The Smiley Smile Message Board

This is mildly exciting, never though this would happen in my lifetime! Though it's highly unlikely that Roger Waters is participating.

It will be called "The Endless River". More details here:

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/pink-floyd-endless-river-news/

Without Roger it's basically a Dave solo album.

Like Momentary Lapse? You have a point.

Though half of the new album's from 1994 and the other half's brand new. So there will be some Rick Wright.

From what I understand, there was quite a bit of material Rick brought to The Division Bell aside from what made the album ... Apparently they had a pretty complex system of how each person's material got voted in (Rick always voted for his own stuff ;)) and a lot of it came from group jam sessions: the stuff that they would focus on and beat into a finished song. So, there is probably a lot of unfinished stuff in the can that Rick originated.... I think he was also playing around with doing a 3rd solo album over the years. I suspect there's no lack of material for Dave and Nick to pull from to work on.

I'm pretty sad that they didn't get Rog to appear on the album. It would have been a fitting tribute to the man who defined Pink Floyd's sound more than any other.

Thank you!!!!

I couldn't agree more about Rick being the one to have defined the Pink Floyd sound more than anyone else... Even on Piper, his keyboards are just as unique and distinctive as Syd. We always hear about how he stopped contributing during the making of The Wall, blah blah, but the way I see it is, with Roger's simplistic songs taking the fore, there was really not much to interest him..... Roger's always been happy to pound out 3 or 4 generic blues chords, slap his lyrics on it and be the genius who wrote the song, and let the others do all the work of making it musically interesting. (Take note of how Rick flourishes on a more musically complex, Dave/Roger track like "Dogs")... All fine and good when you have the others contributing music as well. Roger adding his great lyrics to great music is where the Pink Floyd magic was. When it was all his music n lyrics, it was nothing but an uphill battle. We got one classic album out of it, (and another damn good one) but who wants to show up for work everyday and put in 100 per cent under those circumstances?

I am very excited this material is being released. I was disappointed when the Division Bell boxset was announced and this stuff wasn't on it. Now I know why. As I understand it, it's mainly instrumental jams by the band during the D B sessions. Supposed to be electronic, ambient and spacey. Possibly some vocals have been added but this is not a new album. It's from 1994 and Roger wasn't in the band.

I remember Nick Mason saying not long after the Division Bell was released that there was enough material left over for another album.

  So this is David and Nick? God, I hope it is better than LAPSE (aptly titled) or BELL.

  I thought their LIVE 8 appearance in 2005 was a classic and classy way to wrap up the band.

I will by this just because I am a completist. But if Waters were on it I would be over the moon.

And Rick Wright. Probably gonna sound more like their improv soundtrack stuff than tradional rock songs.

It be great if Dave, Nick and Roger tacked on a new song, for Rick, but I think that unlikely.

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/pink-floyd-endless-river-details/

Just found this update.  Pretty much confirms what I had posted. But I hope things are a bit more interesting than
the sound effects clip with  the article.

I would love to even have a bonus track from live 8.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZIhXuHFUZI

This, I think, is some of the material for the new album. I imagine new guitar, bass and drum overdubs have been added to clean things up and  then some bvs added ala DSOTM.

I wish I were excited...but I can't see this sounding like anything unlike MLOR or Division Bell. I figured if there were ever another PF album it would involve Roger - that's how it should be.

I guess it's more of a labor of  love for DG. I read they had 47 pieces of unused muic from the D B sessions. If it were  the BBs, we'd be going crazy to get it released. It isn't going to be WYWH or Dark Side or Animals. It is PF mark II minus Roger. I would love to have a real new P F album but Rick is dead, as is the band.

I love the D B, but I'm not a fan of MLOR. I'm not going to expect anything from this release...hopefully it'll be good.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/pink-floyd-to-release-first-new-album-in-20-years-this-fall-20140706

More info from RS. New Gilmour lead  vocals? Well then, hell, they should  have brought in RW. Maybe they did, or talked about it. Gonna be interesting.

From what I understand, the tracks are a bunch of different songs that Rick wrote around The Division Bell sessions (I think they're sorta known as The Big Spliff...?) that Nick and Dave are going to overdub onto. I think it's supposed to be mostly instrumentals, although Dave wrote lyrics for one of the songs and added his own voice, plus some backing vocals from three or four women.

The album doesn't really need Roger.


