THE WALL

Here it is, the greatest of the greatest rock operas; and certainly a very progressive album that captures all of what Pink Floyd did best with a healthy dose of good, hard rock thrown in. This is the album that started me on my Pink Floyd and progressive music path.

The album starts on a incredible note. "In The Flesh" is a fantastic opener with an awesome ascending riff that has been copied time and time again since. It is followed by the awesomely atmospheric "The Thin Ice" and "Another Brick In The Wall (Part 1)", which is easily the coolest of the Another Brick trilogy on the first disc.

Next is the big radio hit, the oftened combined "The Happiest Days Of Our Lives"/"Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2)". Great chorus and guitar work highlight this section of the album that has only one downfall; you've probably heard it a million times. Still great stuff, nonetheless.

"Mother" is next, and it's a very nice acoustic Waters song that reminds you of all the ones he's done in the past.

The other huge highlight of the first disc are the next two songs, "Goodbye Blue Sky" and "Empty Spaces". These are the Floyd at their atmospheric best.

The second half of the first disc is the least interesting to me. "Young Lust" is a hard rocker in the arena rock style, something the Floyd aren't that great at. The final four songs of the first disc focus a good deal on story-telling and not as much on the music. However, they give you a chance to brace for the awesome-ness that is...

...Disc Two of The Wall; and it's f*ing brilliant.

"Hey You" is the opening song of Disc Two as we find Pink waking up from his sleep, inside The Wall for the first time. It's an awesome atmospheric rocker that shows Floyd at their best,

"Is There Anybody Out There?" comes next, and it's downright creepy, depressing, and desolate. Classic Floyd sound effects and tricks and a beautiful acoustic riff highlight this one.

The next three songs go back into mostly story-telling mode, with "Nobody Home", "Vera", and "Bring The Boys Back Home", but are much, much more memorable than the story-centric pieces on disc one. They serve as a buildup to a Floyd classic.

"Comfortably Numb" deserves every bit of praise it gets. It's a moving, resonant, gut- wrenching song that manages to be supremely beautiful and epic at the same time. Definitely one of the best things Floyd ever did, if not the best.

After "The Show Must Go On", which gives you a moment to recover from the brilliant "Comfortably Numb", we get an awesome reprise of "In the Flesh", which introduces us to the final chapter of The Wall.

"Run Like Hell" is another in the arena-rocker style, but succeeds where "Young Lust" fails, by incorporating the Floyd atmosphere.

"Waiting For The Worms" is the buildup to the finale and is sure to get your blood pumping. Best described as an ominous anthem, as we see Pink finally losing it.

"Stop" is a quick 30 second intro to...

"The Trial", the most unique song Floyd ever came up with. A true operatic finale. Go listen to it for yourself, it's truly timeless.

As The Wall comes tumbling down, "Outside The Wall" closes out this masterpiece.

Don't miss out on this one.

*****, emphatically.