An intelligent, illuminating and enjoyable examination of the meaning and context of every Pink Floyd song from 1966 to 2014.
• An examination of every Pink Floyd song from ‘Arnold Layne’ to
‘Louder Than Words’.
• The stories behind the songs, their context within the parent
albums and the times they were written and recorded.
• Who played what in the studio and when the songs were played live.
• What the band and critics had/have to say about their musical
development.
From ‘Arnold Layne’ to ‘Louder than Words’, Pink Floyd wrote about
anger, isolation, regret, dismay, and fear. These themes, not always
obvious starting points in popular music, were married to a rare
dynamism that would make Pink Floyd stand out from the crowd.
Pink Floyd’s most successful period critically and musically – the eight
albums from 1970 to 1983 – combines the pithy lyrics of Roger Waters, the soulful voice and breath-taking guitar solos of David Gilmour and, until 1979, the jazz-influenced piano and keyboard abilities of the late Richard Wright. In varying permutations, these three wrote the band’s best work. However, when working together as equals, the three principals of Pink Floyd were significantly more than the sum of their individual strengths. Pink Floyd: Song by Song takes a fresh look at the songs, which led to Pink Floyd becoming the third best-selling band of all time. Written in a wry and engaging style, this book will delight the aficionado and the newcomer alike, as it re-listens to the complete works of a unique band.
Andrew Wild first heard Pink Floyd as an impressionable sixteen-year-old in 1983, and since then has studiously collected every available note of music from Pink Floyd and its constituent members. Pink Floyd: Song by Song is his fifth book; his previous works include official biographies of the bands Twelfth Night (Play On, 2009) and Galahad (One for the Record, 2012). He is currently one of the presenters on Progzilla, the UK’s only dedicated prog-rock radio station.
