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Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd
Paperback
Published October 6, 2005
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August 6, 2025
Can you imagine reading an account or so to speak an autobiographical account of the most acoustically and sonically brilliant band which has produced works that has generated not only wider audience but will go down in the forthcoming history of the next 100 years or so, to be the most ahead of the time bunch of arrogant English boys and later musicians, which musicologists will end up analysing/deciphering on a sober mind or on a drugged up propulsion of LSD stroked into their brains and not getting to know what the hell happened between Roger, David, Richard, Nick and MOST IMPORTANTLY, the son-of-a-gun/madcap laugher SYD BARRETT, that led to the eventual break up of the entire band post THE FINAL CUT?
I have huge respect for Roger Waters for producing such kind of experiential music and will take Dark Side of The Moon and The Wall to my grave and, I still say this, no one has ever created such kind of work in the modern sense of music, if we completely refrain from considering German and Russian Classical music of Beethoven, Bach and Tchaikovsky and Hindustani Classical Music composed of ragas and taals. But all in all, we all know how prick Roger was in his younger self. He has sobered up at the moment and completely devoted his life to activism but he still can be a prick and we have plethora evidences of him acting like aforementioned behaviour.
Richard Wright is my man for producing such beautiful romantic ballads, all of which carries that distinct sound and arrangement that gives right away at the playing of its first chord that it is Rick who is pulling the strings here. Summer '68, Stay, Burning Bridges are my go to songs when i need to relax and just enjoy that bittersweet moments of romantic love. And what an amazingly sounding voice Rick had, that raspy yet cockney voice is what I want to hear in the most expensive sets of headphones built in this world to savour the texture of his voice. But I feel bad that there was no account of Rick in this book by Mason apart from one or two instances and the most important moment when he was sacked off the membership of the band by Roger during the production of The Wall.
The more I say the less it will be for David Gilmour who joined the band in 1968 replacing SYD for reasons we all know. Same as Rick, I am a huge fan of David's voice. His vocals is what I associate Pink Floyd with, I mean yes Waters was the guy leading the band with his angsty voice and compositions which are brilliant in their own sense but the sense of calm post-psychedelic rock or, you could say progressive rock that Floyd activated with their compositions is all about David's voals and his lead guitars. Comfortably Numb, Echoes, Marooned, Coming Back To Life is all David's creation and they have a leagcy of its own.
Nick Mason is the underdog who has always missed the spotlight but I can say this without giving any other thought, that he was the heartbeat of Pink Floyd. Ofc ourse he was the drummer but with his rhythmic thumping of bass drums, and the intro of Time from Dark Side of The Moon played on Rototoms provided the sense of progression and cohesion that Floyd needed. And why not, he is the only one who has seen the entire phase of Pink Floyd beginning from SYD's to Waters to Gilmour. Everybody left but he stayed. However, I was delighted to get to know that Nick was also a motorhead and an absolute motorsports enthusiast. The guy managed to drive Le Mans while recording their album The Wall in France, for good heavens!!
And lastly, SYD. The soul of Pink Floyd. The crazy diamond who shone so bright that it ended up destroying itself with the intensity of light coming out of its core. I have always been intrigued and interested with Barrett's life and how it turned out for him. There are so many theories, conjectures as to what happened but we should just put a stop to it by accepting that it was a lethal dose of multiple never-ending trips of LSD to the otherworld combined with the dormant mental illness he was harbouring since the time of his birth. SYD's story is the most tragic but for me the most interesting and pathbreaking music created by Floyd was the initial days when Barrett was on the helm. The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, See Emily Play, Arnold Layne and his solo albums Madcap Laughs and Barrett are some of the most interesting and pathbreaking piece of music in the English scene of the late 1960s. And what can I say about the songwriting. He was a gifted writer. The man was writing about bicycles, garden gnomes, man stealing women clothing from clotheslines for god's sake and still making sense.
I am disappointed with the book with Mason's account here because although he managed to document the entire journey of the band beginning from Cambridge when they were Architecture students to the time the band disbanded and everyone started their own journey, he managed to document the logisitics of touring, business deals and how music industry is an evil capitalistic machine and the technology of recording the music at Abbey Road studio, however, he just failed to provide an accurate account of each member of the band. I am here to know Pink Floyd. I am here to know Roger, Rick, Nick, Dave and SYD up close and personal but Nick said Zilch! Naada! You are getting none of them.
I wonder what was the hesitation. I never got to understand their characters. What went with all of them inside their heads while everything was unfolding in front of them. What were they thinking? Why Rick drfit apart from the band so easily? Why Roger was so control freak? Why David harboured anger towards Roger and vice versa? AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, how come all of them just abandon SYD when he began behaving erratically? Because he was no longer mentally stable? SYD was the lead man of your band brothers, who was spearheding the group with his songwriting skills and music composition and apart from that, SYD was your friend. How come all of them just reached an agreement that you should just drop SYD and move ahead. I wanted that to hear. I wanted that story to emerge from this 'Personal History of Pink Floyd.'
I mean yes you guys in the later years admitted that you all were guilty of the fact the way all of you treated SYD while he was behaving the way he was but boys, that is not enough. You need to explain it to everyone when you are deciding to write a personal history of your journey.
