Okay. All right. Wow. Finally, finally. We are here, and it is time. Yes, it is time. Worst to best is back.

Okay, I'm getting ahead of myself, Anthony Fantano here, the internet's busiest music nerd. Hope you're doing well. We have returned with another installment, years after the last one, of our Worst to Best series, going over the major studio releases of a given artist and ranking those records from their worst to their best.

This one over here for Pink Floyd, the legendary progressive and psychedelic rock outfit hailing from the UK, has been long-awaited and long-promised. I'm sorry it has taken so long. But you know what? Finally, it is here. The ranking is done and ordered, and I'm going to give you all the records from the worst to the best, and we'll give my reasoning why with each placement.

So, yeah, that's the deal. Let's do it. Here we go.

13) The Endless River

Yes, we are starting with the 2014 album, The Endless River, which is obviously the latest and will most likely go down as the last Pink Floyd album. It's one of a few records I'm going to talk about in this list that feels like a Pink Floyd album in name and in name only.

But given that Pink Floyd's roster has rotated multiple times over the course of the band's career in terms of personnel and writing responsibilities, I guess you could get away with calling this a Pink Floyd album, especially given the material on it is based on the efforts of O.G. Member and guitarist David Gilmour, bolstered by some keys from the late great Richard Wright.

But yeah, with Roger Waters having departed from the group years ago, at this point, the band is mostly David, and it's the only Pink Floyd album that I've had, personally, the chance as a reviewer to cover and talk about upon its release. And while I deeply appreciate the opportunity to do that, the material on this album is just passable for the most part.

I mean, it's been 20 years since the release of the band's last official album, The Division Bell. And the cuts on here that don't sound like gentle doctor's office music, as well as ambient new age synth motifs, pretty much come across as still being stuck in that era. That era being a time in the '90s when the band's sound was pretty stagnant still at that point, which makes Endless River feel like an echo of an echo.

Plus, the expanded edition of this record features numerous tracks that just feel like Pink Floyd, ripping itself off. Again, on some level, to simply call this a Pink Floyd album feels like David Gilmour is getting away with something. But I guess this record is okay if you are specifically seeking out what exactly it is: A series of moments that feel like the lengthier instrumental bits from the band's classic catalog, and just leaving it at that.

Overall, this record's greatest, in my opinion, is just being painfully inoffensive, and that's about it.

12) The Final Cut

Okay, next one is The Final Cut, 1983 release in the band's 12th studio album at the time, and the last one to feature the songwriting and singing of Mr. Roger Waters.

Now, the original intent behind this record, if you are familiar, was to essentially complement the recently released The Wall film and build off of its unprecedented success. I mean, this album, The Final Cut, even had its own short film companion release, too. So on some level, I could see how Waters might have been trying to essentially recreate the success that he had for a second time with this project, get into a bit of a groove here, promotionally and conceptually.

Also, continue Pink Floyd's tradition of making music that has connections to the film world, but the execution, the writing felt terribly short in this instance. I'm sure everyone watching this video is already familiar with the classic 1979 album, The Wall, which I will talk about more later. But the movie The Wall took a few more years to produce and release, especially since the concept and artistic makeup of it had changed a few times since Waters had originally conceived it.

But after releasing one of the most well known and beloved concept albums of all time, Pink Floyd was pretty much given free reign to make this thing and just expand on this Wall era, visually as well as musically, which leaves us with The Final Cut over here, which in a way is like a soundtrack to the musical drama, leftovers or add-ons from this era, or at least that's how it feels.

I guess the concept behind this record also shifted at one point as Waters was inspired by the recent Falklands War that had that spurred up due to England invading Argentina. So with no true, steady creative hand guiding this album, the lack of expectations and boundaries and full creative control began to create tensions within the band, which led to keyboardist Richard Wright leaving.

