Four albums from legendary rock band Pink Floyd have “stood the test of time” according to bassist and songwriter Roger Waters.
Though the veteran performer was certain that three albums from the band were all-time greats, he wasn’t so sure about the fourth. Waters included it nonetheless during a conversation with Alice Cooper on the Poison hitmaker’s radio show. The bassist selected three albums which he believes are still affecting new generations, with the albums in question still regarded as the best of all time. The Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall were inevitable selections from the songwriter, who would tour the latter album in full after leaving the band.
It seemed Waters had little love for the psychedelic phase of the band, and though he did not rule out anything released after The Wall, nothing from the band after that period was chosen.
Waters said: “Yeah, well, you know, those kind of classic albums from the middle years, The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish you Were Here, The Wall, whatever, Animals maybe, they do seem to have stood the test of time, and they do seem to have affected successive generations in a way… you know, in a good way.”
All four albums are arguably essential in Pink Floyd’s discography, though the “maybe” surrounding Animals is rather telling. Waters had previously spoken about the “pathetic victory” he managed to fit into the album’s cover, with a furious comment aimed at the David Gilmour-fronted band. Waters suggested the band were keeping his creation “in a box” after he left in 1985.
He told Q Magazine in 1992: “When those people went out calling themselves Pink Floyd, it made me very, very gloomy. And it made them very happy. Well, I don’t know if it did make them happy. I don’t think they are happy, actually.
“They have to bear the cross of that betrayal. They have to live with the denial of what the work was about. But when all that nonsense started, it made me fucking gloomy. I stood by a river and stared at myself in the water. Pathetic, I said. They despoiled my creations and there was nothing I could do about it.
“My one pathetic victory was that they had to put testicles on the pig (ie the blow-up pig he designed for the cover of the Animals LP, the pig that broke loose from its moorings at Battersea power station and ran amok through the Home Counties’ skies).
“If the pig had been exactly the same as the pig that I designed, I could have stopped them from using it in their shows. So they put balls on my pig. Fuck them. Gilmour and Mason now own the name Pink Floyd. They keep it in a box.”
Such a sad, bitter old man. I truly hope that he doesn’t obsess over this stuff every day as the media would like you to believe. Whatever amount of obsessing he does it still isn’t healthy. He seems to let it define him.
What if The Cure kicked out Robert Smith? What if The Wailers kicked out Bob Marley? What if Radiohead said bye bye to Thom Yorke?
It would surely not look good for the band, nor would it be good for them artistically, which is pretty much the case for PF, save for a couple of songs, but I doubt they’d hold such a grudge over a name for decades and decades.
Nobody kicked him out. He quit. They decided to carry on as Pink Floyd without him and he didn’t think they should.
Waters has written and recorded some brilliant stuff since Floyd, huge HUGE
fan.
As usual…. Roger is always talking about Roger…
Well, “Animals” is my favorite album so I believe it certainly belongs in that top 4. The greatest 4 album stretch in Rock history. And to think, the Crown Jewel of the 4 was the first one.
I agree, Animals has been my favorite since it came out. Many many hours spent listening to it on the old headphones.
Exactly I bought it as soon as it came out and still play it often.
I agree mate,Superb album
Agreed mate,Superb album
For such an eloquent artist, Mr.Waters is lacking in perspective. While he may have written the lyrics and musical frameworks of many of PF’s best songs, they ARE the result of each instrumentalists talents and contributions. They are/were ALL necessary components of the lush sound we all love.
The four albums are meddle, darkside, wish you were here and animals. The wall was depressing.
The wall is a masterpiece… Go on with your happy little life.
YOU are depressing
Agree. The Wall is just Waters crying for his daddy, complaining about his mum and moaning about how hard it is to be rich and famous. And now he is crying about his band mates.
He’s the classic toxic, narcissist
Not that my opinion carries more weight than anyone else’s… but Meddle is a more complete offering than the Wall. The standouts on the Wall are predominantly the few song where Gilmour soared over the dark tones of that double album. I’m not a fan of Waters’ vocals and his bass playing is passable – but as a lyricist he’s got few peers.
Animals is up there with the other three albums but perhaps slightly less accessible for some. His bitterness is a shame, those 4 albums, regardless of whoever wrote the lyrics, the music and added anything to the mix, was a 4 way process with singularly talented musicians. He could not have achieved that level of quality on his own, simple as.
