First listen to Pink Floyd - Welcome to the Machine (REACTION) 

Your reactions are always very professional. And I'm not just talking about the quality of your productions. When I talk about professional, I mean the quality of your observations and your comments. The smartest reaction on the WEB. Bravo.

Richard Wright's contribution to this album is incredible. He deserves more credit in my humble opinion.

Yea...I can now remember the 20 year old me laying on couch with headphones listening to this. Dad was looking at me like i was a alien.

Everything Pink Floyd was is encapsuled in this song. The peak of their mountaintop, to me.

I think this guy's gonna freak out with The Wall

And the journey continues...............................................................................✨

Here's a great story. I live in Montreal, Canada, and in the 80's saw this NASA commercial. NO talking, just images of jets, astronaut training, etc, and this song blasting!! I couldn't believe that NASA was using the music of a song called Welcome to the Machine in a commercial! I saw it only a couple of times in a one week period, and then it was gone. I think somebody had pulled a fast one at NASA, and it took them a week to catch on and pull the ad! If only vcr's were more common back then, people today could see it.....

Just imagine we heard this first back in 1975 when there were no computers & no way to digitally enhance anything! And we heard something like this which still today sounds futuristic. I was lucky enough to see them perform this in concert in 1977 when they were in their absolute prime! Some people actually had to be carried out by paramedics during some of this music (actually as I remember it during this song) they had stupidly taken acid before this concert. You didn't need any enhancements even though pot smoke hung halfway down from the ceiling of the building I was in during this concert. It was actually Beyond Sublime!! And the party at the end of this song, that's leading in to "have a cigar" which is kind of a party in the penthouse after the elevator ride. That's when the band meets the slimy record execs that they sarcastically sing about in "have a cigar"!

i cant wait for your reaction to Parts 6 to 9 of Shine on you crazy diamond

Now you know why when people speak of the gods of Prog, that Pink Floyd is one of the gods that are mentioned.

Welcome, my son! Welcome tooooooooo...THE MACHEEEEN. Kinda awesome, isn't it?

"You bought a guitar to punish your Ma, you didn't like school you know your nobody's fool" Like many who become rock musicians you start out thinking you are a renegade and fighting the establishment. "So, Welcome to the machine" Fat chance of that. The music industry machine will gobble you up and make you part of it.

Back in the day factories used a loud siren to indicate the end of the shift. And that's what is represented at the end of the song when you hear the siren and then people leaving the factory.

It is rare to find a bad track on ANY Pink Floyd album. Possibly the only band besides The Beatles, whose musical catalogue is nearly perfect. Jethro Tull comes close.

Welcome Daniel, welcome to the machine!! Oh, what a great song. I get chills (and did again when you started up) EVERY time I hear the beginning of this piece! That drone of the 'machine', the steady plodding rhythm - this is dark, and it's glorious!! My mind was completely blown the first time I listened to this track. I was 15, it was dark in my room, parents weren't home (so the stereo was LOUD!!) and I was taken away...(keep in mind it came right after Shine On, so the transition was there, and just segued into Machine - I was awestruck - I had never heard anything like this before!) Thanks for this journey my man! Masterpiece doesn't even begin to describe this perfect album! Now bring on Have a Cigar! I'll be with you at every step!

Love Pink Floyd HI Daniel

Love how the take you on an adventure...Awesome, Love, love, them. Thank you Daniel

One of my favorite Floyd songs!!!!!

Daniel, your reactions and comments on the music videos shed another light on these classics and let them shine 🙏

Welcome to sonic wonderland.

"We know where you've been" hmmm, sounds like my cell phone.....

Very happy to see so much interest in Pink Floyd again. As a grandfather having lived all the way back when we were 'the young and discontent' expressed all that in our music. Pink floyd was originally as obscure as it is now and we listened and lived those times. I encourage your listening and trust Pink Floyd will capture you as their music captured us. With "Dark side of the Moon" they made the jump from obscurity to world center stage. I hope you will listen to all their albums. We had Timothy Leary and "Tune in, turn on, drop out" slogan to stick it to the establishment. And here I am 66 years old.

What a great way to wake up!!!! Thanks!

Fun fact - the sound effects were recodings done in the machine room of the studio's elevator. "Have a Cigar" (on the other side of the albulm) is basically the group's experience with record executives. There's even a line that is a direct quote of the executive.

Love your reactions, cool to learn more from such familiar songs! 🎶🤙☮️

They know your dreams because they told you what to dream. The entertainment/music industry is the dream factory. They sell you the dream. The song actually ends with gaining entry to the party.