Nick Mason and David Gilmour are said to have not really been crazy about the direction this record was taking either. And I think this record is one of those instances in which where how misguided those changes were is reflected in the audience's reaction truly, because this record was widely considered to be a commercial flop for Pink Floyd. Really a fall from grace, considering what the band had just pulled off commercially with the wall.

But in short, if you are to actually give this record a shot, what you could expect is basically the musical theatrics and drama of The Wall era multiplied by about two or three, while simultaneously subtracting anything musically that would actually grab the attention of maybe a more casual rock fan, which, I mean, is exactly what the biggest singles from The Wall era did.

This album must be what The Wall sounds like to the nostalgia critic. For sure in this tracklist, there are most definitely some really emotionally potent and powerful moments. But for the most part, the overall experience of The Final Cut is that it drags and just progressively wears on you over time, as Roger Waters, I think, is just way too enamored with his own the actual performances throughout this project, even if there are a lot of admirable intentions behind the social commentary packed into this record.

11) A Momentary Lapse Of Reason

All right, we are moving forward on this next one. We have A Momentary Lapse of Reason, the band's 1987 record. And yeah, this is another project that really causes you to ask, is this seriously a Pink Floyd album? I'm sorry this list is so front loaded with releases like this, but I mean, they exist and I have to talk about them.

But yeah, at At this point in the band's catalog, Roger Waters is gone. And as a result, Nick and David are mostly left up to their own devices with some outside writers jumping into the mix here and there as well to pull things together. So in a way, we're shifting from a record that sounds like a Roger Waters solo LP to a David Gilmour solo LP.

While it's far from perfect, it's a pretty easy, breezy listen and sonically lands closer to what you would expect a Pink Floyd album to sound like as opposed to the final cut, even with all of the drum machines and big '80s rock style production in full swing. This thing doesn't really come through with a heavy concept either, and a lot of the material here was originally intended for a David Gilmour solo release.

And while all of the grand, progressive showy instrumentation that made so many Pink Floyd albums up until this point great is here in spades, the writing and lyrics does lack a certain urgency and bite and not having Roger Waters here makes it apparent that he was, for the most part, bringing that to the table.

With that change on this record, Pink Floyd ended up sounding like some very sleek Christian rock production piece or something. Just imagine all the songs are about Jesus and you're essentially there.

Still, though, there are some very impressive solos and instrumental flourishes throughout this project. The keyboard work is great, too, with Richard right back in the mix, of course. But I doubt many songs on this thing have or are going to stick with you if you happen to give it a spin. Even the funky, chill little single, "Learning to Fly". But yeah, in its best pockets, you get a Pink Floyd sound, but it doesn't really have the punch or passion that made a lot of their classic work so great.

10) The Division Bell

Okay, The Division Bell time, which it was just the 30th anniversary of this album's release. I understand if this is not a record that lands in the top three of many Pink Floyd fans, but you could at least say it was noticeable improvement beyond its 1987 predecessor.

And yeah, it is true. What is left of the band during this era of its career between Wright and Mason and Gilmour, it may sound like a pale imitation of itself on some level. They're still at least doing a better job of getting into the full swing of things with this lineup and actually formulating a sound that simultaneously honors Pink Floyd's classic highlights, but also embracing this somewhat futuristic, new age-ified era for the band, esthetically, which I think Floyd's trademark keys and guitar work play into really naturally.

I also commend the band on this record for getting back to basics in terms of really focusing on a concept and a theme as between wearing the inside out and what do you want from me. You have a lot of tracks on this record addressing interpersonal relationships, specifically interpersonal communication in the context of division, to which you can attribute amazing lyrical highlights like, "So I open my door to my enemies and I ask / Could we wipe the slate clean? / But they tell me to please go fuck myself / You know you just can't win."

Also, given the point where the band is at in their career right now with this record, I don't really blame them for the nostalgia they exhibit for their salad days or at least a perceived time where there was less division socially on the closing track, which is hauntingly beautiful in its own way.

