What Happened To Pink Floyd’s Album That Was Too Psychedelic Even For Them
Iconic Pink Floyd head shots - Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images
By the mid-1970s, Pink Floyd had become the undisputed leaders of progressive rock. Their albums were bestsellers, their live shows were spectacles, and their influence stretched across the entire music industry. After the success of The Dark Side of the Moon, the band had the freedom to push their creativity even further. But in their quest for innovation, they nearly went too far.
Their initial plan was as ambitious as it was strangeโan album created entirely without traditional instruments. For months, they tried to coax music out of rubber bands, wine glasses, and household objects, but frustration set in as the results failed to live up to their vision. Meanwhile, personal struggles and creative differences strained the band, making progress even more difficult.
What emerged from this chaotic period was Wish You Were Here, an album shaped by absence, loss, and disillusionment. It was a record born out of failed experiments and personal turmoil, but against the odds, it became one of Pink Floydโs most beloved works. This is the story of how they nearly lost their wayโand how they found something even greater in the process.
The Weight of Success
By the time they began work on Wish You Were Here, Pink Floyd was one of the biggest bands in the world. The Dark Side of the Moon had been a colossal success, selling millions of copies and transforming them into global superstars. But not all of them embraced their newfound fame.
Roger Waters, in particular, struggled with the impact of success. He later admitted that it felt like “the end of the road,” as though achieving everything they had worked for had left them directionless. The band members werenโt sure how to follow up an album that had set such high expectations.
Rather than trying to outdo The Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd chose to make a record that was more introspective and emotionally driven. Wish You Were Here wasnโt just another successโit was a reflection on their journey, their struggles, and the toll that fame had taken on them.
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The Failure of Household Objects
Before committing to Wish You Were Here, Pink Floyd had embarked on an ambitious but ultimately failed experiment. They wanted to create an entire album without using traditional instrumentsโno guitars, no drums, no bass. Instead, they attempted to make music from everyday objects like rubber bands, bottles, and aerosol cans.
While the idea was novel, frustration quickly set in. David Gilmour found the results uninspiring, calling them nothing more than “plonky noises.” Nick Mason later admitted that the project felt like a delaying tactic, keeping them from the difficult task of composing real songs. The band struggled to produce anything meaningful.
Eventually, even Richard Wrightโwho had been open to the ideaโlost patience. He and Waters finally agreed it was time to abandon the project. What was meant to be a revolutionary artistic statement ended in disappointment, leading them to return to a more familiar approach.
A Frustrating Experiment
The Household Objects project was exhausting. Weeks were spent trying to coax musical tones from ordinary items, but the band struggled to create anything substantial. Nick Mason later reflected that they “never managed to produce any actual music” beyond a few primitive rhythm tracks.
The sessions became increasingly unproductive. Even when they succeeded in making recognizable tones, the results lacked the depth and power of real instruments. Compared to their previous work, everything sounded hollow and incomplete.
Only a couple of recordings from these sessions have ever been released, and they remain unfinished curiosities rather than polished compositions. In the end, Pink Floyd realized they had spent months on an idea that simply wasnโt viable and chose to move forward.
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Sound Effects as Instruments
Although Household Objects was abandoned, the bandโs fascination with sound experimentation remained. They had previously incorporated non-musical sounds into their records, most famously on The Dark Side of the Moon. That album featured heartbeats, cash registers, and ticking clocks as part of the musical experience.
This idea had been explored even earlier. Their 1970 album Atom Heart Mother included a track titled “Alanโs Psychedelic Breakfast,” where the sounds of frying eggs and a dripping faucet blended into the music. The band had long been interested in integrating real-world noise into their compositions.
While Household Objects didn’t work as a full album, its spirit lived on. Wish You Were Here still incorporated atmospheric sound effects, just in a more structured way. The band realized that rather than replacing instruments, sound effects worked best when used to enhance the music.
