The Division Bell (1994 Version)

I first got this album on cassette about 30 years ago, and played it to death, now have it on CD.It is a cracking album by the UK rock legends.My favourite tracks are - What do you want from me, A great day for freedom, Wearing the inside out, Take it back, Coming back to life, Keep talking [ with the voice of Stephen Hawking ] and High hopes.

another fine album from the floyd. im sure everyone knows now how good it is so no need for a review of the album. sounds nice too

Great package, a lot of care has been put into this product. Feels like a 180gram pressing size/weight-wise, although it doesn't actually say it is anywhere on the packaging. They have gone to a lot of effort to make the sleeve as symmetrical/reversible as possible, without text on the front or back, and mirrored in both directions on the spine. The front + back covers, gatefold and record sleeves, each concentrate on one of the pairs of "heads" created for the CD vs Cassette album art (metal vs stone heads), so it's great to finally see details of both of these at this size, for those of us who only had 12cm CD booklets at the time. Full lyrics on the inside, and each song credits the writers in order, which makes it interesting to see which songs' lyrics were more predominantly Samson's, and which were more Gilmour's.Sound quality is very impressive - this is the 2014 master from the original vinyl tapes, which searching on dr.loudness-war.info will reveal, has a great dynamic, second only to the same year's Immersion Blu-Ray 5.1 (downmix).I was able to hear every voice and instrument articulately. Almost makes some of the earlier tracks on the album lose their "mysterious magic" a bit when you can hear every separate part so clearly! One thing I hadn't previously noticed from the CD/digital versions is which tracks have Michael Kamen's live orchestration vs. which have synth strings/pads, but it is more noticeable here. And High Hopes sounds overwhelmingly immense, as expected :)On first playthrough there was one jump on the first side despite no visible marks or dust, which was fixed by applying IPA record cleaning fluid and a few rotations with the anti-static cleaner. Hasn't skipped since.Highly recommended!

I’ve been a fan of PF since the late sixties when a friend loaned me A Saucer full of Secrets! This is a great album, albeit lacking the edge Roger Waters brings. This is an excellent vinyl pressing and the gatefold is superb - worth buying just for this! Marvellous packaging and delivery by Amazon.

2014's `The Endless River' is basically unused material from the 1993 recording sessions of this, the original and magnificent `The Division Bell'. It's a corker, one of a handful of all-time great Pink Floyd albums alongside Meddle, DSOTM & WYWH and a big step-up from its so-so predecessor `A Momentary Lapse of Reason'.Following the acrimonious departure of Roger Waters in 1984 Dave Gilmour took over as de facto band leader/chief songwriter, and TDB is the crowning achievement of no-Waters-era Floyd. The album is a coherent collection of superbly crafted pieces and strikes a fine balance between lyrical songwriting and a rich tapestry of virtuoso instrumental music possibly not in evidence since the WYWH era. Gone is Roger's biting (and sometimes heavy-handed) political satire and commentary on society, replaced by the slower-paced melancholic lyrical landscape of classic-era Pink Floyd. The late Richard Wright contributes in no small measure to the soundscape and is acknowledged with some of the writing credit for the first time since the 1970s, and Gilmour's wife Polly Samson is co-credited with much of the lyrical input.TDB has so many memorable songs it's a veritable embarrassment of riches but `What do you want from Me', `Lost for Words' and `High Hopes' are probably the cream of this very abundant crop. `Take it Back' sounds like Joshua-Tree-era U2 (in a good way). No prizes for guessing the intended target of `Poles Apart', another very, very good song, moody and powerful with Gilmour in full voice and delivering one of his all-time-great classic guitar solos.This five-star album has enduring appeal and sounds even better now than it did in 1994, the sign of a true classic. The 2011 remastered `Discovery' release is the one to go for.