{"id":267592,"date":"2025-11-07T10:53:15","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T10:53:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/267592\/"},"modified":"2025-11-07T10:53:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T10:53:15","slug":"pink-floyds-the-endless-river-was-an-indiana-jones-adventure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/267592\/","title":{"rendered":"Pink Floyd\u2019s The Endless River was an Indiana Jones adventure"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"893142bc-ff07-4ad1-985f-c195c79d01d7\">Featuring music recorded by Pink Floyd\u2019s David Gilmour, Rick Wright and Nick Mason during The Division Bell sessions, The Endless River was the most eagerly-awaited prog album of the 21st century. Ahead of its arrival in 2014, Gilmour, Mason and others revealed the story of how \u2013 and why \u2013 it was created.<\/p>\n<p id=\"97e1df0d-8342-4159-9742-a754b219ff4d\">\u201cIt comes from all sorts of ideas,\u201d explains <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/david-gilmour-the-solo-years\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/david-gilmour-the-solo-years\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">David Gilmour<\/a> of <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/artist\/pink-floyd\" data-before-rewrite-redirect=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/tag\/pink-floyd\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/artist\/pink-floyd\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Pink Floyd<\/a>\u2019s new album. \u201cSome of it is improvised, quite a bit of it is just the two of us, <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/pink-floyd-richard-wright-roger-waters\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/pink-floyd-richard-wright-roger-waters\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Rick [Wright]<\/a> and me, or the three of us, improvising together. Some of it is half-written ideas that one of us had come up with, rehearsed and considered as a start point for something.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"elk-seasonal\" data-url=\"\" href=\"\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"97e1df0d-8342-4159-9742-a754b219ff4d-1\">Those ideas often happened on the Astoria, Gilmour\u2019s houseboat moored on the River Thames in Hampton, west London. It\u2019s also where many peculiar events have taken place. Engineer Andy Jackson, who has worked with Pink Floyd and Gilmour since 1980, recalls sitting in the control room there in 2005 while Gilmour was recording <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/david-gilmour-solo-albums-guide\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/david-gilmour-solo-albums-guide\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">On An Island<\/a>. That\u2019s when the call came through from Bob Geldof, asking if the long-dormant Floyd would play together again for the <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/pink-floyd-reunite-at-live-8\" data-before-rewrite-redirect=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/tr-extended-feature-50-years-of-pink-floyd-a-most-unlikely-reunion\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/pink-floyd-reunite-at-live-8\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Live 8 concert<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>You may like<\/p>\n<p>It was also there, seven years later, that Jackson learned there was to be a new Pink Floyd album, some 20 years after they had last released fresh material, and after years of Gilmour saying \u201cabsolutely, definitely not.\u201d Another surprise was that Jackson would be working on it. \u201cI was as amazed as you are,\u201d he says, standing in the oak-panelled room on the boat, once owned by theatrical impresario Fred Karno.<\/p>\n<p>It was no secret that there was a surplus of material from the sessions for <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/the-making-of-pink-floyds-the-division-bell\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/the-making-of-pink-floyds-the-division-bell\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Division Bell<\/a>. The album had at one point been envisaged as a double, with one disc of vocal tracks and the other built from the instrumental sessions that began at Floyd\u2019s Britannia Row studios and continued on the Astoria in early 1993. All featured Gilmour, drummer <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/nick-mason-and-his-saucerful-of-secrets\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/nick-mason-and-his-saucerful-of-secrets\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Nick Mason<\/a> and keyboard Wright. \u201cAfter two weeks we had taped an extraordinary collection of riffs, patterns and musical doodles,\u201d Nick Mason noted in his book Inside Out: A Personal History Of Pink Floyd. \u201cSome rather similar, some nearly identifiable as old songs of ours, some clearly subliminal reinventions of well-known songs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:56.25%;\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/iWogvs3Ftu3zdQMHNgXmFC.jpg\" alt=\"Pink Floyd\"   loading=\"lazy\" data-new-v2-image=\"true\" data-original-mos=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/iWogvs3Ftu3zdQMHNgXmFC.jpg\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/iWogvs3Ftu3zdQMHNgXmFC.jpg\"\/>\n<\/p>\n<p>(Image credit: Jeremy Young and Harry Borden)<\/p>\n<p id=\"b8b6779a-58a9-4ff9-8c70-13a333be0a95\">From these, around 40 workable ideas emerged. As The Division Bell took shape, it became clear there would be insufficient time to fashion all the instrumentals into an album. As a result, the recordings languished \u2013 but not before an artefact was created by Jackson that subsequently became another brick of Floydian mythology.