About the band: Pink Floyd were a British band formed in London in 1965. Their music changed from psychedelic rock to full-blown prog over the years. They are one of the most commercially successful and influential bands in popular music history, and are definitely in my top 3 bands. They have released 15 studio albums in varying line-ups, but consensus is that their best period is the seventies, in which they released a handful of stunning albums, including Dark side of the moon. Pink Floyd currently have four songs in my list of about 200 best pop/rock songs of all time.
About the song: it took Pink Floyd two years before they managed to release a worthy successor to the mega-hit album The Dark Side Of The Moon. Actually, I much prefer that next album, Wish you were here from 1975. In particular the moving tribute to founder Syd Barrett: Shine on you crazy diamond (split in two parts, filling over half of the album) is the best they have ever done - it has been my #1 song now for many years. For its length, it is extraordinarily well constructed, firmly held together by Gilmour's melancholy bluesy guitar play. One of the main advantages of burning your own CD's is that I can now listen to the two parts as one integral song - the way I at least think it should be, and the way I have included it in my list. Run time 25:54.
