What if Syd Had Never Left Pink Floyd - Part 2 (1970 - 1976)

1970

The restyled quartet announces that they will continue to record and tour, announcing a new album coming in the new year. In November, they perform their first UK tour with Gustafson; fans generally aren't worried and are impressed by the new raised standards of the group's bass playing!

In December, the Floyd enter the studios to record their Fifth album, consisting mainly of Barrett compositions written earlier in the band's career

1971

Sitting on the Great Pillars of Yesterday (Barrett/Wright/Gustafson/Mason)
Life For Life (Barrett)
Susie Q (Barrett)
What Will You See? (Barrett / Wright)
The Afterglow (Barrett / Gustafson)

You Have To Be Trusted (Barrett)
Wasted Away On The Ruins Of A New Game (Barrett/Wright/Gustafson/Mason)

The music takes a much more improvised form with the new blood in the band, combining Barrett's songwriting talent with the group's new found instrumental power. The album is plugged extensively in the US along with a three month tour of the country. The group reaches critical acclaim with their audience on the wave of the other progressive rock bands that are sweeping the country. While they may not be technically as advanced, their experience over the years certainly has brought them up to scratch.

Barrett : "I think it would be wrong to stay the same as we were back in the early days. Our audience has matured and changed, and really it's no longer musically valid to do the sorts of esoteric sounds we were making back then. We've improved a lot technically and feel that that will help us on our way immensely".

Wright : "To be honest, in the early days, I think we really did play an awful lot of rubbish. We're trying to tidy up our skills a lot more now."

Gustafson : "Oh to be honest I've always been more interested in the musical side of things, which I guess when I joined sort of leant the band more into that direction."

The album reaches an unprecidented char position of 4 in the US, along with reaching number 2 in the UK (behind Led Zeppelin IV). On this success, the group embark on their first Japanese tour.

Barrett : "I was amazed at the reaction these guys have given us. We've never even dreamed about playing here a few years back, and yet all the people are here singing along to our songs. It's a bit strange cause we're used to our audiences just sitting back and listening which put us off somewhat"

Mason : "The material we've done on the Japanese Tour has been the best it's even been. I really enjoyed it. We'll have to record some of our numbers live because they've transformed so much since the early days."

1972