<\/p>\n<p>The Big Spliff was an hour-long composite of the ambient end of this material, and Mason alerted those outside the inner circle to it in his 2004 autobiography. \u201cThere was no brief for it \u2013 I did it off my own bat,\u201d Jackson says. \u201cAs we had all this fantastic, psychedelic, noodly material, I did a mash-up of it over the school holidays. I wanted to make <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/news\/david-gilmour-won-t-play-pink-floyd-s-echoes-without-richard-wright\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/news\/david-gilmour-won-t-play-pink-floyd-s-echoes-without-richard-wright\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Echoes<\/a> or <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/how-wish-you-were-here-was-the-beginning-of-the-end-for-pink-floyd\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/how-wish-you-were-here-was-the-beginning-of-the-end-for-pink-floyd\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Wish You Were Here<\/a> again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"newsletter-form__strapline\">Sign up below to get the latest from Prog, plus exclusive special offers, direct to your inbox!<\/p>\n<p>Lest we forget, when The Big Spliff was compiled in the early 90s, Pink Floyd were once again fashionable among the younger generation. In the wake of the acid house revolution of the late 80s they\u2019d been reinstated as the chill-out music of choice. Groups like <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/how-the-orb-became-known-as-the-pink-floyd-of-techno\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/how-the-orb-became-known-as-the-pink-floyd-of-techno\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Orb<\/a> made this connection explicit \u2013 the cover of their debut album, The Orb\u2019s Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld, contained an inverted <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/raving-and-drooling-how-pink-floyd-made-animals\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/raving-and-drooling-how-pink-floyd-made-animals\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Animals<\/a>-esque Battersea power station in its artwork and a track entitled Back Side Of The Moon.<\/p>\n<p>Fellow traveller and sometime Orb collaborator, former <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/the-top-10-killing-joke-songs-faith-no-more-billy-gould\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/the-top-10-killing-joke-songs-faith-no-more-billy-gould\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Killing Joke<\/a> bassist Martin \u2018Youth\u2019 Glover, was a huge fan as well, and was rumoured to have released some ambient mixes of Floyd\u2019s work to the underground at the time. Nick Mason was later to say that \u201cunlike <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/news\/live-1974-gong-album-to-be-released\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/news\/live-1974-gong-album-to-be-released\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Gong<\/a>\u2019s <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/steve-hillage-the-best-albums\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/steve-hillage-the-best-albums\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Steve Hillage<\/a> we never received any invitations to join this next generation on stage\u201d \u2013 but who on earth would have thought Pink Floyd would have been available to do such a thing?<\/p>\n<p>The Division Bell was released in March 1994, and many thought it marked the end for Pink Floyd. The much-loved record demonstrated that the group could stand on its own two feet, extricating itself from the war of words with former leader <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/roger-waters-the-story-of-one-man-and-his-wall\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/roger-waters-the-story-of-one-man-and-his-wall\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Roger Waters<\/a>. It became the only Floyd album to top the charts on both sides of the Atlantic, and went on to be one of the most successful releases in their history. After the resulting tour, while the band never officially disbanded, there was silence.<\/p>\n<p>You may like<\/p>\n<p>Through the intervening decades, amid that hush, there was tumult and loss. In 2005, there was rapprochement between Gilmour and Waters and the group played a four-song set at Live 8 in Hyde Park. Gilmour released On An Island and played a successful world tour with Rick Wright as his keyboard player, on which the two old friends bonded again (\u201cIt was like rediscovering an old love,\u201d muses Jackson).