The way the music pulses back and forward between the L and R headphones is so trippy

The intro to this great song is almost mesmerising. Pink Floyd music has helped make lockdown for me a little less tedious 😏

This is my favorite album of all time. Wish I could give you two thumbs up. 🤟

Thank you Daniel for providing such an intelligent insight into the world of Pink Floyd. Interesting to note that this song and 'Have a Cigar' have similar themes and relates to the pressure the band members were under to produce something equivalent to DSOTM. Well, they excelled at that but they soon got burnt through their investments in Norton-Warburg and by 1978 were broke. Hard to think that would happen but it lead to Roger Waters demanding Richard Wright be sacked from the band for not contributing to 'The Wall' project.....welcome to the machine!

If you play WISH YOU WERE HERE right before you go to bed and turn the volume down to where you can just barely hear it, you will fall asleep before the first song plays all the way through. I used to put my kids to sleep for their naps with pink floyd.

Good early morning, Daniel, but I know you're asleep...nothing wrong with Pink Floyd at 6:00am. ☕

As a teenager in 1973 I heard DSOM for the first time. I was blown away. I couldn't wait for their next great album to come out. They came out with WYWH in 1975, I was not disappointed! Shine On is one of my favorite PF songs.

The final sound effects always made me think of an elevator taking you from the depths of the basement up to the penthouse party. PF always seem to take an idea and create a perfect sonic representation, just awesome!

"Welcome to the Machine" has been on my playlist for many years now. Great job, Daniel!

Guess I always interpreted it differently. A young guy dreams of being a "star", doesn't finish school, finds out he is not a star, has to go to work in the "machine" which is the reality and banality of all of our lives.

I'm really enjoying your reaction to this classic album, Daniel! Looking forward to the next one. Great insights on this one, I thought - well done!

And another great group to have seen live! Those were THE days!

Love your dissection of this song, never tire of this album

My younger days in the 70's:Listening to this on 2 hits of Purple Mico-Dot and loving it! Me now :2 beers and loving it!!!!

Richard Wright Synthesizer/Keyboard Genius

Really one of the best reviews I have ever seen. You did an awesome and I loved the research at the end. Pink Floyd has been my favorite group since the late 60's. I was blessed to have grown up with this type of music and it feels great to see yet another generation discover this band.

This is a dark song that suggests your life has been planned in detail and even though you might rebel it is just part of the overall plan to bring you into the machine. I always thought the party noise towards the end was indicating your social life and connections are also part of the machine as the party noise fades you are left with a lonely figure and that eerie sound of being alone. I really like this track from my first listen in 1975. Thank you for your reaction views and analysis. We certainly did not have computers and the internet back in 75. It is great to see you take such an interest in this music. I am sure nobody will ever make anything comparable for a long time.

Me and a few of my aquatic buddies bought this album when it was released here early in 1976 and soon we were swimming to the groovy tunes of the Pink Floyd once again, after coming down very slowly off their voyage to the Dark Side (of the Moon) a few years earlier. Still possibly my favourite swim aid/non regulation life preserver. (...it was again at that moment I realized I was yet another four hours late for work) signed: the half cut dolphins off the starboard bow.

I always thought that sound at the end of the song was your mind floating in space, then you getting in an elevator. The decent down to earth as it brings you back from space and the doors opening returning you back to reality.

Well sure it sounds dark but the singer is saying "Welcome", like the barker in The Who's "Tommy". ;-) Of course the '70s was the time when the industry discovered the mega-selling album such as Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours", "Frampton Comes Alive", "Saturday Night Fever" and The Eagles' "Greatest Hits". At this point the industry got greedy, stopped taking chances on non-selling groups, and yes told them what to record. George Harrison once turned in a new record only to be told him it wasn't good enough, he had to replace several songs to make it sound more commercial. Robert Fripp of King Crimson has written extensively on how artists get ripped off, having to come up with songs, pay for studio time, promote their albums with appearances and touring then many didn't even end up owning the rights to their own songs or music.

Powerful and thought provoking. ❤

Elegiac and Sardonic...thats how I described Wish You Were Here as a whole. The transition and difference between the 2 tracks on Side 1 is awesome. A young Sid crushed into losing his mind on bad LSD? Or just the pressure of living up to expectation? The theme does come up again in Have A Cigar. Thing is on Animals, the next record Roger gets more scathing...

This was the first song by them I ever heard. My big brother plugged it into the tape deck in his truck. Told me to crank the seat back and close my eyes. What an intro to Pink Floyd eh?? It was of course my favorite for years. I remimber reading that David Gilmore wasn't to happy with the arrangement which omitted any significant electric guitar.

