Most bands would kill to make an album as iconic as The Dark Side of the Moon. But for Pink Floyd, that level of success came with a daunting question—where do you go after creating a masterpiece? While some artists might have been content to coast on their achievements, David Gilmour believed the band still had uncharted territory to explore.
Even though Dark Side became a cultural touchstone, complete with legendary artwork and themes that captured the struggles of the human condition, Gilmour thought their next album, Wish You Were Here, struck a better balance. As he put it:
“I like the balance of music to words on Wish You Were Here, and I think we took a step back towards Meddle, if you like, and had a better balance of music to lyrics. I think it’s… better – for me, better balanced than Dark Side of the Moon.”
Moving Beyond the Shadow of a Masterpiece
Creating The Dark Side of the Moon was no small feat. It was the result of years of refinement, where every member of the band figured out how to play to their strengths, with Roger Waters’ lyrics tying everything together. But when you’ve already made an album that sells millions and defines a generation, what comes next?
For Waters, the answer was clear—turn the spotlight on the music industry itself. While Wish You Were Here is famously a tribute to their lost bandmate Syd Barrett, it also serves as a scathing critique of the business they were trapped in.
‘Have A Cigar’ openly mocks the industry execs who see musicians as nothing more than a paycheck, while ‘Welcome to the Machine’ feels like something out of a dystopian novel, depicting an artist being chewed up and spit out by the system. Even with its raw emotion, Wish You Were Here never rushes—unlike Dark Side, which flows seamlessly as one continuous piece, this album gives each song the space it needs to breathe.
A More Balanced Approach
The heart of the record is, of course, ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’—a sprawling epic split into two halves that bookend the album. While the title track provides the kind of “hit” material that casual listeners latch onto, the real magic is in the way Pink Floyd crafted every note of ‘Shine On’ as a loving tribute to Barrett, even sneaking in a nod to ‘See Emily Play’ at the very end.
For Gilmour, this approach made Wish You Were Here stand apart from Dark Side of the Moon. He believed the album’s structure and blend of instrumental passages gave it an edge over its predecessor, a sentiment that might surprise many Floyd fans.
The Line Between Concept and Music
If Wish You Were Here struck the perfect balance, then Animals might have been the moment they pushed things too far. The songs became longer, less digestible, and impossible to break into singles. And while The Wall brought them back to a more structured format, some moments—like ‘Don’t Leave Me Now’—felt like they were forcing concept over substance.
Throughout their career, Pink Floyd struggled to find the equilibrium between storytelling and musical exploration. But if you ask Gilmour, Dark Side of the Moon may have been their biggest album, but Wish You Were Here was the one that got it just right.
