‘A Momentary Lapse of Reason’ 25th Anniversary – New Interview with David Gilmour and Nick Mason
Posted September 11th, 2012 by PFO Staff
Radio Show Available to Stream Online Now
David Gilmour and Nick Mason sat down with Redbeard of the syndicated radio show InTheStudio to discuss the Pink Floyd “comeback album” ‘A Momentary Lapse of Reason’ – Which turns 25 this week.
North American syndicated Rock radio show InTheStudio: The Stories Behind History’s Greatest Rock Bands gets the story this week behind one of Rock history’s most contentious and public rights disputes, and one of the biggest comebacks in rock history.
Amidst some of the most successful and celebrated albums of the Seventies, creative and personal tensions had been building until Pink Floyd disintegrated during the making of 1982’s The Final Cut. By 1985 the only musical output from any of the members of Pink Floyd had come in the form of solo albums, and in December of that year Roger Waters, who created the concepts and the lyrics to such quintessential rock masterpieces as The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here and The Wall, would announce his departure, triggering a noisy two year legal battle for the rights to Pink Floyd.
In the end a David Gilmour fronted Floyd would emerge producing A Momentary Lapse of Reason in September ’87. Critical response was surprisingly lukewarm, but a sold out stadium tour and two # 1 rock singles with “Learning To Fly” and “On The Turning Away” proved that, as far as the worthiness of a Waters-less Pink Floyd, the fans had the only vote that matters.
Drummer Nick Mason is joined In the Studio with guitarist/singer/songwriter Gilmour, who readily admits to show host Redbeard the pressure that he felt going forward:
“Lurching into the future bearing the mantle of Pink Floyd without Roger in 1987 was a tough one, as anyone can imagine… You’re right to say that I was confident at the end and happy. Anyone would be happy and confident in the end when our moving forward and doing what we did, making the album, doing the tour, was justified.”
Stream the program now here: http://www.inthestudio.net/redbeards-blog/pink-floyd-momentary-lapse-reason/
Or to hear this program on a station near you, visit: http://www.inthestudio.net/radio-stations/ “www.inthestudio.net/radio-stations
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Wow, talk about pressure. Personally, I’ve always felt that it was Roger’s decision to leave the band and whether or not it was a “spent force” as he’s said in the past, was not soley his decision to make. David Gilmour had every right to continue on under the Pink Floyd name, as he spent 20 years of his life helping to build the machine it was.
I would say that at that particular time, it was an insane risk by David & Nick to carry on. Obviously, their decision paid off, but it very well could of went sour just as easy. What if the record company failed to promote the record because Roger wasn’t involved? what if the record flopped? what if, what if, what if…..
Overall, I believe the power of the “Pink Floyd” name is what drove the bus, but it was David’s persistance and desire to be successful and prove to Roger wrong, that eventually made the band bigger than life. There’s some damn good music on both ‘Lapse’ and ‘Div Bell’ that I’m thankful for.
Just a follow up on my own post. Please, I do not want this turning into a Dave vs Roger session because that is not my intent at all, and we all know how that usually ends.
The facts are the facts….Roger left and David carried on. The band was best when all 4 members were creating together (1969-1972) is actually my favorite era. My point is that there is some great post “Waters” music and it shoiuldn’t be dismissed because he wasn’t involved.