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The Search for Innovation
With Household Objects behind them, Pink Floyd faced the challenge of crafting something truly groundbreaking. They wanted to evolve beyond The Dark Side of the Moon, but without losing their identity. They decided to take the experimental mindset of Household Objects and apply it in a way that felt more natural.
This led to a renewed focus on production techniques and layering sounds to create a unique sonic atmosphere. The result was an album that sounded lush and immersive, blending traditional instruments with new textures. The band learned from their failed experiment and used that knowledge to refine their approach.
Wish You Were Here became a balance between past and futureโa deeply personal record that still pushed boundaries. It showed that innovation didnโt have to come at the expense of emotion or accessibility.
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A New Direction Through Absence
Pink Floyd was searching for inspiration in the wake of their massive success. Roger Waters, feeling increasingly distant from those around him, latched onto the theme of absence as a guiding concept. His marriage was falling apart, and he believed his bandmates lacked the same artistic passion he had. Most of all, he deeply missed Syd Barrett, the band’s original leader, whose departure still weighed heavily on him.
Waters channeled these emotions into an album that explored themes of isolation, disillusionment, and longing. He proposed that absenceโwhether emotional, personal, or creativeโshould be the core idea of their next record. The band agreed, and soon the album took shape under the name Wish You Were Here.
The concept resonated with everyone, and the music reflected that melancholy. Songs like “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” and “Wish You Were Here” became heartfelt tributes, not only to Barrett but to the ways success and time had changed them all. The album became an introspective journey, capturing both personal and artistic loss.
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The Haunting Return of Syd Barrett
Syd Barrett had once been the heart and soul of Pink Floyd, but by 1968, his unpredictable behavior had made it impossible for him to continue in the band. He was replaced by David Gilmour during the recording of their second album, as Barrett’s struggles with mental illness, compounded by heavy drug use, rendered him increasingly unreliable. His detachment from reality was evident during live performances, where he sometimes forgot to play his guitar entirely.
After his departure from Pink Floyd, Barrett’s condition only deteriorated. His musical career floundered, and he withdrew from the public eye. Then, in a surreal twist of fate, Barrett made an unannounced visit to the studio while the band was recording Wish You Were Here in 1975. His appearance shocked his former bandmatesโthey initially did not recognize him.
The once-charismatic frontman had undergone a drastic transformation. He had shaved his head and eyebrows, gained significant weight, and seemed largely unaware of the band’s progress in the years since his departure. At one point, Barrett reportedly believed he was there to record guitar parts, oblivious to the fact that Pink Floyd had moved on without him. The encounter left the band members deeply shaken and further reinforced the themes of loss and disconnection that permeated the album.
A Tribute to Syd Barrett
One of the most emotionally powerful aspects of Wish You Were Here was its homage to Syd Barrett, the band’s original frontman and creative visionary. The album’s centerpiece, “Shine On You Crazy Diamond,” is an expansive, nine-part composition spanning 26 minutes. The track’s sparse lyrics describe a person who is slipping away from reality, yet remains a beloved and unique figure in the world.
While the song does not explicitly name Barrett, its meaning was clear to both the band and their fans. The ethereal, otherworldly guitar work contributed by Gilmour further emphasized the sense of longing and loss. The title track, “Wish You Were Here,” also carries an underlying message of absence and longing. Though its lyrics were not specifically written about Barrett, Gilmour later admitted that he could not sing it without thinking of his former bandmate.
The album as a whole serves as a meditation on detachmentโwhether from people, from oneself, or from the past. Barrett’s ghost loomed over the recording sessions, making the tribute all the more poignant. In many ways, Wish You Were Here became a musical farewell to their lost friend.
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Creative Conflicts and Compromises
The tensions that had plagued the band’s abandoned Household Objects project did not disappear when they returned to conventional instruments. Roger Waters’s increasing dominance over the band’s creative direction led to internal friction, particularly with guitarist David Gilmour. Gilmour had two of his compositions removed from the album, as drummer Nick Mason and keyboardist Richard Wright sided with Waters in favor of his more thematically consistent “absence-themed” songs.
