Amidst some of the most successful and celebrated albums of the Seventies, creative and personal tensions had been building until Pink Floyd disintegrated during the making of 1982’s The Final Cut. By 1985 the only musical output from any of the members of Pink Floyd had come in the form of solo albums, and in December of that year Roger Waters, who created the concepts and the lyrics to such quintessential rock masterpieces as The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here and The Wall, would announce his departure, triggering a noisy two year legal battle for the rights to Pink Floyd.
In the end a David Gilmour fronted Floyd would emerge producing A Momentary Lapse of Reason in September ’87. Critical response was surprisingly lukewarm, but a sold out stadium tour and two # 1 rock singles with “Learning To Fly” and “On The Turning Away” proved that, as far as the worthiness of a Waters-less Pink Floyd, the fans had the only vote that matters. Drummer Nick Mason is joined IN THE STUDIO with guitarist, singer, songwriter Gilmour, who readily admits to show producer and host Redbeard the pressure that he felt going forward.
“Lurching into the future bearing the mantle of Pink Floyd without Roger in 1987 was a tough one, as anyone can imagine... You’re right to say that I was confident at the end and happy. Anyone would be happy and confident in the end when our moving forward and doing what we did, making the album, doing the tour, was justified.” - David Gilmour