The outstanding, early Pink Floyd-inspired debut album of Jacco Gardner is easily the best album of 2013, even this early out in the year. Gardner is like a lighthouse beacon in a fog of mediocrity of pop music.

When excavating for deep cuts from Pink Floyd, you must first avoid Dark Side of the Moon which, after its decades-long run on the album charts, has a distinct air of been-there-done-that familiarity.

Nobody is going to accuse Pink Floyd — whether collectively, or apart — of inundating the market with product. The group has only issued three projects in the last 30 years, while its members have been just as stingy with solo albums.

It is both interesting and somewhat telling that Eagle Rock’s Pink Floyd documentary The Story Of Wish You Were Here both begins and ends with footage of the band performing “Wish You Were Here”

Nick Mason, the only member to have appeared in every different configuration of Pink Floyd, credits long-departed co-founder Syd Barrett for giving the band its “liftoff”

Everybody went through a Pink Floyd phase, right? But, the child is grown; the dream is gone. Let’s face it, some of this stuff, well, sucked.

Piper at the Gates of Dawn, Pink Floyd‘s 1967 debut, is the one most strongly influenced, lyrically, by the doomed genius Syd Barrett. It is, quite simply, the greatest psychedelic album ever. (Don’t bother writing, Sgt. Pepper fans. You either, proponents of Their Satanic Majesties Request. And Smiley Smile? Please.) The title — taken from a chapter in Barrett’s favorite [...]

Spend enough time around rock music — or, at least, rock critics — and you’ll be convinced that any number of Seminal Works, Forgotten Gems and Timeless Standards are must-have items for your record collection. Even if they turn out to be, you know, retreads dressed up as brilliant pop redux (Gene Clark’s post-Byrds catalogue, many of Syd Barrett‘s solo [...]

Several years ago, Capitol Records released a terrific 3-CD box set called “Crazy Diamond,” by Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett. Included are “The Madcap Laughs” and “Barrett” — Syd’s only solo albums after getting the boot from Floyd. Also featured is a third disc of unreleased material and rarities, called “Opel.” For fans of the group’s early, more whimsical side, [...]