The band David Gilmour said follow in Pink Floyd’s footsteps: “They’re really good”
It’s safe to say that Pink Floyd were one of the most boundary-pushing outfits of their era. From their psychedelic first chapter to the cerebral ambient textures of their final album, The Endless River, throughout all their different lineups, the band were always committed to improving artistically, and this attitude, in tandem with their undoubted talent, proved to be a wonderous formula.
Pink Floyd’s creative arc is just about the most remarkable in existence. They moved from the whimsical psychedelic rock of the Syd Barrett-led era into a period of creative experimentation and metamorphosis, which produced the likes of Ummagumma, before then entering a stage of concept album refinement, spawning masterpieces like The Dark Side of the Moon.
Then, as Roger Waters took more control of proceedings, the quartet continued to create concept albums, but in the second half of the 1970s, and moving into the 1980s, they were much more expansive with an increasingly politicised, if not slightly pretentious, edge, as Waters used his music as a conduit to criticise the powers that be. Not done there, following the schism after 1983’s The Final Cut and Waters’ departure, David Gilmour took the reigns.
The group then became more cerebral than ever before, dipping their toes into the big, overproduced rock music sound of the day before for their final two albums, 1994’s The Division Bell and 2014’s The Endless River, moved into a distinctly minimal, ambient area. A shining example for budding musicians to never sit still, Pink Floyd’s career is a sonic odyssey of the finest standards. Even their misfires have a place in the bigger picture.
Thanks to their intellectual sound and dedication to push themselves into new areas with each album, another more contemporary band that many have deemed as the spiritual successors to Pink Floyd is Radiohead. Their journey is also scintillating, from their 1993 debut, Pablo Honey, to their most recent offering, 2016’s A Moon Shaped Pool.
When speaking to Billboard in 2006, David Gilmour was asked if there are any current bands he thinks have taken on “Pink Floyd’s musical mantle”. Whilst he wasn’t sure about using the word ‘mantle’, Gilmour said that if anyone had done it, by moving music in a different direction, was Radiohead. He explained: “I don’t know about taking the mantle, but there are a lot of people who have tried very hard to move music into a different direction and take it their own way. There’s Radiohead, obviously.”
This wasn’t the first time David Gilmour had discussed Radiohead. When speaking to Q Magazine in 1999, he was asked what he thought about Radiohead’s postmodern masterpiece, OK Computer, from 1997. Surprisingly, he revealed that he preferred their second album, 1995’s guitar-heavy The Bends. He said: “I’m a fan of Radiohead. They’re really good. Actually, I prefer the one before. What’s that one called? The Bends, that’s right.”
It’s easy to see how Radiohead have pushed forward in the same vein that turned Pink Floyd into musical giants and ti all started when the group rejected their Britpop tag and made The Bends.
Listen to The Bends below.
