Pink Floyd Thread

[ntalwar]

Originally posted by GibsonGirl
Tomorrow evening I'll be seeing Roger Waters from the sixth row on the floor.

Hopefully Harry will be feeling better - he's been under the weather lately (but still playing). Take plenty of pics.

[GibsonGirl]

Originally posted by cdisantis83


I'm not sure that the schizophrenia was ever confirmed as his problem. In any case, Have a Cigar is not an aspersion on Syd, but rather an indictment of the pressure that the music industry places on certain individuals. Waters believed that this was a major culprit in Barrett's mental disintegration. Welcome to the Machine works in a similar fashion lyrically. "What did you dream? It's alright, we told you what you dream."

I think it's only really Syd's family who denied his ever having schizophrenia. They all try to blame the band for what happened to him. As we all know, there's a whole lot of drama to that side of the story... With all the inconsistencies that have cropped up with the Barrett family's claims, I've started taking their press releases with extremely large grains of salt. Judging from the descriptions of the people who knew him and saw him at the time - band members, friends, doctors and whatnot - I fully believe he had schizophrenia that was excacerbated by his LSD habits and the pressure of having to write hit singles. It had to be something drastic, or they could have worked around it.

But yeah, spot on with Have A Cigar.

"We're just knocked out.
We heard about the sell out.
You gotta get an album out.
You owe it to the people.
We're so happy we can hardly count."

Bastards.

[hiphop]

Say hi to Roger.

[WinnieThePoo]

Rog likes to play the same shit-list , over and over and over.....
i liked when he played more of his solo work in 2000

[cobl04]

How was the reform at Live8 recepted? I wasn't a fan back then.

[Saracene]

My Mum and I finally watched Pulse this weekend, I watched bits of that concert many years ago when I was younger and the performance of Time with those bizarre images on the giant circular screen stuck as a particularly vivid memory. Whoever designed lighting for this show is a bloody genius. And the music is not half bad either,

And speaking of early Pink Floyd, I absolutely adore Piper at the Gates of Dawn, even though it sounds like a completely different band. Lucifer Sam is the best song about cats ever,

[cdisantis83]

Originally posted by GibsonGirl


I think it's only really Syd's family who denied his ever having schizophrenia. They all try to blame the band for what happened to him. As we all know, there's a whole lot of drama to that side of the story... With all the inconsistencies that have cropped up with the Barrett family's claims, I've started taking their press releases with extremely large grains of salt. Judging from the descriptions of the people who knew him and saw him at the time - band members, friends, doctors and whatnot - I fully believe he had schizophrenia that was excacerbated by his LSD habits and the pressure of having to write hit singles. It had to be something drastic, or they could have worked around it.

You are definitely right to say that everyone has their own story. From everything that I have read from Waters, who certainly seems to talk about the episode with Syd the most, he really seems to believe that Barrett suffered some sort of egregious nervous breakdown; the rapidity of the demise seems to me to point to something like this, rather than a verifiable case of schizophrenia. Then again, I am certainly not a psychologist. In any case, his example ought to remind the kids to eschew LSD.

[GibsonGirl]

Originally posted by cdisantis83


You are definitely right to say that everyone has their own story. From everything that I have read from Waters, who certainly seems to talk about the episode with Syd the most, he really seems to believe that Barrett suffered some sort of egregious nervous breakdown; the rapidity of the demise seems to me to point to something like this, rather than a verifiable case of schizophrenia. Then again, I am certainly not a psychologist. In any case, his example ought to remind the kids to eschew LSD.

Roger flip flops quite a bit on that. Sometimes he says schizophrenia, sometimes he says nervous breakdown... It's entirely possible to have rapid onset schizophrenia. There are two major forms of the illness - acute and chronic schizophrenia. Chronic schizophrenia develops gradually over time and there's usually little chance of recovery. Acute schizophrenia, on the other hand, develops much more rapidly, sometimes within weeks or months (usually in response to traumatic or stressful events) and usually hits in the late teens/early twenties. And it occurs more often in males. This would definitely fit Syd's situation, so if he did have it, it would have been acute.

[/psychology major]

[LemonMelon]

I have a question:

How in the world did Dark Side sell 41 million copies? Looking at it logically, it seems almost impossible. The album didn't really have a hit single (wikipedia doesn't even list any commercial singles from the record), the previous album they recorded was Obscured By Clouds, which no one but hardcore fans has ever heard (even if you say that Meddle increased their popularity, the album still didn't sell THAT well), and they were still a relatively unknown band at that point. So, how did Dark Side break free of all that and become such a hit?