There are drums- tympani and cymbals in the bombastic synth section. I always pictured going through air locks on a space ship in the beginning section.

Welcome to the machine..... welcome to the recording industry. The song encapsulates the trials bands must endure to bring their music to the masses.

7 minutes of listening to music and watching you enjoy yourself , nice

Thanks, Daniel. I've always loved how the apparent chaos and randomness of the industrial sounds of the introduction to this song gradually evolve in to its main rhythm. In the coldness of the song, Pink Floyd established an ironic unwelcoming machine-like feel. Best wishes from England.

I always pictured that sound effect at the end as a pneumatic tube for humans.

What a great album! And it's wonderful to see someone so young in these times, react to their music the same way we reacted so many years ago. So glad you enjoyed this.

What I got out of the end of song sound effect was an elevator ride up...and the door opens and now you're invited to the party "in the machine" I also love the dark music. It has kind of a Stranger Things vibe to it and without words it could totally fit in the soundtrack for ST.

Many people don’t realize that song has no drums in it. One of the best songs ever!

I went to the Animals album concert in Tampa Fl. and that was right before this album, But on the ticket, it said, "An Evening of sight and sound with Pink Floyd" and WOW, That's what it was!

Classic Floyd! Can think of no other words.

This song is a landmark achievement in terms of expressing emotions through sound; the dark forbidding nature is reflective of Water's feelings and the delivery of the vocals is just pure anguish

This song means something weird to me. I work in health care. The machine in the begining sounds like an oxygen machine. I was having breathing problems . It scared me into quitting smoking. I know that isn't what it means but at that time in my life it did. It goes to show how music can mean different things to everyone. When I was younger it didn't mean that.

I'm a little slow at symbolism but I believe the album is about the record industry. Take for example the picture of the men shaking hands with flames on their arms. What does it mean, one of them is getting burned (which means getting cheated).

Had the record (vinyl) and was this album was also the first CD I bought when the CD's appeared as the alternative for vinyl. And ......... still one of my favs.

There's an animation video, made in the 70's. Trippy and really dark Shine on you crazy diamond 💎 has 4 or 5 versions

NIIIICCCEEEE!!! :) SO YOU LOOKED AT THE ALBUM AND SAID ' I GOTTA DO THIS FOR SURE' HUH DANIEL? :) VERYYYYY GOOD

I like that you’re listening to it straight through and breaking apart the reactions. It’s meant to be listened to that way. My 3rd favorite Pink Floyd after DSoTM and The Wall.

Good Analysis Bro - "Atom Heart Mother " is an Album that Pink Floyd don't talk about - but is very much loved and revered by fans - Give it a go - it will challenge you !!

Did anyone besides me jump up from their chair when the recording of the needle going across the record came on? It's been years but I still feel foolish.

The music we listened to back in the day (like this) was SO far ahead of it's time ....... We didn't know how good we had it until the the music business digressed into the crap hole it is today ........

Dark!! Wait for the wall....but has to be listened to in full for the overall concept/experience/story. A masterpiece

the tv series Person of Interest had this song in it from one of their episodes ... good reaction Daniel ...

You did a really good job of breaking the essence of the song.

2+2=5 (We wouldn't accept it then, and we won't accept it now) Roger Waters is still trying to get Julian Assange freed.

Me lo he pasado en grande viendo tus caras de sorpresa a lo largo del desarrollo de la canción . No sabes que emocionante es ver disfrutar y sorprenderse a un joven músico como tu, que aprecia la música y es capaz de comprender todos los aspectos de una música tan exquisita. No olvideis nunca la cantidad de años que hace que hicieron este disco. Sorprendente. Me lo compré en cuanto salió, tal vez a los 17 , 18 años. En aquella epoca casi no te sorprendia nada porque todo lo que habia era excepcionalmente bueno, pero aún así siguen siendo mi segunda banda favorita ( Led Zepp, well and Deep Purple, Jethro Toll) Nunca me canso de escuchar estos discos. Nunca., nunca los has escuchado demasiado.

this is a good song to listen to with the lights off... the whole album really...but this song in particular

My favourite track from this perfect creation 🤗 and love your reaction

There is a double cd been out a while called "Pink Box - Songs Of Pink Floyd" - The cover versions are all top notch & when you see who the musicians are, you realize the reasons why this is so good. "Welcome To The Machine", among the tracks is simply brilliant. Seek it out. It practically covers "The Wall" as well as other tracks. "Comfortably Numb" is on it and is a corker.

