The Division Bell
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| The Division Bell | ||
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| Studio album by Pink Floyd | ||
| Released | March 30, 1994 (UK) April 5, 1994 (US) |
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| Recorded | 1993 | |
| Genre | Progressive rock | |
| Length | 66:32 | |
| Label | EMI (UK) Columbia (US) |
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| Producer(s) | Bob Ezrin & David Gilmour | |
| Professional reviews | ||
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| Pink Floyd chronology | ||
| Shine On (1992) |
The Division Bell (1994) |
P*U*L*S*E (1995) |
| Alternative cover | ||
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| US release cover | ||
- This article is about the Pink Floyd album. See division bell for the bell that is rung in the British Houses of Parliament.
The Division Bell is the most recent studio album by Pink Floyd, released in 1994 (March 30 in the United Kingdom and April 5 in the United States), and the second album without Roger Waters. It was recorded at a number of studios, including guitarist/vocalist David Gilmour's houseboat studio called The Astoria. It went to #1 in the UK and debuted at the top of the US Billboard 200 album charts in April of 1994, spending 4 weeks as the top album in the country. By contrast, Pink Floyd's previous album A Momentary Lapse of Reason had only reached #3. The Division Bell was certified Gold, Platinum and Double Platinum in the US in June of 1994 and Triple Platinum in January of 1999. Its release was accompanied by a successful tour documented in the P*U*L*S*E album released the following year.
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[edit] Background
Before the Roger Waters-led period, David Gilmour stated that the music and lyrics were in balance, and the importance of the music was understood. The Division Bell's atmosphere is spacier, sounding more like Meddle or Obscured by Clouds than the grittier and harsher tones of Animals or The Wall. David Gilmour and Rick Wright stated on "In the Studio with Redbeard", which spotlighted The Division Bell (including interviews which were recorded for The Division Bell's world premiere special aired one week before its US release) that the album was the band's best since their 1975 release Wish You Were Here.
[edit] Artwork
The cover artwork, by long-time Pink Floyd collaborator Storm Thorgerson, shows two metal head sculptures, each over 3 metres tall and weighing 1500 kilograms. They were placed in a field in Cambridgeshire and photographed under all weather and lighting conditions over a two-week period, sometimes with visual effects such as lights between them. Ely Cathedral is visible in the background, as are lights (actually car headlights on poles), shown through the sculptures' mouths. Rumours circulated at the time of the photography that they were in excess of 20 metres high; this was not true. The sculptures are now in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.
The cover photograph is slightly different on each format, and between the U.S. Columbia and British EMI releases. The Braille writing on the EMI CD jewel case spells Pink Floyd.
Two additional head sculptures were made of stone and photographed in the same manner; although they do not appear in the CD artwork, they appeared on the cassette cover, and can be seen in the tour brochure and elsewhere.
[edit] Meaning
Despite no specific over-arcing concept, there is a musical connection between the songs in the form of a linking theme of communication [3] and the lack of it. The Division Bell has been described as "The Anti-Wall", in that whereas The Wall is about closing oneself off from the world, The Division Bell is about staying in contact with humanity. Of course it could be argued that this is a continuation of/variation on similar themes.
Tracks such as What Do You Want from Me, A Great Day for Freedom and Take It Back seem chiefly concerned with communication problems within (sexual) relationships, while Keep Talking is more generally about the importance of maintaing a dialogue and the dangers of allowing oneself to become insular. Poles Apart seems to be about a fractured familial relationship or possibly that between once-close friends. While some songs can be interpreted as references to the then ongoing relationship problems between Pink Floyd members, especially the long-standing estrangement between David Gilmour and Roger Waters, Gilmour denies that the album is an allegory for the split and acknowledges only "a couple of hinted mentions that could or could not have something to do with him [Waters]" [4].
[edit] Track listing
All lead vocals performed by David Gilmour unless stated otherwise.
