How Gilmour's 'About Face' and Waters' 'Pros and Cons' Tour Foretold the Pink Floyd Split

By 1984, David Gilmour and Roger Waters were already making solo moves that drew battle lines. Gilmour’s album About Face (March 1984) was a polished, melodic rock record co-produced by Bob Ezrin, featuring guest spots from Pete Townshend and Steve Winwood. It sold respectably but lacked the conceptual ambition Waters was chasing. Waters dropped The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking a month later—a dense, stream-of-consciousness song cycle about a man’s midlife crisis, complete with dream sequences and a controversial cover (a topless hitchhiker). Both albums mirrored their creators: Gilmour