<\/p>\n<p>There was also a litany of loss. Floyd manager Steve O\u2019Rourke and orchestrator Michael Kamen died in 2003; long-estranged founder <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/you-felt-he-understood-innocence-but-couldnt-be-innocent-in-the-world-because-you-cant-thats-where-we-wanted-to-be-the-real-syd-barrett-by-the-people-who-knew-him\" data-before-rewrite-redirect=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/the-real-syd-barrett-by-those-who-knew-him\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/you-felt-he-understood-innocence-but-couldnt-be-innocent-in-the-world-because-you-cant-thats-where-we-wanted-to-be-the-real-syd-barrett-by-the-people-who-knew-him\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Syd Barrett<\/a> died in 2006; designer <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/storm-passes-storm-thorgerson-1944-2013\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/storm-passes-storm-thorgerson-1944-2013\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Storm Thorgerson<\/a> in 2013; but the departure that came as the greatest surprise was that of Wright, who died of cancer in September 2008. \u201cAll were so sad, but Rick\u2019s passing was the big one. None of the others were in the band,\u201d Jackson says.<\/p>\n<p>Pink Floyd &#8211; Side 1, Pt.1: Things Left Unsaid (360 Reality Audio \/ Official Audio) &#8211; YouTube<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1762512792_32_maxresdefault.jpg\" alt=\"Pink Floyd - Side 1, Pt.1: Things Left Unsaid (360 Reality Audio \/ Official Audio) - YouTube\" data-aspect-ratio=\"16\/9\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"watch-on-youtube-dGuHMnUDGCY\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/dGuHMnUDGCY\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/dGuHMnUDGCY\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"911e94c3-e244-4e5b-8d4b-8908bf1eae4b\">All surviving members, past and present, issued the most heartfelt statements. Gilmour encapsulated the work of this enigma when he said: \u201cHe was gentle, unassuming and private, but his soulful voice and playing were vital, magical components of our most recognised Pink Floyd sound. I have never played with anyone quite like him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With Wright\u2019s passing, it felt that Floyd had been laid to rest forever.<\/p>\n<p>While working on new material on the Astoria in 2012, Gilmour thought about the wealth of unreleased material from The Division Bell and wondered if anything could be done with it. He called up his old friend, <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/roxy-music-best-albums\" data-before-rewrite-redirect=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/roxy-music-a-guide-to-their-best-albums\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/roxy-music-best-albums\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Roxy Music<\/a> guitarist <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/phil-manzanera-s-favourite-phil-manzanera-albums\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/phil-manzanera-s-favourite-phil-manzanera-albums\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Phil Manzanera<\/a>, and asked him to have a listen. They\u2019d known each other since the 60s \u2013 they\u2019d co-written One Slip together on 1987\u2019s <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/pink-floyd-momentary-lapse-of-reason-roger-waters-david-gilmour\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/pink-floyd-momentary-lapse-of-reason-roger-waters-david-gilmour\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">A Momentary Lapse of Reason<\/a>, and Manzanera had co-produced On An Island.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI went down to the Astoria and Andy mentioned The Big Spliff,\u201d Manzanera recalls. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to listen to that. I wanted to go back to everything they recorded in its empirical source.\u201d That\u2019s when the scale of the operation began to dawn on him. \u201cI realised there would be 20 hours to listen to. Before I started, I listened again to every Pink Floyd album \u2013 the whole catalogue. I\u2019m very conscious of their legacy; very conscious of doing something that would not be considered appropriate for Pink Floyd.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I started to take diabolical liberties \u2013 I took a guitar solo from another track, changed the key and put it on another bit of instrumental<\/p>\n<p>Phil Manzanera<\/p>\n<p id=\"b5b7c9b9-53d9-4cde-a8a0-9798b69a41de\">In that first long listen, aided by Jackson, Manzanera made notes of the passages that he liked and, as a fan, what he would like to hear. At some point during those first six weeks, he realised that although he had a lot of workable sections, he had little idea of how to convert them into something manageable. So he took a novel approach. \u201cI wondered what they did in classical music. I Googled how long a movement was and saw that it was between eight and 12 minutes. I was brought up in the 60s listening to long pieces of music. With Roxy, we would just jam away then listen back, pick out the good bits and make something out of that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With Jackson and long-serving engineer Damon Iddins, Manzanera divided the raw material into four sections, moving parts around. \u201cI like to think conceptually and contextually, picking the bits I like, weighing it all up \u2013 all those aspects of a big picture. There were things like Rick playing his Farfisa Compact Duo that he hadn\u2019t played since Wish You Were Here, and the sounds he\u2019d used at Pompeii. I thought the sequence would be great with a bit of drums underneath it, so I took drums from somewhere else and put them under that. I started to take diabolical liberties \u2013 I took a guitar solo from another track, changed the key and put it on another bit of instrumental.