Pink Floyd Retrospective: Album 15- The Endless River

 

The final studio album of Pink Floyd

Album:  The Endless River

Year Released:    2014

Lineup:

Pink Floyd

• David Gilmour – guitars (all tracks), EBow (1, 3, 10), lead vocals (18), backing vocals (7, 14, 17), keyboards (7, 15, 16), piano (6, 7), EMS VCS 3 (4, 6), bass guitar (2, 4, 7, 17), Hammond organ (18), percussion (8), voice samples (1)
• Nick Mason – drums (2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18), percussion (15, 18), rototoms (5), gong (5, 12, 16), voice samples (1)
• Richard Wright – Hammond organ (1, 11, 13, 16), Farfisa organ (4, 6, 14, 16), Royal Albert Hall Organ (12), piano (4, 6, 8, 14, 18), Rhodes piano (9, 18), electric piano (3), keyboards (1, 2, 5, 16, 17), synthesiser (1, 2, 8, 10, 14, 17, 18), voice samples (1, 18)

Additional musicians

• Guy Pratt – bass guitar (9, 14)
• Bob Ezrin – bass guitar (11, 13, 18), additional keyboards (1)
• Andy Jackson – bass guitar (5, 16), effects (15)
• Jon Carin – synthesisers (9, 11, 13), percussion loop (11, 13)
• Damon Iddins – additional keyboards (4, 12)
• Anthony Moore – keyboards (15)
• Gilad Atzmon – tenor saxophone (7), clarinet (7)
• Durga McBroom – backing vocals (14, 17, 18)
• Louise Marshall – backing vocals (18)
• Sarah Brown – backing vocals (18)
• Stephen Hawking – voice sample (14)
• Escala:
  • Chantal Leverton – viola (18)
  • Victoria Lyon – violin (18)
  • Helen Nash – cello (18)
  • Honor Watson – violin (18)

Track Listing:

Side one
No. Title                Length
1 "Things Left Unsaid" 4:26
2 "It's What We Do" 6:17
3 "Ebb and Flow"        1:55
Total length:        12:38

Side two
No. Title                Length
4 "Sum"         4:48
5 "Skins"         2:37
6 "Unsung"         1:07
7 "Anisina"         3:16
Total length:         11:48

Side three
No. Title                 Length
8 "The Lost Art of Conversation"  1:42
9 "On Noodle Street"  1:42
10 "Night Light"         1:42
11 "Allons-y (1)"         1:57
12 "Autumn '68"         1:35
13 "Allons-y (2)"         1:32
14 "Talkin' Hawkin'"         3:29
Total length:         13:39

Side four
No. Title                 Length
15 "Calling"                 3:37
16 "Eyes to Pearls"          1:51
17 "Surfacing"          2:46
18 "Louder than Words"   6:36
Total length:          14:50 

CD length:          53:02

Overall Thoughts:

Keyboardist Richard Wright left the band after "The Wall".  He rejoined David Gilmour and Nick Mason after Roger Waters left Pink Floyd, but was technically not a member of the band for some legal reason that I don't quite understand.  He co-wrote several of the songs on the Division Bell and was part of their tour.  Wright passed from lung cancer in 2008.

Gilmour and Mason, in tribute, took several of the unreleased recordings from "The Division Bell", added and re-recorded some parts, and released it as "The Endless River".

It's an instrumental album- only "Louder than Words" has any vocals.  The music is good (ever since Gilmour settled in as the lead guitarist, Pink Floyd's music has always been outstanding), and it works as ambient background sound.  It many ways, it's a throwback to their earlier work.  There's no 'great' solo here, but an album full of beautful music is a good thing.

This is their last studio album, and the last album of the Pink Floyd Music Retrospective.  Having gone through their catalogue, I would sum up Pink Floyd this way:  early Pink Floyd was pure psychadelic music.  After Syd Barrett left, the band took a few albums to discover itself.  They always had great music.  When Roger Waters was at his best, his lyrics elevated them to one of the greatest music groups ever.  When he left, the rest of the group still put out great music, but couldn't quite hit the highs of their work in the 70s.  But it's still damned good, and worth listening.

