Editing Roger Waters (section)

===Waters-led period===
[[File:DarkSideOfTheMoon1973.jpg|thumb|alt=A monochrome image of Pink Floyd performing on a concert stage. Each band member is illuminated from above by bright spotlights|A live performance of ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' at [[Earls Court Exhibition Centre]], shortly after its release in 1973: (l–r) David Gilmour, Nick Mason, [[Dick Parry]], Roger Waters]]

After Barrett's departure in March 1968, Waters began to chart Pink Floyd's artistic direction.{{sfn|Mason|2005|pp=106–107, 160–161, 265, 278}} In 1970, he composed – in collaboration with [[Ron Geesin]] –  ''[[Music from The Body]]'', a soundtrack for [[Roy Battersby]]'s documentary ''[[The Body (1970 film)|The Body]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.roger-waters.com/musicfromthebody.php|title=Roger Waters discography|website=rogerwaters.com|access-date=18 November 2019|archive-date=2 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170902131056/http://www.roger-waters.com/musicfromthebody.php|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/thebookofseth/ron-geesin-roger-waters-music-from-the-body|title=Ron Geesin/Roger Waters – Music from The Body|access-date=18 November 2019|date=November 2001|website=Head Heritage|archive-date=5 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191105033701/https://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/thebookofseth/ron-geesin-roger-waters-music-from-the-body|url-status=live}}</ref>

Waters said he wanted to "drag [Pink Floyd] kicking and screaming back from the borders of space, from the whimsy that Syd was into, to my concerns, which were much more political and philosophical".<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Epstein|first=Dan|date=1 March 2018|title=Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side of the Moon': 10 Things You Didn't Know|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/feature/pink-floyds-dark-side-of-the-moon-10-things-you-didnt-know-201743/|access-date=6 October 2021|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|archive-date=6 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211006181328/https://www.rollingstone.com/feature/pink-floyds-dark-side-of-the-moon-10-things-you-didnt-know-201743/|url-status=live}}</ref> He became a dominant songwriter and the band's principal lyricist, sharing lead vocals with Gilmour and sometimes Wright. Throughout the late 1970s, he was the band's dominant creative figure until his departure in 1985.{{sfn|Mason|2005|pp= 106–107, 160–161, 265, 278}} He wrote most of the lyrics to the five Pink Floyd albums preceding his departure, starting with ''[[The Dark Side of the Moon]]'' (1973) and ending with ''[[The Final Cut (album)|The Final Cut]]'' (1983), while exerting progressively more creative control. Every Waters studio album from ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' onwards has been a [[concept album]].{{sfn|Blake|2008|pp= 3, 9, 113, 156, 242, 279, 320, 398}}

With lyrics entirely by Waters, ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' is one of the most successful rock albums ever. It spent 736 consecutive weeks on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]] chart—until July 1988—and sold over 40 million copies worldwide. As of 2005, it continued to sell over 8,000 copies a week.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/58524/floyds-dark-side-celebrates-chart-milestone|title=Floyd's ''Dark Side'' Celebrates Chart Milestone|last1=Titus|first1=Christa|last2=Waddell|first2=Ray|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|year=2005|access-date=24 October 2011|archive-date=30 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130330033818/http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/58524/floyds-dark-side-celebrates-chart-milestone|url-status=live}}</ref> According to the Pink Floyd biographer Glenn Povey, ''Dark Side of the Moon'' is the world's second-bestselling album and the United States' 21st-bestselling album.{{sfn|Povey|2008|p=345}} In 2006, asked if he felt his goals for ''Dark Side'' had been accomplished, Waters said his wife wept the first time he played it for her: "You then hear it with fresh ears when you play it for somebody else. And at that point I thought to myself, 'Wow, this is a pretty complete piece of work,' and I had every confidence that people would respond to it.<ref>{{cite web |title=Roger Waters Revisits The 'Dark Side' |url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/58519/roger-waters-revisits-the-dark-side |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190614130915/https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/58519/roger-waters-revisits-the-dark-side |archive-date=14 June 2019 |access-date=28 April 2019 |website=Billboard.com}}</ref>