Always thought that the end of the track was the artists going up in a lift to join the executive party and the uncomfortable way in which the room falls silent was a reflection of a condescending turning of attention to the out of place occupants of the lift.

Always thought that this song was a continuation of what they were relaying about Sid Barret wanting to make music but the "business" sucking the life from him.

The ‘machine’ being the music industry. The animations they played on the screen during this track in concert were great, I think Nick Mason (drummer) may have had an input into them but I could be wrong.

I like this album way better than Dark Side of the Moon; Shine On You Crazy Diamond is a masterpiece.

this was my first 8 track my dad got me for my birthday in the the 70s

I had to be made aware myself about the sound illusion in the end. Many people, including me for some time, believed that there is an elevator going upstairs. Well, no elevator makes such a noise; it's just some strange imagination

He was driving His Jaguar to the party, to Have A Cigar with the Execs over the success of SYD. He was a Diamond in more ways than one.

Daniel, if you really liked the sounds on this, it is worth mentioning that on Wish You Were Here, the Floyd was obviously influenced by bands like Tangerine Dream (albums like Atem, Phaedra, released a few years before - their album Rubycon, released the same year as WYWH, made for great mixes played one after another), all synths with sequencers and oscillators with occasional electric guitar. Amon Dül and Ash Ra Tempel are two others that might take you into other "weird" territories in the Floyd psychedelic neighbourhood. As for the "prog" tag for Pink Floyd, they came out of psychedelics, not rock with neo-classical influences (like Yes, Gentle Giant, Genesis, Tull, ELP etc...) or jazz (the Canterbury scene - Soft Machine, Caravan, National Health etc...) In interviews, Gilmour said in 67-68-69, they were still learning how to play their instruments. Many prog bands had classically trained musicians. And Gilmour's playing has nothing to do with Steve Howe's, Steve Hackett's or any prog guitarist. He is blues/rock all the way. He "owns" Animals, bringing it back towards rock. Just because a piece lasts 17 minutes doesn't mean it's prog. Otherwise, one could say Terry Riley, Steve Reich or Philip Glass are "prog".

Richard Wright totally shows off on this album.

I have always laid back and really dug those kettle drums by Nick! Awesome! Brumm, bum Bum !!!! SO YES THERE ARE DRUMS INT HIS SONG!!! If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times...when you world turns to shit and you've had a crappy day, you come home, pour a scotch (or similar), or glass of red, drink that offing it down. Then, pour another, woof that down too, then pour a third one and go turn off all the lights. Put this or any Pink Floyd record on. Go find a bean bag or deep leather couch, put your headphones on and sink down into your chair, close your eyes, sip away the final drink, and let the music sooth your soul !!!

Saw them in concert twice and totally wild first was great 2nd had mescaline and it was totally unbelievable

The outtro (the people chattering, snippets of sound effects, etc) always reminds me of the end of Sgt. Pepper, at the very end of the LP (after the last track, Her Majesty) the Beatles looped a groove of snippets like this that's pretty cool. :)

Your expressions throughout the song was fun to watch. Richard Wright shines through on synthesizer. On David Gilmour's On an Island tour there is a part where Gilmour comments on Richard Wright saying that he has that dark matter back. So basically that is what you can hear is that dark matter shining through on this song.

Headphones are great and all but there is nothing like feeling this song between really good speakers playing the record. It hits you much deeper

The synth slices through you.

I think it's about Syd. In fact, I think the whole album is about Syd and the effects of the music industry.

You HAVE to listen to the whole album. Brilliant! And still sounds timeless. Also. You should read the stories behind the album too. Interesting. Syd B actually just stopped by the studio while recording Shine.....

I was surprised when watching, the video, the making of Dark Side of the Moon that the members of Pink Floyd truly desired fame. Actually it shocked me since I always thought they were very creative artists desiring to make more art. Silly me. Welcome to the machine, the music industry.

Welcome to George Orwell's 1984.

:) :) OhMyGosh!! I am so bad at analyzing lyrics & interpreting music! I always thought 'the machine' was the workings of the brain or consciousness - because of Syd's mental problems! LOL!!! :) :) Great reaction, Daniel, as always! :)

Maybe they were using no 1 which was well known to them and which was disillusioning them as a metaphor for number 2??? Just a thought. Floyd songs usually work on multiple levels, it’s one of the things that make them so great.

Yes, I can feel how this is going to take a dark turn. The factory sound effects & instruments sound sinister.

Maybe my favorite PF song. From: just another cog in the Machine. Ps, my speaker tweeters sure got a good workout.