Ranking of Pink Floyd Albums (adding as more albums are reviewed):

1. Wish You Were Here
2. Dark Side of the Moon
3. The Wall
4. A Momentary Lapse of Reason
5. The Division Bell
6. Meddle
7. A Saucerful of Secrets
8. Obscured by Clouds
9. Ummagumma
10. The Endless River
11. Animals
12. More
13. Piper at the Gates of Dawn
14. Atom Heart Mother
15. The Final Cut

Top 10 Pink Floyd Songs (changing as more albums are reviewed):

1. "Wish You Were Here", Wish You You Were Here
2. "Comfortably Numb", the Wall
3. "Money", Dark Side of the Moon
4. "On the Turning Away", A Momentary Lapse of Reason
5. "Us and Them", Dark Side of the Moon
6. "Learning to Fly", A Momentary Lapse of Reason
7. "Welcome to the Machine", Wish You Were Here
8. "Time", Dark Side of the Moon
9. "Fearless", Meddle
10. "Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V)", Wish You Were Here

Thoughts with Whiskey: 2025-09-27

It's almost October... the year has seemed to both flown by quickly and been a slow, meandering crawl.  I'm drinking Weller's Antique- let's pontificate!

How do they keep winning?

* As I'm typing, the Cleveland Guardians are tied 2-2 to the Rangers.  Assuming they win tonight, I believe they clinch a playoff spot; if they win and the Tigers lose, they win the AL Central.

I admit to being completely wrong about this team.  I thought they were blowing up the team that made the ALCS last year, that they didn't have the offense to be contenders, and that just a little bad luck would cause them to lose 90 games.

They didn't have a little bad luck- they had phenomenal bad luck, as they lost two pitchers for the entire season due to a gambling scandal, one of them (Emmanuel Clase) being their closer.  They still can't hit (they are dead last in the AL in runs per game), at one point they were 15 and a half games behind the Tigers...   and yet, they keep winning.  I am amazed and astounded by this team, and I cannot explain how they keep being successful.

* I've started writing again.  Just flash writing at either the writing club or on the Absolute Write forums.  But it's something.  I don't know if I should try to rewrite my attempted book or try something new, but for now I'm enjoying just writing at the moment.

* The final Pink Floyd music retrospective will be Monday.  It's been a fun exercise, and I've learned a lot about the group.  I suspect I'll pick another artist sometime in 2026, but right at this moment I have no idea who that will be.

* As always, looking for a new computer game.  I'm playing Grimdawn because there's enough variety to keep me interested, but I'd like something new.  My problem is that many 1st person games trigger my vertigo.  And I cannot play evil- which limits replaying some great games like Baldur's Gate 3.  Suggestions are always welcomed.

Stay safe, my friends.  

Pink Floyd Retrospective: Album 14- The Division Bell

 

Richard Wright's final album with the band...

Album:  The Division Bell

Year Released:    1994

Lineup:

Pink Floyd David Gilmour – vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, programming Nick Mason – drums, percussion Richard Wright – keyboards, vocals Additional musicians Jon Carin – additional keyboards, programming Guy Pratt – bass guitar Gary Wallis – percussion programming and performance Tim Renwick – additional guitars Dick Parry – tenor saxophone Bob Ezrin – percussion, keyboards Sam Brown – backing vocals Durga McBroom – backing vocals Carol Kenyon – backing vocals Jackie Sheridan – backing vocals Rebecca Leigh-White – backing vocals Michael Kamen – orchestral arrangements Edward Shearmur – orchestrations Stephen Hawking – speech synthesis (on Keep Talking)

Track Listing:

No. Title                                                         Length

1. "Cluster One"                                   5:56

2. "What Do You Want From Me"             4:22

3. "Poles Apart"                            7:03

4. "Marooned"                          5:30

5. "A Great Day for Freedom"             4:16

6. "Wearing the Inside Out"                    6:49

7. "Take It Back" 6:12

8. "Coming Back to Life"          6:19

9. "Keep Talking"                          6:11

10. "Lost for Words"                   5:15

11. "High Hopes"                                  8:31

Total length: 66:23

Overall Thoughts:

After "A Momentary Lapse of Reason", Pink Floyd went seven years before recording another album.  It would be the final album for keyboardist Richard Wright, who would pass away in 2008.  The legally no longer a member of the band, he collaborated and even wrote some of the music for their 14th album, "The Divison Bell".

There was an overall theme to "The Division Bell"- communication and talking through problems.  It's a good theme, not one that us usually the centerpiece of a rock album.  "Keep Talking" has Stephen Hawking in the background saying the humanity's ability to talk was a reason mankind was able to be more than animals.  "Lost for Words" is the opposite- how a lack of communication led to anger and bitterness (the song seems to be an ode to their former bandmate Roger Waters).