Edit: Or, if this is to be believed:
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-xsjQvnZ5iQA/U7m-BJVfeTI/AAAAAAAAAck/B0QEDi4Ghkc/s720-no/endless+river.jpg)

Wow, looks like most of these songs have lyrics. Interesting.

Seems if they are writing lyrics 20 years after the fact, they could have asked Roger to participate. But yeah, they don't need him I guess. Be interesting to read Roger's comments about the album.

nope this post was wrong look elsewhere

No complaints here about such a Rick heavy album as this seems to be!

On a different note, 8 years ago today, Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett passed on. Been celebrating this anniversary with a little tribute post on Facebook and listening to his music. He is still greatly missed, and I simply can't believe it's been this long since he died. Shine on. R.I.P.

(http://theaudioperv.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/AW1003_PINK_FLOYD-Hi-Res1.jpg)

"Pink Floyd can confirm that they are releasing a new album, The Endless River, in October 2014. It is an album of mainly ambient and instrumental music based on the 1993/4 Division Bell sessions. The album is produced by David Gilmour with Phil Manzanera, Youth and recording engineer Andy Jackson. Work is still in progress, but more details to come at the end of the summer."


So, it seems that "leaked" composer sheet is likely a fake.

Not likely Roger Waters is involved since I am pretty sure he would have a production credit as well.  :'(

On one hand, it sucks that Roger Waters isn't involved because he was the creative force of the group. On the other hand, Roger Waters is a huge dick and an anti-semite whether he thinks he is or not. So there's that. Basically, I wouldn't care about this album either way. But I'm semi-interested enough to give it a single listen on Spotify.

1st. Roger was a huge dick back in the 80's, yeah. But he has since mellowed considerably. He's even admitted that he was completely wrong for what he did in the past.
2nd. Roger's actually anti-racism. He's not an anti-Semite at all, he is an anti-Zionist, which is quite different.

Totally fake.

Yup. Big difference.

I was just hoping a new album would be a true reunion album. I'm sure that accepting it at face value it'll be a fine record, but damn, getting the Floyd back together would be great, especially if they were to have used the Rick Wright songs in said reunion.

I liked On an Island much more than Division Bell.  Love that title cut video with CSN and Nick.  I've come to think of Island as the last Floyd album.

The live video? C&N, no Stills. And Rick Wright, no Nick Mason. The new release will have Dave, Rick and Nick.  Maybe C&N again. They did a Gilmour session, conflicting reports.  Either for a new Gilmour solo album or the new PF album.

Don't know why I wrote CSN.  Shorter than naming Willy and Cros  :).   Still, Rick and David soar and Dave's compositions are top flight.  Adding C and N was the perfect icing on the cake.  Had Nick been there it would have been as good as it gets.   Don't know the drummer on that cut but if it is the guy who played with CSN, he is 1st rate.

Don't know the drummer either, but he's Gilmour's guy recent years ...... Good player. Very respectful towards Nick's parts, and doesn't overplay: key to that Floyd vibe.

So no songs about bikes, scarecrows, gnomes, or mice named Gerald?

I would love it if Waters guested or made a new track for the album.

Me too, but I won't hold my breath.

I should note that Roger Waters is not the only rock musician to ally himself with the Arab side in the Arab-Israeli conflict. So have David Gilmour, Nick Mason, Robert Wyatt and the late Irish Blues guitarist Gary Moore.  Wyatt's music has also, on occasion, expressd pro-communist & pro-Cuba viewpoints. These people have the right to express their political views, as long as they don't try to incite more violence. I'm not looking at this issue from a fanatic "Jewish" viewpoint, since, like 66% of Americans of Jewish ethnicity, I'm secular(not a believer or participant in organized religion). My family have been secular for five generations.  If Roger Waters wants to use his future music(if there ever is any) as a vehicle for anti-Israel or anti-American views, he has a right to do that, but political music is not my idea of entertainment. Political music also has a tendency to quickly become as obsolete as yesterday's newspapers.

(http://consequenceofsound.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/screen-shot-2014-09-22-at-9-39-16-am.png?w=656)

The Endless River Tracklist:

01. Things Left Unsaid
02. It’s What We Do
03. Ebb And Flow
04. Sum
05. Skins
06. Unsung
07. Anisina
08. The Lost Art of Conversation
09. On Noodle Street
10. Night Light
11. Allons-y (1)
12. Autumn’68
13. Allons-y (2)
14. Talkin’ Hawkin’
15. Calling
16. Eyes To Pearls
17. Surfacing
18. Louder Than Words

I'll buy it just because when it comes to Pink Floyd I am a completist.

