A band that has been in my life for as long as The Eagles. They are my favorite band of all time. I don't know what many of you think of the band but I'd like your opinions.

Pink Floyd (unlike many of their contemporaries) shunned the spotlight, kept out of the media, refused their mugshots anywhere on their albums yet were one of the biggest bands in the world and had concerts that revolutionized the rock spectacle (inflatable pigs and families, crashing planes and beds, walls being built and torn down), saw their work as albums NOT SINGLES and also a band feud that made The Eagles look like comedy. Also, Roger Waters had a reputation of stopping concerts at the height of Floyd's fame due to rowdy fans lighting fireworks and even spat on a fan.

Syd Barrett was the man who started it all (Piper at the Gates of Dawn, first three singles) but sadly lost his mind and once David Gilmour came in transitioned from psychedelic rock band to prog rock legends (A Saucerful of Secrets, More and Ummagumma). Their best work was when Roger Waters' lyrics and ideas and the musical contributions of David Gilmour (who also had the best singing voice in the band and is one of the greatest guitarists in rock) and Rick Wright (God rest his glorious soul and whose keyboards and harmony vocals helped make the classic Pink Floyd sound) were balanced (Atom Heart Mother, Meddle, Obscured by Clouds, The Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here). Once Animals rolled around, Waters became a power hungry madman who reduced Wright to a footnote and rejected his ideas and reduced Gilmour's musical ideas. The Wall was where Roger fired Wright (Rick, like Randy Meisner, was not a confrontational person) but Wright stayed as session man for The Wall shows but Gilmour helped make the album what it was (as well as Bob Ezrin). The Final Cut was a Waters solo album and replaced Nick Mason on the last track and Gilmour was nowhere to be heard. Momentary Lapse was an unofficial Gilmour solo album with minor bits from Mason and Wright who slowly got their confidence back (Delicate Sound of Thunder had Gilmour, Mason and Wright playing like the old days). The Division Bell was the perfect ending to Floyd as Wright and Gilmour collaborated like in the Atom Heart Mother through Wish You Were Here period and the live PULSE was proof.

My Top 14 Pink Floyd tracks (a song from each album) :
1) Shine On You Crazy Diamond (all nine parts)
2) High Hopes
3) Comfortably Numb
4) Echoes
5) Us and Them
6) Wots...Uh the Deal
7) Atom Heart Mother Suite
Dogs
9) Interstellar Overdrive
10) Remember a Day
11) On the Turning Away
12) The Narrow Way (all three parts)
13) Cirrus Minor
14) Not Now John

My Top 14 Pink Floyd albums :
1) Wish You Were Here
2) The Dark Side of the Moon
3) Meddle
4) Obscured by Clouds
5) The Wall
6) The Division Bell
7) Atom Heart Mother
Animals
9) The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
10) A Momentary Lapse of Reason
11) More Soundtrack
12) A Saucerful of Secrets
13) Studio Disc of Ummagumma
14) The Final Cut

Live Pink Floyd albums :
1) PULSE
3) Live at Empire Pool Wembley 1974 (the bonus discs on Experience Versions of Dark Side and Wish You Were Here)
3) Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980-81
4) Delicate Sound of Thunder
5) Live Disc of Ummagumma

Best solo studio albums :

SYD BARRETT :
1) Barrett
2) Opel
3) The Madcap Laughs

DAVID GILMOUR
1) self titled
2) On an Island
3) Metallic Spheres (with The Orb)
4) About Face

RICHARD WRIGHT
1) Wet Dream
2) Broken China
3) Identity (with Zee)

NICK MASON
1) Fictitious Sports
2) Profiles

ROGER WATERS
1) Amused to Death
2) The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking
3) Music From the Body (with Ron Geesin)
4) Radio KAOS

Best live solo efforts

1) DAVID GILMOUR - Live in Gdansk
2) ROGER WATERS - In the Flesh (I don't cound Wall in Berlin)

They won't reunite for the money (David Gilmour refuses, turned down $300 million for a reunion tour so he could do his On an Island solo album and tour). Plus the fact that co-founder/keyboard player/songwriter Rick Wright died and now Gilmour won't play certain Floyd songs live again and in fact broke down when he dedicated his Lifetime Achievement Award from Q Magazine to Rick.
Roger refused to show up for the band's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame but Gilmour, Mason and Wright all kindly acknowledged Roger and Syd and wasn't until 2005 that Waters mellowed out and reunited for Live 8 which was (as fate had it) the final Floyd performance.

Tidbits : The Eagles' Hotel California kept Pink Floyd's Animals from reaching #1 in the US in 1977 yet The Wall kept The Long Run from reclaiming #1 in early 1980. The Eagles have sold 20 million or so more albums than the Floyd in the US (100 million to Floyd's 80 million in US sales (the PF sales need to be re-certified)) yet those two bands have outsold The Rolling Stones, AC/DC, Aerosmith, Queen but don't have a chance to catch Led Zeppelin nor The Beatles. Pink Floyd's Division Bell Tour outgrossed the Hell Freezes Over Tour (Floyd's ticket prices were lower than The Eagles and The Rolling Stones but Mick and Keith charged a house payment for their Voodoo Lounge Tour).