There's some excellent songs here- "Keep Talking" and "Take It Back" are the highlights, just missing my personal top 10.  Musically, the album is excellent, and the instrumentals are fantastic.  It never quite reaches the heights of their best albums- but "The Division Bell" is a great record.  

Ranking of Pink Floyd Albums (adding as more albums are reviewed):

1. Wish You Were Here
2. Dark Side of the Moon
3. The Wall
4. A Momentary Lapse of Reason
5. The Division Bell
6. Meddle
7. A Saucerful of Secrets
8. Obscured by Clouds
9. Ummagumma
10. Animals
11. More
12. Piper at the Gates of Dawn
13. Atom Heart Mother
14. The Final Cut

Top 10 Pink Floyd Songs (changing as more albums are reviewed):

1. "Wish You Were Here", Wish You You Were Here
2. "Comfortably Numb", the Wall
3. "Money", Dark Side of the Moon
4. "On the Turning Away", A Momentary Lapse of Reason
5. "Us and Them", Dark Side of the Moon
6. "Learning to Fly", A Momentary Lapse of Reason
7. "Welcome to the Machine", Wish You Were Here
8. "Time", Dark Side of the Moon
9. "Fearless", Meddle
10. "Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V)", Wish You Were Here

Pink Floyd Retrospective: Album 13- A Momentary Lapse of Reason

 

We heard a Pink Floyd album that was almost all Roger Waters.  How about a Pink Floyd album with everyone but Roger Waters?

Album:  A Momentary Lapse of Reason

Year Released:    1987

Lineup:

Pink Floyd

• David Gilmour – vocals, guitars, keyboards, fretless bass guitar, drum programming, sequencers, production
• Nick Mason – electronic and acoustic drums, spoken vocals, sound effects
• Richard Wright – backing vocals, piano, Hammond organ, Kurzweil synthesiser

Note: Wright was credited among the additional musicians on the original release. All reissues since 2011 credit him as an official band member.

Additional personnel

• Bob Ezrin – keyboards, percussion, sequencers, production
• Jon Carin – keyboards
• Patrick Leonard – synthesisers
• Bill Payne – Hammond organ
• Michael Landau – guitar
• Tony Levin – bass guitar, Chapman Stick
• Jim Keltner – drums
• Carmine Appice – drums
• Steve Forman – percussion
• Tom Scott – alto saxophone, soprano saxophone
• John Helliwell – saxophone (credited as John Halliwell)
• Scott Page – tenor saxophone
• Darlene Koldenhoven (credited as Darlene Koldenhaven) – backing vocals
• Carmen Twillie – backing vocals
• Phyllis St. James – backing vocals
• Donny Gerrard – backing vocals

Track Listing:

No. Title                                                         Length

1. "Signs of Life"                                   4:24

2. "Learning to Fly"                                4:52

3. "The Dogs of War"                            6:05

4. "One Slip"                          5:10

5. "On the Turning Away"                    5:42

Side two

No. Title                                                         Length

6. "Yet Another Movie"                            6:14

7. "Round and Around" 1:13

8. "A New Machine (Part 1)"          1:46

9. "Terminal Frost"                          6:17

10. "A New Machine (Part 2)"                   0:38

11. "Sorrow"                                  8:47

Total length: 51:08

Overall Thoughts:

"The Final Cut" was a Pink Floyd album in name only; it was a Roger Waters album with little input from David Gilmour and Nick Mason (Richard Wright was no longer a member).  

The album was not a success and Waters left the group, calling Pink Floyd a spent force and saying the group was disbanded.

Gilmour and Mason felt otherwise.  Lawsuits followed, and in the end, Gilmour and Mason recorded three more studio albums as Pink Floyd.  "A Momentary Lapse of Reason" was the first.  

Unlike the previous albums, there is no central theme around the album.  Gilmour took over primary songwriting duties, and other musicians were brought in- including a returning Wright, though Wright was no longer legally part of the band.

The results?  Much better than the 'Final Cut'.  It's a collection of singles instead of an album, so if you go in expecting a coherent theme, there isn't one.

And the songs are excellent- the lyrics might not as good as Waters, but they aren't bad.  "Dogs of War", for instance, evokes excellent imagery but doesn't really go anywhere.

