When Nick Mason speaks about his relationship with Pink Floyd these days, he does so in terms of circularity. As the latter-day custodian (some might say saviour of) the reputation of Pink Floyd, it is he that that has managed to remind the world that before the huge-selling albums, the heavy concepts, and the sales records, there was a band setting out without a destination in mind: simply setting the course for something new.
It needed saying. For a band regarded with so much affection by so many millions of people, it’s been sad to note that the relationship between its surviving principal members has been so fragile, and often so hostile. After a surprising rapprochement brokered by Bob Geldof for the Live 8 charity event in 2005, in which the classic 1970s line-up of the group reformed and played for a cordial half hour, the group has been (to risk a Roger Waters-style analogy) in danger of winning the war, but losing the peace.
As you’ll read in this 172-page updated Definitive Edition, the group managed to hold it together to work on a massive, long-awaited box set of their breakthrough works with and post-Syd Barrett (The Early Years). There were deluxe reissues of their career-defining albums The Dark Side Of The Moon, Wish You Were Here and The Wall. There was even collaboration, as recently as 2016, on a V&A exhibition, drolly titled Their Mortal Remains. What has happened since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, though – ouch, let’s not even go there.
But happily, there’s been Nick Mason’s “pleasing circularity” to help us. Even while Waters and Gilmour have resumed hostilities, Mason has been on a more innocent trip, reminding us that there is a joy to be had in revisiting this music in whatever form you choose. There was a Pink Floyd without Syd Barrett – but you could never take Syd Barrett out of Pink Floyd, where he remained as subject, inspiration, and spiritual guide. These days, Nick’s band Saucerful Of Secrets have provided an unexpected trapdoor in time: taking us back in time to the heart of the “Early years”, revitalising the Syd-era music, all the way up to “Echoes”.
“Echoes” is independently on its way back to us on Floyd’s endless river. As we write, a new remastered cut of Adrian Maben’s Pink Floyd: Live At Pompeii film is set for release. In October 1971, with Syd now long gone, and a major breakthrough within sight, the French director’s cameras set up in the Roman amphitheatre in Pompeii in to watch the band in peak form. Someone needs to get Nick Mason some sunscreen. Otherwise, the mood is completely untroubled as the band pilot their way seamlessly through the harmonious elevations of “Echoes”, accompanied by shots of gargoyles and bubbling mud.
It certainly won’t always be as peaceful as this, but the band are now on their way to a greatness they likely never expected to reach. Nor, as they gaze at rows of empty seats, can they guess how many of us will join them on the journey.
Enjoy the magazine. You can get yours here, as a limited hardback here and check out our Ultimate Music Guide to the solo years here.