Agree with this concept or not, it does seem to genuinely inspire some passionate songwriting that just wasn't there to the same degree on A Momentary Lapse of Reason. And while the record isn't bad, it's not really exciting either. I could understand why a lot of the reviews in initial response to this album were pretty underwhelmed. It's not really living up to the classics, but I still think this is a pretty cohesive record that maybe could gain some new appreciation out of the context of its original release.

Maybe it doesn't mean much, but I think there is an argument to be made that this is the band's best post The Wall album. So take that for what it's worth, I guess.

9) Ummagumma

Okay, next. Ummagumma, the band's 1969 album. We're finally getting into the '60s era. Whoa, crazy.

But yeah, if you're a Pink Floyd fan that has really dove into the catalog, I don't think you'll be surprised to find this album landing as low as it does in this list.

For anyone who isn't in the know, maybe it's best to steer clear of this one until you've heard all the classics and everything like that. I would hate for a record like this to paint your view of the band and their abilities and talent.

In this section, I should probably also mention the More soundtrack that preceded this record, too, which was the first project of material the band generated after Syd Barrett left. It charted pretty well and was packed with a lot of improvised jams. Being a soundtrack as well, this record over here essentially works as a bridge to fill the gap of these different eras of Pink Floyd's discography, going from the Syd Barrett era into more soundtrack work, and eventually the band's progressive material in the '70s. Just know going into this record, it is long, it is disorganized, and it is cumbersome.

It works in various sections. You have some live performances of previously released material that are pretty decent. Several more passages then of studio material that are helmed by Pink Floyd's remaining members post the Sid Barrett departure.

For sure, it's experimental. It's out there. There are unpredictable moments and ideas that crop up here and there. But is it good? I wouldn't say so. If there even is a saving grace to this album, it's the live material.

To put this record in a nutshell, it really just sounds like the band is trying to find their footing again after such a massive radical lineup change. Again, I would only recommend this to a listener if they were really in the market for some odds and ends and curious monstrosities in the band's catalog because even some of their more lesser known soundtrack albums sound more well put together and focused than this.

8) Atom Heart Mother

Next, we are traveling forward a little bit to 1970 for the release of Pink Floyd's album, Atom Heart Mother. I would say this is really the band's first proper studio album release post the departure of Syd Barrett. However, it's only somewhat more cohesive and less fragmented than its predecessor, Ummagumma, mostly due to a lot of the record's style and appeal being couched in its 23-minute title track, which is a mind-blowing multi-phased orchestra rock piece, complete with choral chants and dramatic drum fills and really ominous layers of keys and bass, guitar in the mix as well, and it all culminates into a really powerful progression.

The rest of the record, though, I can mostly take or leave. Even with "Summer ’68" creates really impressive horn passages, even with "Fat Old Sun's" passionate guitar solos, even with "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast" being a pretty endearing instrumental cut.

But yeah, I think the record is okay, but maybe not quite as exciting or essential as what they would do down the road or even what happened a bit prior, which we will get into.

7) Meddle

Next, we move on to 1971 when the band released Meddle, the follow-up to Atom Heart Mother, from which a lot of creative parallels to other records in Pink Floyd's discography can be drawn.

While I don't think the highs on this one are as grand or as epic as some of the best moments on Atom Heart Mother, it's still a more cohesive record overall. The acoustic riffs and songwriting on "Fearless" would make this track one of the catchiest Pink Floyd would pen during this era.

And the delay-soaked bass and drums on the opener would create these cinematic pro-grooves that later records like Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall would be decked out with.

Finally, the 23-minute closing track showcases the band really nailing it in terms of creating a larger, more massive piece that really goes the distance and yet has a great flow to it, sounds super cohesive.

I should also note around this time, Pink Floyd had been tasked with creating some soundtrack work for another film, La Vallée, with which they took a more concise approach with the song structuring and writing, and these recordings would later be assembled into 1972's Obscured by Clouds.

But yeah, Meddle, I think, is a very solid record in the Pink Floyd discography, but for the most part, I see this record as something that artistically paved the way for a lot of ideas that would come into full fruition on Dark Side of the Moon. I understand why for some fans, these records may be favorites, but to me, this time period is not really where Pink Floyd is at their full power level.

