Pink Floyd -
The Division Bell 1994 ( 2011 re-master )
Did you know...it was all going to go so wrong for you ?
...Hey you...did you ever realise what you'd become?
...I never thought that you'd lose the light in your eyes Poles Apart - David Gilmour, Polly Samson & Nick Laird-Clowes
The Division Bell provided just cause to hang a DNR tag on the toe of the once-venerable Floyd and start pulling the plugs. Plodding, endless, wildly over-produced even by Pink Floyd standards and utterly uninspired, it is stuffed to the hilt with epic-length entries written by a bevy of co-conspirators, most of which stagger around aimlessly and then fade away having had no impact. Lyrically, it is insipid. Musically, it is largely a rehash of ideas which may have worked in the past but fall flat here, mixed with songs which would have never made the cut when the band was still concerned with quality. Gilmour's playing in particular is disappointing on most tracks - Mark Knopfler on a cough syrup bender.
A recurring theme on
The Division Bell is communication. But what if you apparently have nothing left to say? The answer : Use the album as an excuse to stage a big stadium tour, hit every market you can and grab for all the gusto you can grip. Fill your pockets with both hands like some shmoe flailing around in a radio-contest money-machine.
Then stick a fork in it 'cuz it's
done.
D.D.
