Look, everyone knows that Pink Floyd does certainly appeal to that group who take hallucinogenics and like to "trip" on Floyd- but it's also fact that, as I mentioned, Skynyrd appeals to rednecks, Queen appeals to gay men, The Indigo Girls appeal to lesbians, Springsteen appeals to working-class professionals, Radiohead appeals to the "arty-farty" types, Marvin Gaye appeals to African-Americans, and Rick Springfield appeals to women. But those are only some of the groups, and they are more stereotyped than representative (or exaggerated, if you will). More accolades: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame- The Definitive 200 Albums: "Merely to have one title on a list of the 200 all-time greatest albums is quite an achievement in itself. To have the consistency of output to gain two, three, or four--that puts you a step beyond." Pink Floyd has 3; as a matter of fact, Pink Floyd has 2 in the top 25- the only other group that has 2 in the top 25 is The Beatles. Not Dylan, not The Rolling Stones, not Zeppelin, not even Hendrix. *One in every 20 people under the age of 50 in the United States owns a copy of this album *Dark Side remained on Billboard's 200 album chart for an amazing 15 years straight and then for another two when it was remastered back in 1994 *It is currently the 3rd most successful album ever with upwards of 40 million copies sold world-wide. * And talk about being associated with history- no one can read about the fall of the Berlin Wall without a discussion of the events celebrating it, primarily: "Roger Waters performed the Pink Floyd album The Wall just north of Potsdamer Platz on 21 July 1990, with guests including Bon Jovi, Scorpions, Bryan Adams, Sinéad O'Connor, Thomas Dolby, Joni Mitchell, Marianne Faithfull, Levon Helm, Rick Danko and Van Morrison." But besides all that, I have a very simple anecdote/example of why Pink Floyd isn't primarily music that appeals to druggies. Out of the circle of 12 people I know who are P.F. fanatics, only 2 of them take drugs, and then only occasionally. 7 of them drink socially, and 3 of my friends from Iran don't drink at all- and they're all Floyd fanatics. If my microcosm is any indication, P.F. appeals to a very wide range of individuals. Obviously, your opinion won't change, opinions are only opinions, mine is certainly not more valid than anyone else's. But I do believe that, based on numerous criteria available, including popularity and critical acclaim, Pink Floyd is without question one of the most influential bands of all time, and therefore one of the most relevant, as well. I add Rush to this discussion, as well. When it comes to Rush, you might as well throw critical reviews out the window, because the critics usually pan Rush and, quite frankly, the critics who do this are a bunch of idiots. Rush deserves to be in the R&R Hall of Fame way more than many of the groups in there, critical opinion be damned. Great musicians, hugely popular, memorable songs, etc. The critics really missed the boat on Rush- and that's why you really can't take what critics say and extrapolate that into how popular music should be viewed. Do you always let others do your thinking for you? That's the question that is begged when you continue to cite "critical acclaim" as a means for how you personally rate a group.