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:56.25%;\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/nYDeLG2UtY3UUXy5FQJPf.jpg\" alt=\"Pink Floyd\"   loading=\"lazy\" data-new-v2-image=\"true\" data-original-mos=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/nYDeLG2UtY3UUXy5FQJPf.jpg\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/nYDeLG2UtY3UUXy5FQJPf.jpg\"\/>\n<\/p>\n<p>(Image credit: Jeremy Young and Harry Borden)<\/p>\n<p id=\"4b6cb6b4-9783-4ef3-8c4f-921d72046a51\">To assist him, he created a narrative thread for the work in his head: \u201cBy the time I presented it to David, I\u2019d actually written all out, with pictures,\u201d he laughs. \u201cI think he thought I was mad. It looked like some hippie, psychedelic trip.\u201d After six weeks, Manzanera had four 14 minute-sections, which he shared with Gilmour. \u201cHe asked me to play it to Nick, who also thought there was potential. And then\u2026 nothing happened for nine months.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At the end of that hiatus, Gilmour still couldn\u2019t work out what should happen with these pieces of music. \u201cHe felt it needed a bit of a fresh input,\u201d Manzanera says. Gilmour rang up old acquaintance, Youth. They primarily knew each other through Floyd backing vocalist Durga McBroom, also the singer in Youth\u2019s dance ensemble Blue Pearl. In 2010 Gilmour and Youth had worked together with Alex Patterson on <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/the-orb-pink-floyd-david-gilmour\" data-before-rewrite-redirect=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/what-happened-when-david-gilmour-joined-forces-with-the-orb\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/the-orb-pink-floyd-david-gilmour\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Orb\u2019s Metallic Spheres<\/a>, and Youth was also a childhood friend of Guy Pratt, Floyd\u2019s post-Waters bassist, who also appears on The Endless River.<\/p>\n<p>I thought: \u2018That\u2019s Rick! This is Floyd. Whatever the gig is, even if I don\u2019t get it, I\u2019ll never forget this moment\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Youth<\/p>\n<p id=\"249b77f3-2589-494a-91c1-bcc5dc4ff656\">Youth vividly recalls his first listen. \u201cDavid asked me to come down to his farmhouse as he wanted to play me something that he was a bit stuck with. It was a glorious summer\u2019s day; the window was open and I was looking out over this beautiful Arcadian country landscape. David started playing what was the genesis of The Endless River. Three or four minutes in, I thought: \u2018That\u2019s Rick! This is Floyd.\u2019 I was so blown away that I thought, \u2018Whatever the gig is, even if I don\u2019t get it, I\u2019ll never forget this moment.\u2019 I really enjoyed it. At the same time, I could see why David may have felt that it wasn\u2019t right. When it finished, I said, \u2018That\u2019s Pink Floyd, isn\u2019t it?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gilmour replied simply: \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Enthused and honoured to be consulted, Youth suggested he take the pieces away to his studios in Spain to rearrange them, to aid their flow. \u201cMy parting words were: \u2018What\u2019s your real vision on this?\u2019\u201d Youth recalls. \u201cHe replied: \u2018Make it sound like us.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Youth \u2013 a student of the group\u2019s work and history \u2013 wanted to create something that he himself would want to listen to. He also took an outsider\u2019s approach. \u201cPhil was almost too respectful to the original sessions, which was probably the right and proper thing to do at that time,\u201d Youth says. \u201cI had a really fresh perspective. I was a bit younger and cheekier. I went in and radically rearranged it. I might take four bars and turn it into a three-minute piece.