After having read Mr. Ruhlmann's scathing review of Roger Waters' album "Amused To Death," I didn't want to like his book, Pink Floyd. However, I found it extremely well done, and except for his own opinions, (unlike Nicholas Schaffners book 'A Saucerful of Secrets'), almost completely unbiased.
The book is a 100 page, large format, 13 X 9w in. hard back bound book. Not skimpy on detail, yet not the double thick novel, Ala. Schaffner's "Saucerful of Secrets," which you can feel bogged down with either. On the front cover is a large color photo of the new Gilmour Floyd in concert on stage, and on the back a color photo of early Pink Floyd less Gilmour. Inside is a large complimentary folded color poster of the front cover shot.
The book begins with an introduction, detailing the present state of Pink Floyd and Roger Waters, comparing the Knebworth and Berlin shows and the attitudes of fans from both camps.
About the Knebworth show Mr. Ruhlmann writes; "Gilmour was still on Guitar, Mason was still on drums, and Wright was still on keyboards (and, though it wasn't apparent to the crowd, on salary rather than in a full partnership with Gilmour and Mason), and each was being doubled (and in Wright's case, tripled) by backup musicians. But Pink Floyd's original bassist, who had been the primary creative force in the band for much of its '70s heyday, and who was, in fact, the writer of many of the songs performed, was absent.
To many long time fans, that meant the group had no more right to call itself 'Pink Floyd' than a group without Paul McCartney could validly call itself 'The Beatles.' To others, the absence of Roger Waters from the 1987-1990 tour and from the group's 1987 album, A Momentary Lapse of Reason, marked a welcome return to the slow, extended, ethereal, largely instrumental music that dominated the Pink Floyd sound before Waters began to assert his lyrical dominance in the '70s - to them, Pink Floyd was far more real without Waters than it was with him."
Each chapter afterward takes the reader through a Pink Floydian history course, cataloging and revealing each era of the group and including their solo efforts.
In the last chapter Bill describes what lead the group to break up in 1983, Nick and Dave's reuniting in 1986, and the ensuing legal battle. He likens it to a divorce. He tastefully summarizes the pros and cons, and the points made by both sides, and delineates the questions and answers from both camps as to who or what Pink Floyd is, or is not, with or without all it's members.
The end of the book also contains a three page discography of the group's UK and US album and single releases, as well as solo discography's.
The story of this legendary band has been told before, but Bill gives a short but to the point rendition in a professional yet easy to read style and approach, interspersed with many facts and observations which other authors have overlooked or missed.
I am impressed that as both an author and a critic, Bill was able to separate his two talents. I was pleasantly surprised to find most of the book very objective and unbiased. He seems a Dr. Jeckle, Mr. Hyde. Dr. Jeckle is the author, professional, objective. And as the critic Mr. Hyde, he is a real ASSHOLE!!!
However, if you are already familiar with the Pink Floyd story, or even whether you're not, I am convinced that the best reason to buy this book is not for the story of this rock legend, but for the great photographs. The book is chocked full of glossy, mostly color, pictures of the band and it's members, many never published in any book before.
This is really a great book, both in content and in substance, the story, and the style in which Mr. Ruhlmann weaves it, will capture your attention, and the wonderfully stuffed pages of over one hundred photos will delight.
This has got to be one of the best books about Pink Floyd on the market. I rate it excellent. About as good as the book by Miles "Pink Floyd, a Visual Documentary".
Pink Floyd by William Ruhlmann, copyright 1993 Brompton Books Corp., 15 Sherwood Place, Greenwich, CT. 06830 USA. Published by SmithMark Publishers Inc., 16 East 32nd Street, New York, New York 10016 USA. ISBN 0-8317-6912-2.