(Credits: Far Out / digboston / Anton_Corbijn)
Wed 21 January 2026 16:30, UK
Even during Pink Floyd’s golden age, when the band was at its peak, Roger Waters and David Gilmour frequently clashed. They disagreed over every business, music, and creative direction relentlessly. It made things difficult, but in the end, the music made it worthwhile. That tension helped shape the album they both consider their mutual favourite.
For the longest time, it seems to be the story of their friendship. It wasn’t that David Gilmour entered the band as a complete outsider in the late 1960s, but instead, they’d all known the musician for a while, even calling on him as Syd Barrett was beginning to let them down more and more, before eventually asking him to save the sinking ship.
At first, things were friendly if slightly competitive. There was the natural tension that exists between artists, even if they’re working to the same end, simply because people are bound to end up in a battle of comparisons, but, over time, the battle grew harsher. There was the axing of Richard Wright that drove a spanner between them as Wright pointed the finger at Waters, stating, “I played well but did not contribute to the writing, and also Roger was not letting me write. This was the whole start of the whole ego thing in the band.” But in Waters’ eyes, any sense of ego was always coming from Gilmour, blaming him for the band falling into financial trouble later down the line.
Still today, the battle is fierce. “Roger is a dog in the manger, and I’m going to fight him; no one else has claimed Pink Floyd was entirely them. Anybody who does is extremely arrogant,” Gilmour said, sharing fighting words after Waters staked a claim on the band’s identity. Since then, it’s dissolved into nastiness, now involving their personal politics and a complete and total assurance that they’ll never reunite.
However, between all these moments, there were golden times. Despite the tensions and falling outs, and despite the fact that these men were simply never destined to be friends, they shared a mutual mission when both were working to make Pink Floyd the best around.
They’d put their shit aside and lock in, somehow managing to mostly keep the studio free from the worst of their fights so they could ignore the issues and reemerge with something great. Wish You Were Here is the ultimate example of that, and so became one of their own shared opinions, with both agreeing it’s their best work.
“Wish You Were Here was harder work than almost any album we ever did,” Nick Mason said as the band described that period as nothing short of “torture”. However, it was clear to everyone involved that the album was more than worth it, stating, “But at the end of the day, we came out with something that we’re still talking about today”.
In a rare moment, Gilmour and Waters both agree. “For me, Wish You Were Here is the most satisfying album,” the former said in 1993, preferring it over The Dark Side of the Moon, which is often regarded as their opus, adding, “I’d rather listen to that than Dark Side of the Moon. Because I think we achieved a better balance of music and lyrics on Wish You Were Here.”
Waters agrees, calling the 1975 album their “most complete”, regarding it as his favourite from the band’s discography.
Related Topics