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The Dark Side of Music

During the 1960s sex, love, and drugs were the happening, Three men studying

architecture in London, while a third was an art student, these four men would soon be the

beginning of what is known to be Space Rock or Progressive Rock. Throughout the dismay of

the early sixties a band arose from the works in London in 1965, its name was Pink Floyd. Pink

Floyd was formed by five people. David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Syd Barrett, Richard Wright,

and Nick Mason. David Gilmour came a little later when he replaced Syd Barrett. Barrett was

responsible with most of the bands early work which consisted of psychedelic and rock, or

better known as Psych-rock. Barrett soon left the band because of excess drug abuse, which

prompted David Gilmour to join shortly after to pick up the guitar.

Pink Floyd was the first band to care as much about their aesthetic as their music itself.

During their live shows, The Floyd (as they were called) made sure to give their audience a

sensory experience, pairing their performance with light projections that followed the music

they were playing. Pink Floyd hit fame in the 1970s and continued a long string of fame after

that. Having three consecutive landmark albums. The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were

Here, and Off the Wall.

Pink Floyd influenced many bands of the time to follow their visual steps and make it

overall more appealing to their audiences, making it the norm now. With their interest in

visuals and surround sound, Pink Floyd made their concerts truly an experience which sparked
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Essay #4

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the flow of other bands to follow in their steps. Other than influencing the way other bands

would deliver a live performance, Pink Floyd also influenced a genre of music.

The late 60s early 70s was a peace and love time. The abuse of hallucinogenics was

normal and appealed to the kind of music Pink Floyd was producing. Their unique spacey tone

was perfect for the ears of the people abusing these drugs. Pink Floyd found a way to

mainstream their music, this along with their profound lyrics and amazing light shows made

them very well-known and to this day, still keep them in high standard. Pink Floyd began

making albums that fall into the genre of psychedelic rock. After The Dark Side of the Moon,

their genre was considered progressive rock.

Floyd was known to always prioritize their music, they never plastered their faces on

album covers, nor did they ever exploit the fact that they were one of the biggest bands in the

1970s. For the band, the feeling that their music evoked was always their primary reason for

creating the music itself. Songs from their album The Dark Side of the Moon are examples of

this, songs like Us and Them and Time both have the eerie spacey feeling attached to

them. These sounds were so eagerly copied during this time. I believe Floyd wanted the music

prioritized again. I believe this is the reason why they stayed out of the spotlight and

experimented so much with sounds and lights, their goal was always to enhance the experience

of listening to their music, something which had been lost during the funk age of music which

centered around dancing.

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These radical changes in music left the common people in awe. People in Europe and in

America both fell in love with the way Floyd delivered music. Not many bands before had actual

meaning behind their lyrics, which Floyd did. Most of their lyrics are centered around mental

illness, although they do reference drug abuse quite much. This affected the culture during this

time to decriminalize mental illness and lessen the stigma. This also affected younger

generations in which they were exposed to that of the substance abuse that was so popular

during the times.

Overall Pink Floyd was influential by creating a new norm for album art, for live

performances, and for initiating the beginning of progressive rock. Pink Floyd was one of the

first bands to actually promote an entire album rather than singles and to have actual meanings

behind those said albums. In the late 1970s, Pink Floyds members had started releasing solo

work. Later in the mid 1980s the band members would dispute about using the name Pink

Floyd, the band however, kept touring. In the 90s the band members rejoined as full band

members and gained much success with the albums The Division Bell and P.U.L.S.E. This

led them shortly into the Rock and Roll hall of fame in 1996. Entering the 2000s the band

rejoined and performed at the Global Live 8 concert after 24 years of not playing together.

Many fans anticipated a reunion of the infamous band but the death of Wright in 2008

ended all hopes for this to happen. Still today, modern bands try to mimic Floyds sound but

pale in comparison to what began it all.

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Works Cited

Hyman, Dan. Artists on How Pink Floyd Influenced Them. The New York Times, The New
York Times, 10 Nov. 2014, tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/11/10/pink-floyd-influence-on-
artists/.

Pink Floyd | The Official Site, www.pinkfloyd.com/history/biography.php.

Pink Floyd Biography. Rolling Stone, www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/pink-

floyd/biography.