Post by The Mad Plumber on Dec 14, 2009 16:48:46 GMT -5
Thanks, Cap! Your list is taken great shape as well. I'm curious to see what your final ten is going to be. You seem to have a leaning towards the more obscure Floyd tracks than I do. You're also hit on several that I wonder why they didn't make my top 52 in favor of others; maybe if I had a longer list ...
Anyways, I've covered my top favorites. Now, here is my small list of what I consider to be the worst of Pink Floyd, and I again suspect to catch some ire from the fans in regards to my choices.
#5. “Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together and Grooving with a Pict”
Well, congratulations, Roger: this may be the longest and strangest track title that I’ve ever seen. Yes, I listen to “Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together and Grooving with a Pict” whilst watching The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies and reading up on the life and times of Johann Gambolputty de von Ausfern-schplenden-schlitter-crasscrenbon … uh, you get the point.
Here’s what I’ll give the track: at least the title is as stupid as the track itself. It’s not music, and I’m not being cynical or exaggerative about that; it’s … not … music. It’s a mixture of squeaks and chirping noises sped up to emulate pretty much what the title describes: several species of small furry animals. Then, Roger pops in with a ridiculous, boisterous Scottish accent and starts yelling absolute gibberish.
Maybe I can accept that the studio portion of Ummagumma was an experiment to help find a new sound for the group, but that track’s not even trying! I guess they needed to fill time that somehow eclectic meanderings like “Sysyphus” and “The Grand Vizier’s Garden Party” couldn’t even succeed in doing themselves.
#4. “Free Four”
I don’t like Norman Greenbaum’s “Spirit in the Sky”; end of story. I remember many years ago, I would always see those commercials advertising compilations of all that 60s hippie peace-nick crap, and they were so damn annoying.
“Free Four” very much sounds like an outright bastardization of “Spirit in the Sky”. Was it deliberate? Are they mocking Greenbaum? Who cares? It’s still an obnoxious track. This particular track is my strongest evidence that Obscured by Clouds was some attempt to rival the soundtrack to Easy Rider. If you remember, that movie had some lousy songs, too.
#3. “Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast”
When I worked at the factory, the supervisor allowed me to keep a radio in my cubicle. I kept the radio at a moderate volume, not too loud as to threaten my privilege, but also not too soft as to make it impossible to hear. At one point, I ultimately brought in my catalog of Floyd albums to listen to one after another; I’m not sure if a festival of Floyd albums would last me an entire ten hour work day, but I needed every little bit of music I could muster to keep my sanity.
At the factory was probably where I would ultimately first listen to Atom Heart Mother. When the album got down to “Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast”, because of the low volume of the radio and the track itself, I had a hard time knowing if there was any music playing. The music would keep cutting out into those stupid sound effects of the breakfast food cooking and somebody muttering nothing.
Furthermore, the song sounded like a damned coffee commercial! “Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast” is long and pompous, and just when you’re glad that it’s over, it starts up again!
#2. “Seamus”
I guess this song is supposed to be a joke, but I say save the jokes for comedians. The one value of this energy-bereft blues parody is that at least it’s short.
Meddle was one of the few Floyd albums our family had on vinyl. Whenever I listened to our vinyl copy of this album, the needle would always skip at a certain point in “Seamus”. In fact, whenever I listen to the track on CD, I keep expecting to hear the track skip like I remember it skipped on vinyl.
#1. “Young Lust”
Maybe under normal circumstances I would probably just simply not like this track. However, there are various elements that make “Young Lust” absolutely infuriating to me.
First off, “Young Lust” would ultimately make the final cut of The Wall at the sacrifice of “What Shall We Do Now?”, which I consider to be a far more fascinating and entertaining track. Secondly, it does annoy me at how this song is included in the regular playing schedule of classic rock stations when I find it to be a very poor example of the works of Floyd. Finally, this song possesses everything that is the opposite of what I love about Floyd and sounds like a complete pander to rock genre fans. I consider the song to be tasteless and crude. Usually when I come across a Floyd song on the radio while I’m driving, I leave the tuner on that station; however, when it’s “Young Lust”, I tend to always pass it up for something else.
