The Division Bell

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This article is about the Pink Floyd album. For the bell that is rung in the British Houses of Parliament, see division bell.
The Division Bell
The Division Bell cover
Studio album by Pink Floyd
Released 30 March 1994 (UK)
5 April 1994 (U.S.)
Recorded 1993
Genre Rock
Length 66:32
Label EMI (UK)
Columbia (U.S.)
Producer Bob Ezrin, David Gilmour
Professional reviews
Pink Floyd chronology
A Momentary Lapse of Reason
(1987)		 The Division Bell
(1994)
Alternate covers
U.S. release cover
U.S. release cover
European cassette cover
European cassette cover

The Division Bell is the most recent studio album released to date by Pink Floyd, released in 1994 (March 30 in the United Kingdom and April 5 in the United States), and the second album without Roger Waters. It was recorded at a number of studios, including guitarist/vocalist David Gilmour's houseboat studio called The Astoria. It went to #1 in the UK and debuted at the top of the U.S. Billboard 200 album charts in April of 1994, spending 4 weeks as the top album in the country. By contrast, Pink Floyd's previous album, A Momentary Lapse of Reason, had peaked at #3. The Division Bell was certified Gold, Platinum, and Double Platinum in the U.S. in June of 1994 and Triple Platinum in January of 1999. Its release was accompanied by an extremely successful tour documented in the P•U•L•S•E album released the following year.

Contents

[edit] History

Before the Roger Waters-led period, David Gilmour stated that the music and lyrics were in balance, and the importance of the music was understood. The Division Bell's atmosphere is spacier, sounding more like Meddle or Obscured by Clouds than the grittier and harsher tones of Animals or The Wall. David Gilmour and Richard Wright stated on "In the Studio with Redbeard", which spotlighted The Division Bell (including interviews which were recorded for The Division Bell's world premiere special aired one week before its U.S. release) that the album was the band's best since their 1975 release Wish You Were Here.

This release marks the first time Richard Wright had sung lead vocals on a Pink Floyd album since 1973's The Dark Side of the Moon, although he did provide backing vocals for Wish You Were Here, Animals and A Momentary Lapse of Reason. It also marks his first songwriting credit on a Pink Floyd album since Wish You Were Here.

The track "Marooned" was awarded a Grammy in the category of Best Rock Instrumental Performance at the Grammy Awards of 1994. This has been Pink Floyd's only Grammy to date.

EMI concocted an Internet-based "puzzle" known as the Publius Enigma in connection with the album's release. Officially, it was never solved.

[edit] Structure

Douglas Adams, the author of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series, chose the name of the album, being a friend of David Gilmour. This came about because the three band members could not agree on an album title (with both "Pow Wow" and "Down to Earth" being suggested). When Gilmour told Adams about the problem, Adams quickly responded that he had a title, but that he would only tell Gilmour if he would donate £25,000 to the Save the Rhino foundation [1]. Gilmour agreed and the name, taken from a line in the final track, "High Hopes", was suggested. The phrase itself derives from the division bell, which is rung in the British House of Commons, and some other legislatures, to signal the commencement of a division (vote) to Members of Parliament.

Despite no specific over-arching concept, there is a musical connection between the songs in the form of a linking theme of communication and the lack of it.[2] Tracks such as "What Do You Want from Me", "A Great Day for Freedom" and "Take It Back" seem chiefly concerned with communication problems within relationships[3], while "Keep Talking" is more generally about the importance of maintaining a dialogue and the dangers of allowing oneself to become insular[4]. Samples of Professor Stephen Hawking from a telephone company advertisement provide the spoken word portions of "Keep Talking".

While some songs can be interpreted as references to the then ongoing relationship problems between Pink Floyd members, especially the long-standing estrangement between David Gilmour and Roger Waters, Gilmour denies that the album is an allegory for the split and acknowledges only "a couple of hinted mentions that could or could not have something to do with him [Waters]".[5]

At the end of the album, Gilmour's stepson, Charlie, can be heard hanging up the telephone on Pink Floyd manager Steve O'Rourke, who had pleaded to be allowed to appear on a Pink Floyd album.