But the music is significantly better- and there's an energy on "A Momentary Lapse of Reason" that is lacking in "The Final Cut".  The guitar work is outstanding and some of the songs are instrumentals ("Signs of Life", "Round and Around, "Terminal Frost""), which had been missing from Pink Floyd albums since "Dark Side of the Moon".

It's not a perfect album.  The music starts to get repetitive towards the final few songs.  But I enjoyed listening to "A Momentary Lapse of Reason".

Ranking of Pink Floyd Albums (adding as more albums are reviewed):

1. Wish You Were Here
2. Dark Side of the Moon
3. The Wall
4. A Momentary Lapse of Reason
5. Meddle
6. A Saucerful of Secrets
7. Obscured by Clouds
8. Ummagumma
9. Animals
10. More
11. Piper at the Gates of Dawn
12. Atom Heart Mother
13. The Final Cut

Top 10 Pink Floyd Songs (changing as more albums are reviewed):

1. "Wish You Were Here", Wish You You Were Here
2. "Comfortably Numb", the Wall
3. "Money", Dark Side of the Moon
4. "On the Turning Away", A Momentary Lapse of Reason
5. "Us and Them", Dark Side of the Moon
6. "Learning to Fly", A Momentary Lapse of Reason
7. "Welcome to the Machine", Wish You Were Here
8. "Time", Dark Side of the Moon
9. "Fearless", Meddle
10. "Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V)", Wish You Were Here

Thoughts with Whiskey: 2025-09-12

Our beverage tonight:  Weller Antique 107.  Not bad, but I prefer the Weller Reserve (green bottle), which is a great tasting Wheat Bourbon.

Where to begin...

- Yesterday was the 24th anniversary of 9/11 (and the 25th anniversay will be a couple of months after the USA celebrates our 250th birthday), and Charlie Kirk was assassinated earlier this week.  Not a particularly great week for the country.  

Kirk left behind a wife and two children under the age of three.  You don't have to agree with Kirk to think that it's fucked up that he was shot for expressing his views.

Part of the deal of being American is Freedom of Speech.  People say what they like, and we don't arrest or hurt them for what they say.  Yell, argue, call someone an idiot- but anytime someone gets attacked for expressing their views, it's anti-American.  

I didn't like a lot of what Kirk said.  But I liked the fact that he was willing to go to colleges and argue his beliefs.  

I don't talk much politics anymore.  Up until now, I've chalked it up to the idea that neither party really represents me, and that debating doesn't lead to any actual insight, just pointless arguing.  But now I'm wondering if part of it is cowardice- I don't want to upset my friends by disagreeing with them.  Or strangers.  And if the implied message of the shooting of Charlie Kirk is "Don't speak up... or else."  Then the proper response is to speak up twice as loud.

(speech over.  I'll move onto lighter subjects now)

- Gene editing technology is showing promise to cure diabetes.  The potential for mRNA is limitless in what it can possibly do.  This might actually lead to the cure for cancer, dementia, neurogenerative diseases like ALS.

I recently invested in the stock market in an ETF of genetic companies like CRISPR technologies.  I am optimistic about the future of medicine.

- In fact, I really wish we'd take half the money given to AI and spend it on Gene editing; I suspect it could advance cure by years if not decades.

I'm an AI-skeptic.  I don't think it's a fraud (like I do with Cryptocurrency).  But it's overblown, and certainly not worth the billions of dollars that has been invested in it.  Right now, it's nothing more than a slightly more user-friendly search engine.  Cute, but not a significant technological advance to us.

And if it does turn out to deliver what has been promised... and take over a large number of the jobs... then what?  You can't have a world where 50% of the population is not just unemployed but unemployable.  

I suspect a lot of people who are investing in AI are thinking of the benefits without thinking seriously about the consequences.  And that's if it delivers; much more like, the investment will be wasted.

- OK, time to actually get lighter in subjects:

- The Pink Floyd music retrospective is nearing the end- only three more studio albums left.  It's been a fascinating review.  My plan is to pick another artist in 2026, but I'm not sure who to pick.  

- The Kawhi Leonard story continues to amaze me.  First, Pablo Torre may be doing the best reporting in any field right now.  This is the second significant story that he's broken with a lot of evidence.  

Second, the NBA has to come down hard on the Clippers, even if there isn't more of a 'smoking gun'.  If they don't, they have just approved a blueprint for a salary cap workaround for every team in the NBA.  The NBA will be like MLB- which is great if you want to see the same six teams contend every year.  

