon).  There was no way it could have lived up, much less surpassed its predecessor.  It's an awesome album, but given their new-found mass appeal, I think they went a little too lethargic and withdrawn for this one.  I have a hard time believing that your average music fan, drawn in by all the lovely, mysterious hooks of Dark Side -- would have had much interest in this somber, introverted album.

There's also a more appealing, fresher sound to the live versions of this material (on the Immersion set) that doesn't exist on the studio album.  As a result the studio versions sound a little claustrophobic to me, which, in addition to its somber introversion, makes it a fairly closed-off listening experience.

In the end, Wish You Were Here requires more from the listener than Dark Side does.  Dark Side seems to refresh the listener and deepen our understanding of the universe -- its symmetry, harmony and mysteries.  While Wish You Were Here (as the title suggests) leaves us to wallow in a single aspect of it less appealing outcomes.  While it's not fair to doom the album because of its proximity to one of mankind's greatest musical achievements -- it's hard to resist the comparison.

I really like the gloss of Dark Side.  It enables it to project this cauldron of colliding extremes, battles full of intensity and fierceness, yet able to keep the listener far enough away from the molten dangers, and safely cradled in a serene calmness.  Wish You Were Here, painfully avoids such glossy showmanship as it puts the listener dead-center in the middle of someone's tormented personal melodrama, something that The Wall does better, with more flare and fantasy.

I can see why a lot of people would pick The Wall as the most overrated but, to be fair, that album is a pretty brilliant and wild accomplishment.  In simple terms, The Wall should have fallen flat on its face, but it stands firm... that is, until it's brought down on its own.  Built up and torn down.



Animals on the other hand, is unfairly overlooked and underrated.  It doesn't seem to carry the weight (eh-hmm) that Dark Side, Wish You Were Here and The Wall do.  Hence, it was seemingly passed over for its own Immersion set.  Definitely overlooked.

Nevertheless, conceptually and thematically, Animals picks up where Dark Side left off -- attempting to again illuminate the ongoing battles we face in life.  This time, however, the battles are less universal, nebulous and ethereal.  Animals is touch more personal and human, honing in on what makes people tick.  It's a rather leisurely stroll through some sort of personality study, but it does it all with some of the best music the band would ever create.

You can hear some of the sparseness that would begin to dominate their later albums, especially on The Final Cut, but there's still a nice layered sound here to feast on.  And there's still no indication of full-on, broadway rock-opera to come.  I believe many of these songs were well baked into Floyd live shows for years (Raving and Drooling) and as such, seem to encompass the full range of the Floyd "sound" more than anything else they did during their mega-superstar years.  It even sounds like it could have pre-dated Wish You Were Here.

Overall, Animals is just a fun, easy listen.  It's not particularly demanding, like Wish You Were Here and feels somewhat like a more natural follow up to Dark Side.  It does seem like there should be more here... but what is here is quintessential 1970s Pink Floyd.

Animals, to me, is their very best non-soundtrack album.....

I find Piper overrated in that for so many people, it's soooooooo good as to nullify all that came after it. It's a fantastic album, for sure, but for me, I greatly prefer the singles they put out during the Syd era.

[Ovi]

Overrated - Dark Side of The Moon & Wish You Where Here. I just don't consider them quantum leaps from their earlier 70s stuff.

Underrated - Atom Heart Mother or Obscured By Clouds. I love the title track of the former and as Pinder has already mentioned Obscured seems to get lost in the shuffle between Meddle and the massive breakthrough of Dark Side despite having some fantastic stuff on it. It's also Nick Mason's favourite Pink Floyd album.

Wow, I didn't know that about Nick Mason!  ..... His playing is great on Obscured By Clouds in particular. More loose and "normal" band-ish: propelling/driving the songs rather than just a piece of the overall picture/puzzle as it is on the post Dark Side stuff. Maybe them just going in and hashing out some tunes without some overarching concept was freeing to him?

Also, the fact that Obscured By Clouds is a soundtrack album has causes casual Floyd fans to not seek it out thinking it's just background music or something.... Same with More.

It might be that because OBC and More were commissioned film scores that they necessarily have less of Waters' often cynical vision stamped on them----and are more enjoyable as a result (for me at least).

Yeah, but "Waters' cynical vision", as you like to call it, didn't fully arrive until Dark Side Of The Moon - the first album where he wrote all the lyrics by himself. There may have been bits here and there before (on things like 'If' and maybe 'Echoes'), but overall, the pre-'73 albums are pretty much group efforts.

I think the reason people like the two soundtracks is that they're almost as good as the studio albums, despite being side projects. I, for one, love Obscured By Clouds just as much as Meddle.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Overrated - Dark Side of The Moon & Wish You Where Here. I just don't consider them quantum leaps from their earlier 70s stuff.

Underrated - Atom Heart Mother or Obscured By Clouds. I love the title track of the former and as Pinder has already mentioned Obscured seems to get lost in the shuffle between Meddle and the massive breakthrough of Dark Side despite having some fantastic stuff on it. It's also Nick Mason's favourite Pink Floyd album.

