Comfortably numb is a song from Pink Floyd's eleventh album The Wall, released in 1979. The album itself is a rock opera about a rock star named Pink who isolates himself from society. In Comfortably Numb, Pink is given medication by a doctor. The music was composed by guitarist David Gilmour, and bassist Roger Walter wrote the lyrics.
The song is considered a classic, and Gilmour’s two guitar solos have been voted the best, or among the best guitar solos of all time. The song was covered by the Scissor Sisters in 2004, and while being a very different take on the original version, was well received by critics, including Gilmour and Waters themselves.
Another version of the song that has received a lot of praise and acclaim, including from loyal Pink Floyd fans, is by Andrey Korolev, a solo guitarist from Russia, who's incredible talent has attracted almost four million views since it was uploaded in August 2016. He is flawless in his delivery of the five-minute-long guitar solo, and fans agree.
Karl, a 56-year-Old lifelong Floyd fan from London, commented that Korolev's version was the best cover he had heard, out of “countless versions” that he had listened to. Another commenter almost had doubts that Korolev’s version was even real, as “every single note was perfect”. Society of Rock said that Andrey’s version would make Gilmour proud, admiring the feeling in Korolev’s performance.
Andrey Korolev has also released music on Spotify. His album, Under the Same Sun, was released online in November 2015. As well as being an extremely talented solo guitarist, Korolev is also a composer. He releases sheet music for his compositions, including a transcription of Bach’s Allemande BMW 815 for classical guitar. A video of him playing this version of the song is featured on his YouTube channel, which has almost 50,000 subscribers.
His YouTube channel also features other legendary guitar solo covers, including Is This Love by Whitesnake, Metallica's The Four Horsemen and Led Zeppelin’s Stairway To Heaven, which, like Comfortably Numb, has received acclaim from long-time fans of the original version. Subscribers to his Patreon can also access guitar lessons from Andre himself.
If you would like to see more from this talented guitarist from Russia, you can subscribe to his YouTube channel or follow him on Facebook page.