6) The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn

Okay, moving up further on the list, we have a very beloved record in the band's discography. That would be the 1967 LP The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, a significant album in the Pink Floyd discography because it is their first with one of their most celebrated lineups, a time when the band had been fronted by psych-rock legend, Syd Barrett, who was really the prime vocalist and songwriter of the band at the time, which is why when you talk about the progression of Pink Floyd, you do have to break it up into eras a little bit. And again, for many fans, the Syd Barrett era is a favorite, not just in the Pink Floyd discography, but for classic rock and psychedelic rock in general.

And many would argue at the time Pink Floyd was really at the cutting edge of psychedelic and experimental rock as we know it. However, I personally think the band would go on to make for a much better progressive rock group than psychedelic rock group. And when you compare this record to stuff that was already happening at the time with The Beatles and The Velvet Underground and Hendrix, 13th Floor Elevators, Captain Beefheart, Frank Zappa. It's not quite as novel or as ground-breaking as some may make it seem.

However, I will say Piper is loaded with some genuinely weird and out there and fun experiments and wild performances. Sometimes the band chemistry leaves a bit to be desired, and the presentation of these tracks can either come across a bit too stiff or even loose and messy.

You can really tell in the studio on this one, the band is just fueled by pure raw intuition and probably a lot of mind-altering substances as they're just doing any random thing they feel like, which is how you get free wheeling cuts like the nine minute 41 second "Interstellar Overdrive", which is this heavy psych odyssey packed with totally out of control riffs and lots of keyboard passages and drum fills flying in every direction.

But by that same token, you also get this awkward plotting song about a gnome, a scarecrow, too, though that one's a bit more symbolic. Not that that makes the clip-clop percussion in the background go down any easier.

But yeah, there's some strange use of effects and some crazy panning left and right throughout this LP, too. Some genuine attempts at theatrics and drama as well on "Chapter 24".

I know I'm committing a bit of classic rock blasphemy by putting this album around the middle of this list, but this is just not my preferred Floyd era, even though I can appreciate the influence and impact this album has had on a lot of records and groups that I love.

5) A Saucerful Of Secrets

Following this in the list, we are going with 1968's A Saucerfull of Secrets, the second full-length LP the band released in the midst of the Syd Barrett era, which I know I've already talked about as not being my favorite point in the band's career, but A Saucer Full of Secrets is still a pretty sick album, and in my opinion, an improvement on what the band was doing on their very chaotic debut.

Sure, you could say the tracks on this record are not as outwardly experimental or weird. But in terms of performance and focus and cohesive ideas, Pink Floyd is sounding a lot more like a well-oiled machine on this record. The fluid and winding song structures throughout this record make the experience of these songs a lot more immersive and trippy. The band was getting better at evoking certain feelings as well, like on key passages of "Let There Be More Light", which are genuinely chilling, strange, and most importantly, enchanting.

And while we do have a trimmer tracklist this time around, the record still has its share of surprises, like with the very transcendental, or the zany "Corporal Clegg", or the title track where the band really ups the ante with a nightmarish twelve-minute jam. Sometimes the vocals do leave a bit to be desired, and maybe historically, there isn't as much to say about this album as there may be other Pink Floyd albums. But as far as explorative, surreal, and sometimes unnerving psychedelic rock goes, this is one of the best in the band's discography and in the genre, generally.

4) The Dark Side Of The Moon

Here we are. Next on the list, the placement of The Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd's 1973 album, which is maybe the most celebrated record in progressive rock history.

I can see why it's such a focal point in the band's discography, and it's not just because of its iconic and instantly recognizable cover art. But I would say on this record is really where the band came into their own and developed a sound and style that was truly unique to them and combined that with just timeless songwriting, with multiple tracks flowing into each other, musically and thematically.

