The 1978 Solo Albums That Exposed Pink Floyd’s Fractures (And Led to Wright’s Firing)

The timeline gets blurry here, but the core question is right: in 1978, David Gilmour released his self-titled debut and Rick Wright put out Wet Dream. Roger Waters was already sketching what would become The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking (though it wouldn’t drop until 1984). These three records didn’t just happen in parallel—they revealed how far apart the band’s musical instincts had drifted.

Gilmour’s David Gilmour is relaxed, bluesy, almost breezy—a clear extension of his Pink Floyd voice but with none of Waters’ lyrical weight. Wright’s Wet Dream is lush, jazzy, and passive; it floats on atmosphere without any political edge. Waters’ *