Pink Floyd

Hell Freezes Over: The Ends of Five Great Musical Feuds

Last month marked the end of one of the great musical feuds of the 1990s. Any Britpop fan knows you can either be a fan of Oasis or of Blur, but not a fan of both. The two bands hated each other's guts and were in constant competition throughout the decade. So all of us in the press were shocked wh ... More >>

The Disco Experiment: Why It Worked For Pink Floyd, But Not KISS

In 1979, disco was all the rage. For all the kids who had never bothered to pay attention when their parents would talk about it, it was sort of like dubstep. It was ubiquitous on the radio and even rock bands were vying to get in on the action so they didn't get left behind in the new revolution. S ... More >>

10 Fun Facts Only Floyd Freaks Know About Dark Side of the Moon

Pink Floyd's rock and roll masterpiece, The Dark Side of the Moon, turned 40 years old this weekend. If you don't already own a copy or three, consider checking it out. It's the best album by one of history's best bands, and you can find as easily in any record store in Phuket as you can in Philadel ... More >>

Pink Floyd's 10 Best Pre-Dark Side of the Moon Tracks

In anticipation of the upcoming 40th anniversary of Dark Side of the Moon, originally released in March 1973, we here at Rocks Off would like to remind you all that Pink Floyd existed for some years before that monumental album. While the band experienced some success, they of course never saw anyth ... More >>

The Rocks Off 100: Tyagaraja, Truly Mystical Musician

Who? Not all that many musicians around here aspire to live like monks, but Tyagaraja (nee Jonathan Welch) does. "I'm studying under a very serious path that comes from a Himalayan monk tradition dating back to 500 B.C., and my music has never been better," he says. Tyagaraja, whose mystical folk-r ... More >>

Floyd-Flouting Aussies a "Tribute" Act Like No Other

While they are technically a "tribute band," there is nothing amateur, half-assed or untrue to the source about the Australian Pink Floyd Show. In fact, these Down Under Wonders put on such an eerily accurate PF experience, they were asked by none other than David Gilmour himself to play his 50th ... More >>

5 Shows We'd Like to See at HMNS' Burke Baker Planetarium

Recently I decided to put down the cash and become an honest-to-God card-carrying member of the Houston Museum of Natural Science. I find that walking the halls of the HMNS is a fine way to kill a few hours before a concert. There is a part of the HMNS that I hold near and dear to my heart, even t ... More >>

Is Pink Floyd's A Momentary Lapse of Reason Misunderstood or Just Bad?

Like a lot of people I didn't really discover Pink Floyd until I was in my late teens. I had heard their songs before on the radio, but had never felt the need to go buy any of their CDs. Then one night in my dorm room I listened to a pirated copy of The Wall and suddenly it clicked. I was a fan. T ... More >>

Explaining Classic Rock Bands to Kids

This past Sunday, The New York Times ran a piece by Paul Greenberg where the author explained how important the Beatles were to music and pop culture to his five-year old son. The child didn't know that the band had albums, but only knew the Fab Four from iTunes playlists. "When the Beatles record ... More >>

Linus Pauling Quartet

Explosions In the Sky: No Vocals Necessary

Known for elaborate guitar work, referred to as "cathartic mini-symphonies," Explosions In the Sky put on emotional shows. Remaining completely devoid of vocals, three guitars and one drummer (a bass guitar is thrown in at times) Explosions combine to create a sound that seems to carry the crowd on ... More >>

You Got Served: The Top 10 Legal Battles In Rock History

Ten years ago last week, one of the most vicious legal battles in rock history took another ugly turn. Ex-Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic and drummer Dave Grohl found themselves in King County Superior Court over a dispute with Kurt Cobain's widow, Courtney Love, over the band's considerable royalti ... More >>

Pink Floyd The Wall at 30: Would Pink Have a Facebook Page?

Rock stars: They're different from us. That's why we love them, and that's why sometimes they can fool themselves into thinking they're Hitler. That, as far as I can tell, is the message of Pink Floyd The Wall, Alan Parker's 1982 film based on the British rockers' 1979 album The Wall. Despite the g ... More >>

Readers Poll: Who Is the Most Overrated Artist in Rock History?

