Top 10 Best Pink Floyd Albums

The Top Ten
1 The Dark Side of the Moon

It's so hard to pick the best album by Pink Floyd, but I think this one has to be it. I kind of wanted to pick Animals, but it almost seems unfair because there are not many songs on it. It's just a few amazing songs, almost like Close to the Edge by Yes. The Dark Side of the Moon is a much better experience when you play it as a whole, however. The only songs that really work very well on their own are Time and Money.

Every song is top-notch, but they all sound infinitely better when played together as a whole, since it then becomes about the experience and not just the individual songs. When it comes to Pink Floyd, and especially this album, you either get it or you don't. You may not understand what the big deal is about this album, and if so, that's fine, since it's your personal opinion. However, you really should give it more of a chance if you're willing to. There's a reason why this is commonly seen as one of the best rock albums of all time.

2 Wish You Were Here

Personally, I think this album is undeniably their best. "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" is one of the most quintessentially Floyd songs there is. Every song is unique, but the album never loses its cohesiveness. For me, "Wish You Were Here" is an exploration of loss, ennui, and classic Pink Floyd cynicism.

And then there's the title track -- there's something about "Wish You Were Here" (the song). Its over five-minute runtime feels too short, and I find myself hanging off every note and word. It's so sad, and so simple, and so poignant. Maybe one of the greatest songs of all time and without a doubt Pink Floyd's greatest achievement.

3 The Wall

Although Dark Side of the Moon seems to be the favorite among Pink Floyd fans, I have to tip my hat to The Wall as their hands-down best album. The pure genius in this release is so epic in scale as to be untouched by anything like it. Which really isn't that hard because there simply isn't anything like it. Every track on the release knocks it out of the park and what a story! Mother, Waiting for the Worms, The Trial... there are just no words...

Sorry DSOTM fans, this one's better and in my opinion, it's not even close. Movie anyone? The Berlin Wall? Truly historic in proportion!

4 Animals

Considering the "concept album" definition, this is the best they made.

I can hear an isolated song from "Dark Side," "Wish You Were Here," or "The Wall," but I cannot listen to just one isolated song off of "Animals." I always need to hear the entire album...

I still consider "The Dark Side of the Moon" the best Pink Floyd album, but I'm voting for "Animals" because of the "concept album" definition. It really blows my mind.

I think that Animals is Pink Floyd's best album. It says that there are three types of people in this world: Pigs, Dogs, and Sheep. The dogs are really cruel cutthroat type people. Sheep are regular people who are herded by the dogs. Pigs are people who think they are so great, but are just pigs. The lyrics are just great, and the instrumentals and singing are amazing.

5 Meddle

This album and The Wall are tied for my favorite Pink Floyd album. To anyone debating whether or not to get this masterpiece, here are my personal song ratings below. (Just my opinion).

One of These Days: 5/5 - One of the best instrumentals I've heard to date, it's a great way to start the album.

Pillow of Winds: 3.7/5 - A hauntingly beautiful and calming tune.

Fearless: 4.5/5 - One of Pink Floyd's most underrated songs, this 6-minute track is very catchy and calming. It also includes a very satisfying guitar riff.

San Tropez: 3/5 - This short little tune is very catchy and upbeat and delightful to listen to. I would give it a higher rating, but it's only about 3 minutes long.

Seamus: 2.5/5 - This is Pink Floyd's attempt at trying to bring southern/country elements into their music. While it doesn't work too well, they still pulled off a strange yet somehow catchy tune.

Echoes: 5/5 - I cannot describe in any amount of words how truly beautiful this piece is. It's an understatement to rate it 5/5. This 23-minute track is one of Pink Floyd's many crowning jewels. I can't even begin to describe it. Listening to this track takes me to another dimension. The song starts off slow and haunting. Then a catchy guitar riff kicks in. Then it turns into a jazz-like song with a nice, catchy drumbeat. Then it soars into space for a while. After that, it comes back to the catchy riff, and then ends how it started, slow and haunting.

6 The Piper at the Gates of Dawn

Astronomy Domine: 2/5 I know a lot of people like this song, and I think it's a great way to start an album, but I personally just do not like it that much.

