sallycinnamon78 said:
Might not have???????
I'm not saying for a second that people DON'T change. Back then, he did behave like a megalomaniac asswipe; or so it would appear.
David Gilmour, talented as he is, certainly lacks Roger's lyrical genius, in my opinion. Still, I've never understood why people hate The Division Bell. I really like a lot of those songs - as you quite correctly pointed out, people do change... and of course their music frequently changes with them.
Are you seriously saying that there was nothiing bombastic about The Wall's live shows?
So it would appear? To who? To the rest of the band? To the press? To people who wrote biographies and cashed in?
I´m surely not of "the Waters camp" or "the Gilmour camp" .. I think Gilmour is a great guitarist and very lyrical musician, like you pointed out he is probably less sharp (can you say talented? I don´t know..) regarding the lyrics.
Sure Waters was a control freak and liked to have things his way.. but with a musical, lyrical masterpieces with political messages like The Wall and The Final Cut, I can somehow understand. Did it ever occur to you that maybe the rest of the band, or Gilmour for that matter, would have liked to see more "commercial" lyrics? Dark Side and Wish.. are great albums, the lyrics are very different from the Animals/ post-Animals albums, more universal in a way, one might say, whereas the later ones are more concrete and more sharp. So when Dark Side had sold about 30 mil and Animals about 4 (or 7 later on, I´m too lazy too look up numbers right now, but considerably less than Dark Side) could it be that Dave wanted The Wall to be less sharp? Less fragmented? There are many short songs. many pieces. Everything had to be arranged. So I guess Rog, infuriating over details, pushed his message through. Now, had it been any different at that time, the album would lack depth, as you probably will agree. So maybe it´s a good thing Rog rolled over everyone with his ego. How can you tell? Artistic relationships are tense. They can be relaxed, but when it´s at this level, they can be very tense, see...
so I wouldn´t blame Roger that way, like most of the media, biographies and some bandmates did. He did what he had to do artistically, and didn´t compromise. Personal behavior is another story, and no one who wasn´t there can tell how it really was.
As to 70s.. or before.. wasn´t it Roger who was instrumental in firing Syd? As well as the others, it´s reported they just didn´t fetch him.. probably it was also very difficult to deal with him at that time.. however. And Animals was in 77, thats when the conflicts started. The Wall was released 79. I guess they already pissed each other off before of that.
The shows were absolutely bombastic. In fact, like always, the Floyd had great audio and video and lights and stage stuff etc. also post Waters. But the musical quality was different.
Maybe that´s the reason why I didn´t go to a post Waters Pink Floyd show. Because, even if Gilmour is an incredible guitar player, I feared I would be disappointed without Roger. I have heard of others that the concerts were amazing, so be it. But I saw Roger and the Bleeding Hearts Band a few years ago. They played everything you ever wished. Nearly all of The Wall, the whole first side of Dark Side, Shine on, Wish ou were here.. even old songs,.. and new ones. The first song was In the Flesh II, imagine Roger starting to sing. You can´t beat it. And the whole band rocked.
When Roger performed his solo songs, you could see he had changed... the lyrics have changed too.. he is a thoughtful person. Sometimes quiet. And at the same time, an old cult rocker in the style of Lou Reed or Bowie; a quality that Gilmour.. yes, he´s a very nice person.. but he lacks that quality.
Nah, I don´t like the Division Bell. It would be a great album if it was the first album for a new band. But on Division Bell, you have elements of very old Floyd sounds rehashed digitally, with lots of effects and too many delays, and Rogers typical style of basslines even if he didn´t contribute them. You know, its kind of a deep fried pizza compared to a fresh restaurant one. That said, with a few exceptions, I don´t think that most of Rogers post Floyd albums are any better in musical terms.
But I would like to listen to his last project, actually. One song is a very long piece with amazing lyrics. Couldn´t find it though..