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pink Floyd &#8211; Side 2, Pt. 1: Sum (360 Reality Audio \/ Official Audio) &#8211; YouTube<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1762512793_694_maxresdefault.jpg\" alt=\"Pink Floyd - Side 2, Pt. 1: Sum (360 Reality Audio \/ Official Audio) - YouTube\" data-aspect-ratio=\"16\/9\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"watch-on-youtube-fadnfR5P24c\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/fadnfR5P24c\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/fadnfR5P24c\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"a391ac1e-8241-44f3-b981-7c419099f118\">He put some ideas down on bass and guitar on the tracks to illustrate their potential. \u201cIt was very risky of me to do that, because I was worried that David might think I had gone too far. But what I\u2019ve learned as a producer is that you have to be true to yourself. Luckily, David really liked it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jackson recalls: \u201cDavid gave Youth what is now the first and second part, to see where he could go. With the first section in particular, he made significant impact, saying it could be massively expanded. He extended it and put a rhythmic basis in it. Because he thought the two pieces should make an album, he made them enormously long, not realising there were another two. We ended up lobbing out whole chunks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Although I only used Pink Floyd bits, Youth made it more obviously Pink Floyd. Then David took control of the whole situation<\/p>\n<p>Phil Manzanera<\/p>\n<p id=\"b7888146-f7fd-4a18-bf0e-50130f440ac8\">Youth was particularly taken with Manzanera\u2019s accompanying information: \u201cIt was true prog style \u2013 little flow charts and drawings to illustrate the concepts. All the elements were juxtaposed to each other, and it wasn\u2019t all ambient either \u2013 there were quite a few rocky and jazzy interludes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlthough I only used Pink Floyd bits,\u201d Manzanera says, \u201cYouth made it more obviously Pink Floyd.\u201d Everybody listened to the new opus. \u201cAnd it was then that David took control of the whole situation,\u201d Manzanera continues. \u201cHe took the best from Youth\u2019s work and mine. He was then in charge.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It was this shift in gear that really got the process underway in November 2013. Gilmour only wanted an embellishment to enhance the material: \u201cA lot of those moments are so lovely, so magic, as they are, that we have just used those and enhanced them a little bit,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:56.25%;\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/WATpY6CXxCom5CfZtYSeBF.jpg\" alt=\"Pink Floyd\"   loading=\"lazy\" data-new-v2-image=\"true\" data-original-mos=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/WATpY6CXxCom5CfZtYSeBF.jpg\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/WATpY6CXxCom5CfZtYSeBF.jpg\"\/>\n<\/p>\n<p>(Image credit: Jeremy Young and Harry Borden)<\/p>\n<p id=\"10b53883-271d-4271-9c9a-34d21287726b\">Operations moved to his studio in Hove. \u201cWe got Nick to recreate drums and David to add guitar parts,\u201d Jackson says. \u201cIt became an interactive process after that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was fun, but it was pretty tough,\u201d Youth adds. \u201cPink Floyd\u2019s criteria is way above the clouds. Attempting to scale that mountain is no quiet endeavour \u2013 it\u2019s a huge, epic undertaking.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was great,\u201d Manzanera recalls. \u201cThere was a lot of new stuff added in to the old stuff. Because of the way technology has changed, it\u2019s something that couldn\u2019t have been done before. It\u2019s very much a modern album because it has all the ingredients of analogue recording \u2013 of people playing together \u2013 but then with today\u2019s technology you can completely rearrange it, change the key of it and fashion something that\u2019s very cohesive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We had serious disagreements at times about content, the validity of doing one part or not; but it was undertaken with a lot of integrity<\/p>\n<p>Youth<\/p>\n<p id=\"c0652256-4c1e-41ba-8488-1bfcfdc88728\">\u201cModern technology is a wonderful thing in a recording studio,\u201d Gilmour adds, smiling.<\/p>\n<p>Mason notes: \u201cThere are ideas there that can be seen in some of the really early albums, in terms of assembly of music, that is not in terms of regular song format. This record is primarily instrumental; the obvious interpretation is that it\u2019s about music rather than lyrics.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Initially all four producers were involved in the studio, Jackson engineering while Manzanera and Youth sat be at the back, offering Gilmour and the other artists \u2013 Pratt and sax player Gilad Atzmon \u2013 feedback and encouragement. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t all plain sailing,\u201d Youth recalls. \u201cWe had serious disagreements at times about content, the validity of doing one part or not; but it was undertaken with a lot of integrity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Youth reflects: \u201cWish You Were Here is probably my favourite album, certainly the one I\u2019ve bought the most and listened to the most. Actually being in the room with the same instruments and some of the same musicians \u2013 I thought it would never have been possible, or that I\u2019d be in a position to be considered to do anything like that. To be doing it is a remarkable, levelling experience. Pink Floyd\u2019s production criteria are still the highest yardstick out there; probably only <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/george-martin-best-albums\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/george-martin-best-albums\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">George Martin<\/a> comes near.