The Wish You Were Here album is a great tribute to Floyd's original frontman, Syd Barrett, who had crashed and burned years before. It consists of two grimly humorous songs about the evils of the music business and two long, touching ones about the band's long gone friend. This is an ambitious, almost bombastic album, but it never falls into the trap of being pretentious—the Barrett tributes are emotional and heartfelt beneath all the technological recording trickery. The album is a true work of art. I now know what
Pink Floyd is all about. They are not a hard rock band, but a band that takes you on an emotional journey.
