Pink Floyd – The Division Bell

Reviewed by: Jon Daley

Nostalgic fans had one last chance to be horrified in 1994 as Pink Floyd heaved out a final death-defying album before eventually fading into apathy.

Rather than make the heroic sudden exit that many of Britain’s greatest acts chose to make before falling from grace, the Floyd engine simply refused to stop.

Many times by this point the band had churned out a work spurned by critics as the headstone of their demise and now, fronted by a man who wasn’t even there when they started, psychedelia’s biggest legends coughed up what was to be one last dance.

Bearing almost no resemblance to their alter-egos of the sixties, who stumbled through a haze of drugs while frivolously plucking at strings and nonchalantly crooning about bicycles and ancient gods, the nineties Pink Floyd gorged itself on great ensembles of sound, with backing choirs, multiple percussionists, booming synth backing and hefty effect-laden guitar noise.

The album was consequently scoffed at by reviewers as being nothing but a tribute to what once was great. And it would be true to suggest that the album is not their best. But, for me at least, it stands perfectly in its place as the end of a long tale: the closing chapter of an act that has undergone such change it is scarcely believable. And for that reason alone, listening to the songs is an absurdly moving and inspiring experience. With the role of epilogue, The Division Bell sums up Pink Floyd’s transcendence from its innocent and simple infancy to its roaring, commanding adulthood.

Whether intentional or not, the album makes several noticeable references to previous eras of Floyd. Cluster One – there’s the haunting organ sound from Shine On You Crazy Diamond. On Poles Apart we hear the same cheery acoustic guitar sound used in such songs as Fearless and Free Four. And A Great Day For Freedom speaks for itself with its opening line: “On the day the wall came down…” But this isn’t just more of the same; the tone is different – more powerful, less innocent and sometimes a lot moodier. It’s easy to understand why a die-hard fan of the original sound would have been so disgusted.

But of what value is The Division Bell to those of us less educated in the history of Pink Floyd’s music? Even more! Any critic stripped of Pink Floyd’s past accomplishments would surely be impressed by this album. Were it the debut of some adolescent anorak-wearing indie train spotters with a name like ‘The Cooling Vice’ or ‘The Mysterious Blanket’ it would probably gather rave reviews across the nation. I can’t help but feel that it has been widely rated in comparison with previous Floyd efforts, and is therefore subject to enormous prejudice.

The Division Bell isn’t an earth-shattering feat of achievement (despite the fact that the album begins literally with the sound of the earth shattering). But it proves, once and for all, that Pink Floyd has grown old gracefully. Once again in 1994 they gave us new music. And great music.