Just finished reading Inside Out, Nick Mason’s biography of the world’s best band, Pink Floyd. As a literary work, it wasn’t great, but if you’re a fan, this is not to be missed. For me, there wasn’t any major aspect about the band that I wasn’t already aware of – how Syd was dropped from the band, that David was shadowing Syd on some shows, what happened at Abbey Road studios when they were recording Wish You Were Here, the legal battles when Roger quit ….. So it wasn’t a huge “discovery” of little known facts.

What it did for me though, was strengthen the bond with the band. I felt I understood their music better and want to rediscover it all over again.

The funny thing is, Pink Floyd was never a group of highly skilled musicians (except David Gilmour perhaps who is undoubtedly among the most influential rock guitarists). Nick admits in the book that he was “never the most diligent drummer when it came to practising technique”).
Syd and Roger are exceptional songwriters and David, an excellent composer/musician. However, like most great bands, they had a unique vision of their music – which gave them their own unique sound, stage shows, image – the whole act.

All in all, I would recommend reading this to any Pink Floyd fan.

PS. If you believe that Pink Floyd is more waters than gilmour, don’t miss Radio KAOS and Amused To Death, especially the latter.