THE FINAL CUT

The Final Cut would be a masterpiece, I believe, if Waters had been open to some collaborative work. 3.5 is my real rating.

It sounds like the divide here between the one and two star reviews and the four and five star reviews is not unlike the divide in the band. I don't see it as Gilmour vs. Waters as much as Psychedelic vs. Rock-operatic.

Personally, I have always liked Floyd more for their emotional content than their trip value, and I think that Waters is a virtuoso at lyricism. I think he writes some great music as well.

However, in the past this was his contribution, and there were other contributions from the other members of the band. Gilmour's probing, beautiful guitar work on The Wall and Dark Side of the Moon are ample evidence of his talent, and here he is confined to fleeting passages and stifled solos. I also think that Gilmour's voice is great, and while Waters's voice doesn't rub me the wrong way as much as it does for some people, I think Gilmour could've given a lot of life and diversity to an album that sometimes runs together and is sometimes tiresome.

That is my complaint, and it is possible that it's due to the Waters ego. However, that ego is not entirely unjustified. As I've said, the lyrics are consistently advanced and fitting, and the orchestration on some tracks is wonderful. The Final Cut title track (my favorite track) sounds to me like a continuation of Comfortably Numb, inferior only due to the less- focused guitar work and lack of Gilmour's sweeping, etheral vocals. The Gunner's Dream is beautiful (I enjoy the sax solo immensely, I wish the instrument was included more on the CD). At one point on this track, as well, Waters's scream transitions into a sax note, and the effect is wonderful.

I feel like this is Waters at the top of his game. However, no one else is helping, and I think if he let the other members of the band loose a little on this one (as he did with The Wall, even though it was largely his album), this could be one of the more-respected Floyd albums on their more orchestral repetoire.