Comfortably Numb

The Inside Story of Pink Floyd

By: Mark Blake

Narrated by: Graeme Malcolm

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.

Hearing how the sausage is made

I've been a PF fan since the early 80s. I actually bought this because I wanted to confirm my suspicions about Roger Water's mental health. Wow! Confirmed and then some. Roger had plenty of trauma in his life that appears to have left him with quite a bit of anxiety and insecurity. Anxiety gets worse as you get older, and there are often elements of paranoia with it as well. If you ever wonder why some people end up as bullies, just look back at his youth. I imagine he was bullied ruthlessly with no father figure. Anyway, very well researched book.

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.

Pink Floyd revealed

I have always been a huge fan of Pink Floyd. This book did a fantastic job of revealing their backstory from the early days in the 60s to the later releases in the band reuniting in the 2000s. Really enjoyed this book the top-notch read as well as great insight into the bands history.

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.