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