Lucifer Sam: 2.5/5 Better than the first track, though not by THAT much. I like the music in this one.

Matilda Mother: 2.5/5 A pretty good track. The singing in this one is pretty good.

Flaming: 3/5 My personal favorite track on the album. Very catchy, and with some creative lyrics and music.

Pow R. Toc H.: 1.5/5 Just a bunch of weird noise and some groovy piano playing. Nothing too interesting.

Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk: 1/5 Worst song on the album. The lyrics are senseless trash, and the music is pretty bad, too.

Interstellar Overdrive: 2/5 One of Pink Floyd's signature tracks doesn't cut it for me.

The Gnome: 2/5 A pretty good track, nothing too interesting.

Chapter 24: 2.5/5 I LOVE the music and lyrics in this one.

Scarecrow: 2/5 Very simple song, but I like it.

Bike: 2.5/5 Wow, what a song. It's playful, peppy, and at times, very creepy (especially during the last half, with all that noise). But overall, I like it.

7 The Division Bell

Let's get this straight: had the album featured Roger Waters with the same melodies and the same lyrics, almost nobody would be complaining. I think that everything in this album is amazing. The cover itself is a work of art and tells exactly the story of Pink Floyd and the concept of the album: Two people (Waters and Gilmour), with opposite personalities (notice how the dark side of the left face faces the bright side of the other), fighting each other to achieve success (look how their mouths are pointed towards the factory, which symbolizes money). However, when these two people join forces, they become one and the same face: Pink Floyd.

8 Atom Heart Mother

Atom Heart Mother is a wonderful album. The Atom Heart Mother Suite is a wonderful, emotional, unique, and unpredictable song. If is a great song, with a vocal style you would not expect from a Pink Floyd album, very soothing.

Summer '68 is a classic catchy song, but not the most refreshing. Fat Old Sun is an underrated, very calming song. Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast has nice calming elements and eating noises, which repeat, making it a weird song.

#8? It may not be their best work, but it's pretty darn good compared to More, Ummagumma, and Momentary Lapse of Reason.

My top 10 Pink Floyd Albums:

1. Dark Side of the Moon
2. The Wall
3. Wish You Were Here
4. Meddle
5. The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
6. Atom Heart Mother
7. The Division Bell
8. A Saucerful of Secrets
9. The Final Cut
10. The Endless River

9 The Final Cut

Arguably the most personal album Roger wrote for the Floyd, it is certainly the most lyrically emotive and contains some of the best songs from their entire catalogue. If you're looking for an album concerned with honesty of expression and breaking new ground rather than over-produced musical trappings, this is one of the Floyd's very best. And with no exaggeration, you'd have trouble finding a more intimate vocal performance than Roger's from any singer in the world.

This one for me, but for reasons I don't quite understand it messes with my head. My mind takes me to places that I'd rather it didn't.

Sweetheart sweetheart are you fast asleep? Good.
'Cause that's the only time that I can really speak to you.
And there is something that I've locked away
A memory that is too painful
To withstand the light of day.

Dammit.

10 A Saucerful of Secrets

Ridiculously underrated and the perfect follow-on from Piper. A psychedelic, hazy masterpiece that was their best until Atom Heart Mother. Here we bookend the whimsy of the Syd era perfectly with the spacey travels that would follow. Both See Saw and Remember A Day are two of their finest songs ever, and Set The Controls and the title track begin the journey that culminates in their absolute pinnacle, Echoes. Putting this lower-rated than the David Gilmour solo albums, basically with the Floyd name on such as Momentary and The Division Bell, is basically just daft.

The Contenders
11 Obscured by Clouds

This album is greatly underrated. I never hear anyone talking about it, but it is just as good as Meddle or Atom Heart Mother. It has a lot of great songs like When You're In, The Gold It's in the, Wots... Uh the Deal, Childhood's End, Free Four, and Stay.

When I heard this album, I knew that I had heard When You're In, The Gold It's in the, and Stay on the radio before. Overall, this album really deserves more credit for the masterpiece it is.

