Wow good post, Tusk. It's hard for me to chose one band as my absolute favorite, but if pressed for it, the words that would probably come out of my mouth would be Pink Floyd. My brother & I bought almost all of their albums back in high school plus a few of David Gilmour's & Roger Water's solo albums. The only time I saw Floyd live was at Arrowhead Stadium on their "Momentary Lapse of Reason" tour, which was honestly one of the best concerts I've ever seen, even though, like I said, I saw Floyd but Pink wasn't there.
There's one part where you mention that Syd Barrett had just left the band right before "Darkside" was recorded. Actually Syd was only in the band through the first two albums. "Piper at the Gates of Dawn" & "Saucerful of Secrets" (Which btw was the only album that all five members of Pink Floyd contributed to.) I think that one came out in 68' & Syd was already pretty mentally unstable by then.
The "More" (Soundtrack), "Ummagumma", "Atom Heart Mother", "Meddle", & "Obscured by Clouds" were all in between the time Syd left & "Darkside of the Moon". You can really hear the group developing into what most people know as Pink Floyd (DSOM & after) on "Meddle" & some of the better tracks on "Obscurred" like this one called "Childhood's End"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIt3uO8aziw
I have that "Making of DSOM" video you posted on DVD, and one of my favorite parts is where Rick Wright is talking about his love of jazz music & working a favorite chord he'd heard on "Kind of Blue" into the chord progression for "Breathe". The chord progression still sounded really good had he just used the more standard chord that fit, but adding in the more complex jazz chord, make it sound more Pink Floyd.
There's a longer part, in the bonus material, where he plays & talks about keeping the D as the bass note through the chord changes in the verse of "Us and Them", so it's just "rolling along on the D" which make the changes smoother & more subtle. And I think enhance the effect when the key changes & they hit it hard with that B minor chord, at the chorus on "Haven't you heard it's a battle of words...". I always loved that part.
I didn't expect to talk about Rick Wright so much, when Roger & David were the two biggest forces behind Pink Floyd, (not to mention DG is one of my favorite guitar players of all time), but I liked watching Rick talk about song writing in detail like that.
The main thing I would've wished for Pink Floyd is that they could've gotten along better. They were really at their best w/ Roger as the main song writer w/ plenty of collaboration w/ the other three. By the time they get to "The Final Cut", it's all Roger, and even though there's some really beautiful stuff on there, it doesn't sound like Pink Floyd anymore. It's of the opposite of "Momentary Lapse.." or "The Division Bell". "The Final Cut" is Pink but Floyd is all but out the door.
Wow, this is long. Have I said I love Pink Floyd yet?
Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" turns 40