[phanan]

Money was a hit single, at least in the U.S. It reached #13 on Billboard.

And it took a very long time for DSOTM to start selling. It was on the charts for years as it slowly built up momentum. And then, once it was recognized as an all-time classic, people had to have a copy of it every time a new audio format was released. I remember when it first arrived on CD - it was like a new release. It sold that much.

[LemonMelon]

Originally posted by phanan
Money was a hit single, at least in the U.S. It reached #13 on Billboard.

And it took a very long time for DSOTM to start selling. It was on the charts for years as it slowly built up momentum. And then, once it was recognized as an all-time classic, people had to have a copy of it every time a new audio format was released. I remember when it first arrived on CD - it was like a new release. It sold that much.

Ah, OK. So it was mostly a word of mouth hit?

[elevated_u2_fan]

it was a slow build, it was on the billboard charts for 14 years or something crazy like that...

I think drugs may have been involved as well

[phanan]

Originally posted by LemonMelon


Ah, OK. So it was mostly a word of mouth hit?

Pretty much. Aside from Money, it really didn't get airplay back then as AM radio was still ruling the airwaves.

That's another reason the album kept on selling. When AOR radio took off in the early 80's, cuts from DSOTM were played over and over, exposing a new generation like myself to its wonders.

I wouldn't be surprised if DSOTM sold more copies in the 80's vs. the 70's, with the arrival of AOR radio and CD.

[cdisantis83]

Originally posted by GibsonGirl


Roger flip flops quite a bit on that. Sometimes he says schizophrenia, sometimes he says nervous breakdown... It's entirely possible to have rapid onset schizophrenia. There are two major forms of the illness - acute and chronic schizophrenia. Chronic schizophrenia develops gradually over time and there's usually little chance of recovery. Acute schizophrenia, on the other hand, develops much more rapidly, sometimes within weeks or months (usually in response to traumatic or stressful events) and usually hits in the late teens/early twenties. And it occurs more often in males. This would definitely fit Syd's situation, so if he did have it, it would have been acute.

[/psychology major]

You have convinced me.
After reading a little more about schizophrenia, I also found that people that have it, even in a latent form, have an extremely high rate of drug abuse, and are also prone to other health problems (like Syd's Diabetes). It is strange, however, as he seems to have led a fairly independent life after Floyd and his short-lived solo career- reclusive, but not necessarily disconnected from reality. Ironically, his demise brought him legendary status that he likely never would have otherwise achieved.

[Screwtape2]

Originally posted by GibsonGirl


Roger flip flops quite a bit on that. Sometimes he says schizophrenia, sometimes he says nervous breakdown... It's entirely possible to have rapid onset schizophrenia. There are two major forms of the illness - acute and chronic schizophrenia. Chronic schizophrenia develops gradually over time and there's usually little chance of recovery. Acute schizophrenia, on the other hand, develops much more rapidly, sometimes within weeks or months (usually in response to traumatic or stressful events) and usually hits in the late teens/early twenties. And it occurs more often in males. This would definitely fit Syd's situation, so if he did have it, it would have been acute.

[/psychology major]

Are you studing to become a psych major?

I think he suffered from some kind of Adrenal problem along the lines of Addison's disease or Cushing's syndrome without the more physical symptoms. He probably also had a Schizotypal Personality Disorder as well. Those would explain why he was so reclusive and why it become so sudden with the stress and drugs.

[ntalwar]

Originally posted by LemonMelon

Ah, OK. So it was mostly a word of mouth hit?

I think it stayed on Billboard charts for 26 years or something. A few songs got a ton of radio play on rock stations(from my memory) - Time, Money, and Us And Them stand out.

[Screwtape2]

Originally posted by LemonMelon


Ah, OK. So it was mostly a word of mouth hit?

I think the cover played a big part as well. One has to wonder how many people bought the record after finding it in their local music store and being intrigued by the cover.

[cobl04]

I think the reason perhaps why it sold so well was just the fact maybe that it was incredibly good?

Money was huge, and I think a few other tracks (Us and Them, Brain Damage/Eclipse) got released.

Maybe it was well advertised?

[GibsonGirl]

[derails thread]



FROM FRONT ROW. Only for the encore (Happiest Days/Another Brick > Vera > Bring The Boys Back Home > Comfortably Numb) BUT STILL.

[/derails thread]

Carry on!

[Screwtape2]

Originally posted by GibsonGirl
[derails thread]



FROM FRONT ROW. Only for the encore (Happiest Days/Another Brick > Vera > Bring The Boys Back Home > Comfortably Numb) BUT STILL.

[/derails thread]

Carry on!

You're so lucky, GG!