“Changed everything for me”: the 1968 album Roger Waters called “the most influential”
Roger Waters described The Band’s 1968 album Music From Big Pink as one of rock music’s most influential records, saying it “changed everything” for him. He argued that, after The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper, it was the most influential rock album in history and that it deeply shaped Pink Floyd’s approach, particularly in its sound and construction.
Waters admired the album’s stripped-back, song-focused style and saw it as an important precursor to the simpler direction later explored by artists including John Lennon. The article links this influence to Waters’s later work, including his Berlin performance of The Wall with The Band members Richard Manuel and Garth Hudson, and notes his particular affection for songs such as ‘The Weight’.
- Waters called Music From Big Pink a defining influence on Pink Floyd.
- He ranked it behind only Sgt. Pepper in rock’s influence.
- Its understated sound shaped his view of songwriting.