The Music We Love

Paul Newcome

I thought it would be nice to have a post dedicated to the music that SS users love. I personally love ALMOST all types of music, but my all time favorite is Pink Floyd.

Below is the conversation that inspired this thread, but feel free to weigh in with any and all bands/groups/individuals/genres/sub-genres/etc..

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@Alison Clancy asked what albums/songs I would recommend for a "beginner level" Pink Floyd listener, and here is what I came up with:

Here's a few to get started:

Wish You Were Here (entire album and especially the song)

Us And Them

High Hopes (the Division Bell album really)

The Great Gig In The Sky (shows the talent of the back-up singers)

Echoes (all 23 1/2 minutes of it)

Shine On You Crazy Diamond (parts 1 - 9)

Learning To Fly

On The Turning Away

The Final Cut album (great music and amazing story telling)

Different feel but still very Pink Floyd:

One Of These Days

Dogs Of War

Have A Cigar

Young Lust

@Jeff Reisman then chimed in with:

Once you've gotten through the big three - The Wall, Wish You Were Here, and Dark Side of the Moon - put on some really good headphones, close the door, dim the lights, light some incense, lay back on a comfy sofa or beanbag chair, and fire up the Animals album. I find Animals to be the most immersive yet most underrated of all their albums; I just fall into it every time.

And since I was excited to stumble across another Pink Floyd fan I had to throw a little more out there:

@Jeff Reisman I agree that Animals is a totally underrated album. My personal favorite is the Wish You Were Here album. The Wall and The Dark Side of the Moon (while certainly iconic) are not in my top favorites though. Animals, The Final Cut, and Division Bell all rank higher than them in my book. Momentary Lapse of reason is a great one too that not many people bring up (Dogs of War, On The Turning Away, Learning To Fly). Echoes of course is absolutely phenomenal too.

I do tend to avoid their earlier stuff with Syd Barret though as a lot of it is very much like the Beatles of that era. It wasn't until Waters and later Gilmore took over that they really started to develop their own unique sound as a band.

@Alison Clancy One thing to keep in mind... I definitely recommend listening to every song multiple times so you can really focus on each of the different parts individually after having taken in the song as a whole the first time then end it by taking in the song as a whole again but with a new found appreciation for all of the background. Every person involved with any song had such a HUGE level of talent. I wish I could remember which song it it (maybe @Jeff Reisman can remember) but there is one song that has a saxophone just going to town then a second saxophone picks up. That's actually the same guy switching from one horn to another without missing a beat. The Great Gig In The Sky showcases how talented even their back-up singers were. There is another song that has a bunch of different animal noises in the background that are actually done with various instruments instead of recordings.

I could go on forever about them though, so I should probably just go ahead and leave it at that. Haha

Genevieve P.

I have to agree that I love most types of music!

There are two albums however, that I have played on repeat for years and never get sick of.

• Paul Simon's Graceland
• Bon Iver's album, Bon Iver

Very different vibes. I once wrote an essay on why Bon Iver would be the ideal album to bring on a desert island. 🏝️

Paul Newcome

@Genevieve P. Nice! I believe Bon Iver may be on tour here in the U.S.

And an entire essay?? I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that it might be in your top 10 favorites? Haha.

Jeff Reisman

I've been a DeadHead since I was about 14 years old. Growing up in the 80s with a brother 7 years older naturally meant that I was exposed to his music tastes from very early, so of course I love Classic Rock from the 60s, 70s, and 80s, that never changes. In college I really fell into jam bands - Phish, Widespread Panic, Blues Traveler. I was a Dave Matthews Band fan when they were still touring out of a couple of cars and you could see them in bars for $5 with a crowd of maybe 30 people. Back in '94, I spent 30 minutes just chatting with Trey Anastasio & Jon Fishman of Phish in the parking lot before a show. Those were great times.

Over the years my musical tastes have only broadened. Newer country rock from Kenny Chesney, Thomas Rhett, & Luke Combs; Eclectic New Orleans-inspired rock from The Revivalists, The Record Company, Nathanial Rateliff & the Night Sweats (just saw them in April while on vacation, a free show on the street in Aspen CO, courtesy of Bud Light and Aspen Skico); Alternative stuff like AJR, and local Alpharetta Georgia based Midwell; and plenty of great stuff from recent and up-an-coming rock bands, like Greta Van Fleet (they sound like Led Zeppelin re-born, I swear.)

But circling back, I think my favorite is still the Grateful Dead. 🛡️⚡️💀

Jeff Reisman

@Paul Newcome

I think the Pink Floyd saxophone jam you're thinking of is from the song Money, on Dark Side of the Moon. It starts at 2:02 and goes for a solid minute. I think he switches from tenor to alto sax in the middle somewhere. Good stuff.

Stefan

Uhhh, 🙃

where to start and where to end? I totally agree with Paul in listening to almost all types of music.

Pink Floyd, great! Dead, great! Narrowing down to 3 opposite poles... Sting + Arvo Pärt + Esbjörn Svensson Trio.

Ohh, forgot Neil Young's "Heart of Gold" or Omar Sosas "Sun shower" or "Pick yourself up" sung by Dianne Reeves.

Well, Music was my first love ;-) A good recommendation for anyone curious about music is NPR Tiny Desk!

Happy I don't like Mondays 😀

Paul Newcome

@Jeff Reisman I heard Greta Van Fleet for the first time a few months ago and it blew my mind how much they sounded like Led Zeppelin!!

And I can never remember which song the switch happens in, but yes. It is the tenor to alto that I was referring to. I saw a recording of one of their shows (unfortunately never had the opportunity to see them live) where he made the switch. It was pretty amazing to say the least. I also really love the sax jam in Dogs of War (3:57 - 4:45). If a sax could have attitude, that would be it. Haha.

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My personal taste in music is definitely all over the place. There are only a few genres (out of the thousands) that I really don't care for. Otherwise I can at least appreciate a song if there is some talent to be had. It is nothing for my "random" playlist on Pandora to go: Tchaikovsky --> Amon Amarth --> Pink Floyd --> Alan Jackson --> Tupac --> Mimosa --> Apocalyptica --> Type O Negative --> Royal Scotts Dragoon --> Primus. Sometimes even I can't keep up with my own music. Hahaha