I'm going to predict the NBA will hurt the Clippers- maybe not five 1st round draft picks, but at least 3, and possibly suspend Steve Ballmer from interacting with the team for a couple of years.   

Pink Floyd Retrospective: Album 12- The Final Cut

 

"Pink Floyd" becomes a one-man band, and that man wants to tell you what he thinks about the world...

Album:  The Final Cut

Year Released:    1983

Lineup:

Pink Floyd Roger Waters – lead vocals (all tracks), bass guitar (all tracks except 7), acoustic guitar (2–4, 6, 7, 9–12), synthesisers (3, 4, 10, 11), twelve-string guitar (11), tape effects, production, sleeve design David Gilmour – lead and rhythm guitars (1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10–12), co-lead vocals (11), additional backing vocals (10) Nick Mason – drums (1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10–11), percussion Additional musicians Michael Kamen – piano (5, 6, 8–10, 12), electric piano (2, 5), harmonium (1, 10), production Andy Bown – Hammond organ (2, 6, 11, 12), piano (5), electric piano (4) Ray Cooper – percussion (2, 6) Andy Newmark – drums (12) Raphael Ravenscroft – tenor saxophone (5, 12) Doreen Chanter – backing vocals (11) Irene Chanter – backing vocals (11) National Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted and arranged by Michael Kamen (1, 5–10)

Track Listing:

No. Title                                                         Length

1. "The Post War Dream"                     3:00

2. "Your Possible Pasts"                          4:26

3. "One of the Few"                                  1:11

4. "The Hero's Return"                          2:43

5. "The Gunner's Dream"                    5:18

6. "Paranoid Eyes"                                  3:41

Side two

No. Title                                                         Length

7. "Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert" 1:17

8. "The Fletcher Memorial Home"          4:12

9. "Southampton Dock"                          2:14

10. "The Final Cut"                                  4:43

11. "Not Now John"                                  5:02

12. "Two Suns in the Sunset"                  5:14

Total length: 43:14

Overall Thoughts:

After "The Wall", it was four years before Pink Floyd released an album of new material.  In 1981, they released "A Collection of Great Dance Songs", a remix of previous songs.  Finally,in 1983, Pink Floyd released "The Final Cut"- also the final studip album with Roger Waters.

During that time, the band continued infighting.  Richard Wright left the group during the making of the Wall, due to fighting with Waters.  Drummer Nick Mason's contributions were limited to sound effects.  David Gilmour performed the guitar work but left the material and writing to Roger Waters.  For all practical purposes, this is a Roger Waters solo record released under the 'Pink Floyd' label.

Roger Waters is great at writing introspective songs.  And he can be very snarky and bitter, which is often a great contrast to the melodious music of Floyd.  But take away the music of the rest of the group and you're left with nothing but bitter anger.  

There are artists who can make political points without coming across as obnoxious and pretentious twits.  Roger Waters is not one of those artists.  His previous album where he focussed on making a statement about the state of the world, "Animals", was not a good album.  

On "The Final Cut", an album cticizing the Falklands War and the UK under Margaret Thatcher, Waters doubled down on telling Pink Floyd's fans his thoughts on the world.  He's angry and bitter and it overwhelms the album.  

The result is unpleasant and borderline dreadful.  Maybe if you agree with Waters on everything you might the album interesting.  

My big takeway from this album is that while Pink Floyd makes great music and has powerful themes, Rogers Waters, by himself, does not.  

Ranking of Pink Floyd Albums (adding as more albums are reviewed):

1. Wish You Were Here
2. Dark Side of the Moon
3. The Wall
4. Meddle
5. A Saucerful of Secrets
6. Obscured by Clouds
7. Ummagumma
8. Animals
9. More
10. Piper at the Gates of Dawn
11. Atom Heart Mother
12. The Final Cut

Top 10 Pink Floyd Songs (changing as more albums are reviewed):

1. "Wish You Were Here", Wish You You Were Here
2. "Comfortably Numb", the Wall
3. "Money", Dark Side of the Moon
4. "Us and Them", Dark Side of the Moon
5. "Welcome to the Machine", Wish You Were Here
6. "Time", Dark Side of the Moon
7. "Fearless", Meddle
8. "Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V)", Wish You Were Here
9. "Hey You", The Wall
10. "The Great Gig in the Sky", Dark Side of the Moon