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Old 03-06-2009, 10:09 PM   #46 (permalink)
Alfred
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Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Canada
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11. Pink Floyd "Wish You Were Here" (1975)

What it is: Dark Pink Floyd
Favorite Track: Welcome To The Machine

Wish You Were Here was the album that began my wonderful relationship with the poster boys of Prog. I couldn't have picked a better album by them to start off with. It's accessible, but one of their overall stronger and thicker albums, not to mention that the production is way ahead of its time.

After such a massive success with Dark Side Of The Moon, Pink Floyd had a lot to live up to. They didn't surpass DSOTM, but they certainly didn't disappoint. Pink Floyd's five track 1975 masterpiece clocks at almost forty-five minutes. It is made up of a very lengthy two-part song called Shine On You Crazy Diamond which surrounds the three middle tracks. The layout is excellent and definitely adds to the listening experiance.

The sound of Wish You Were Here is very thick, and the production is very clean. The album could have been made in 2008, and it wouldn't sound dated at all. The thing that makes this album so special is the songs themselves, and not so much each part of the album working together. There are only five songs, but all of them are lengthy, and all of them are spectacular. Welcome To The Machine was the first song that stood out to me. If dark music scares you, do not listen to this song! The vague, but easily interpreted lyrics are about the corrupt music indsutry. You tell 'em boys!

If it is at all possible for Pink Floyd to be heavy, then that's what they did with WYWH. It's not heavy in the hard rock/metal sense, but it's heavy in their own psychadelic way. As I've said before, it's thick. The instrumental bits are superb, especially Richard Wright. If you want to get a taste of how important he was to Pink Floyd, here it is.

So if you're just getting into the wonderful world of Pink Floyd, take my advice and get this album first.

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Last edited by Alfred; 03-26-2009 at 08:37 PM.
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