The concept of "overrated" and "underrated" has always confused me. There are groups that are critically lauded, yet got little commercial love, like The Band. And then there are groups that were almost universally reviled by critics, like Journey, who consistently managed to sell out shows, sell mi ... More >>

Top 5 Bands We'd Like To See At The Ballet

Tonight, Houston Ballet performs Rooster, Associate Choreographer Christopher Bruce's dance interpretations of eight Rolling Stones songs including "Little Red Rooster," "Paint It Black" and "Sympathy for the Devil." If that sounds a little lowbrow for the ballet, the program also includes two works ... More >>

The Most Overused Expressions in Music Critics' Twitter Feeds: An Epic List

It is impossible to overlook this peculiar trend any longer: A few choice words and phrases seem to be dominating many of 2011's music critiques, particularly on Twitter. Seemingly forcibly wedged into friends' and journalists' 140-characters-or-less makeshift tweet reviews, the following words and ... More >>

You In Color: The Black Angels' Christian Bland Talks Film Scores

Photo By Craig HlavatyThe Black Angels' Alex Maas at Free Press Summerfest in June​Tomorrow night the Black Angels hit Houston for the third time in about a year, with a gig over at Fitzgerald's with fellow retro-doomers Dead Meadow and Spindrift. The last time the Angels were in Houston it wa ... More >>

Pop Rocks: New Clear Days

Explains a lot.​I was discussing career choices (don't ask) with an acquaintance of mine, and in the course of talking about how we got where we were, I mentioned that I'd never really planned for life beyond college when I was in my teens. The decision wasn't a "non-decision" or anything lik ... More >>

For 4/20: Hipgnosis' Greatest Bong Hits

​Rocks Off doesn't know if it's our Shot In the Dark photo show tomorrow or that batch of brownies someone sent us, but we've been in a really visual mood this week. We can't remember exactly what it is, but something told us today might be a good day to revisit the work of Hipgnosis. The gro ... More >>

Concert Pub's Battle Of The Bands Wages War On Autism

​Autism is a developmental disorder that currently affects nine out of every 1,000 American children, a number that has steadily risen since the 1980s. Symptoms usually appear by age three, and often encompass difficulties in communicating within normal developmental and social parameters. La ... More >>

Scissor Sisters

Dark Side of the Moon: Best Blockbuster Album Ever?

​Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd's seminal album about mental illness, the inevitability of death, and anxiety born of living in modern society, turns 38 today. It remains one of the most successful... Wait a minute? DSotM is 38 years old? How is that possible? It seems like just yesterday ... More >>

Top Six Artist Vs. Record Label Feuds

​Pink Floyd has finally settled its lengthy dispute with their longtime record label EMI. The band, which signed to the label over 40 years ago, first took EMI to court last spring in an effort to clarify their existing contract. Floyd sought to prevent EMI from "unbundling" their albums by se ... More >>

Comment Of The Day: Don't Mess With Lunar-Eclipse Fans

​We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it's time we paid some damn attention to them. So we'll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day's work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula involv ... More >>

Surrender Dorothy: Five Better Dark Side Of The Moon Films

​Tonight at Miller Outdoor Theatre, a group of musicians will play Pink Floyd's legendary album Dark Side of the Moon live, in its entirety, with each and every instrument that was used to record it back in 1972-'73. With 45 million copies sold, Dark Side is still the third best-selling album ... More >>

Top 10 Pop Songs With Children's Choruses

​On the way home from ACL this past Sunday night, Craig's Hlist had his Rdio account humming over the speakers playing one of his playlists (phlayhlist?), but not the sad-bastard mix we rocks whenever we are at work alone. It was the life-spanning one we have been making since we got on the mu ... More >>

Katatonia, Swallow the Sun, Orphaned Land

Rocks Off Seeking Local Bands For New Covers Night

​It's been a while since Rocks Off has put on our promoter hat because, well, we've been kind of busy around here, but also because we've been cooking up an idea we think you're all going to like. We hope so, anyway. As you may have noticed, it's not that easy for artists to sell tickets thes ... More >>

Bare Bones

Lo-fi crushers Woven Bones would remake Pink Floyd's The Wall if they could.