Perhaps I am again inciting the fury of other Floyd fans by saying this, but I consider “Young Lust” to be the worst song of Floyd’s entire career.
Anyways, I've covered my top favorites. Now, here is my small list of what I consider to be the worst of Pink Floyd, and I again suspect to catch some ire from the fans in regards to my choices.
#5. “Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together and Grooving with a Pict”
Well, congratulations, Roger: this may be the longest and strangest track title that I’ve ever seen. Yes, I listen to “Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together and Grooving with a Pict” whilst watching The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies and reading up on the life and times of Johann Gambolputty de von Ausfern-schplenden-schlitter-crasscrenbon … uh, you get the point.
Here’s what I’ll give the track: at least the title is as stupid as the track itself. It’s not music, and I’m not being cynical or exaggerative about that; it’s … not … music. It’s a mixture of squeaks and chirping noises sped up to emulate pretty much what the title describes: several species of small furry animals. Then, Roger pops in with a ridiculous, boisterous Scottish accent and starts yelling absolute gibberish.
Maybe I can accept that the studio portion of Ummagumma was an experiment to help find a new sound for the group, but that track’s not even trying! I guess they needed to fill time that somehow eclectic meanderings like “Sysyphus” and “The Grand Vizier’s Garden Party” couldn’t even succeed in doing themselves.
#4. “Free Four”
I don’t like Norman Greenbaum’s “Spirit in the Sky”; end of story. I remember many years ago, I would always see those commercials advertising compilations of all that 60s hippie peace-nick crap, and they were so damn annoying.
“Free Four” very much sounds like an outright bastardization of “Spirit in the Sky”. Was it deliberate? Are they mocking Greenbaum? Who cares? It’s still an obnoxious track. This particular track is my strongest evidence that Obscured by Clouds was some attempt to rival the soundtrack to Easy Rider. If you remember, that movie had some lousy songs, too.
#3. “Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast”
When I worked at the factory, the supervisor allowed me to keep a radio in my cubicle. I kept the radio at a moderate volume, not too loud as to threaten my privilege, but also not too soft as to make it impossible to hear. At one point, I ultimately brought in my catalog of Floyd albums to listen to one after another; I’m not sure if a festival of Floyd albums would last me an entire ten hour work day, but I needed every little bit of music I could muster to keep my sanity.
At the factory was probably where I would ultimately first listen to Atom Heart Mother. When the album got down to “Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast”, because of the low volume of the radio and the track itself, I had a hard time knowing if there was any music playing. The music would keep cutting out into those stupid sound effects of the breakfast food cooking and somebody muttering nothing.
Furthermore, the song sounded like a damned coffee commercial! “Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast” is long and pompous, and just when you’re glad that it’s over, it starts up again!
#2. “Seamus”
I guess this song is supposed to be a joke, but I say save the jokes for comedians. The one value of this energy-bereft blues parody is that at least it’s short.
Meddle was one of the few Floyd albums our family had on vinyl. Whenever I listened to our vinyl copy of this album, the needle would always skip at a certain point in “Seamus”. In fact, whenever I listen to the track on CD, I keep expecting to hear the track skip like I remember it skipped on vinyl.
#1. “Young Lust”
Maybe under normal circumstances I would probably just simply not like this track. However, there are various elements that make “Young Lust” absolutely infuriating to me.
First off, “Young Lust” would ultimately make the final cut of The Wall at the sacrifice of “What Shall We Do Now?”, which I consider to be a far more fascinating and entertaining track. Secondly, it does annoy me at how this song is included in the regular playing schedule of classic rock stations when I find it to be a very poor example of the works of Floyd. Finally, this song possesses everything that is the opposite of what I love about Floyd and sounds like a complete pander to rock genre fans. I consider the song to be tasteless and crude. Usually when I come across a Floyd song on the radio while I’m driving, I leave the tuner on that station; however, when it’s “Young Lust”, I tend to always pass it up for something else.
Perhaps I am again inciting the fury of other Floyd fans by saying this, but I consider “Young Lust” to be the worst song of Floyd’s entire career.