Wow, I didn't know that about Nick Mason!  ..... His playing is great on Obscured By Clouds in particular. More loose and "normal" band-ish: propelling/driving the songs rather than just a piece of the overall picture/puzzle as it is on the post Dark Side stuff. Maybe them just going in and hashing out some tunes without some overarching concept was freeing to him?

Also, the fact that Obscured By Clouds is a soundtrack album has causes casual Floyd fans to not seek it out thinking it's just background music or something.... Same with More.

It might be that because OBC and More were commissioned film scores that they necessarily have less of Waters' often cynical vision stamped on them----and are more enjoyable as a result (for me at least).

Yeah, but "Waters' cynical vision", as you like to call it, didn't fully arrive until Dark Side Of The Moon - the first album where he wrote all the lyrics by himself. There may have been bits here and there before (on things like 'If' and maybe 'Echoes'), but overall, the pre-'73 albums are pretty much group efforts.

I think the reason people like the two soundtracks is that they're almost as good as the studio albums, despite being side projects. I, for one, love Obscured By Clouds just as much as Meddle.

That's a good point..... Even a song like Free Four from OBC with lines like "You shuffle through the gloom of the sickroom, and talk to yourself as you die" don't quite have the same impact as say Don't Leave Me Now because the song is a jaunty and giddy rocker.

[bluesno1fann]

Under-rated = Animals
Over-rated = Wish You Were Here



Wish You Were here, to many the glittering diamond in the Pink Floyd catalog, had to do the impossible -- follow the greatest album ever made (Dark Side Of The Moon).  There was no way it could have lived up, much less surpassed its predecessor.  It's an awesome album, but given their new-found mass appeal, I think they went a little too lethargic and withdrawn for this one.  I have a hard time believing that your average music fan, drawn in by all the lovely, mysterious hooks of Dark Side -- would have had much interest in this somber, introverted album.

There's also a more appealing, fresher sound to the live versions of this material (on the Immersion set) that doesn't exist on the studio album.  As a result the studio versions sound a little claustrophobic to me, which, in addition to its somber introversion, makes it a fairly closed-off listening experience.

In the end, Wish You Were Here requires more from the listener than Dark Side does.  Dark Side seems to refresh the listener and deepen our understanding of the universe -- its symmetry, harmony and mysteries.  While Wish You Were Here (as the title suggests) leaves us to wallow in a single aspect of it less appealing outcomes.  While it's not fair to doom the album because of its proximity to one of mankind's greatest musical achievements -- it's hard to resist the comparison.

I really like the gloss of Dark Side.  It enables it to project this cauldron of colliding extremes, battles full of intensity and fierceness, yet able to keep the listener far enough away from the molten dangers, and safely cradled in a serene calmness.  Wish You Were Here, painfully avoids such glossy showmanship as it puts the listener dead-center in the middle of someone's tormented personal melodrama, something that The Wall does better, with more flare and fantasy.

I can see why a lot of people would pick The Wall as the most overrated but, to be fair, that album is a pretty brilliant and wild accomplishment.  In simple terms, The Wall should have fallen flat on its face, but it stands firm... that is, until it's brought down on its own.  Built up and torn down.



Animals on the other hand, is unfairly overlooked and underrated.  It doesn't seem to carry the weight (eh-hmm) that Dark Side, Wish You Were Here and The Wall do.  Hence, it was seemingly passed over for its own Immersion set.  Definitely overlooked.

Nevertheless, conceptually and thematically, Animals picks up where Dark Side left off -- attempting to again illuminate the ongoing battles we face in life.  This time, however, the battles are less universal, nebulous and ethereal.  Animals is touch more personal and human, honing in on what makes people tick.  It's a rather leisurely stroll through some sort of personality study, but it does it all with some of the best music the band would ever create.

You can hear some of the sparseness that would begin to dominate their later albums, especially on The Final Cut, but there's still a nice layered sound here to feast on.  And there's still no indication of full-on, broadway rock-opera to come.  I believe many of these songs were well baked into Floyd live shows for years (Raving and Drooling) and as such, seem to encompass the full range of the Floyd "sound" more than anything else they did during their mega-superstar years.  It even sounds like it could have pre-dated Wish You Were Here.

Overall, Animals is just a fun, easy listen.  It's not particularly demanding, like Wish You Were Here and feels somewhat like a more natural follow up to Dark Side.  It does seem like there should be more here... but what is here is quintessential 1970s Pink Floyd.

Animals, to me, is their very best non-soundtrack album.....

I find Piper overrated in that for so many people, it's soooooooo good as to nullify all that came after it. It's a fantastic album, for sure, but for me, I greatly prefer the singles they out out during the Syd era.

While I also prefer the Barrett-era singles over Piper, I'm still convinced that Piper is one of their best albums, and is in no way overrated.
Just my opinion.