Synopses & Reviews
Mark Blake draws on his own interviews with band members as well as the groupand#8217;s friends, road crew, musical contemporaries, former housemates, and university colleagues to produce a riveting history of one of the biggest rock bands of all time. We follow Pink Floyd from the early psychedelic nights at UFO, to the stadium-rock and concept-album zenith of the seventies, to the acrimonious schisms of the late and#8217;80s and and#8217;90s. Along the way there are fascinating new revelations about Syd Barrettand#8217;s chaotic life at the time of
Piper at the Gates of Dawn, the bandand#8217;s painstaking and Byzantine recording sessions at Abbey Road, and the fractious negotiations to bring about their fragile, tantalizing reunion in Hyde Park.
Meticulous, exacting, and ambitious as any Pink Floyd album, Comfortably Numb is the definitive account of this most adventurousand#151;and most Englishand#151;rock band.
Review
New York Press, 1/20/09andldquo;You really do feel as if youandrsquo;re being sucked into the drama. Thatandrsquo;s a testament to Blake doing his jobandhellip;Itandrsquo;s a journalistic take on the band, and its reads like a history book. Itandrsquo;s respectful and revealing, but not in a scandalous way.andrdquo;
Blurt Magazine, 2/09
andldquo;Mark Blake has clearly done his share of researchandhellip;Blake is at his best [when] providing those details that leap off the page while placing Pink Floyd squarely in the context of the times.andrdquo;
Synopsis
The acclaimed, definitive biography of Pink Floyd, from their iconic beginnings in psychedelic, Swinging London to their historic reunion at the Live8 concert (The most complete, insightful, and current account of Pink Floyd...nearly as essential as the music itself.--Austin Chronicle)
Mark Blake draws on his own interviews with band members as well as the group's friends, road crew, musical contemporaries, former housemates, and university colleagues to produce a riveting history of one of the biggest rock bands of all time. We follow Pink Floyd from the early psychedelic nights at UFO, to the stadium-rock and concept-album zenith of the seventies, to the acrimonious schisms of the late '80s and '90s. Along the way there are fascinating new revelations about Syd Barrett's chaotic life at the time of Piper at the Gates of Dawn, the band's painstaking and Byzantine recording sessions at Abbey Road, and the fractious negotiations to bring about their fragile, tantalizing reunion in Hyde Park. Meticulous, exacting, and ambitious as any Pink Floyd album, Comfortably Numb is the definitive account of this most adventurous--and most English--rock band.
Synopsis
Meticulous, exacting, and ambitious as any Pink Floyd album, Comfortably Numb is the definitive account of this most adventurousandmdash;and most Englishandmdash;rock band.
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About the Author
Mark Blake is the editor of Dylan: Visions, Portraits and Back Pages, and Punk: The Whole Story. He lives in London.