Comfortably Numb

The Inside Story of Pink Floyd

By: Mark Blake

Narrated by: Graeme Malcolm

Length: 17 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

Mark Blake draws on his own interviews with band members as well as the group's friends, road crew, musical contemporaries, former housemates, and university colleagues to produce a riveting history of one of the biggest rock bands of all time. We follow Pink Floyd from the early psychedelic nights at UFO, to the stadium-rock and concept-album zenith of the '70s, to the acrimonious schisms of the late '80s and '90s. Along the way there are fascinating revelations about Syd Barrett's chaotic life at the time of Piper at the Gates of Dawn, the band's painstaking and Byzantine recording sessions at Abbey Road, and the fractious negotiations to bring about their fragile, tantalizing reunion in Hyde Park.

Meticulous, exacting, and ambitious as any Pink Floyd album, Comfortably Numb is the definitive account of this most adventurous - and most English - rock band.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2008 Mark Blake (P)2017 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"You really do feel as if you're being sucked into the drama. That's a testament to Blake doing his job...It's a journalistic take on the band, and its reads like a history book. It's respectful and revealing, but not in a scandalous way." ( New York Press)

"Mark Blake has clearly done his share of research...Blake is at his best [when] providing those details that leap off the page while placing Pink Floyd squarely in the context of the times." ( Blurt Magazine)

Great history of Pink Floyd

As a long time fan of Pink Floyd this book is a must for all fans. Very thorough.

phenomenal

A fantastic, but rather biased story of the band. the narrator did a fantastic job.

Would read the actual book

The story is great even though it’s hard to get in to details of each individual. The performance is not good on this audiobook. It’s very flat and read like it’s the radio news you’re listening to. I would recommend read this book yourself.

I want more!!!

I've never gotten through an 17 hr book and thought I wanted it to keep going. Sooo good.If you're a Pink Floyd fan you'll love it. Not one dull moment. I honestly can't wait for a bit of time to pass so I can listen again.

Outstanding

What a great book. I was impressed with all the details. Loved learning more about Syd.

Well done with the details

Its a very detailed narrative of the band and each of the members, considering even there adventures while stepping asside of the band. Some curious stuff here with a lot of information about what turned to be and what was near to happen. Highly recommended!

Excellent

Great details without irritating verbosity. Being an avid Pink fan, I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

So Interesting!

Pink Floyd is my favorite group. When I'm looking for music to listen to they are my go-to band. But as much as I love the band, I knew very little about their background story. I didn't know why Gilmour and Waters don't get along. I didn't know the part Syd Barrett played in the band. I didn't know how they got their name or where the album title UmmaGumma came from. And so much more. This book is a great source of that type of information and juicy tidbits. I loved how it started out with the separate, early careers of band members. And then how they came together. I loved hearing how they came up with the design of the album covers and some of the challenges that happened in creating those covers. Most times, when listening to the book I felt like I was sitting at a London coffee shop with the narrator and he was filling me in on the juicy stories that made the band what they are today. The author did an exhaustive job of finding first-hand reports and interviews to validate his information and painted a broad, complete picture of the band and the characters who made it the behemoth it became.

Decent

An enjoyable and detailed listen, if uninspired writing at times. Narration was possible, but felt rather flat overall.

The Absolute Definitive Story of Floyd and Company

First off, the narrator was the perfect choice to put forth the author's words. English, sympathetic and warm. I was extremely impressed how much time the author devoted to the legendary Syd Barrett and Syd's influence he left on the band and his enormous clutch of fans. Syd's life is threaded all throughout this book, as if the author could have added to the titled, "...and Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Syd Barrett. Nothing is left to the imagination, and the author's words are written as if he were a "behind the scenes" ghost in their entire career, including the individual members' personal lives outside the band in just enough snippets to keep you wanting more. I've listened to this one three times, and will undoubtedly return again, as I get more out of this book each time I come back to it. I'm always left with the feeling that I'm just as much an insider as the author and his sources, fortunate enough to feel as though I am as much a 5th member of the band, their friends and associates of their career up to 2008, when the book was published. If there's anything else to be said about Pink Floyd, the members' side projects and all it's machinations, it's nowhere in sight. As more than just a casual fan, I've yet to discover anything quite as magnanimous in the 45+ years I've been following the ultimate rock behemoth, Pink Floyd. An immense thank you to Syd, Roger, Dave, Nick and Rick, for creating some of the greatest rock music to have ever been created in the mid-20th century through the beginning of the 21st, as well as your ability to influence countless other bands and dedicated orchestras even today, and for never selling out your integrity through all of rock's changes and attitudes, and for remaining true to the non-conforming sound of Pink Floyd to the very end...reviewed by Marc Austin.