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pink Floyd &#8211; Side 3, Pt. 1: The Lost Art Of Conversation (360 Reality Audio \/ Official Audio) &#8211; YouTube<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1762512794_984_maxresdefault.jpg\" alt=\"Pink Floyd - Side 3, Pt. 1: The Lost Art Of Conversation (360 Reality Audio \/ Official Audio) - YouTube\" data-aspect-ratio=\"16\/9\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"watch-on-youtube-YAWx8Wal3lg\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/YAWx8Wal3lg\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/YAWx8Wal3lg\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"6a16570a-0704-46bb-a985-6ffa9748fc68\">It was soon apparent \u2013 although according to all, unspoken \u2013 that the album was a tribute to Wright and how his quiet presence had been shaped Floyd\u2019s sound as much as any of the other parts. \u201cAs we know, lead guitarists can obliterate everybody else with their sound,\u201d laughs Manzanera. \u201cAnd as we know, David has a unique, fantastic sound \u2013 the minute you hear it, you know it\u2019s Pink Floyd. But having that Rick organ underneath puts it in a wonderful musical context, and the three of them, when they are together, it sounds like Pink Floyd.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you were short of a great guitar or drum part, you could do something about that,\u201d Jackson says. \u201cBut if you were short of a keyboard part, there was nothing that could be done. Bits of Rick became really precious \u2013 we would grab them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>People underestimate how important Nick is in Pink Floyd. You hear it when someone else plays it; it\u2019s just not right<\/p>\n<p>Andy Jackson<\/p>\n<p id=\"ddba310d-11aa-4bdb-af2d-875812f87246\">Between them, they isolated Wright\u2019s Hammond and VCS3 playing, giving his work prominence. Youth adds: \u201cIt was like an Indiana Jones adventure in a way, playing around with all these references.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One of the most precious sections can be found on Autumn 68, its title a lovely, poetic nod to Wright\u2019s Summer 68 from <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/pink-floyd-atom-heart-mother\" data-before-rewrite-redirect=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/pink-floyd-the-story-behind-atom-heart-mother\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/pink-floyd-atom-heart-mother\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Atom Heart Mother<\/a>. A tape was located of him playing the Royal Albert Hall\u2019s pipe organ ahead of the band\u2019s June 1969 show there \u2013 after which they\u2019d been banned for using a smoke bomb. \u201cWe\u2019ve used a minute and a half of the 20 minutes there,\u201d Jackson says. \u201cWe gave it to Youth and selected a section.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Youth was delighted. \u201cAccording to David, he was playing his Unfinished Symphony just after they had finished soundchecking. Maybe one day, Gala [Wright\u2019s daughter] may want to finish it, as it was a very beautiful piece. It was amazing to discover that Rick had composed a symphony.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:56.25%;\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/naLRZTG48ZMCWJrQkcrcYk.jpg\" alt=\"Pink Floyd\"   loading=\"lazy\" data-new-v2-image=\"true\" data-original-mos=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/naLRZTG48ZMCWJrQkcrcYk.jpg\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/naLRZTG48ZMCWJrQkcrcYk.jpg\"\/>\n<\/p>\n<p>(Image credit: Jeremy Young and Harry Borden)<\/p>\n<p id=\"21365917-3403-42d7-9db9-a443878a62e5\">One of the most pleasant surprises of The Endless River is the Mason\u2019s rejuvenation. \u201cNick has been playing a lot recently,\u201d Jackson says. \u201cWe came in to do the drum session and he was completely on it. People underestimate how important Nick is in Pink Floyd. You hear it when someone else plays it; it\u2019s just not right. Nick is so effective for this band. <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/ringo-starr-the-best-photographer-in-the-beatles\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/ringo-starr-the-best-photographer-in-the-beatles\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ringo<\/a>, <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/charlie-watts-interview\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/charlie-watts-interview\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Charlie Watts<\/a>, there\u2019s a whole list of them \u2013 the bands that wouldn\u2019t be the same without the drummer nobody thinks about.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The piece that ties it all together is Louder Than Words, the sole vocal track on the album, with lyrics written by Gilmour\u2019s wife, novelist Polly Samson. \u201cShe came up with the idea,\u201d Gilmour says. \u201cNeither Nick nor I are the most verbal people, so Polly was thinking it was very appropriate for us to express what we do through the music.