National Teacher's Day, Celebrated In Video And Song

Today is National Teacher's Day, a feast which ranks right up there with whatever they're calling National Secretary's Day in these modern times.Which is a shame, of course, since good teachers are some of the most indispensable people around.To celebrate their day, such as it is, we offer five piec ... More >>

Album Covers You'll Never, Ever See on Any UK Stamps

​ The UK's Royal Mail recently unveiled a series of stamps based on classic British album covers, including the Rolling Stones' Let It Bleed and The Clash's London Calling. Rumor has it Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here was rejected due to the burning man on the cover, with the Royal Mail electing t ... More >>

He Said She Said: Our Musical Resolutions for 2010

​It's barely a week into 2010, and we still find ourselves writing 2009 on invoices and checks. We can't seem to shake that last quasi-awful year out of our heads. It seemed like one of the most interminable years we had ever had the bittersweet pleasure to find ourselves mired in. Little wonder t ... More >>

Mommy's Little Monster: Songs To Remind You That Children are Inherently Evil

​Like you, as Rocks Off grows older we have to come to terms with the fact that many of our friends are having children. Usually we can just scroll quickly past the offspring-related Facebook updates or send those 12-MB emails containing brood photos into the Trash folder unread. No harm, no foul. ... More >>

Songs for Naughty Children

As Rocks Off grows older we have to come to terms with the fact that many of our friends are having children. Usually we can just scroll quickly past the offspring-related Facebook updates or send those 12 MB emails containing brood photos into the Trash folder unread. No harm, no foul. But the hol ... More >>

Aftermath: Dengue Fever Explores The Lost World at Warehouse Live

There was a moment at the beginning of Dengue Fever's performance Saturday night where the movie the band was scoring, 1925's The Lost World, kind of faded into the background and all we could concentrate on was how their music was filling the space like warm water in a bathtub. We usually complain ... More >>

Ten Cover Songs So Bad They'll Shrivel Your Soul

Two nights ago, while carelessly patrolling the back alleys of the internet, Rocks Off stumbled across Hilary Duff's execrable cover of The Who's "My Generation". Well, what did you think, YouTube commenters? ​ You sure you're not being too harsh? ​ Yeah... ours too. Someday, when we ... More >>

Spain Colored Orange

Gilbert Alfaro and Eric Jackson sound off.

Saturday Night: Echoes at FBI Rocks

If you say you want the Pink Floyd experience, it generally means you're going to the laser show at the Planetarium, probably with pharmacology of questionable legality. But if you actually want a chance to stand in the audience of a Pink Floyd concert when they ruled the 70s like gods, then seeing ... More >>

Classic Rock Corner: In Memoriam 2008

You know, the Grim Reaper don't care if you're a multiplatinum music legend, a one-hit wonder or studio-only sideman - he's comin' for you someday! And in 2008, he seemed to like keyboardists and drummers most. A number of classic rockers left for "The Great Gig in the Sky," foremost of whom is the ... More >>

Eyeballin': A Technicolor Dream

This documentary, originally broadcast on BBC television, traces the coalition of the "underground" movement in swinging '60s London. Beginning with a groundbreaking 1965 gathering/reading of the Beat poets at the Royal Albert Hall and following with the opening of the Indica bookstore and galler ... More >>

Flying Pigs and Presidential Politics

Deep Waters

Roger Waters

The Beautiful Creatures

This local crew enhances the Rocky Horror experience

South By Lomax: Part One

Don't Fear the Reaper

The annual return of the Greil Marcus Rock Death Meter

Shine On!

True Blue Confessions

Let's join Madonna for a friendly round of Celebrity Breach of Confidentiality

Best Public Art Project

Comets on Fire

Blue Cathedral (Sub Pop)

Pink Pigs and Scarred Psyches

One man's triumphant journey through Pink Floyd obsession