Like on "Brain Damage + Eclipse", where you have reflections on mental health, obviously in the context of former bandmate, Syd Barrett. You have lyrics on this record, too, explore the dark sidedness of humanity, which we all share.

As far as rock music goes, it's really a theater of the mind type of experience and really one of the most profound in that vein of its time. You can really tell all the time the band put into doing soundtrack work and making music with a cinema connection in mind is paying off on this record, as multiple songs from this thing in their own way do sound like scenes from a film, which obviously would pave the way for moments later in their discography, like The Wall.

And again, that comes down to how dramatic the instrumentation is, but also all of the rich soundplay throughout the record. Like, for example, on the song "Time", you have all the clocks ticking and so on and so forth, the chatter in church organs that transition us into "Us and Them", or on "Money", which harmonically kicks off with all of this change, clattering and cash registers, opening and closing. A track that also features one of my favorite bass lines of all time, this crazy blues lick at 7/8.

Plus, this record is also the strongest vocal showing the group had since Barrett's departure, for sure. While all those things combined don't necessarily make for my favorite Pink Floyd album, period, it's definitely their best up until this point.

Some builds on this record are better than others, and I do wish there was a bit more versatility along the track list sometimes. And the whole first leg of this record, too, I do find a bit underwhelming still to this day.

The "Speak to Me" intro is just okay. "Breathe" isn't exactly the most gripping tone setter, but it's still a great album and as popular as it is in the band's catalog for good reason.

3) The Wall

While it's not technically true, if someone around me said that The Wall was the last real, actual Pink Floyd album, I wouldn't correct them.

If this record did actually end up being the band's final LP, their real last bow before the curtain call, it would be an epic one. As commercially and creatively for the band, it was a total blowout, especially when you take into account not just career-defining singles like "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2", but the whole Wall film rollout, which further solidified the album's popularity and vision.

In my opinion, it's an amazing record and really proof of everything that made Pink Floyd great, from the multi-phase songwriting to the stellar keyboard and guitar solo passages, the emotional vocal performances, the urgent social commentary. Roger Waters is really digging deeper into his feelings around fame and crashing out in the limelight, and self-isolation, and singing about those things from a standpoint where it's like he's acting.

Now, if there is an issue with The Wall, though, it's that the band's ambitions on this LP did get the better of them, maybe a little bit, as the overall experience of the album can be a bit daunting with this obviously being a double LP that's around 90 minutes in length.

I suppose there's also a question as to whether or not the band was truly improving upon the sounds and ideas they had developed up until this point, or were they just doing a very extravagant indulgence in all of the ideas that have culminated in the Floyd discography thus far.

While I think The Wall may more be the latter, still, the ideas being brought together on this record are amazing.

Though I wouldn't necessarily fault anyone fan for wanting to hear those ideas condensed on another album in the band's discography, be it through the ballads on "Wish You Were Here" or the political commentary on "Animals", or the theatrics and anthems and career-defining singles of Dark Side of the Moon.

I will continue to defend The Wall, though, for being a record really sees Pink Floyd just reaching out into the furthest edges of the rock universe and really creating a swan song for the decade in which progressive rock really got its commercial and creative footing.

In a way, I liken it to the first moon landing or any journey where you're venturing into the unknown. Some bumps are going to be along the road in that pathway because you're going where man has just not gone before. But yeah, Pink Floyd really made the landing on this one and just planted their flag in it.

2) Wish You Were Here

Okay, next in the list, we are rolling the clock back a few years to 1975 to talk about their record, Wish You Were Here, a record that sees the band expanding on a lot of the ideas they saw success with on The Dark Side of the Moon, with Roger Waters and David Gilmour, exploring further their feelings on former bandmate, Syd Barrett, along with mental health struggles and depression on tracks like "Shine on You, Crazy Diamond", as well as the title track of the record.

You also have the band talking about their general disillusionment with the music industry and entertainment. You could even argue, though, that on this record, this is where the band really had a great perfect balance between just a general rock appeal and those additional dramatics and theatrics.

