It was 1987. David Gilmour was standing on a houseboat called the Astoria, floating on the River Thames, trying to figure out if Pink Floyd actually existed anymore. Most people thought they were dead. Roger Waters, the band's conceptual architect, had already bailed and basically told the world that the group was a spent force. He even called it a "frightful thing" to continue. But Gilmour had other ideas. Pink Floyd: A Momentary Lapse of Reason wasn't just another album; it was a legal, creative, and emotional declaration of war.
The stakes were insanely high.
If this record failed, the Pink Floyd name would likely have ended up in a museum or, worse, a courtroom archives drawer forever. Instead, it became a multi-platinum behemoth. It defined the sound of the late eighties for millions of fans, even as critics sharpen their knives to this day.
The War Between Gilmour and Waters
You can't talk about this album without talking about the drama. It was ugly. Honestly, it was one of the messiest breakups in rock history. Roger Waters had officially resigned in 1985, assuming that without him, there was no band. He famously sued to prevent Gilmour and Nick Mason from using the name Pink Floyd, calling them a "copy" of the real thing.
Imagine trying to write hit songs while lawyers are breathing down your neck. Gilmour was under immense pressure to prove he could carry the legacy. He brought back Nick Mason, though Mason was so out of practice he reportedly struggled to play some of the drum parts. Richard Wright was brought back too, but because of legal tangles from his previous firing during The Wall sessions, he couldn't be a full "member" yet. He was basically a paid session musician on his own band's record.
The atmosphere was tense.
Gilmour wasn't just writing songs; he was defending a brand. This is why the album sounds so different from The Final Cut. While Waters focused on biting lyrics and minimalist arrangements, Gilmour went for the "Big Sound." He wanted atmosphere. He wanted those soaring, melodic guitar solos that make your hair stand up. He hired a small army of outside songwriters and producers, including Bob Ezrin, to help fill the void left by Waters' departure.
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The Sound of 1987 (For Better or Worse)
If you drop the needle on "Learning to Fly," you immediately hear the eighties. The gated reverb on the drums. The digital synthesizers. It’s a far cry from the analog warmth of Dark Side of the Moon. Some purists hate it. They think it’s too polished, too "corporate rock."
But here’s the thing: it worked.
"Learning to Fly" is a masterpiece of metaphor. On the surface, it’s about Gilmour’s actual flying lessons—he’s a licensed pilot—but everyone knew it was really about him learning to lead the band without Roger. The "ice forming on the tips of my wings" wasn't just a weather report. It was the chill of the industry watching to see if he’d crash and burn.
Then you have "The Dogs of War." It’s heavy, cynical, and features a saxophone solo that feels like a noir film set in a dystopian future. It showed that Gilmour could still do "dark" even without Waters' lyrical venom. The album is a weird mix of stadium anthems and ambient experiments. "Signs of Life" opens the record with the sound of a rowing boat, a direct nod to the Astoria studio, grounding the high-tech production in a physical, watery reality.
The Critics vs. The Fans
The divide was massive. Rolling Stone gave it a lukewarm reception at the time, and Waters himself was famously brutal, calling it a "clever forgery." He wasn't entirely wrong that it felt different, but he underestimated how much people missed the sound of Pink Floyd.
Fans didn't care about the legal filings. They wanted the guitar.
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They wanted the light shows.
When the tour started, it was one of the biggest spectacles on earth. The "Momentary Lapse" tour ran for years and saw the band playing to millions. It proved that the brand was bigger than any one person. Even if the album had some filler—looking at you, "A New Machine"—the highs were high enough to sustain the legend.
Technical Hurdles and the Astoria Sessions
Recording on a boat sounds romantic, but it was a technical nightmare. The Astoria is a beautiful 1911 houseboat, but it wasn't built for 24-track recording. They had to deal with the hum of the river and the cramped space.
Gilmour pushed the technology of the era to its limit. They used MIDI. They used early samplers. They were trying to create a "modern" Floyd. This is why the 2019 remix (part of the Later Years box set) is so interesting. They actually went back and stripped away some of the eighties production. They replaced some of the drum machine parts with new recordings of Nick Mason playing for real. They added more of Rick Wright's original keyboard takes that were buried in the original mix.
The result? The album sounds more "Floyd-ish" now than it did in 1987. It bridges the gap between the classic seventies era and the stadium rock of the eighties. If you haven't heard the "Updated and Remixed" version, you're missing the true soul of the project.
Why A Momentary Lapse of Reason Still Matters
We live in an era of reunions and "legacy acts," but in 1987, what Gilmour did was revolutionary. He snatched victory from the jaws of a certain death. Without this album, we never get The Division Bell. We never get the massive Pulse live album. We never get that final, emotional closure of The Endless River.
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It’s an album about survival.
It’s about what happens when a creative partnership ends and someone has to pick up the pieces. Is it perfect? No. Is it "The Wall"? Definitely not. But it has a specific, shimmering beauty that belongs entirely to David Gilmour. "On the Turning Away" remains one of the most powerful ballads the band ever produced, tackling themes of poverty and social indifference with a soaring guitar coda that rivals "Comfortably Numb."
The cover art, too, tells the story. Storm Thorgerson, the legendary designer, insisted on a real photo. He didn't want CGI or a painting. He lined up 700 hospital beds on Saunton Sands in Devon. It took ages. It rained. They had to do it twice. But that image of a "river" of beds is quintessentially Pink Floyd—surreal, expensive, and haunting. It symbolized the "momentary lapse" of a man waking up in a world he didn't quite recognize anymore.
How to Truly Appreciate This Album Today
If you want to understand this record, you have to stop comparing it to Wish You Were Here. That’s a trap. Instead, listen to it as a debut album for a "new" band that happened to have a decade of history behind it.
Steps for a deeper listen:
- Find the 2019 Remix. This is non-negotiable. The original 1987 master is very "thin" sounding by modern standards. The remix brings out Nick Mason’s drums and Rick Wright’s Hammond organ, making it feel like a true band effort rather than a Gilmour solo project.
- Watch the 'Delicate Sound of Thunder' film. Seeing these songs performed live in the late eighties provides the context they were built for. These are stadium songs. They need space to breathe.
- Listen to "Sorrow" through high-quality headphones. The opening guitar tone was achieved by Gilmour piping his guitar through the massive PA system inside an empty sports arena (the Los Angeles Sports Arena). It is arguably one of the loudest, most massive guitar sounds ever caught on tape.
- Read the lyrics to "On the Turning Away" while listening. In a world that feels increasingly divided, the message of not turning away from those in need feels more relevant now than it did thirty years ago.
Pink Floyd: A Momentary Lapse of Reason wasn't a mistake or a "lapse" in judgment. It was a bridge. It allowed one of the greatest bands in history to cross over from the wreckage of the seventies into a new era of relevance. It proved that as long as that black Stratocaster was wailing, the pulse of Pink Floyd was still beating.
To get the most out of your Pink Floyd journey, compare the track "Learning to Fly" with the live versions from the 1994 tour to see how the song evolved once the band was fully integrated again. Then, dive into the Later Years documentary footage to see the behind-the-scenes legal battles that nearly ended it all.