Who IS Pink Floyd?
 

I know, I know. I'm asking, which of the band members do YOU think best represents the band? When YOU think of Floyd, who do you think of? I'm recycling this from the old TFP since we have new blood now and I'm looking for opinions.

To me, Floyd will always be Roger Waters. Gilmour's music is great, but only Roger can sing like that and make it work. And his writing is beyond compare.

-Mikey

I saw a rock history show a few years ago, and Johnny Rotten was originally noticed by Malcolm McLauren and the members of the Sex Pistols because he kept wearing a "Pink Floyd Sucks" t-shirt around London (which was heresy in the mid-70's).

Had to vote for Waters, though I think he's a prick and was ultimately responsible for breaking the band up. Gilmour will always be my favorite, but history has shown that his songwriting just isn't up to snuff (particularly his two abhorrent solo albums in the 80's)

My vote was for Roger Waters, but I could sway toward David Gilmour. Either of the two would be fine.

i voted waters.. only because his vocals are entrenched in my mind .. but.. to be honest.. so is gilmores guitar work.. soooo.. very tough one indeed.

The whole was always greater than the sum of the parts. Waters' work without Gilmour is as different as PF is w/o Roger. I have been far more interested in Waters' solo work than PF since he left, but there's still a lot missing.

I have an entire concert of "Pros and Cons" with Clapton playing guitar and even as much as THAT rules, I feel it would have been better with Gilmour's moods added to it. And... Andy Fairweather-Low, while technically sound, isn't even in the same ballpark.

Only that combination of guys is Pink Floyd and anything else should bear a different name.

If it matters, I've seen every Waters tour, but I only saw PF once after he left. That was more than enough.

Gilmour.

Why ?

Because he didn't become a powerhungry control freak.

I mean at one point (about the time of The Wall) Roger wanted to call the band "Roger Waters and The Pink Floyd".

Also NOBODY can play guitar as good as Gilmour.

Waters

I love all pink floyd especially the early stuff, BUT, my favourite two songs are both from after Roger left (Learning to Fly + On the Turning Away)

Yeah, but IMHO they pale next to "Welcome to the Machine" or oh, I don't know, ANY song from the "Dark Side of the Moon" album? :D

Pink Floyd happens to be my favorite band and has been since I was 16 and The Wall was realeased. I like all of their stuff and have every release from first to last on CD and many on vinyl. My favorite band member has always been David Gilmour. I like his guitar playing, his style, and the fact that he doesn't come across as an asshole - which Roger Waters does.

Waters strikes me as a crybaby who is supremely miffed that Gilmour continues to have success flying the Pink Floyd banner.

Pink Floyd have never been as good when completely dominated by one individual as when they have a couple of people involved in the music. The Final Cut was crap; The Wall wasn't as good as Wish You Were Here. The Division Bell, with Wright reinvolved, was better than what was virtually a Gilmour solo album.

Of course, I'm a foul heretic, since I'm not that enthusiastic about Barret-era Floyd.

See, there's the funny thing about personal tastes... in the "most overlooked album" thread, I cited Floyd's "Animals" but it was a tough call for me between that and Final Cut. I love Final Cut! (but Cartman hasn't ever quoted that one, so Animals won)

"Not Now John" was an awesome song. "Your Possible Pasts" is one of my top-10 PF songs. "The Fletcher Memorial Home" is classic Floyd... it's a really strong PF album from start to finish and a fabulous commentary on the price of war. Though the subject matter reached back to WWII, it finally saw Roger's writing escaping his childhood and coming into the present for once and that was a welcome change.

Anyway... as you were.

Gilmour, you can't deny how great some of the post Water's albums have been, and I went to the Division Bell concert...still the best concert I have EVER seen.

You can say Waters for his vocals, but Gilmour is ever impressive in that area as well.

The Greatest Rock Band Ever....

Gilmour, because Waters made the The Wall and all the records after suck. Gilmour, however, sucked on The Division Bell. Still, I saw Gilmour in concert twice and I give him serious fucking credit for being able to stand up, let alone play music, with all the crazy lights and shit going on around him.

He who controls the pig controls the band!

My favorite member of PF will always be Syd tho. While maybe not responsible for the phenomenon that PF became, he was still the driving force behind some of the trippiest music ever recorded.

The songs truely lagged after water's departure. they got too spaced out and sounded more like Gilmour was on downers then Halucinogenics. Which would be Sid. But nonetheless. Roger Waters is King of the Floyd. he was the most creative out of all of them. though Gilmours Solos are breathtaking. I'd say the two when together, not Gimour alone. The rest of the band kind of get washed into the background.

Roger Waters went loco, so I'll have to say David Gilmour is the one who best represents Pink Floyd.

*shudder* I'm afraid I agree with the other members of Floyd: it wasn't good enough for The Wall, and it wasn't good enough for an album.

I've never thought of one person having to represent the band. They're a band. They'd never sound the same with any one member replaced, and they sounded best with Gilmour on guitar and Waters on bass, no matter who was doing the singing. They wouldn't have sounded as good with a different keyboard player, and they wouldn't have sounded as good with a different drummer.

By the way I have a copy of Gilmour's About Face solo album and while some of it sucks, Murder and All Lovers Are Deranged are pretty good songs.

Don't you mean Syd? Roger is quite lucid; he's still writing music and selling albums. Syd talks to his fruit cup.

-Mikey