[edit] Artwork

52°23′25″N 0°16′33″E / 52.39028, 0.27583Coordinates: 52°23′25″N 0°16′33″E / 52.39028, 0.27583
The cover artwork, by long-time Pink Floyd collaborator Storm Thorgerson, shows two metal head sculptures sculpted by John Robertson, each over three metres tall and weighing 1500 kilograms. They were placed in a field in Cambridgeshire and photographed under all weather and lighting conditions over a two-week period, sometimes with visual effects such as lights between them. Ely Cathedral is visible in the background, as are lights (actually car headlights on poles), shown through the sculptures' mouths. Rumours circulated at the time of the photography that they were in excess of 20 metres high; this was not true. The sculptures are now in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.

The cover photograph is slightly different on each format, and between the United States Columbia and British EMI releases. The Braille writing on the EMI CD jewel case spells Pink Floyd.

Two additional 7.5 metres tall stone head sculptures were made by Aden Hynes and photographed in the same manner; although they do not appear in the CD artwork, they appeared on the cassette cover, and can be seen in the tour brochure and elsewhere.

The artwork inside the lyric booklet revolves around a similar theme, except the heads are made up of various other objects, such as newspapers ("A Great Day for Freedom"), coloured glass ("Poles Apart"), and boxing gloves ("Lost for Words"). Pages two and three portray a picture from La Silla observatory.

[edit] Track listing

All lead vocals performed by David Gilmour unless stated otherwise.

  1. "Cluster One" (David Gilmour, Richard Wright) – 5:58
    • Instrumental
  2. "What Do You Want from Me?" (Gilmour, Wright, Polly Samson) – 4:21
  3. "Poles Apart" (Gilmour, Wright, Samson, Nick Laird-Clowes) – 7:04
  4. "Marooned" (Gilmour, Wright) – 5:29
    • Instrumental
  5. "A Great Day for Freedom" (Gilmour, Samson) – 4:17
  6. "Wearing the Inside Out" (Wright, Anthony Moore) – 6:49
    • Lead vocals: Richard Wright
  7. "Take It Back" (Gilmour, Samson, Laird-Clowes, Bob Ezrin) – 6:12
  8. "Coming Back to Life" (Gilmour) – 6:19
  9. "Keep Talking" (Gilmour, Wright, Samson) – 6:11
  10. "Lost for Words" (Gilmour, Samson) – 5:14
  11. "High Hopes" (Gilmour, Samson) – 8:32

The vinyl version was largely released on a single disc with edited versions of "Poles Apart", "Marooned", "Coming Back To Life", "'A Great Day for Freedom", "Wearing the Inside Out" and "High Hopes". Russian and South Korean versions are on two discs and do not contain any edits. Some issues contain the sound of a heartbeat in the locked groove at the end of each side.

[edit] Singles

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Chart positions

[edit] Album

Year Chart Position
1994 UK Albums Chart 1
1994 U.S. Billboard 200 1
1994 Norway's albums Chart 1
1994 Australian Albums Chart 1

[edit] Singles

Year Single Chart Position
1994 "Keep Talking" U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks 1
1994 "Take It Back" UK Singles Chart 23
1994 "Take It Back" U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks 4
1994 "Take It Back" U.S. Billboard Hot 100 73
1994 "High Hopes" UK Singles Chart 26
1994 "High Hopes" U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks 7
1994 "Lost for Words" U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks 21
1994 "What Do You Want from Me" U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks 16

[edit] References

  1. ^ Webb, Nick. "Wish You Were Here: The Offical Biography of Douglas Adams", 2003. ISBN 0-7553-1166-3
  2. ^ The Division Bell Concept
  3. ^ Pink Floyd - The Division Bell
  4. ^ The Exorcist: An Interpretation of the TDB Lyrics
  5. ^ Pink Floyd and Company - David Gilmour Interview

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Longing in Their Hearts by Bonnie Raitt		 Billboard 200 number-one album
April 23 - May 20, 1994		 Succeeded by
Not a Moment Too Soon by Tim McGraw
Preceded by
Far Beyond Driven by Pantera		 Australian ARIA Albums Chart number-one album
April 17 - May 7, 1994		 Succeeded by
Purple by Stone Temple Pilots
v • d • e
Pink Floyd
David Gilmour · Nick Mason · Richard Wright
Syd Barrett · Bob Klose · Roger Waters
Studio albums
Soundtracks
Live albums
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