Posted on by Rob Jones · 6 Comments

Pink Floyd Play “Louder Than Words”

Pink_Floyd_-_The_Endless_River_(Artwork)Listen to this track by psychedelic and progressive rock granddaddies Pink Floyd. It’s “Louder Than Words”, the sole lyrics-based song as taken from their final album under the Pink Floyd name, The Endless River. The album came out of scouring through the tapes leftover from 1994’s The Division Bell sessions, looking for gems that were good enough to release as a new record. After reviewing the tracks in their original form, overdubs were layered on top to make them new tracks by surviving and current members David Gilmour and Nick Mason.

The reasons for the release, after having been hounded by press and fans for so long around the subject of a reunion, are artistic. But, they’re also sentimental. And whose sentiment are we experiencing when we hear this song, so self-referential as it is (although with lyrics not from the band, but a close insider – guitarist David Gilmour’s wife Polly Sampson)? Well, there is something of  trace of self-examination over nearly fifty years of existance as a band. But, I think it delivers something else that is more universal, too. Read more

Posted on by Geoff Moore · 12 Comments

Roger Waters The Wall Live 2010: Riding the Gravy Train

The ‘Classic Album’ tag is something of a double-edged sword, in that careers are often weighted down by them as much as made by them. In recent years, bands have united to perform [insert respective classic album title according to act here] “in it’s entirety” as a way to jump start a comeback, or just plain sell tickets to keep the show on the road.

But, is there a limit to how many times an act can do this before losing credibility? How much will the concert ticket booking, CD extras-seeking, DVD-buying public stand? Well, in this month’s piece by writer, pop music critic, and music fan Geoff Moore, that very question takes center stage, with a giant inflatable pig hanging over it …

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Roger Waters was the cover subject of a very recent issue of Rolling Stone magazine. Stop-in-your-tracks stuff because he is neither a television actor nor a starlet, but an actual working musician, albeit one with nothing new to sing to us. But such is the state of what is now referred to as ‘classic’ rock.

Roger Waters has revived (rebuilt?) The Wall, which relates the story of Pink F. Sorrow, a rock star who suffers a breakdown in the Colony of Slippermen where he has been exiled and forced to play pinball.

And he blames his mother. Or something.

Time has not been kind to rock opera plots generally (the drugs wore off), but the vast majority of their songs still hold up either in or outside of their original contexts. Read more

Posted on by Rob Jones · 2 Comments

Former Pink Floyd Bassist Roger Waters Loses His, er, Pig

Roger Waters PigHere’s a link to a story about Roger Waters’ continuing problems with inflatable barnyard animals. Get your mind out of the gutter! I’m talking about his elaborate on-stage (above stage, actually) prop – his giant inflatable pig, which was cast adrift on Sunday at this year’s Coachella festival when the mooring ropes meant to keep it from floating away came loose.

Everyone can relax. He got it back, albeit in pieces. And those who found it got a promised reward of cash (ten grand!) and concert tickets. Happy endings all around, except for the pig of course who must be re-constructed before flying once again. The best part about it: when he saw that the porcine prop was adrift and floating away, he said: “That’s my pig!” from the stage while in the middle of the Floyd-era track “Pigs on the Wing”. It must have been the highlight of the show.

Waters has used the prop for a long time, as a sort of holdover from his Pink Floyd days. The image of the floating pig, seen hanging over Battersea Power Station in London on the Floyd’s 1977 album Animals, has become a trademark of the group. There was an absurd law suit between the band and Waters, who spilt from them in 1985, as to who owns the rights to the image and the use of the prop. It was settled of course by the only reasonable path available to both parties. Waters was instructed to put a set of “knackers” on his pig – that’s “balls” to us North American types – making it a “boy” pig. The Floyd’s pig is a sow.

Rock and roll. Oink oink.

Editor’s note – The editorial staff here at the Delete Bin would like it noted that no reference to the popular phrase “when pigs fly” was made through out the whole of this article. For this, we feel that we too deserve a cash reward and concert tickets. If you feel the same way, please give generously. Well, maybe just add your comments, and we’ll call it even…