Customer Reviews

Pink Floyd Anthology

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The last review was a fair assessment, as is a 3 star rating. I'd say the mix of songs included is pretty good but the detail is just not there if you want to learn Gilmour's trademark solos and melodies. However, as Gilmour put it, nobody in the band was very good at complicated chord structures and most of their songs are fairly straightforward. So even a novice should be able to pick up the gist of their songs with this book. That's probably all you should take from it anyway, the big picture, because Pink Floyd have always been a band where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. One glaring error, however, is that Astronomy Domine is in the wrong key...but otherwise a great tool for Floyd fans of their earlier work.

First of all, unlike other Pink Floyd tablature books, this book has no artwork of any sort. You just get about 25 songs worth of tablature. As others have mentioned, the detail is a bit scant. Solos are pretty much ignored. In fact, it might be more helpful to a keyboard player than a guitarist.

I also have to wonder about the song selection.
- Astronomy Domine (the Ummagumma arrangement, not the Piper one)
- Bike
- Burning Bridges
- Childhood's End
- Cirrus Minor
- Echoes (mostly just the verses)
- Eclipse
- Embryo (the Works version, not how they played it live in 1970-1)
- Fat Old Sun
- Fearless
- Gnome, The
- Gold It's In The...The
- Grantchester Meadows
- Green Is The Colour
- If
- Money
- One of These Days
- Pillow Of Winds, A
- San Tropez
- Saucerful of Secrets, A
- Scarecrow
- See Emily Play
- See-Saw
- Set The Controls for the Heart of the Sun
- Stay
- Time
- Us And Them
- Wots...Uh The Deal
There are some excellent selections here, but also some head-scratchers.
Emily Play is here but Arnold Layne is not. The main theme from Saucerful of Secrets is here but the main theme from Interstellar Overdrive is not. Cymbaline, which was frequently played live from 1969-1971, is left off but the inconsequential See-Saw and Cirrus Minor are there. Half of Obscured by Clouds is here, but not its most popular song, Free Four. I'm really unsure what went into this decision-making process.

I would have to recommend the more recent book Pink Floyd: Echoes (Pink Floyd). It has a better selection of songs (with a lot of overlap with this collection) and also some interesting artwork. However, if you can't find what you're looking for there, you might find it here.

With the inclusion of songs from 'The Piper At The Gates of Dawn' to 'Works' it is a comprehensive selection of songs. It only gives a couple selections from each album, except from 'Meddle' which only missing "Seamus." Although it includes "Money," "Time," and "Embryo" it's missing the solos and more instrumental parts, focusing only on the vocal sections. The two instrumentals transcripted in the book are done so weakly. "One of These days" (my personal favorite Floyd song) is missing nearly all of the slide guitar is omitted and transcipted simply as guitar tacet. Not much can be said for "A Saucerful of Secrets" either. So if you're an advanced musician this book won't be terribly helpful. But, if you're looking to start learning to play some Floyd songs this book is a great start.

This seems to be the best Floyd book for me; standard notation, tab and diagrammed chords above the measures and staff.