Pink Floyd and Pure Sonic Intoxication

The Beatles are arguably the greatest band of all time. Elvis is arguably the King of Rock 'n Roll, and Axle Rose is arguably one of the most controversial icons of all time, along with the company of performers like Alice Cooper, Ozzy Osborne, and Kurt Cobain. But who has the pure genius of Pink Floyd?

Since Pink Floyd started in the early 60's in London, they have constantly challenged our views on music, religion, politics, and even life itself. It started when the band lead singer lost his mind to insanity. Roger Waters, the bass player ,later dedicated a song to Syd Barret, "Shine on you Crazy Diamond". Was that the beginning of Pink Floyd's identity? The band whose creator later became insane? Or was it the dynamite album Dark Side of the Moon, or Wish You Were Here?

No one can be sure how Pink Floyd went from a groovy psychedelic band into a living, breathing philosophy. Roger Waters, one of the greatest songwriters of all time constantly wrote songs about his childhood friend, Syd Barret, or growing up without a father, who was lost in the war. He also wrote about his terror in school and the grasp the teachers had on the children's lives. He wrote about freedom, about pain, he wrote about insanity.

David Gilmour wrote his own songs and sang them through his guitar. His trademark solos and long bending notes cried their own pain into Roger Water's songs. What pushed their creativity so far? What made them mad geniuses? It was before laptop computers and music editing software. It was before drum pads, or special effects programs downloadable from the internet. It was before the digital quality of compact discs, and before the lavishness and vanity of today's studios. Its was before I-pods and Bose I-docks. So how did they do it? What made their music come alive, what drove millions of people into a imaginary world of pain and doubt? Then brought them back again, comfortably numb, and fully acknowledging that they were just a machine, working for something as empty as money.