Dotoar

Only one vote for "Ummagumma"? God, I'm special! No seriously, it's more or less impossible to single out one 'greatest' from the Floyds. There are several candidates, of course, but each and everyone of them has its own flaws. "Piper" is too sloppy and unfocused in places, "Atom heart mother" is mainly carried by the title track and little more, "DSOTM" is too generic (and grossly overrated), "WYWH" is let down by too much sax noodling and the half-spoken "Have a cigar", "The wall" is plainly dull and "Meddle" and "Animals", well, those two actually come close to Floydish perfection. The former is however marred by the shorter tracks and the latter, however good in itself, is not really innovative and innovation is one main criterion when it comes to the greatness of Floyd.

The two forgotten soundtrack albums however, they definitely deserve mentioning even if the songs themselves aren't particularly innovative either but some of the tracks ("Green is the colour", "Cymbaline", "Wot's, uh, the deal" etc.) are among the best Floyd ever did. So all in all, I think that "Ummagumma" sort of summarizes all the good sides of their experimentation, and of course it's the first side I'm mainly referring to here. The versions of "Saucerful" and "Eugene" may or may not be the best Floyd tracks ever.

__________________

OccultHawk

It's in my top three along with The Final Cut and Animals. I voted for Animals. So far no votes at all for TFC.

Screen13

The Final Cut is to me more of a Roger Waters solo album that was perfect for the Early 80's with "Not Now John" and the guitar solos reminding the listener that it's Pink Floyd. I think that the more time moves on, the more listeners will be hesitant to even vote it near their favorites now. There are some great moments which are rendered flawed by some reason like "The Final Cut" (marred by "Would you sell your story to Rolling Stone"...I think this was intended for The Wall, and would have worked far better on it), "Not Now John" (marred by too many uses of the F word), and "The Fletcher Memorial Home" (Too dated now for full effect). Still "Paranoid Eyes" and "Your Possible Pasts" are good songs that still stand up well today.

I think that it's dated now as well as too ego-driven, although the solos in "The Final Cut" and "Fletcher..." still rank up with David Gilmour's finest moments.

OccultHawk

It's weird because all those things may be valid criticisms but still all the things you mention (and add to it what seems to be an almost racist anti-Japanese sentiment) give the album a unique flavor that just sits really right with me. It's like the chick who's even sexier because of her imperfections. Plus, I love Two Suns in the Sunset. But I also love The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking (easily my favorite Eric Clapton record).

sleepy jack

Piper at the Gates of Dawn is the obvious answer.

__________________

James

[2]
Their later non-Barett stuff is decent, but fairly dull imho.

galt

Animals is the best. I love the structure of the three epics bookended by the two versions of "Pigs on the Wing". Makes me want to listen to it now.

But, PF's output from meddle through the Wall is almost flawless. The most underrated album during that time is definitely Obscured by clouds.

JG

Chrysalis

Probably Dark Side of the Moon, but Meddle & Wish You Were Here come pretty close.
Agreed. It's a great album, but horribly overshadowed by their most popular efforts.

TockTockTock

I love Piper at the Gates of Dawn. It just has that avant-garde feel to it, and Syd Barret was a great songwriter. While I still like Pink Floyd's later stuff, I just think this album is their best. Dark Side of the Moon (of course) is my second favorite.

Bloozcrooz

Wish you were here intro..what an awsome lick