I get all the comments about Roger Waters being bitter, but without Roger Waters there wouldn’t have been a Pink Floyd after Dark Side of the Moon. No one else drove them forward apart from him. Annoying, egocentric, demagogue…. all true, but the only thing that kept Pink Floyd alive.
Roger is right. I feel like the last two Pink Floyd albums tarnished the legacy of one of my all time favorite bands. Without Roger, they’re at best lame. Roger Waters without Pink Floyd is ok, but I’d still rather listen to them together. Roger is a chaotic and disturbed man, but David is the opposite, together they kept each other in check. The band should have just ended after The wall. The Division Bell just isn’t the great ending that they or we deserved.
You seem to forget about Ummagumma, More and Atom Heart Mother, those were pretty terrible except for one or two songs (collectively) and they were together for those too, lmao the legacy was tarnished since before
Listening to mojo’s cd of bands covering pink floyd
Dirk, Dave Gilmour’s voice and lead guitar are by far and way the leading lights and most recognisable feature of Pink Floyd to the masses. Not Roger Waters bass or the fewer songs his voice appears on. Dave Gilmour wrote or co-wrote plenty of Pink Floyd’s songs and had the better voice. And his guitar solos are synonymous with Pink Floyd to the public. lSo it’s totally different to losing Robert Smith, Bob Marley, Thom Yorke.
That’s nonsense. Gilmour’s contributions for the big 4 stretch was minimal, other than his majestic guitar. Gilmour’s voice is great, but Waters’ voice is the distinctive Pink Floyd sound that everyone recognizes the moment they hear it. As for writing, Gilmour didn’t write much, it was mostly Waters writing and constructing the concepts for the big 4 albums.
Waters did most of the vocals on later albums, but earlier stuff (including Dark Side of the Moon) was almost all Gilmore.
Just another sald old man…
C’mon Roge, it’s time to move on. You shouldn’t obsess over the fact that they walked out with the name, because it’s meaningless without you there, they didn’t live up to the PF name after you were thrown out. You all had a good run, a magnificent run, actually, but with contributions from each, and then it was over. It didn’t end well for them either, it was well over since before.
Also, where is Meddle? Should be up there with the other 4
Used to songwrite and direct TRAPHICO in Colombia Cali and Bogota,which had been brought to the Hall of Fame there.Walters’ THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON and THE WALL taught us how to compose and perform on stage .Pity we all become older and grumpy.God bless Great Britain for rock bands like Pink Floyd.
Dark Side of the Moon….for me the greatest album of all time.For me Pink Floyd the greatest rock band ever.It saddens me that super Roger and super Dave have issues.
There will never be a resolution to Roger leaving PF…they just sold the rights to their music for A lot of Money…Roger left the band but he remains as a principal of the company..great band ..great music…I would have ditched Animals and said Meddle to Wish were there best.
My deepest apologies for this text wall but Roger is no angel I get it but he at least tried to make it right back in ’05 for live 8 and what was messed up about that is when he motion to hug Dave he ended up looking uncomfortable as though he didn’t want to embrace him. Gilmour is doing the same thing today as Roger had did to the band l back in ’79. If you want to make a Gilmore solo appearance with a backing band then fine but don’t slap the label Pink Floyd on it. This just looks fake and disgusting to me. My four albums of theirs that will always stand the test of time for me are: Saucerful of Secrets (because this is the only time they were a five-piece and Sid Barrett’s last album), Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, and Meddle.
Fuck him. He should include their ’67 debut “Piper at the gates of dawn” not just out of reverence that it was mostly Syd’s creative songs, but that they still sound extraordinary after almost 60 years! 🤬
I have read a good bit about the band during the post DSOTM period, Roger did drive the band to the point of alieninating his band mates and even kicking them out, if you can lose Syd and still be Pink Floyd, why not Roger?
From what I’ve read I believe Roger gave the band notice he was leaving and the option to do one of 2 projects he had in the bag. If memory serves the project they picked was The Wall- and the other choice was Pros and Cons. Roger ended the relationship. The sad part is even into his 80s Roger’s ego has not forgiven anyone. Roger’s ego has come to haunt him.