About book Comfortably Numb: The Inside Story Of Pink Floyd (2007)
I’ve been a long time fan of Pink Floyd, but admittedly not a hard core fan. This book is well researched and serves as a decent historical account of one of the most popular and innovative bands in rock. But I feel the author had an uphill battle with this one.One of the mysteries about Pink Floyd were the members themselves. Their photos rarely if ever appeared on album covers – and stage effects and props were the actual stars, relegating the members to the roles of background musicians at their own concerts. This was proven later in the band’s career when Roger Waters – the creative genius behind The Wall and many other Floyd classics – was easily replaced during the band’s highest grossing tours of the 1980′s and 9o’s.The casual fan could relate more if the main characters were as familiar as John, Paul, George and Ringo. Or even Mick and Keith. The members of Pink Floyd stayed out of the spotlight, which means the author has to build a connection between the group and the reader.He succeeds, but at the same time left this reader wanting more. The real meat of the Pink Floyd story is the battle of wills and nerves between Waters and David Gilmore. The lawsuits and bad-mouthing are all here, though it does get tedious and long-winded at times.But the real heart of this book is the tragic story of band founder Syd Barrett. There have been books solely written about Barrett and this one details his drug-induced mental state with appearances and sightings throughout the band’s career until his death. The band owed everything to this fragile genius and never forgot it. These encounters and reports were the most interesting parts of this book. I wish there had been more of this story, but then again – maybe there wasn’t more.In all I enjoyed reading. But it wasn’t the must read tale that kept me picking it up at every opportunity. For that reason, it took longer to read than a best-selling thriller. It was an informative journey through the youthful psychedelic 1960′s in England and into the big money world of corporate and stadium rock.
If you're interested in Pink Floyd, I'd highly recommend this book; it offers a wide history of the exploits of Waters, Gilmour and the rest of the Floyd. However, though, it is not written well. In fact, that's an understatement. I don't wish to discredit Mr. Blake, as he is obviously successful as a journalist (you don't get that high up in the ranks of Q Magazine for nothing, after all), but I was personally astounded by the laziness and general shoddiness of the way the book was written. Mr. Blake depends too heavily on his interviews, often directly quoting them instead of paraphrasing. Essentially, it's like he just put his interviews with the Floyd in chronological order, and just added stuff in between to make it connect. Added to this is Mr. Blake's use of the present tense to describe interviewees' quotes. (I know, that's a bit picky, verging on grammar-Nazism, but it can wear on you quickly.) (Also, I compare this to other biographies I've read, such as Neal Gabler's book on Walt Disney or Bob Spitz's extremely in-depth biography of The Beatles, which this book pales in comparison to, in my opinion.)In conclusion, though, I'm glad I read this book; "Dark Side of the Moon" and "Wish You Were Here" are some of my favorite albums, and it's interesting to know the history behind their recording. If Mr. Blake's writing style had been better, this book would've easily been five stars.
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Being a bit of a Pink Floyd fanatic (up to a point in history), I came across a notice of this book that was pretty complementary so I thought I'd grab it from the library and give it a try. I enjoyed it, but as might be expected, there are some frustrations. The group has always been extremely closed to the press, and while they all apparently spoke to Blake during the writing of this book, they were clearly not overly forthcoming. The most interesting part of the book is the early days, because that's not so well-known: the members in school, meeting in Cambridge, each making their way to London and stumbling into starting the band, and so forth. The story of Syd becoming too difficult to deal with and Gilmour coming in has been told over and over, so there weren't any revelations there, though the book has more details than most accounts.I would have enjoyed more about the writing and recording of the albums, but that's precisely where the problems come in, because aside from some words from engineers and producers, it's apparent that the band members didn't have much to say, so the tales are slim.I stopped reading after the section about "Momentary Lapse of Reason" because I really didn't care much about anything after "The Wall" and, honestly, had had enough of "The Wall" by the time I was out of high school. Despite my misgivings, it's fun reading, and perhaps as in-depth as we'll ever have about the band.
—Mason Jones
One of the best "band" biographies I've read. It doubles as a history book as well, giving an inside view of 1967's "Summer of Love" from across the pond. I have a greater in-depth understanding of the personal dynamics of highly creative group of people who have to respond authentically to enormous external pressures, tragedy (watching the demise of their bandmate's mental stability). Knowing more of the details of their production values and processes for each of their mega million selling albums, caused me to complete my collection of Pink Floyd music, most notably, all of David Gilmour's and Richard Wright's (R.I.P.) solo work. I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in music, psychology, history, and social change. If you are curious about learning more in each of these disciplines, all the better.
—David Grapka
I suppose I knew most of the broad outlines of Pink Floyd's history, but this book laid it out with clarity and detail. It's well-written, an interesting topic and an interesting book. There is a good mix of objective fact with personal recollections occasionally, but not always of opposite views, and perspective.The band lurches (or is yanked) from one controlling/dominate personality to another. Sid Barrett, David Gilmour, and Roger Waters. Each moulded (as the Brits would write it) the band into different musical themes and personality.In every phase of their existence, Pink Floyd was an iconic band and model. Today, there are Pink Floyd emulations (like Beatlemania and look-alikes) which succeed because the band and its music has such impact and popularity.
—Mike