But correct me if I am wrong here... this album is basically just outtakes from Division Bell.. right?

As far as I know, it started off as a side project during the Division Bell sessions... and that while it forms as the basis of The Endless River, only a portion of it will appear on the album. According to Dave and Nick of course.

The number of tracks worries me...I even struggle to sit through the whole of Division Bell.

Big payday for the aging pink. Bigger if they tour.  But doubtful if they do. 

So, the album's just been released. For those who have heard it already, thoughts?

As a way to end the career of one of the greatest bands to exist?
Terrible. it's not a bad album, but it seems so weird as a finale.

But I don't think this is the end.

Snooooooooooooze.

I think of it more as a tribute to Rick Wright. I don't think anyone involved in the group has any serious desire to do new music -- these were 20 year old tapes to begin with.

As for terrible endings to a great band, what about the botch-job that was the Spector-produced Let It Be?

For me the true end was the saxophone fade-out from Two Suns in the Sunset.

Agreed...the only Beatles album I don't care for, mainly because it doesn't even SOUND like the Beatles IMHO. Not vocally, but production-wise.

I haven't heard the new Floyd disc yet, but Rick Wright was my favorite band member (his parts influenced my writing more than anyone else except BW).

This. I agree with this.

I can personally live without Beatles For Sale either... and Yellow Submarine would have been better as an EP.

I think it's the perfect end to the saga of Pink Floyd.  Serene, sorrowful, powerful at times and just drifting away.  The cover is a perfect visual representation.  The whole experience reminds me a lot of Wish You Were Here, which for some reason I started listening to a lot recently -- and loving it more than I've ever have.  Very poignant.  

I can't stop playing it -- and play it all the way through.  It's not weighty, nor demands your attention -- given it's atmospheric -- but it's like a Pink Floyd dream.  I want more!

(http://cdn.bloody-disgusting.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/pinkfloydtheendlessrivercover.jpg)

Just read the Allmusic review, which says basically everything I said or was trying to  :-\


Perfecto!

It's a great album - it's exactly what was promised:  a mostly instrumental, ambient song cycle.

It hearkens back to their post-Barrett psychedlic jams before Waters' anger became the dominant thread.  Much of their catalogue also pops up in bits and pieces throughout which is a delight.  It's like a Pink Floyd pop-quiz.

I think it's a very natural return and end-stop for the band.  Their passage through psychedelic pop/rock to psychedelic prog-rock to prog-rock to rock and back to psychedelic prog-rock is represented neatly.

Maybe I'm getting old but I really enjoy music that doesn't make demands of me all the time.  This album complements my mood and occasionally nudges it upward or downward but mostly lets me be and lets me think.  Or trip-out if the occasion warrants it.

If you prefer the more experimental, meandering Pink Floyd circa 1968 - 1972, then THE ENDLESS RIVER is the best thing the band has released since WISH YOU WERE HERE. I still feel the Waters dominated concept records are the strongest, but I greatly appreciate that earlier era where everything seemed more relaxed and dreamy. At any rate, this final album is far more graceful than A MOMENTARY LAPSE OF REASON or THE DIVISION BELL and a lovely reminder of the strengths of Gilmour, Wright and Mason.

Damn straight!

This is actually, kinda/sorta the album I always hoped The Floyd would make post Dark Side

Beanbag, I agree, as usual, 100%. I suppose we all agree that it would have been something special if Waters had joined in. I have just heard half of it but will get more seriously into it now--it's compelling from the start.

I used my free Spotify trial to listen to The Endless River and I gotta say, it's a pretty cool body of work. Nice, atmospheric stuff. I imagine it would be a great soundtrack for a big spliff shared with a couple friends at the end of the day.

At first I was kinda bummed Roger Waters wasn't involved in the final Pink Floyd album since it was his band before it was David Gilmour's, but after listening to it, I can't say that I miss him. Would have been cool to have him sing a couple lines on Louder Than Words, but eh.

Ok.

I have listened again to the whole album. Only this time with mindset suggested by Bean Bag and I liked it an awful lot more. Better than DB and certainly miles ahead of MLoR.

I think I'd like it a lot more if there were more vocals. One vocal track per side would have me much more enthusiastic about the album...that being said, I've listened to it more and its growing on me.

Yes... it would have been nice to have Water's vision on a Pink Floyd finale.  But why not Syd's too then?

