Pink Floyd - See Emily Play

[oscillations.]

Wow, what a wild track this is. I've rediscovered it of late & I wish I owned it on an album (it's on one of their early compilations).
www.youtube.com/watch?v=F94vHO7okZQ

Do you prefer your Pink Floyd with or without Syd Barrett?

[WotUNeed]

I can do without most Pink Floyd that was recorded after the early period. This sort of track is much more my style.

Exceptions: "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" and "Run Like Hell" are both fine tracks.

But I think they kind of drifted off a bit too much. At least for my tastes.

[banet2001]

I enjoyed the weird psychedelic pop direction of the Syd Barrett years. It is hard to completely compare the two eras. I almost consider them two different bands.

Dark Side of the Moon and the Wall were their two big crowning commercial glories and I would have a hard time putting the early material ahead of those albums. I wonder what would have happened to Pink Floyd if Syd was able to have a long term career in music. It seems like he had an inevitable breakdown, but would they have had more pop top forty type of success with a charismatic leader like Syd up front as opposed to the anonymous group lead by Roger Waters and David Gilmour and would that band have had more long term impact on the music industry. Who knows, but it is interesting to speculate.

[irock]

I love the early Syd Barrett stuff as much as anyone, but I think the years dominated by Roger Waters were Pink Floyd's best. With the exception of the one single Learning To Fly, I didn't much care for Pink Floyd sans Waters. I liked much of Waters' solo work, particularly the superb LP 'The Pros And Cons Of Hitchhiking' which he did with Eric Clapton back in 1984.

[oscillations.]

I prefer their earlier music, but enjoy the ideology of The Wall. It was very (overly) ambitious, but I think it was necessary for a rock band to take a musical template and make people believe it was a medium that could be used to conquer absolutely anything. That whole era was about the creation and misuse of power; that the band themselves were nearly demigods at this career apex is of course not coincidental. It was a dream within a dream.
Oh, and the movie is a cult classic for a reason, I might add (haha).

I have 4 of their albums & enjoy them all from time to time.

[Pipa]

The Wall is one of the most amazing things ever done. Sorry Syd fans, but the two just can't compare.

[WotUNeed]

Apr 5, 2008 17:35:52 GMT -5 Pipa said:

The Wall is one of the most amazing things ever done. Sorry Syd fans, but the two just can't compare.

Objectively - you are correct. If I had to write an essay defending a position, it would be easier for me to try explaining using The Wall, Dark Side of the Moon, continuity of albums, experimentation, boundary-pushing, evoking far more than just the aural, blah blah blah.

But subjectively, I'll still take the Syd tunes.