Songs Of Pink Floyd

    An All Star Lineup Performing The Songs Of Pink Floyd

    (Yes, that's the full title!!)

    Purple Pyramid Records
    Catalogue Number: 41157 12232



    Well, it's different!

    Generally, as with most of these, what seems to be hastily put together tribute records, the production has a lot to be desired and the packaging must of taken all of 5 minutes to put together.

    Cutting to the chase...

    Glenn is outstanding, as usual giving his all, on his alloted track, Young Lust...and he certainly makes the song his own...Tony Franklin is ever present as always and Elliot Easton is impressive on guitar. The thumping intro is classic with the bass in your face and then the vocal, funky one second, rockin' the next...lovely stuff...the chorus is perfection with those ad-libs that Glenn is famous for all over the place...the guitar is loud and center...this one is going to be on "repeat" mode in the CD player for awhile!

    My take on the other tracks are as follows with best being first!

    Next to Glenn's performance, my favorite number has to be Have A Cigar with Bobby Kimball on vocals - it's the combination of the axe work by Bob & Bruce Kulick and Bobby's delivery that make this number 2 on the list for me! Great stuff!

    Any Colour You Like - whoa...now this is how keyboards are meant to be played...Steve Porcaro is fantastic and Robben Ford's guitar is outstanding...Tony Franklin is thumping in the background and Aynsley Dunbar is ever present and his timing really keeps you wanting more....excellent!

    Breathe (In The Air) has some out of this world guitar work by Jeff "Skunk" Baxter...the vocals by Robin McAuley are a little light on substance, and should have been a little higher in the mix. Having said that, Jeff's guitar elevates this one up my list!

    Shine On You Crazy Diamond...opens the album and sets you up for what is to come..Steve Lukather's guitar genius shines throughout the track and the vocals are perfect for this outing. Outstanding!

    Money...Ritchie Kotzen spices things up on this one...Tommy Shaw does well on vocals and overall it's a great interpretation of the classic Floyd track.

    Comfortably Numb...this one is a tough one...what with the original such a rock anthem...anyone attempting to cover it is always going to come in second...and that is certainly true here. It's given a different twist which makes it interesting with some great acoustic and choral parts by Billy Sherwood. I was hoping to hear Chris Squire higher in the mix, but it's not be unfortunately. The classic guitar solo is somewhat laid back, but overall it fits with this interpretation.

    Welcome To The Machine...the vocals keep very much to the original, but it's still good to hear Doug Pinnock put his stamp on it! Guitar work by Gary Hoey is surprisingly very good, as I'm generally not that impressed with his playing.

    Us And Them...of all the songs presented this one is the closet to the original in delivery . This disappointed me as I really wanted to hear Jeff Scott Soto put his trademark vocals on it. Highlight has to be Scotty Page's sax work and the overall musicianship is excellent, so it's not all bad!

    Another Brick In The Wall....is pretty awful with the exception of the axe work from Ronnie Montrose, which is the only saving grace on this one.

    Run Like Hell - sounding like something out of the new wave 80's era, awful keyboards, below average guitar work and generally dons the "give it a miss" category!! Not even Tony Franklin can save this one I'm afraid - like the title implies, run like hell!!

    So overall, if you're a fan of the featured musicians and Pink Floyd you should definitely seek this one out and for the die-hard Glenn fan this is a no brainer to buy. The musicianship is outstanding. The packaging is a joke, but then you don't buy this type of album for that! I just hope everyone get's their share of the pie and it's not funneled away into someone else's deep pockets!

    Finally got "An All Star Lineup Performing The Songs Of Pink Floyd. Gotta say I am happy with it as a whole. First off studs and duds:

    Studs:
    1. Doug Pinnick's vocal performance is the best of his career. I love Kings X and all the side projects but he has never sounded this good

    2. Jeff Scott Soto is amazing. He can do whatever he wants vocally. Not unlike someone else we know

    3. Glenn Hughes-no suprise. He turns classic songs from other bands into his own. He is the benefit of a top notch cast: Tony Franklin-my fav bass player, Ansley Dunbar-a great drummer and Elliot Easton who also can hold his head high.

    Duds:
    1. Billy Sherwood-what was he thinking-this is an American Classic like We Are the Champions by Queen(Another song that should never be covered and was) There should be a list of songs that no one should EVER rerecord. It just isnt right.