In my opinion, this is the most underrated Pink Floyd album. What Gilmour did here is pure rock n' roll made in only one recording session, because it is both brilliant and simple... and by far the Pink Floyd album that I will never get tired of listening to, and my perfect soundtrack for a travel by car.

12 A Momentary Lapse of Reason

This album doesn't get the respect it deserves. When She left, Pink Floyd was still just as good. Now that Roger is gone, why can't they still be great? When I first listened to A Momentary Lapse of Reason, I thought it was pretty good but not comparable to stuff like Dark Side or WYWH. But then, I got into the Division Bell. I listened to Momentary again and now I'm in love with it. It's equal to the great albums like Dark Side or WYWH. They're still just as Pink Floyd as they were in the '70s.

I really like 'Wish You Were Here' and 'The Division Bell' as well, but 'A Momentary Lapse of Reason' takes the gold as Pink Floyd's greatest album. It has an awesome 80's vibe and sounds great. Almost jazz-like with more of a keyboard sound. Lastly, I personally prefer David Gilmour over Richard Waters.

13 More

More features some of the best songs Pink Floyd ever recorded: Cirrus Minor, The Nile Song, The Crying Song, Green Is The Colour, and Cymbaline. Not to mention Quicksilver as well. This album also has some of the best lyrics Pink Floyd ever wrote in their pre-Dark Side Of The Moon era.

Listen to the songs I suggested (besides The Nile Song or Ibiza Bar) if you want to go to bed, if you're stressed out, or if you want to calm down. Hope you enjoy it.

It isn't my favorite album but doesn't deserve to be at the bottom. Cymbaline is amazing!

14 Ummagumma

Disc one is an AWESOME live disc with songs even BETTER than the originals. Disc two is each of the members doing their own pieces. Wright does an amazing piano piece that really shows off his talents. Waters' songs are probably my least favorite, because they are pretty quiet and weak. Part one of Gilmour's piece is a warm acoustic song with no lyrics. Part two is extremely psychedelic, filled with a dark, looming guitar riff and weird spacey sounds. Part three is probably the most "normal" of all the songs on the album, being more of a straight-up rock song with piano. Mason's piece starts and ends with lovely flutes and horns. In the middle, there is some drumming with trippy effects. I think this is a masterpiece and deserves more attention.

15 Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd

A decent album of great Pink Floyd songs. Good for new listeners just to understand what Pink Floyd music is really like. A Foot in the Door is more just hits and radio favorites.

This just isn't fair. Who added this? Duh, the best of album is going to be the best album.

16 The Endless River

In my opinion, better than the previous two albums (except High Hopes), as it has so many good little tunes and a range of keyboard effects. It's a really great album.

Very good instrumental/ambient album. A great way for the greatest band ever to go out. Louder Than Words is a genius song!

I am praying that David Gilmour will change his mind and go on a tour with Nick. A Pink Floyd tour would be beyond amazing.

17 Pulse

I don't count this one as necessarily their best album only because only studio albums should really qualify for that, and live albums are kind of unfair in how good they are since the band plays mostly just their best songs from multiple albums, giving the album an unfair advantage. However, I felt like I had to take the time (pun intended - I'm referencing the song Time) to say how great this album is.

Many of their songs are legitimately played better here than on their studio albums, and the ones I think are better here are Brain Damage/Eclipse, Breathe, Comfortably Numb, and Astronomy Domine, just to name a few. If you disagree, however, that's fine, since we all have different preferences and tastes in music that we can't really control. Either way, the bottom line is that this album sounds amazing.

18 Relics

Some songs from Piper at the Gates of Dawn, and Syd Barrett singles. This is the ultimate album for die-hard Pink Floyd fans.

This is where it all starts, brilliant obscure cuts from the '60s era Floyd. Greatest Hits Volume 1. Fantastic stuff.

I love Relics. The greatest greatest hits compilation ever made.

19 Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii

Best concert of all time. And no audience.

20 Early Singles
21 The Later Years
22 A Foot in the Door
23 Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live
24 Pink Floyd in Venice
25 Shine On
8Load More
PSearch List