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| | Publisher: Thunder's Mouth Press
Salesrank: 8276276
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| Used Price: $11.49 |
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| Media: Paperback |
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Another Brick in the Wall: The Stories Behind Every Pink Floyd Song (The Stories Behind Every Song) Reviews:
Informative and fun 
2007-01-13 - I very much enjoyed this book and could not put it down. I own everything from Dark Side on but still read the early stuff to get a good idea of the early Syd Barrett stuff. I found it all very interesting as I love Pink Floyd. I, like other readers, noticed misidentifying Roger Waters which was quite surprising. I have been a Pink Floyd "fanatic" for a long time but most of the stories were not "old" to me. I expected a little more indepth understanding of the lyrics but it was still insightful. I would definitely recommend this book to the serious Floyd fan.
Pretty good
2006-11-29 - It featured loads of great photos and the information on which inspired the songs is interesting although there a few silly mistakes in the book. For example, in one of the Roger Waters' earlier shots the book says it's 'a young Dave Gilmour' and some of Waters' quotes on the Wish You Were Here album are wrongly assumed they're originally by David, which is not true.
In a nutshell - very good. It doesn't reach the five star rating though due to the errors pointed above.
4/5.
Oh by the way, which one is Pink?
2006-09-05 - Although it was Hendrix who launched me on the lysergic odessy, Syd Barrett was already a basket case when i flirted with insanity as i strove to become a member of the imaginary Acid Hall of Fame, and i took copious amounts [approximately 7,033 lifetime hits] as i howled at the moon and DARED the gods to punish me!
"Electric Ladyland" was soon usurped by "Dark Side of the Moon," but it was "The Wall" that would become one of the defining movies of my life...the album was just a soundtrack until it was released on VHS, and then DVD...and i've seen it almost 200 times STRAIGHT when it came out in those formats, the hallucinogenic well had dried up.
So it should come as no surprise that Pink Floyd was used as a metaphor in my book, "Jew Girl," but had i read this book by Cliff Jones first, it would have been used a lot differently!
Having always had an interest in the behind the scenes goings on of other musicains, i was more cognizant of what happened with Dylan, Hendrix, Patti Smith, Melanie and the Stones than with Floyd...but that was okay, since Pink Floyd wasn't really a rock band in my mind, but rather the answer to the question, 'Are you experienced?'
In his preface Mr Jones discusses the impossibility of getting interviews with Pink Floyd--something a fan for over thirty years like myself takes for granted--by the time i got into them they had already erected the wall. So Cliff Jones makes no promises that he'll get into the psyche behind the songs--he flatly states that all he'll try to do is give you some behind the scenes looks at the recording process--and he delivers in spades!
Although repetitive at times, the book is chock full studio tales that maybe a hardcore fan might know of, but more than half of them are news to me. And always underlying what's going on is the tragic tale of Syd, the psychotic Brian Jones who was one of the only rock n' roll casualties to have died without the benefit of burial from the Sixties excesses that left MY generation with a swath of dead heroes.
Mr Jones DOES get to be a bit Simon Cowellish at times, but because of the wealth of information he provides, you tend to overlook those niggling little forays into music criticism.
And speaking of niggling, since i refuse to use the PC term for one of the klans favourite derogatory words, he ALMOST gives you the name of the British film that has a dog of the same name, which i'm sure everyone who has seen "The Wall" movie have been going bananas trying to figure out. He lists the movie as "The Battle of Britain," but with a little googling, i found out that it's a 1954 movie called "The Dambusters" (available on Amazon UK...haven't checked if it's available here in the US).
There's one thing i should warn you about--IF you don't have Floyd's whole oeuvre, after reading this book you'll be compelled to go out and buy it!!!
Mandatory Floyd! 
2003-11-12 - All Pink Floyd fans must have this book. It is that simple. Through interviews and research, Cliff Jones documents the stories behind the songs that made Pink Floyd one of the most influencial bands in rock history. Though this book, readers will know what even the most obscure Pink Floyd song is about.
With over 200 pictures, the book is worth the price alone. Even the most dedicated fans can learn something from this book. While some of the stories behind the songs are well documented, such as the story behind "Wish You Were Here", other stories are not nearly as well known. Particularly, the information about the three most recent Pink Floyd cd's is documented sparingly. Jones addresses these Floyd releases appropriately.
I particularly enjoyed reading about the early Floyd releases. It is difficult to find quality information about the pre-Dark Side of the Moon releases. Cliff Jones effectively tells the stories behind the music of Pink FLoyd.
Not too shabby
2003-04-11 - The title of Cliff Jones' book is enough to catch the eye of any Pink Floyd fan, as it did for me. I was immediately intrigued, therefore I decided I had to own this book. I got just about everything that I had expected. Whether you're an avid listener of the band or just starting out, all in all it is pretty informative. However, the 100-something page book is not perfectly written. I couldn't help but notice typos, and mis-identified photographs of the band, not to mention the author tends to go a little off track and start to ramble. If you know your Floyd, it's basically nothing new, although I feel that there is always somethign new to learn. If you're someone new to the group, it's a good book to start off with. Some of the rare black-and-white, and color photos make it worthy to be apart of any Floyd collection. In conclusion, after reading this book I found myself not only informed, but quite content as well. Despite a few spelling errors, I feel that it was money well spent.
