The Endless River
The Endless River is the fifteenth and final studio album by English rock band Pink Floyd, released in November 2014 by Parlophone Records in Europe and Columbia Records in the rest of the world. It was the third Pink Floyd album recorded under the leadership of guitarist David Gilmour after the departure of bassist Roger Waters in 1985, and the first following the death of keyboardist Richard Wright in 2008, who appears posthumously.
This article is about the Pink Floyd album. For the 2015 South African film, see The Endless River (film).The Endless River
7 November 2014
1969, 1993, 2013–2014
- Royal Albert Hall
- Olympic Studios
- Britannia Row Studios
- Astoria
- Medina Studios
53:02
92:26 (deluxe edition)
- David Gilmour
- Youth
- Andy Jackson
- Phil Manzanera
- Bob Ezrin (co-producer)
The Endless River is a double-album[5] that comprises mainly instrumental and ambient music composed of material recorded during sessions for the previous Pink Floyd album, The Division Bell (1994). Additional material was recorded in 2013 and 2014 on Gilmour's Astoria boat studio and in Medina Studios in Hove, England. It was produced by Gilmour, Youth, Andy Jackson and Phil Manzanera. Only one track, "Louder than Words", has lead vocals. After the death of longtime Pink Floyd artist Storm Thorgerson in 2013, the cover was created by artist Ahmed Emad Eldin, design company Stylorouge and Aubrey Powell, co-founder of Thorgerson's design company Hipgnosis.
The Endless River was promoted with the "Louder than Words" single and artwork installations in cities around the world. It became the most pre-ordered album of all time on Amazon UK and debuted at number one in several countries. The vinyl edition was the fastest-selling UK vinyl release since 1997. The album received mixed reviews: some critics praised the nostalgic mood, while others found it unambitious or meandering.
Composition[edit]
The Endless River comprises four pieces, which form a continuous flow of mostly ambient and instrumental music.[20] Gilmour said: "Unapologetically, this is for the generation that wants to put its headphones on, lie in a beanbag, or whatever, and get off on a piece of music for an extended period of time. You could say it’s not for the iTunes, downloading-individual-tracks generation."[21] Mason described the album as a tribute to Wright: "I think this record is a good way of recognising a lot of what he does and how his playing was at the heart of the Pink Floyd sound. Listening back to the sessions, it really brought home to me what a special player he was."[10]
"Louder than Words" is the only track with a lead vocal.[22] Samson wrote the lyrics after observing the band's interaction during the rehearsals for their 2005 Live 8 reunion, their first performance with Waters in over 24 years. She said: "What struck me was, they never spoke ... It’s not hostile, they just don’t speak. And then they step onto a stage and musically that communication is extraordinary."[23] The album title is taken from a lyric on the last track of The Division Bell, "High Hopes": "The water flowing / The endless river / For ever and ever." Gilmour said it suggested a continuum between the records.[24]
Packaging[edit]
The Endless River cover art depicts a young man punting a Thames skiff across a sea of clouds towards the sun.[25][26] After the death of longtime Pink Floyd artist Storm Thorgerson in 2013,[27] Pink Floyd collaborated with Aubrey Powell, co-founder of Thorgerson's design company Hipgnosis.[28] Powell discovered 18-year-old Egyptian artist Ahmed Emad Eldin and asked to use the concept from his piece Beyond the Sky for The Endless River.[29] Eldin was a Pink Floyd fan and accepted enthusiastically.[30] Powell felt Ahmed's concept had "an instant Floydian resonance", and described it as "enigmatic and open to interpretation".[31] The final cover is a recreation of Eldin's work by London design firm Stylorouge.[32] Powell felt that the cover summed up the title and music, and was appropriate for the recording on the Thames.[25]
The Endless River was also released in boxed DVD and Blu-ray "deluxe" editions, containing a 24-page hardback book, postcards, and a bonus disc of three additional tracks and six music videos.[13] The DVD edition includes the album in Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 surround sound, plus a 48 kHz /24 bit stereo version. The Blu-ray has DTS Master Audio and PCM, 96/24 5.1 surround and a PCM stereo 96/24 version.[13]
Commercial performance[edit]
In the week before its release, The Endless River displaced Four by One Direction as the most pre-ordered album of all time on Amazon UK.[66] It debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, with sales totaling 139,351 the third highest opening sales week of 2014,[67] making it Pink Floyd's sixth UK number one.[68][69] As of 27 November 2014, the vinyl edition had sold 6,000 copies, making it the fastest-selling UK vinyl release of 2014 and the fastest-selling since 1997.[70] The album also debuted at number one in several other countries, including France, Germany, Portugal, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, New Zealand,[71] and Canada.[72] In the US, it debuted at number 3 on the Billboard 200 with 170,000 copies sold in its first week;[73] by January 2015, it had sold 355,000 copies there.[74] Worldwide, The Endless River sold over 2.5 million copies in 2014.[75]
All tracks produced by David Gilmour, Phil Manzanera, Youth and Andy Jackson.
Adapted from the 2014 release[76]
Pink Floyd
Additional musicians
Production and design