i love david gilmour, quite possibly my all time favorite guitar player....but his solo albums............something is just missing..........

Syd Barrett.

Paul Rodgers.

Linda has a point about Syd been the missing element to some degree. Pink Floyd were always informed by Syd's influence, directly or indirectly.

It's Richard Wright that's also missing, IMO. He and Dave were always having a musical conversation. They were such a massive part of the overall sound. If Roger and Dave were the rhythm section, Dave and Rick were the melody/harmony section, I guess.

Dave could do without Polly Samson's lyrical input, I think. I've listened to The Endless River just the once. She's written a ton of lyrics going back to The Division Bell album. Samson may be an important and respected literary figure but I've never thought her lyrics were especially insightful. Her lyrics have always felt nondescript and too filled with artifice. Pink Floyd, to me, were a band who were defined by their willingness to sing honestly about their own inner emotional lives and personal conflicts, states of mind, and so on. Her lyrics don't ring true in the way that Syd's or Roger's always have. Again, this is just my opinion.

I liked About Face but can't understand why Dave ignores that first solo album entirely. He never plays any of that stuff live (that I'm aware of). Cry From the Street and There's No Way Out of Here are standouts (to me). The whole first solo album is really good. It's not great but it's good. Only my opinion, of course.

He could also get pretty much anyone he wants to collaborate with him. Pete Townshend was his writing partner on About Face and Dave's been in Paul McCartney's band...I'm not sure why he doesn't call in some favours from some of his fellow rock stars and turn each solo album into more of a guitar-centric jam thing. Maybe the new one will be?

I feel like Dave would be better off in a band setting than being a solo artist, though. His personality is the key thing - I think he can be the lead vocalist and the lead guitarist but the role of 'leader' seems to repulse him. He's not suited to it.

I've always wished some of these guys would form some sort of progressive-rock version of the Travelling Wilburys and record together. Maybe that's also a personality issue (or an ego thing)? Imagine various ex-members of Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd and other bands of that ilk forming a band, if only to record studio albums?

But what do I know?

Hm, I wonder what that band would be called?

"Tales from Topographic Bank Accounts".

is it too much to hope that DG's wife sits this one out?

Yes, yes, it is.
Sorry.

Why does Polly bother anyone. It's not as if she's doing a Yoko.

I've just never been a fan of her lyrics. As I said, Gilmour could collaborate with literally anyone - and I get that she's his wife and that it's his album and so it's his choice - but I don't think her lyrics are that great. They're just kind of dull, IMO.

Honestly, I don't really care for the lyrics on any Pink Floyd after Syd. The music and sound was always the draw for me. Having never had a father who died during WWII or been a rock star, or wanting to be an obvious misanthrope (secretly, yes!), Waters' lyrics never resonated for me, and I find a lot of them pretty clumsy. Wright and Gilmour never had the focus of Waters, and are generally forgettable. It's all about the band's sonic character for me. If they did mostly instrumental music I'd love them as much if not more then I do.
This is a long-winded way to say Polly Samson doesn't bother me.

Agreed, I'm a big non-fan of Sampson's lyrics. I still remember the first time I heard "What Do You Want from Me" and thinking it sounded like a lower-end hair metal lyric. I do think, conceptually, she/Gilmour got it right with "Keep Talking" but I think most of the other lyrics are anywhere from forgettable to downright terrible.

"We bitch and we fight, diss each other on sight"

Ugggghhh.

They must be head-over-heels, stupid in love to not have the "shit sensor" go off on that one.