- "Cluster One" (David Gilmour, Richard Wright) – 5:58
- Instrumental
- "What Do You Want from Me" (Gilmour, Wright, Polly Samson) – 4:21
- Lead vocals: David Gilmour
- "Poles Apart" (Gilmour, Wright, Samson, Nick Laird-Clowes) – 7:04
- Lead vocals: David Gilmour
- "Marooned" (Gilmour, Wright) – 5:29
- Instrumental
- "A Great Day for Freedom" (Gilmour, Samson) – 4:17
- Lead vocals: David Gilmour
- "Wearing the Inside Out" (Wright, Anthony Moore) – 6:49
- Lead vocals: Rick Wright
- "Take It Back" (Gilmour, Samson, Laird-Clowes, Bob Ezrin) – 6:12
- Lead vocals: David Gilmour
- "Coming Back to Life" (Gilmour) – 6:19
- Lead vocals: David Gilmour
- "Keep Talking" (Gilmour, Wright, Samson) – 6:11
- Lead vocals: David Gilmour and Carol Kenyon
- "Lost for Words" (Gilmour, Samson) – 5:14
- Lead vocals: David Gilmour
- "High Hopes" (Gilmour, Samson) – 8:32
- Lead vocals: David Gilmour
[edit] Trivia
- The division bell is rung in the British House of Commons to signal sessions to Members of Parliament – it is thus a communications device but, being so named and being concerned with eternally opposing sides in debate, sums up the album's theme of communication and the lack thereof.
- This release marks the first time Richard Wright had sung lead vocals on a Pink Floyd album since 1973's The Dark Side of the Moon, although he did provide backing vocals for Wish You Were Here, Animals and A Momentary Lapse of Reason. It also marks his first songwriting credit on a Pink Floyd album since Wish You Were Here.
- Douglas Adams, the author of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy trilogy, chose the name of the album, being a friend of David Gilmour. This came about because the three band members could not agree on an album title (with both "Pow Wow" and "Down to Earth" being suggested) and Adams said he would give the band a name if they made a quite large donation to Greenpeace. The band agreed and the name was suggested.
- Samples of Professor Stephen Hawking (from a telephone company advertisement) provide the spoken word portions of Keep Talking
- A vinyl version was released and had edited versions of Poles Apart, Marooned, A Great Day for Freedom, Wearing the Inside Out and High Hopes.
- At the end of the album, Gilmour's step-son, Charlie, can be heard hanging up the telephone on *Pink Floyd manager Steve O'Rourke, who had pleaded to be allowed to appear on a Pink Floyd album.
- The track "Marooned" was awarded a Grammy in the category of Best Rock Instrumental Performance at the Grammy Awards of 1995. This has been Pink Floyd's only Grammy to date.
- EMI concocted an Internet-based "puzzle" known as the Publius Enigma in connection with the album's release. Officially it was never solved.
- The album was named by Douglas Adams, taken from a line in the final track, "High Hopes".
[edit] Credits
- David Gilmour – vocals, guitars, bass guitar, Keyboards, production and programming
- Richard Wright – keyboards, piano, vocals
- Nick Mason – drums, percussion and programming
with
- Jon Carin – additional keyboards
- Guy Pratt – bass guitar
- Gary Wallis – percussion
- Tim Renwick – guitars
- Dick Parry – saxophone and trumpet
- Carol Kenyon – backing vocals, vocals on "Keep Talking"
- Sam Brown – backing vocals
- Bob Ezrin – drums, production and composing in "Take It Back"
- Anthony Moore - composing in "Wearing The Inside Out"
- Michael Kamen – orchestral arrangements
- Professor Stephen Hawking – digital voice on "Keep Talking"
[edit] Singles
- "Take It Back" / "Astronomy Domine (live)" / "Take It Back" (edit) - Columbia 38-77493; released May 31, 1994
- "High Hopes (radio edit)" / "Keep Talking (radio edit)" / "One of These Days (live)"; released October 10, 1994
[edit] Charts
[edit] Album
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | UK Albums Chart | 1 |
| 1994 | US Billboard 200 | 1 |
[edit] Singles
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | "Keep Talking" | US Mainstream Rock Tracks | 1 |
| 1994 | "Take It Back" | UK Singles Chart | 23 |
| 1994 | "Take It Back" | US Mainstream Rock Tracks | 4 |
| 1994 | "Take It Back" | US Billboard Hot 100 | 73 |
| 1994 | "High Hopes" | UK Singles Chart | 26 |
| 1994 | "High Hopes" | US Mainstream Rock Tracks | 7 |
| 1994 | "Lost for Words" | US Mainstream Rock Tracks | 21 |
| 1994 | "What Do You Want from Me" | US Mainstream Rock Tracks | 16 |