It's safe to say that Syd's finale was decades ago.  Probably with Scream Thy Last Scream... or Jugband Blues.  His vision, or "ghost" loomed large for the remainder of their career, but his goodbye was in '68.

Much of the same could be said for Waters.  His finale, aptly called "The Final Cut," was back in '83.  Seems pretty conclusive -- The Final Cut.

Of course, Pink Floyd carried on in a fairly successful way since then.  And so The Endless River is essentially the end to that Floyd and everything in total.  HOWEVER, it is certainly the finale to Rick Wright.  Because, when I think about it, this is much more of a Rick Wright album to me than a Gilmourian effort, despite what people often say about latter-day Floyd being just a Gilmour solo album.  I just wanted to say Gilmourian.

So even though this is a beautiful way to end the Pink Floyd story -- as sad as that is to say -- since it is by definition Rick's finale, it still leaves open (a tiny crack) for a Waters, Gilmour, Mason Floyd.  Not saying it will happen... but it could.

"We bitch and we fight/Diss each other on sight"... This song reminds me of Spring Vacation.

Amen!  I think it might be the best one they've made since Wish You Were Here.  And that's no disrespect for Animals.  Although, I admit it's hard for me to say something like that and unseat one of my longstanding favorites.  So... for now, it's safe (for me) to say it's the best thing Pink Floyd has done since The Wall.  That, I'm sure of.

This is a strong entry to the catalog everybody.

I went in with, not low expectations, but certainly a "raised eyebrow."  I did not expect it to be this good.  How could it be, right?  Leftovers?  From the Division Bell?  And... all instrumentals?

What kept my expectations from being low was, I've grown overtime to really enjoy the Division Bell -- and especially live Floyd from this era.  Pulse.  So I kept an open mind.  But I honestly think it was the strange coincidence of me getting into Wish You Were Here a lot just recently.  It was one of the first albums I ever bought -- but for what ever reason, I recently took a new profound liking to it.  And this album is right there with it.

Nice thoughts!  I agree.  A Pink Floyd pop-quiz!!  It's strange, cuz on Division Bell, I felt some of these (past/reflective) elements were in danger of becoming shtick.  Floyd Cliche.  But here, knowing it's the finale perhaps, they really, really work!

In true finale fashion, it's like everything that happened in the life of Pink Floyd is flashing before me, in a procession of images and emotions that's like a punch in the gut.  Words would have just gotten in the way.  And to have experienced all these moments over the entirety of my own life, with them, is like saying goodbye to the living thing that Pink Floyd was.  And to me that's pretty profound.

Bean, you sound like this music has been an enriching experience in your life. Happy for you that the new music did not disappoint.    I have bee n a fan for many decades and have enjoyed most all of the bands releases.  I had come to think that On an Island, David's LP, was the "last" Pink album of any worth.   I have not heard this CDs but will buy it unheard based on this thread and the opinions expressed here.  Personal favs over the years are umma gummy and Atom Heart.  the ambience of certain Pink music renders words unnecessary.

Edit......Umma Gumma.  Not Uma Gummy, or for that matter, Uma Thurman

If the Professor were wise and insightful he would write and think like Bean Bag. I too have been on a Floyd tear since this new album came out. I read an interview with DG who was mystified as to why anyone would have thought RW would have been involved. He is sadly deluded, of course, in thinking that we do not associate Waters with Floyd...just silly. In any case, I am enjoying the total floyd from Piper up to Dark Side. I am not a fan of WYWH, and I enjoy this new album more than the song SOYCD.

You all know what comes next! start the chant; Bean Bean, Bean Bag, Bean Bag!

Sorry to bring a dead thread back, but since Floyd is my favorite band, I wanted to comment on this. 

After hearing the single "Louder Than Words" in the Fall, I was not optimistic in the least bit.  The music is OK at best, and the lyrics might be the worst in the history of Pink Floyd.  Polly Samson is not a bad lyric writer, surely she could've done better than this.  Hearing the almost 70 year old Gilmour use the word "dis" might be the most cringeworthy moment in the entire history of Pink Floyd.  And yes, worse than Alan's Psychadelic Breakfast, A New Machine Parts 1 & 2, and Seamus. 

But, when I sat to listen to the whole album, I was pleasantly surprised.  The music itself is pretty good.  I doubt I'll be pulling the album out to spin too often, but it was really nice to get some "new" music from David, Nick, and the late Rick.  Unfortunately, this is one of those albums that, while it's an enjoyable experience, nothing really stands out.  There's nothing attention grabbing or distinctive that bears a lot of repeat listens.