David Gilmour has looked back frankly on the early days of his tenure in Pink Floyd, admitting he found the band in a poor state when he joined to support the ailing Syd Barrett. He recalled the group's live performances under Barrett as chaotic, reflecting the frontman's own deteriorating mental health, and said his priority was simply to bring some discipline and structure to a band that seemed to be falling apart.

Barrett, the group's founding creative force, had built a cult following with whimsical, fictional songwriting during the psychedelic 1960s, including the hit single "See Emily Play", but repeated onstage breakdowns made it impossible for him to continue performing. Gilmour told Rolling Stone he saw "an open page" on joining, admitting he initially thought the band was "awfully bad" and the gigs "incredibly undisciplined". The transition was gradual rather than immediate, with albums such as "A Saucerful of Secrets" and "Atom Heart Mother" showing the band experimenting to find a new direction, while Gilmour's guitar work slowly developed towards the style that would later define tracks like "Comfortably Numb".