THE FINAL CUT

"The Final Cut" is the twelfth studio album of Pink Floyd and was released in 1983. It was originally planned to be as a soundtrack album for the band's 1982 Pink Floyd's film, "The Wall". However, with the onset of the Falklands' war, Roger Waters changed it to be a general critique of war and a direct critique to the Falklands' war, a military action unnecessary to him. So, "The Final Cut" is an anti-war conceptual album, whose lyrics regards as the betrayal of the people, like his father, who during World War II sacrificed their lives in the spirit of a post-war dream. This post-war dream was the hope of a better world. That victory should have brought a more peaceful world, where whose political leaders would no longer resolve their disputes resorting to the war. The album is dedicated to the memory of his father.

"The Final Cut" is their last album to include Roger Waters. David Gilmour and Nick Mason maintained the legal rights for using the Pink Floyd's name. Richard Wright had already left the band after the release of "The Wall". So, the line up on the album is David Gilmour (vocals and guitar), Roger Waters (vocals, bass guitar, acoustic guitar, synthesiser and sound effects) and Nick Mason (drums, percussion and sound effects). The album has also some additional musicians: Andy Bown (Hammond organ), Ray Cooper (percussion), Michael Kamen (piano and harmonium), Andy Newmark (drums) and Raphael Ravenscroft (saxophone). It has also the participation of the National Philharmonic Orchestra.

"The Final Cut" has twelve tracks. The first track "The Post War Dream" serves as an introduction to both the concept and the music. It's a short opening but represents a good indicator of what will be the general mood of the album. The second track "Your Possible Pasts" has a good use of the extreme dynamics technique. It's very powerful yet not stereotypical in any way, but is perhaps a bit too much minimalist on the instrumental parts. The lyrics are good as usual. The third track "One Of The Few" is another tiny song, with a good melody. I like that concept of reusing the melody. It gives the album more of a conceptual feel, something that the album can't get enough of, I think. The fourth track "The Hero's Return" has a good melody and the same goes for the vocals and lyrics. The sound is very much in the same vein of the rest of the album. It leads perfectly into the next track, one of the stand- out tracks on the album. The fifth track "The Gunners Dream" is an emotional well written anti-war song. It's another good track which carries on the sad feeling of the album. It has nice piano playing and a very good guitar solo. This is Waters again at his best lyrically. The sixth track "Paranoid Eyes" is also a good song. It has a nice piano on it and is very smooth and quiet. It's sad, but beautiful. It's a slow and brooding song that shows the disillusionment that a veteran has in the world after the war. The seventh track "Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert" is a very short song, a kind of a sort of a break that starts with an explosion. It's a quite strange song that is an interlude. It's not bad, but could have been left of the album. The eighth track "The Fletcher Memorial Home" is one of the strongest political songs on the album with some amazing lyrics. It has a great orchestral section and some nice time signatures and chords. It has a great Gilmourish guitar solo too. The ninth track "Southampton Dock" is a song very short, almost half of it is more of a passage into the title track. It's a nice song, again back to the emotional lyrics and that is only played out just by the acoustic guitar and Roger's vocals. The tenth track "The Final Cut" is the title track. It's one of the highlights on the album. It has great lyrics, as usual, related to the previous album. The song starts out quiet, but reaches several climaxes. It has also a great guitar solo too. The eleventh track "Not Now John" is a great rock song. It has a different style, a definite departure from the rest of the album. It's the heaviest song that doesn't fits in with the other songs. It represents the only contribution of Gilmour on the vocals. The twelfth track "Two Suns In The Sunset" is a pleasant piece with a great sax solo, a great memorable riff and some great lyrics. It's mostly a quiet song mainly played on acoustic guitar. It closes the album well.

Conclusion: "The Wall" was personal Roger Waters' bet, and is largely based on Roger's life. "The Final Cut" is also a personal Roger's bet. It's a kind of "The Wall" part two, but it hasn't the creativity and quality enough to be considered equal to "The Wall". Still, it has enough cohesion, consistency and balance, to be considered a good album. I think "The Final Cut" is different due to several things. Richard Wright was no more in the band because was fired by Waters after the recordings of "The Wall". David Gilmour and Nick Mason only participated on the album very few. They were practically two more other guest musicians, especially Nick Mason that no longer drumming on all the tracks of the album. On "The Wall" four songs weren't composed by Roger Waters. On "The Final Cut" all compositions belong only to Waters. The release was exclusively decided by Waters and its concept was also a Roger's project. Thus, "The Final Cut" is more a solo project of Waters. So, "The Final Cut" should never have been realized as a Pink Floyd's album. If it was released as Waters' album, it would be probably considered his best solo musical work. So, 3 stars to this album.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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