 | |
| Released | March 28, 1994(UK) April 4, 1994(US) |
| Recorded | January - December, 1993 |
| Studio | Britannia Row Studios Astoria Abbey Road Studios Metropolis Studios The Creek Recording Studios |
| Label | EMI(UK) • Columbia(US) |
| Length | 59:17(1994 LP) 66:24(CD & 2014 LP) |
| Genres | Progressive rock • new-age |
| Producers | David Gilmour • Bob Ezrin |
  Released May 16, 1994 | |
| A-side | "Take It Back" |
| B-side | "Astronomy Domine" (live) |
  Released October 17, 1994 | |
| A-side | "High Hopes" |
| B-side | "Keep Talking" |
The Division Bell is the fourteenth studio album by Pink Floyd. It was released by EMI Records in the UK on 28 March 1994 and released by Columbia Records in the US on 4 April 1994. The album was recorded at many studios including the band's Britannia Row Studios
The Division Bell is the second studio album recorded without former band member Roger Waters and was instead replaced by David Gilmour as leader of Pink Floyd. The album was mostly written entirely by David Gilmour and keyboardist Richard Wright.
The album received mixed reviews on its release but was certified Double Platinum in the US the year it was released.
Some unused sessions were used on Pink Floyd's next studio album, The Endless River and the rest was put on The Later Years box set in 2017.
Releases and track listings[]
All tracks sung by David Gilmour, except where noted.
| Original CD release (March 28, 1994) runtime: 66:24 | ||||
| No. | Song name | Writer(s) | Lead vocals | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Cluster One" | David Gilmour • Richard Wright | instrumental | 5:56 |
| 2 | "What Do You Want from Me" | Gilmour • Wright • Polly Samson(lyrics) | 4:22 | |
| 3 | "Poles Apart" | Gilmour • Samson(lyrics) • Nick Laird-Clowes(lyrics) | 7:03 | |
| 4 | "Marooned" | Gilmour • Wright | instrumental | 5:30 |
| 5 | "A Great Day for Freedom" | Gilmour • Samson(lyrics) | 4:16 | |
| 6 | "Wearing the Inside Out" | Wright • Anthony Moore(lyrics) | Gilmour • Wright | 6:49 |
| 7 | "Take It Back" | Gilmour • Ezrin • Samson(lyrics) • Laird-Clowes(lyrics) | 6:12 | |
| 8 | "Coming Back to Life" | Gilmour | 6:19 | |
| 9 | "Keep Talking" | Gilmour • Wright • Samson(lyrics) | instrumental | 6:11 |
| 10 | "Lost for Words" | Gilmour • Samson(lyrics) | 5:15 | |
| 11 | "High Hopes" | Gilmour • Samson(lyrics) | 8:31 | |
| Original vinyl release (March 28, 1994) runtime: 59:17 | |||||
29:53 |
No. | Song name | Writer(s) | Lead vocals | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Cluster One" | David Gilmour • Richard Wright | instrumental | 5:29 | |
| 2 | "What Do You Want from Me" | Gilmour • Wright • Polly Samson(lyrics) | 4:21 | ||
| 3 | "Poles Apart" | Gilmour • Samson(lyrics) • Nick Laird-Clowes(lyrics) | 5:49 | ||
| 4 | "Marooned" | Gilmour • Wright | instrumental | 4:08 | |
| 5 | "A Great Day for Freedom" | Gilmour • Samson(lyrics) | 3:38 | ||
| 6 | "Wearing the Inside Out" | Wright • Anthony Moore(lyrics) | Gilmour • Wright | 6:28 | |
29:24 | |||||
| 1 | "Take It Back" | Gilmour • Ezrin • Samson(lyrics) • Laird-Clowes(lyrics) | 6:12 | ||
| 2 | "Coming Back to Life" | Gilmour | 4:57 | ||
| 3 | "Keep Talking" | Gilmour • Wright • Samson(lyrics) | instrumental | 6:11 | |
| 4 | "Lost for Words" | Gilmour • Samson(lyrics) | 5:14 | ||
| 5 | "High Hopes" | Gilmour • Samson(lyrics) | 6:50 | ||
Credits[]
- David Gilmour - Guitars, Vocals, Bass, Keyboards, Programming
- Richard Wright - Keyboards, Vocals
- Nick Mason - Drums, Percussion
with
- Jon Carin - additional keyboards
- Guy Pratt - bass
- Gary Wallis - percussion
- Tim Renwick - guitars
- Dick Parry - tenor saxophone
- Bob Ezrin - keyboards and percussion
- Michael Kamen - orchestral arrangements
- Professor Stephen Hawking - Digital voice on Keep Talking
- Carol Kenyon - Backing Vocals
- Sam Brown - Backing Vocals
Info[]
- "Marooned" was awarded with a Grammy in the category of Best Rock Instrumental Performance at the Grammy Awards of 1995. This is Pink Floyd's only Grammy.
- The album would debut at #1 in both the UK and the US in its first week.
- EMI concocted an Internet-based "puzzle" known as the Publius Enigma in connection with the album's release. Officially it was never solved. On April 13th 2005 Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason was at the JBL Theater in the Experience Music Project in Seattle, Washington promoting his book Inside Out. One of the fans asked him point blank about the Publius Enigma. His reply was: "That was a ploy done by EMI. They had a man working for them who adored puzzles. He used to work for the Reagan administration. His job then would be to be in meetings with the President and when Reagan would say 'Let's bomb these people', he'd say 'That's not a good idea sir!'. He was working for EMI and suggested that a puzzle be created that could be followed on the Web." Allegedly the prize was nothing tangible such as front row tickets to a show or a meet and greet with the band. The winner would allegedly get a crop of trees planted in his or her name in an area that was clear-cut or another such "prize" that was more of a philanthropic display than something you could hang on the wall. Mason confirmed that the three band members (Gilmour, Mason, Wright) were aware, but had no direct involvement. The game was real and not a hoax, but it apparently lost steam and the person who started it left EMI and the whole affair was forgotten.
- The cover artwork, by Storm Thorgerson, shows two metal head sculptures, each over 3 metres tall and weighing 1500 kilograms. They were placed in a field in Cambridgeshire and photographed under all weather and lighting conditions over a two-week period, sometimes with visual effects such as lights between them. Ely Cathedral is visible in the background, as are lights (actually car headlights on poles), shown through the sculptures' mouths. Rumours circulated at the time of the photography that they were over 80 feet high. In reality, they're closer to eight.
- This is the first album Wright has sung a lead vocal on since The Dark Side Of The Moon, though he did backing vocals on Wish You Were Here, Animals, The Wall, and A Momentary Lapse Of Reason. It also marks his first songwriting credit since Wish You Were Here.
- Douglas Adams, the writer of The Hitchikers' Guide to the Galaxy "trilogy", chose the name of the album, being a friend of David Gilmour. This came about because the three band members could not agree on an album title (with both Pow Wow and Down To Earth being suggested) and Adams said he would give the band a name only if they made a donation to a Wildlife fund he was favouring. The band agreed, the name was suggested, and the donation was received as agreed.
- Samples of Stephen Hawking from a telephone advert provide the spoken word portions of "Keep Talking".
- The vinyl version of the album had edited versions of "Poles Apart", "Marooned", "A Great Day For Freedom", "Wearing The Inside Out" and "High Hopes" as all the songs couldn't fit on one LP unedited. However, the future 2011 remaster, which was released as a double LP, would have all eleven unedited songs.
- This album remained the most recent Pink Floyd studio album for the longest time of any Floyd release - over twenty years. The album with the second longest time spent being the most recent is 1983's The Final Cut, at roughly four and a half years.