Jordan Rudess comments on Pink Floyd

They Invented Prog: Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd has great meaning in my life. Their ability over the years to create anything from a seemingly innocent, almost folk like acoustic guitar-driven tune like ‘Grantchester Meadows’ or the song ‘Wots... Uh The Deal?’ to something highly synthesizer-heavy like ‘Wish You Were Here’ always has managed to capture my imagination and inspire me. No matter what kind of orchestration was used there was always this incredible concept of space. Not only the trippy psychedelic kind of space but also in the fact that their songs always had a lot of room to breathe.

The other element that sometimes gets forgotten was the element of humour. This was a big part of the mix, mostly in the Syd Barrett days with the Piper At The Gates Of Dawn album. As someone who is involved in a group who has a virtuostic side, people have always been slightly surprised that Floyd have been a large influence, but the magic and depth of their style is something we always come back to and is important to each of us in Dream Theater. One of the most musically satisfying covers we ever did was playing all of Dark Side Of The Moon.

That’s one of my favourite albums in the world. I always loved the way the lyrics not only could have a lot of philosophical meaning and concept but also sound really smooth and musical. An important feature with a group like Floyd where everyone listening could potentially be extremely high. Not a day goes by without feeling the direct influence of the songs of Pink Floyd.