One of the most controversial decisions involved the song “Have A Cigar.” Initially, Waters had intended to sing the track himself, but when British folk-rock singer Roy Harper visited the studio, the other members encouraged him to provide the vocals instead. Waters was not pleased with this decision, feeling that an outside voice had intruded on his creative vision. Nonetheless, Harper’s distinctive performance made it onto the final album, adding a biting, sarcastic edge to the song’s critique of the music industry.
This period marked a shift in Pink Floyd’s internal dynamics. While the band had previously operated with a more balanced creative input from its members, Waters was increasingly calling the shots. These growing tensions would later come to a head, culminating in further discord within the group in the years to come.
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The Iconic Album Art
Pink Floyd’s album covers had long been a defining aspect of their artistic identity, and Wish You Were Here was no exception. The band once again collaborated with the esteemed design studio Hipgnosis, which had been responsible for many of their past album covers. The visual concept for the album was deeply rooted in its lyrical themes, particularly the fear of emotional vulnerability and the metaphorical dangers of “getting burned.”
The cover features two businessmen shaking hands in a barren studio lot, one of whom is engulfed in flames. This striking image was a direct representation of the idea of being burnedโboth literally and figurativelyโwhen exposing one’s true self. The photo shoot took place at Warner Bros. Studios in Los Angeles, with professional stuntmen Ronnie Rondell and Danny Rogers playing the businessmen.
To capture the dramatic moment, Rondell was actually set on fire. However, during the first take, an unexpected gust of wind blew the flames into his face, singeing his mustache. Despite the dangers involved, the shoot was ultimately successful, and the resulting image became one of the most memorable album covers in rock history.
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A Shift in Musical Direction
While Wish You Were Here may not have reached the astronomical sales figures of The Dark Side of the Moon, it was still a significant success, topping the charts in both the United States and the United Kingdom. The album received a range of critical responses, from glowing praise to more lukewarm reviews. Regardless, the record resonated with fans, and Pink Floyd’s concerts continued to sell out worldwide.
However, the band’s artistic trajectory was shifting dramatically. Roger Waters, the bassist and primary lyricist, began asserting greater creative control over Pink Floyd’s music. His influence became dominant, particularly in the albums that followed, and the band’s themes took a more pointed and introspective direction. Lyrics now became the driving force, often eclipsing the musical experimentation that had once defined their sound.
This change was evident in the subject matter of their songs, which increasingly tackled weighty themes such as human nature, the pitfalls of the music industry, and corporate greed. Once a band known for their abstract and surreal compositions, Pink Floyd had now taken on a more politically and socially charged voice, largely due to Waters’s vision.
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A New Era of Stagecraft
By the time Pink Floyd embarked on the Wish You Were Here tour in 1975, they had already spent nearly a decade performing in front of live audiences. However, it was during this tour that they began experimenting with the awe-inspiring stagecraft that would define their concerts for years to come. The band’s live performances took on an entirely new dimension, incorporating elaborate visual effects that elevated the experience beyond just the music.
The most striking element was a massive 40-foot circular screen that wrapped around the stage. This screen displayed a mix of animations and film clips, tailored to match the theme of each song. To intensify the spectacle, a mirror ball would be illuminated with a spotlight, creating a stunning burst of light to signal the band’s dramatic exit. The visuals were carefully synchronized with the music, enhancing the immersive experience for audiences.
Beyond the screen and lighting effects, the band incorporated cutting-edge elements such as lasers, fog, and pyrotechnics. These theatrical additions transformed their concerts into a sensory overload, leaving audiences mesmerized. Pink Floyd had taken live performances to a level that few other rock bands had attempted, setting a precedent for the grandiose stage productions that followed.
