THE FINAL CUT

Musically, The Final Cut was not one of my favourite Pink Floyd albums, and apparently David Gilmour is of the same opinion (see The Complete Guide to the Music of Pink Floyd, by Andy Mabbett). The only cuts Gilmour likes are the ones where he gets to play some guitar, or where Raphael Ravenscroft plays some sax. Gilmour was always more about the music than the lyrics, though progressive themes do appear in post Roger Waters Pink Floyd lyrics. Also, the absence of Rick Wright's keyboards is obvious on The Final Cut. There is some debate about whether The Final Cut should have been released as a Pink Floyd album or as a Roger Water's solo album. Waters was always the better lyricist in Pink Floyd (post Syd Barrett), and the lyrics on The Final Cut are commendable for their criticisms of war and corporate greed. Coming out of the activist decade of the 1960s, prog rock generally combined progressive music and progressive lyrics, with some exceptions like Rush's Ayn Rand-style conservatism in Neil Peart's lyrics. The search for utopia (or rather, eutopia: Greek for 'a good place') helps explain the fantasy themes in a lot of prog rock, which has also produced fantastic cover art. The 2004 20th anniversary remaster of The Final Cut is a much better listen than the original because of the improved sonic clarity. And the rightful inclusion of When the Tigers Broke Free after 20 years added a bit of a pick-up to the first part of the album. IMO, for the best listen to Roger Water's music, outside Pink Floyd proper, fans should go to his double live album In The Flesh.