My introduction to Pink Floyd was “Careful With That Axe, Eugene.” Holy shit! That’ll get you to sit up and take notice! :eek:
[QUOTE=Dung Beetle]
I’m a fan, but why do I like it? I don’t know. Naturally Another Brick in the Wall part II was the first song I heard off it, and that’s a good tune that expresses a sentiment easy for a youngster to get behind. 
Later on, I heard the rest of the album while spending time with my friends. We were all in a pleasant mood, if you know what I mean and I’m sure that you do. We also enjoyed the movie…wow, I just remembered that the first time I ever saw it, I asked my grandma to rent it for me and I watched it completely sober and all by myself. I didn’t really get it, but after many more viewings in different states of consciousness and many deep discussions with my friends, I totally understood where it was coming from, man.
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I’ve seen it about 10 times, never in a sober state of mind. 
I should probably never see it sober, as it’d probably spoil it.
Like some others, The Wall simply isn’t as much of a favorite as Dark Side of the Moon, Animals, Wish You Were Here… I’m even more into the Barrett days (Piper at the Gates of Dawn) than I am anything released after Animals.
Something about the material released after Animals is just… different… for reasons already stated.
I like DSotM and the Barrett era about equally, but The Wall is heads and shoulders above anything done by anyone, even The Floyd themselves. The major soloes are the best music written by anyone, in all time. Even most of the songs that aren’t “important” enough to have a solo have one that in itself is better musically than most bands’ whole albums. If they just kept up the musical creativity in the last quarter, where it trails off a bit, I’d practically orgasm.
That said, Obscured by Clouds, TFC, and WYWH are pretty good musically, too*, but I still have a soft place in my heart for early Floyd cause of its funness and energy.
*As in, also in my top 10 musical albums for “rock” music.
[QUOTE=Hogwash]
Wikipedia has The Wall at 23x Platinum and DSotM at 15x Platinum.
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Yes. I’d been under the impression that double albums were counted twice which would’ve effectively put the DSotM ahead. But some googling revealed that that is only for double albums over 100 minutes in length. So the Wall figures are for album sales rather than disc sales.
[QUOTE=Defective Detective]
“There’s someone else that needs taking care of in Washington. Who? Rose Pilcher. You know, 36, 24, 36?” - what movie?
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I thought this was Sgt. Carter talking to his corporal in Gomer Pyle. There is the “Surprise, surprise, surprise” line from Gomer later.
I’ve always wondered where the “Your friend’s gonna pick up our trail.” line came from.
Just wanted to add, when I discovered that the Grammys were worthless.
What won the best album Grammy for 1980? (When The Wall was nominated)
Christopher Cross
The Wall even packs the dance floor (youtube link).
[QUOTE=pinkfreud]
I’m not sure exactly why, but when I first heard Green Day’s American Idiot, I thought of The Wall.
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Definetly, American Idiot was written as a rock opera , just like The Wall and Tommy. Because the songs all have the same theme, the same spirit running through them, it really ties all the songs together like most other albums don’t.
If you haven’t heard it, the Tufts Beelzebubs (a capella group) does an AMAZING rendition of “Hey You” which they let you download on their website: http://www.bubs.com/album1994House.asp
[QUOTE=1920s Style “Death Ray”]
I’m pretty sure that the Dark Side of the Moon was more successful than the Wall. It stayed in the charts for a phenomenal amount of time.
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Yes, over time, “Dark Side of the Moon” almost certainly earned more. But “The Wall” finally got the band onto the pop charts and a wider audience, at least for a time, thanks to the song “Another Brick in the Wall” and the film. So you could say “The Wall” was their most commercial success in that sense.
[QUOTE=Hoops]
One aspect of it that I think is masterfully realized is the use of spoken word and sound effects, integrated into the music so successfully that they are essentially hooks in themselves.
“If ye doon’t eat yer meat, ye can’t have any puddin! How can ya have any puddin if ye doon’t eat yer meat?”
The subliminal crunch after “Hurt the children any way they could.”
“Time to GO-oo!”
“Surprise surprise surprise!”
“Wanna take a bayath?” (her voice clearly echoing in the tiled bathroom).
“–we came in?” “So this is where–”
Just a few examples of many.
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Are ALL these your GUITARS?
So many of my old favorite Pink Floyd albums are worn out — no, not the playback medium, I have digital soundfiles same as you do, but rather inside my head. I’ve just heard them too often, to the point that when I put them on I don’t hear them any more, my mind has memorized every single sound of each song and so they’re worn out for me.
But right now I happen to be listening to the Top Gear Sessions CDs, rare bootlegs from the Piper at the Gates of Dawn through Ummagumma / More era, and because I haven’t had it long and listened it to death I’m enjoying it 
DSOTM got me onboard with Pink Floyd, to the point I went out and bought up Meddle and Wish You Were Here on short order, then A Nice Pair (Piper and Saucerful of Secrets as a double album), then Animals when it came out.
I’ve seen Battle of Britain ("Where the hell are you? Where the hell are you, Simon??) and I thought it was a good use of my 90 minutes. I bet PF picked equally good movies for the other background chatter on this album, anyone know where this line came from:
“…Your father’s going to pick up our trail before long…”
It sounds like a twisted kind of movie I’d like to watch on a Sunday night. Stoned. Preferably with the lights out and no one home.
[QUOTE=AHunter3]
So many of my old favorite Pink Floyd albums are worn out — no, not the playback medium, I have digital soundfiles same as you do, but rather inside my head. I’ve just heard them too often, to the point that when I put them on I don’t hear them any more, my mind has memorized every single sound of each song and so they’re worn out for me.
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Yeah, I hate to say it, but I can hardly listen to Dark Side of the Moon anymore.
I end up skipping certain songs on different Floyd albums (like “Great Gig in the Sky”…I can only take about 30 seconds of it before I’m done) but for the most part I can listen to PF endlessly.
My “gotta skip that” tracks are few and far-between on Floyd albums, but Seamus, that’s the dog, stays outside, as does his kennel-mate Mademoiselle Knobs or whatever her name is; the weird bleating at the end of Absolutely Curtains says its curtain time for OBC; and the old woman with the casket has already screamed her last scream as far as I’m concerned.
I almost listed Seamus in my post as well. It is also on my “skip list”.
Floyd is hands down my favorite band of all times.
I’m not terribly surprised to see so little love for The Final Cut, however; in my experience people either love that album or hate it with a passion… very little middle ground there. For my part, TFC is one of my top 3 Floyd albums. It has some absolutley beautiful writing.
It’s difficult for me to say what album is my favorite, as it really depends on what mood I’m in at the time.
Gah! I’m at work and can’t go jam out now… gonna be a LONG day!
[QUOTE=Defective Detective]
I bet PF picked equally good movies for the other background chatter on this album, anyone know where this line came from:
“…Your father’s going to pick up our trail before long…”
It sounds like a twisted kind of movie I’d like to watch on a Sunday night. Stoned. Preferably with the lights out and no one home.
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It’s from an episode of Gunsmoke.