But most importantly on "Wish You Were Here", it's really the music and the arrangements and the flow of all these tracks together where the band truly nailed it. And obviously, in my opinion, they did it even better here than they did on Dark Side.

Not only is "Wish You Were Here" stunning and engaging from moment to moment, but the band chemistry and performances on this one are top-notch as well. David Gilmour's guitar work on this project is especially nuanced. He is just making that thing cry during some of these solos.

The synths are a massive step up, too, with a lot of them sounding very airy and cinematic. Evocative, too, like on "Shine On" Part 6 through 9. The band was still working with various sound effects on this LP, too, and working those into their tracks, but I think they do it here a lot more smoothly.

This record may not have quite the single power that The Dark Side of the Moon might, or the big grandiose showy crescendo bits like with "The Great Gig in the Sky". But there are still a lot of amazing peaks across this record as well, like the intensely ominous "Welcome to the Machine", as well as the emotionally devastating criticism on the title track.

But yeah, this LP for me is definitely a real favorite in their discography and arguably their best, too. One of their most relatable and cohesive albums as well, which is why it's landing so high.

1) Animals

Okay, last bit. Oh, my God. This is so long to be talking about Pink Floyd. Yeah, I guess we're at the final spot of the list now. It's my favorite Pink Floyd album, 1977's Animals.

It's their 10th album, and in my opinion, the band's best album. If I were to go into the details of this record, I feel like I would be rehashing a lot of the same observations I have made for many a Pink Floyd album up until this point. And that's because Animals is further proof of the fact that Pink Floyd's direction and style wasn't just as a result of random experimentation over the course of years and years and years.

I mean, for sure, experimenting and venturing into the unknown is a key element of the band's artistry. But when you observe their progression from album to album to album, you see a lot of that came as a result of very methodical tweaking and fine-tuning, really honing a sound. By slowly recording and writing release after release and just figuring out what worked and what didn't along the way, what could be improved and what was fine as is. As a result, esthetically and musically, Animals does share a lot of qualities and parallels with surrounding albums in the band's discography.

But what makes this LP stand out, in my opinion, is that the band really, in a big way, began to tackle topics much larger than themselves here, pointing their prog rock arsenal at the political systems of the West and war, with really some of the most fiery performances across their entire catalog.

The symbolism and narrative concepts throughout the record as well, I would say, are pretty fun and easy to grasp, with the different classes of individuals being addressed across the album: dogs, sheep, and pigs, which are all pulled very obviously from Animal Farm, the classic George Orwell piece.

Like a lot of Pink Floyd's best stuff around this time period, you have these super lengthy multi-phase tracks that all flow into each other like a movie. You do have these acoustic ballad intros and outros with pigs on the wing. But then the massive core songs that make the rest of the record up range from 10 to 17 minutes and describe the role or plight of the different animal classes on the album.

Just a huge set of tracks on this thing, which are just riveting moment to moment, from the slick grooves to just passionate harmonized guitar solos, despondent acoustic rock breakdowns, synth bridges, lots of evocative sound effects, and I love how musically and narratively, the whole album and its musical and its lyrical story circles back around toward the end, making for what I think is the most cohesive, thematic vision in the band's whole discography.

It's thorough but also very succinct and easy to grasp and ties up very well. For as long as these songs are, they all have really catchy moments and peaks and refrains here and there, too. From "Pigs" where you get, "Big man, pig man / Ha, ha, charade you are" where the band is really questioning authority here. Then you have "Sheep", which is a message to average people about the threat posed to them by the dogs.

In my opinion, Animals is the most movie-like thing the band has done without having to attach it to a literal film. It's a really sick movie at that. But yeah, that's my favorite Pink Floyd album. That's my number one record in the list. Worst to best. Did it. Yeah, and I'm going to leave it there.

What did you think of this list? What's your Pink Floyd worst to best? Let me know in the comments. I'm sure you will. I'm tired of talking. I'm done talking forever.