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt took David and Polly a long time to get the lyric on it,\u201d Youth says. \u201cIt was only two minutes so we had to extend it and make it into a song. Nick did the drums again; David did all the guitars. We discussed bringing in some R&amp;B backing vocals, with a view to making it appropriate in the context of what we were doing, and that it would make the record sound more like Pink Floyd. David really didn\u2019t like the idea of that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For any other group, a year would have been a long process, but for a Floyd album it wasn\u2019t that bad!\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Andy Jackson<\/p>\n<p id=\"b8822302-e2b3-4e6c-b0ff-87c5d5d57abe\">A couple of weeks later, Youth and McBroom were writing some new material for Blue Pearl. Youth told her about the project and they decided to record some vocals for the track (\u201cAfter she\u2019s picked up her chin from the floor!\u201d) with Youth fully ready to shoulder the blame if Gilmour wasn\u2019t happy. \u201cI told Phil and Andy and they went, \u2018David\u2019s not going to like this \u2013 he said he didn\u2019t want backing vocals on it. You\u2019re going to hear some thunder!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Youth sent Gilmour the tape and and heard nothing for a week or so. \u201cHe phoned up about something else and I eventually asked him what he thought about Durga\u2019s vocals,\u201d Youth says. \u201cHe replied, \u2018Oh yes, I think they\u2019re great \u2013 I\u2019ve already sung some other things over them.\u201d On the record, McBroom is joined by Sarah Brown and Louise Clare Marshall. \u201dIt\u2019s funny with David \u2013 you think he\u2019s going to be one way and then he goes completely the other. He\u2019s unpredictable like that, and that\u2019s good.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"c1924dc4-089d-4f8f-b5d2-e25f988b0ec2\">The song is a beautiful reminder of the power of the band and the brand; that\u2019s what unites them \u2013 given that, as Gilmour said in 1994, they were \u201cnever a jolly bunch of friends. Things between the four of us were always pretty rocky.\u201d And with its meaningful lyrics, as general or as specific as you want them to be, it preserves Floyd\u2019s mystery.<\/p>\n<p>There was a great deal of deliberation about where the song should go. At one point it was at the end of the third section, but everyone agreed it made little sense to go back to instrumentals after that. In the end, the back sections of parts three and four were swapped over. \u201cConceptually, the one song at the end is pretty neat,\u201d Manzanera laughs.<\/p>\n<p>Tinkering with the final mixes went on, but the actual recording took less than a year. \u201cFor any other group, it would have been a long process,\u201d Jackson says, \u201cbut for a Floyd album it wasn\u2019t that bad!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With Rick gone, and with him the chance of ever doing it again, it feels right that these revisited tracks should be made available<\/p>\n<p>David Gilmour<\/p>\n<p id=\"c960437b-e9e4-47ea-ae13-886193902487\">Everyone was delighted. Youth views the project as \u201ca restoration of their sovereignty.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Endless River\u2019s existence \u2013 its title the penultimate lyric from High Hopes, the final song on The Division Bell \u2013 was revealed in July 2014 when Polly Samson matter-of-factly announced it on social media, pre-empting a tabloid threat to spill the beans. Youth followed it up the following day with his message \u201cOK\u2026 peak experience number one, producing Pink Floyd.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The announcement of the track list and 18-year-old Egyptian artist Ahmed Emad Eldin\u2019s poignant artwork on September 22 brought Floyd again to the forefront of the world\u2019s media. Gilmour explained: \u201cWhen we finished The Division Bell sessions, we had many pieces of music, only nine of which had become songs. Now with Rick gone, and with him the chance of ever doing it again, it feels right that these revisited tracks should be made available as part of our repertoire.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"6d6b519d-a385-468c-8ae1-98748f35b8d7\">The result is an old-fashioned album that demands attention and repeated listening. \u201cThe Endless River is a continuous flow of music that builds gradually over four separate pieces over the 55-odd minutes,\u201d Gilmour says. \u201cYou have to get into the right mood to listen. There are lots of people who still love to listen to music that way. They listen to the whole thing all the way through and get really into the mood, rather than listening to shorter pieces; and this is for them, really.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It demands attention in this relentlessly soundbite-driven world. \u201cIt\u2019s like classical music,\u201d Manzanera says. \u201cIf you put the effort in, you get it back.