Us & Them: Symphonic Pink Floyd

London Philharmonic Orchestra (Artist), Scholes (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 10, 1995)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Philips
• ASIN: B0000040UZ
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (61 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #41,574 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

This CD is featuring Pink Floyd and the London Philharmonic Orchestra

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If sound had color this would be a rainbow, April 16, 2008

By 

- Kasia S. (New York City) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Us & Them: Symphonic Pink Floyd (Audio CD)

Pink Floyd is one of my all time favorite bands, watching their concerts on a television screen is an exhilarating experience but this album is a whole new animal. I simply adore when my favorite artists do symphonic albums, few others that are good at this are Metallica and Jean Michel Jarre, now if only Juno Reactor could do a symphonic album I would pass out from joy.

All the songs on this album translate beautifully into symphonic music, who knew that they sound like perfect movie scores from movies I wish could exist, I can almost picture made up scenes happening. Someone doesn't have to be a fan of Pink Floyd or even worry if they would like it to really enjoy this album. If I could get into a space ship and travel to deep space I would have this as my soundtrack, it's just an incredible mélange of sounds, one can hear colored dust and clouds, sparkles and rich harmonies - it's simply magical.

Few of my favorite tracks (but oh they are all so good! )

Time - time travel captured in musical notes, relaxing and fantastic. One minute its dusty deserts and next I feel like I'm floating in outer space, totally mesmerizing.

Comfortably Numb - I get goosebumps from the neck down to my toes when this starts. The flutes and French horns in this are stunning, and as a flute player it touches me, almost as if a thin silver needle poked my heart. This is so elegant and sparkling at the same time, its music one can seriously fall in love with. The violins and trumpets give it depth, it almost sounds like an ocean waking up to fresh sun rays peaking out over the horizon.

Nobody Home - sounds like a sunrise in a Hollywood movie.

Breathe in the Air - reminds me of music from Spirited Away, one of my favorite anime movies, totally fantasy dripping into hears like honey.

Us and them - beautiful finish to this artistic creation, at times it reminded me of a mixture of a soundtrack from a Hitchcock movie and the unicorn film, Legend - but still had its own uniqueness, very bold and mysterious at the same time.

Whenever I sit down at night to sketch and draw I put on certain music that puts me in a specific mood, this album really gets my creative juices flowing, it rarely gets any time off from being played.

- Kasia S.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Worth a listen for diehard Floydians, February 13, 2005

By 

Danno (NY, NY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Us & Them: Symphonic Pink Floyd (Audio CD)

Jaz Coleman, the arranger behind "Kashmir:A Symphonic Tribute to Led Zeppelin," is the mastermind behind the less successful "Us and Them." In theory, this should have been the better of the two CDs; Floyd used orchestras as useful adjuncts on both their "Atom Heart Mother" and "Wall" albums. However, two problems keep this CD from being a must-have. Firstly, the song selection is drawn almost entirely from "Dark Side of the Moon" and thereby lacks variety. Several songs from "Wish You Were Here" would have lent themselves better to a classical treatment. Secondly, Pink Floyd so heavily relied on specific, readily identifiable electric guitar and synthesizer timbres that the music often seem "wrong" without them. It's like listening to one of Bach's harpsichord pieces on a banjo; even if you get it technically correct, it still sounds wrong to the listener.

That said, there are a few standouts. "Time," "Nobody Home," and "Comfortably Numb" are good orchestrations of slower Floyd songs and easily as cinematic-sounding as Coleman's work on the "Kashmir" CD. These are the songs on the CD that I can return to, and enjoy. The rest of the material seems incomplete without Floyd's trademark sound effects and electronic instruments. Still, this makes a good companion piece to David Gilmour's recent solo DVD, in which he reinterprets many Floyd classics within the parameters of chamber music.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This CD is a must-have for classical or Pink Floyd fans., November 9, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Us & Them: Symphonic Pink Floyd (Audio CD)

When a friend of mine told me about "Us and Them", I thought it would be an insult to Pink Floyd to do classical interpretations of their songs. Although I love classical music, I also think that there are certain things that shouldn't be touched. So I bought the CD as a Floyd fan ready to criticize it - and then I heard it. This, without a doubt, is one of my most-played CDs because it perfectly captures the essence of Pink Floyd's major works. As a fan of Pink Floyd, I was pleasantly surprised. And as a fan of good classical music, I was blown away. Songs like "Us and Them" and "Comfortably Numb", with so much drama in the original versions, are duplicated note for note by the London Philharmonic Orchestra - these guys are good at what they do. If you enjoy listening to a good classical CD all the way through while you are working or relaxing or anything, this is the one to listen to. Don't let the name fool you - Symphonic Pink Floyd is just as good as the rest of Floyd's works. Buy it now!