The Endless River
by Pink Floyd
  • Record Label: Columbia
  • Release Date: Nov 10, 2014
User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 139 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 98 out of 139
  2. Mixed: 27 out of 139
  3. Negative: 14 out of 139
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  1. highplainsdrift
    Nov 10, 2014
    3
    Fifteen years ago I would have been giddy at the news of a new Pink Floyd album. I'm a Pink Floyd loyalist, but when I heard the news that Floyd was releasing a new album, I sensed it a bit late in the game to have very high expectations for it. In preparation for this "event", I saddled up my Sennheiser headphones, smoked a phat bowl and cranked this album full through. And what IFifteen years ago I would have been giddy at the news of a new Pink Floyd album. I'm a Pink Floyd loyalist, but when I heard the news that Floyd was releasing a new album, I sensed it a bit late in the game to have very high expectations for it. In preparation for this "event", I saddled up my Sennheiser headphones, smoked a phat bowl and cranked this album full through. And what I discovered is that Pink Floyd really has become their own parents--and let's not kid ourselves, these "leftovers" from the Division Bell sessions are really just the fruits of Dave Gilmour sitting in a Production studio and mixing his and Rick Wright's tracks from those older sessions.

    The sound is clean and there are flickering moments, like on "Allons-y" and "Talkin' Hawkin'", that take you back to the classic Pink Floyd sound, but they never really get off their feet and the songs trudge slowly to no pay off. If you're hoping for the classic Pink Floyd sound to resurrect itself, you'll be disappointed; and if you are anticipating they would take their music to some new, exciting direction, here again you'd be disappointed.

    There is very little life in these songs and what is there fails due to Gilmour's fading studio skills. Gilmour is simply not that great as a Producer (that was Waters). Especially noticeable in the first half of the album are the airy synthesizers which sound more Yanni than I am comfortable with. Gilmour's guitar lacks the power and volume of his earlier works--the best that I can describe it is that he sounds flat. With classic Floyd, even when Gilmour played quietly, his guitar was still on display and his long tones carried the music. Gilmour used to write solos that made us weep. There is nothing close to that here. I could point to any number of albums of a similar vein from the old Musax or Patchwork Libraries that do this 10 times better, and those albums were written 30 years ago.

    Maybe what this album lacks truly IS LIFE. Division Bell wasn't a great album, either--it was good, yet still many stars better than Endless River. Where those Division Bell songs came to life was when Pink Floyd performed them live. The album that came out of the tour in 1994 was Pulse, among the best live rock albums ever made. Maybe these songs would come to life at a live Floyd show...    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

44
#44 Most Discussed Album of 2014
49
#49 Most Shared Album of 2014

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
58

Mixed or average reviews - based on 24 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 24
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 24
  3. Negative: 4 out of 24
  1. Classic Rock Magazine
    Dec 16, 2014
    50
    Overall, too much of The Endless River is suffocated by prog-normative dreariness and a high, conventional varnish. [Dec 2014, p.98]
  2. PopMatters
    Nov 26, 2014
    60
    The problems with The Endless River are not so much what we are given, but what is left out. Without the vocals, something is very clearly missing and the listener is left wanting more.
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  3. Under The Radar
    Nov 25, 2014
    35
    The Endless River belongs not in the pantheon of the great Pink Floyd, but in a hotel elevator.
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