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMusic has got so disposable and functional,\u201d adds Jackson. \u201cPeople put their iPhone on shuffle and it\u2019s something to kill a tube journey; but people are craving depth. It does demand to be listened to that way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"761c000f-d102-4078-ae79-b197305f8eb9\">As a result, it owes much to the Floyd of between 1968 and 1975, referring often to the majesty of A Saucerful Of Secrets, Ummagumma, <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/pink-floyd-meddle\" data-before-rewrite-redirect=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/how-pink-floyd-made-meddle\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/pink-floyd-meddle\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Meddle<\/a> and Wish You Were Here. It certainly reflects their experimental side, which Youth was keen to exploit. \u201cEven though Floyd were much more <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/tag\/blues\" data-auto-tag-linker=\"true\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/tag\/blues\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">blues<\/a> based, they still had a very strong affiliation with Krautrock, and it was through Rick that they had this European aesthetic with Moogs and VCS3, something that Eno was to do to a greater extent around the same time. Floyd touched upon it with Welcome To The Machine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:138.67%;\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AJda9Xcz5kRxnfiCu6zj7J.jpg\" alt=\"Prog Magazine 50\"   loading=\"lazy\" data-new-v2-image=\"true\" data-original-mos=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AJda9Xcz5kRxnfiCu6zj7J.jpg\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AJda9Xcz5kRxnfiCu6zj7J.jpg\" class=\"pull-left\"\/>\n<\/p>\n<p>This article first appeared in Prog 50 (Image credit: Future)<\/p>\n<p id=\"e1604180-f213-4fab-8ca4-d600ec4327e6\">What\u2019s delivered is a work that, despite its sterile, studio-created way, seems bristling with inspiration. \u201cPink Floyd have never patronised their audience,\u201d Youth says. \u201cBeing true to yourself is more successful than being someone you think you should be. Those cats have got the confidence to do that and they pull it off very well, I think.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDavid was shrewd enough to realise that Pink Floyd is larger than the people involved,\u201d Youth adds. \u201cThe collective energy and spirit is so powerful, you can\u2019t mess with it. It\u2019s got its own magic and power, and so, of course, it continues, and David has managed to ride through all those ups and downs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEveryone who works in music tends to have a palette that is theirs, and they\u2019re never gonna sound like someone else,\u201d Gilmour says. \u201cWe\u2019re certainly not going to sound like anyone else. It\u2019s inevitable: the sum is greater than the parts,\u201d the guitarist surmises.<\/p>\n<p>So, as the river flows, the question that will undoubtedly be on everyone\u2019s mind is: will The Endless River really be the last word from Pink Floyd? Andy Jackson thinks so, but as he says: \u201cI would have said that a couple of years ago. I never thought we would do Live 8. Rick going has made such a big difference. David is working now \u2013 he\u2019s writing and working on a solo album.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Manzanera\u2019s opinion? \u201cI would have thought so as Rick\u2019s not there any more. You can never say never, but I would have thought their job is done. This would bookend the thing very neatly, as a tribute to Rick. I\u2019d like to think if any of us Roxy people ever pegged it, somebody would do a tribute like this for us!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Youth, on the other hand, doesn\u2019t necessarily see it that way. \u201cI don\u2019t give up on the idea that they will tour again in some way or another. I\u2019d love to see it \u2013 but I doubt it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The final word, of course, has to be Gilmour\u2019s, and he is unequivocal. \u201cI think we have successfully commandeered the best of what there is. I suspect this is it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"elk-f430f5e5-7b8f-44ed-a930-0eb0fd2a0892\" data-url=\"\" href=\"\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\"\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Featuring music recorded by Pink Floyd\u2019s David Gilmour, Rick Wright and Nick Mason during The Division Bell sessions,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":267593,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[49,48,75,341],"class_list":{"0":"post-267592","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-music"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267592","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=267592"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267592\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/267593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=267592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=267592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=267592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}