    2. Bobby Kimball- This is the second time I have picked on his performance on a tribute cd. He is not the problem here. The song just doesn't work

    3. Robin McCauley-WHAT was he thinking-paycheck? This is awful!! His voice sounds okay but it does NOT go with the song. Bad choice to put him in this slot


    Overall, a good cd. There is an outstanding performance by Tommy Shaw and Richie Kotzen on Money giving it a funky blues feel. At times it sounds like the Blues Brothers. Glenn, again, takes it up a notch and the bass of Tony Franklin makes the song rock. Most of the songs are a cross between being true to the original while at the same time giving the songs more pep.

    My suggestion: Buy this for the 3 stud songs. When there is a period of no releases coming out around the holidays pick this up and throw it in the cd player and watch the snow fall(if you get some)

    Maz

    This Back Against The Wall release has got to be, at the least, the third time I've seen this re-packaged, re-named, tracks deleted,maybe a few added here and there, etc.. :sint1:

    Chip

    this is from Henry Potts' Yes Page:
    ----------------

    [size=+2]Back Against the Wall[/size]

    • Billy Sherwood has produced a tribute album to Pink Floyd's The Wall for Purple Pyramid (Cleopatra Records), due 27 Sep. (An audio promo is available here, including "In the Flesh?", and further audio samples can be heard here.) Back Against the Wall covers all of the original album and further songs included in the film. Sherwood also sings many of the vocals and plays on the album, as do multiple other Yes men: Rick Wakeman, Steve Howe, Alan White, Geoff Downes, Trevor Rabin and Tony Levin all appear. Chris Squire and Tony Kaye are also on the album, but possibly not in new recordings.
    • About three tracks on the album are not new recordings, but are taken from Cleopatra's earlier Pink Floyd tribute album, Pigs & Pyramids—An All Star Lineup Performing the Songs of Pink Floyd (details in Yescography), also involving Sherwood. In a Sep 2005 interview for Classic Rock Revisited, Sherwood refers to three tracks coming from Pigs & Pyramids, including "Another Brick in the Wall Part 2". However, a total of four tracks could come from Pigs & Pyramids as they feature the same guests, so it is unclear whether Sherwood meant four tracks or whether one of these tracks was re-recorded.

    ----------------------
    ..... and the tracks are:
    ---------------------------
    Disc 1
    5. Another Brick in the Wall Part 2—taken from Pigs & Pyramids
    9. Young Lust—taken from Pigs & Pyramids

    Disc 2
    6. Comfortably Numb—feat. Chris Squire & Alan White; ?taken from Pigs & Pyramids
    9. Run Like Hell—feat. Jason Scheff[size=-1] (Chicago)[/size], Dweezil Zappa[size=-1] (ex-Lisa Loeb)[/size] & Tony Kaye; taken from Pigs & Pyramids

     A possible tour in support of the album is under consideration. In the Sep interview, Sherwood says:
    [indent][size=-1]There is chat about a tour. It would be a smaller version of what you are listening to on the album. Maybe on one leg of the tour we would have Keith Emerson and Steve Howe and then on the next leg we would have Gary Green from Gentle Giant and Steve Porcaro. We would revolve the icons around but still play The Wall. Each leg of the tour would be different so that if you saw it once you might want to come see it again. We are talking about it now and the vibe is good. I don't want to go too far down that road but it would be a great piece of music to play live. I loved playing Yes music for as long as I did and I would love to play this stuff live. It would be very cool.[/size][/indent]A follow-up project based on Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon has already started and Sherwood says in the Sep interview that he would also like to tackle Genesis' The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, The Who's Tommy or "even some of King Crimson's stuff".

    ----------
    Well, one for Glenn completists or Yes/Prog enthusiats only.

    I wonder what happened to the Influences & Connections series, that was to be continued? :huh:

    Christian

    Yet again, this gets another release on November 6th for the umpteenth time :rolleyes:

    This time it will be called, I believe, Shaw/White/Squire: The Music Of Pink Floyd.

    Pre-order now !! ;) :lol:

    Too bad it isn't Bernie Shaw (Uriah Heep) doing vocals on the CD. One of the finest songs on a tribute album I have ever heard was on "666: A Tribute to Iron Maiden" with Bernie Shaw belting out "Fear of the Dark". I do believe, though, that a group of players from the album will be performing at RIBFEST in St. Pete, Florida on November 12. If you are in the area at that time it may be something worth checking out.

    Frank:div27:
    "if only we'd turn around and notice the door to the cell is open"

    Never even knew of this release. Sounds pretty interesting. I love Pink Floyd so this will be quite different I'm sure, with others performing their music. I hope it's good. The reviews seem to be good for the most part.

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