I have no doubt that you all loved SYD to the core but you all were guilty as well. SYD, for me ‘was, is and will’ be the soul of Pink Floyd even if I keep on continue to listen to Dark Side, The Wall and Wish You Were Here on repeat but I know when I am in my shell I will always go to See Emily Play, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn and Madcap Laugh because SYD I LOVE YOU and I WILL KEEP ON LOVING YOU YOU CRAZY DIAMOND till I am breathing! KEEP ON SHINING WHEREVER YOU ARE!
I have huge respect for Roger Waters for producing such kind of experiential music and will take Dark Side of The Moon and The Wall to my grave and, I still say this, no one has ever created such kind of work in the modern sense of music, if we completely refrain from considering German and Russian Classical music of Beethoven, Bach and Tchaikovsky and Hindustani Classical Music composed of ragas and taals. But all in all, we all know how prick Roger was in his younger self. He has sobered up at the moment and completely devoted his life to activism but he still can be a prick and we have plethora evidences of him acting like aforementioned behaviour.
Richard Wright is my man for producing such beautiful romantic ballads, all of which carries that distinct sound and arrangement that gives right away at the playing of its first chord that it is Rick who is pulling the strings here. Summer '68, Stay, Burning Bridges are my go to songs when i need to relax and just enjoy that bittersweet moments of romantic love. And what an amazingly sounding voice Rick had, that raspy yet cockney voice is what I want to hear in the most expensive sets of headphones built in this world to savour the texture of his voice. But I feel bad that there was no account of Rick in this book by Mason apart from one or two instances and the most important moment when he was sacked off the membership of the band by Roger during the production of The Wall.
The more I say the less it will be for David Gilmour who joined the band in 1968 replacing SYD for reasons we all know. Same as Rick, I am a huge fan of David's voice. His vocals is what I associate Pink Floyd with, I mean yes Waters was the guy leading the band with his angsty voice and compositions which are brilliant in their own sense but the sense of calm post-psychedelic rock or, you could say progressive rock that Floyd activated with their compositions is all about David's voals and his lead guitars. Comfortably Numb, Echoes, Marooned, Coming Back To Life is all David's creation and they have a leagcy of its own.
Nick Mason is the underdog who has always missed the spotlight but I can say this without giving any other thought, that he was the heartbeat of Pink Floyd. Ofc ourse he was the drummer but with his rhythmic thumping of bass drums, and the intro of Time from Dark Side of The Moon played on Rototoms provided the sense of progression and cohesion that Floyd needed. And why not, he is the only one who has seen the entire phase of Pink Floyd beginning from SYD's to Waters to Gilmour. Everybody left but he stayed. However, I was delighted to get to know that Nick was also a motorhead and an absolute motorsports enthusiast. The guy managed to drive Le Mans while recording their album The Wall in France, for good heavens!!
And lastly, SYD. The soul of Pink Floyd. The crazy diamond who shone so bright that it ended up destroying itself with the intensity of light coming out of its core. I have always been intrigued and interested with Barrett's life and how it turned out for him. There are so many theories, conjectures as to what happened but we should just put a stop to it by accepting that it was a lethal dose of multiple never-ending trips of LSD to the otherworld combined with the dormant mental illness he was harbouring since the time of his birth. SYD's story is the most tragic but for me the most interesting and pathbreaking music created by Floyd was the initial days when Barrett was on the helm. The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, See Emily Play, Arnold Layne and his solo albums Madcap Laughs and Barrett are some of the most interesting and pathbreaking piece of music in the English scene of the late 1960s. And what can I say about the songwriting. He was a gifted writer. The man was writing about bicycles, garden gnomes, man stealing women clothing from clotheslines for god's sake and still making sense.
I am disappointed with the book with Mason's account here because although he managed to document the entire journey of the band beginning from Cambridge when they were Architecture students to the time the band disbanded and everyone started their own journey, he managed to document the logisitics of touring, business deals and how music industry is an evil capitalistic machine and the technology of recording the music at Abbey Road studio, however, he just failed to provide an accurate account of each member of the band. I am here to know Pink Floyd. I am here to know Roger, Rick, Nick, Dave and SYD up close and personal but Nick said Zilch! Naada! You are getting none of them.
I wonder what was the hesitation. I never got to understand their characters. What went with all of them inside their heads while everything was unfolding in front of them. What were they thinking? Why Rick drfit apart from the band so easily? Why Roger was so control freak? Why David harboured anger towards Roger and vice versa? AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, how come all of them just abandon SYD when he began behaving erratically? Because he was no longer mentally stable? SYD was the lead man of your band brothers, who was spearheding the group with his songwriting skills and music composition and apart from that, SYD was your friend. How come all of them just reached an agreement that you should just drop SYD and move ahead. I wanted that to hear. I wanted that story to emerge from this 'Personal History of Pink Floyd.'
I mean yes you guys in the later years admitted that you all were guilty of the fact the way all of you treated SYD while he was behaving the way he was but boys, that is not enough. You need to explain it to everyone when you are deciding to write a personal history of your journey.
I have no doubt that you all loved SYD to the core but you all were guilty as well. SYD, for me ‘was, is and will’ be the soul of Pink Floyd even if I keep on continue to listen to Dark Side, The Wall and Wish You Were Here on repeat but I know when I am in my shell I will always go to See Emily Play, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn and Madcap Laugh because SYD I LOVE YOU and I WILL KEEP ON LOVING YOU YOU CRAZY DIAMOND till I am breathing! KEEP ON SHINING WHEREVER YOU ARE!
Displaying 1 of 1 review