Waters's thematic ideas became the impetus for the concept albums ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' (1973), ''[[Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd album)|Wish You Were Here]]'' (1975), ''[[Animals (Pink Floyd album)|Animals]]'' (1977) and ''[[The Wall]]'' (1979) — written largely by Waters — and ''The Final Cut'' (1983), written entirely by him.{{sfn|Mason|2005|pp= 265–269}} The cost of war and the loss of his father became a recurring theme, from "[[Corporal Clegg]]" (''[[A Saucerful of Secrets]]'', 1968) and "[[Free Four]]" (''[[Obscured by Clouds]]'', 1972) to "[[Us and Them (song)|Us and Them]]" from ''The Dark Side of the Moon'', "[[When the Tigers Broke Free]]", first used in the feature film ''[[Pink Floyd – The Wall|The Wall]]'' (1982), later included with "[[The Fletcher Memorial Home]]" on ''The Final Cut'', an album dedicated to his father.{{sfn|Blake|2008|p=294}} The theme and composition of ''The Wall'' was influenced by his upbringing in an English society depleted of men after World War II.{{sfn|Blake|2008|pp= 294–295, 351}}

''The Wall'', written almost entirely by Waters, is largely based on his life story.{{sfn|Blake|2008|p= 260}} Having sold over 23&nbsp;million [[RIAA certification|RIAA certified units]] in the US as of 2013, is tied for sixth-most certified album of all time in America.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=awards_by_album#search_section |publisher=Recording Industry Association of America |title=RIAA GOLD & PLATINUM Top Albums |access-date=24 February 2021 |archive-date=25 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130225031458/http://riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS#search_section |url-status=live }}</ref> Pink Floyd hired [[Bob Ezrin]] to co-produce the album and cartoonist [[Gerald Scarfe]] to illustrate the sleeve art.{{sfn|Blake|2008|pp=260–261}} They embarked on [[The Wall Tour (1980–81)|The Wall Tour]] of Los Angeles, New York, London, and [[Dortmund]], Germany. The last Pink Floyd performance of ''The Wall'' was on 17 June 1981, at Earls Court London, and this was Pink Floyd's last appearance with Waters until the band's brief reunion at 2 July 2005 [[Live 8 concert, London|Live 8 concert]] in London's [[Hyde Park, London|Hyde Park]], 24 years later.{{sfn|Povey|Russell|1997|p= 185}}

In March 1983, the last Pink Floyd album with Waters, ''The Final Cut'', was released. It was subtitled, "A requiem for the post-war dream by Roger Waters, performed by Pink Floyd".{{sfn|Povey|2008|p=230}} Waters wrote all the album's lyrics and music. His lyrics were critical of the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] government of the day and mention Prime Minister [[Margaret Thatcher]] by name.{{sfn|Blake|2008|pp= 294–299}} At the time Gilmour did not have any new material, so he asked Waters to delay the recording until he could write some songs, but Waters refused.{{sfn|Blake|2008|p= 295}} According to Mason, after power struggles within the band and creative arguments about the album, Gilmour's name "disappeared" from the production credits, though he retained his pay.{{sfn|Mason|2005|pp= 264–270}} ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' gave the album five stars, with [[Kurt Loder]] describing it as "a superlative achievement" and "art rock's crowning masterpiece".<ref>{{harvnb|Blake|2008|p=300}}: "art rock's crowning masterpiece"; {{harvnb|Schaffner|1991|p=262}}: "a superlative achievement".</ref> Loder viewed the work as "essentially a Roger Waters solo album".<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Loder|first=Kurt|author-link=Kurt Loder|title=Pink Floyd: ''The Final Cut'' (Toshiba)|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/the-final-cut-19830414|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=14 April 1983|access-date=6 May 2012|archive-date=22 June 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080622041133/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/pinkfloyd/albums/album/107472/review/5943392/the_final_cut|url-status=live}}</ref>