AMUSED TO DEATH

First of all i must say this was my fav Roger solo album for a long time. Still, it is very far away from being a masterpiece, it is a nice work, and if i was making this review some months ago i'd clearly give this album 4 stars. Now though i think this deserves 3, mainly coz it could have been much better and it has some really weak and annoying parts. Despite the horrid boringness of some songs (Watching TV and Too Much Rope anyone?), it has some great moments. It starts with a really trippy instrumental, this song is surprisingly probably my second favorite one from the album. When i listen to it i feel like i am in an astral voyage, the guitar work here is excellent, definitely a great opener (much more superior than Cluster One, from P.F.'s The Division Bell, though i love it as well). Then, it leads to another great rocking and cacthy track, the first one of the 'What God Wants' trio. I was pretty shocked with the lyrics when i first read them at the album's booklet, but then i was informed that it is actually talking about what human beings do and put the 'fault' on God for their actions. This only shows how amazing and creative Roger's mind is. After this great moment, we have other 2 amazing tracks: Perfect Sense pts 1 and 2. Now, PP Arnold HAS the voice! Her vocals kill Roger's pretty weak ones (he seems to be having an orgasm at the first lines of pt2, but let's just forget it...) - signs of Roger's ageing, we'll never hear vocal works like the Sheep ones again = (. But even though his voice got weaker, his lyrics remain amazing through the entire album. After pt2, we have the horrid Bravery of Being Out of Range. The instrumental is vey annoying, i just can't stand this kind of music. Fortunately, it ends to give space to the decent Late Home Tonight pt 1. It is a good track, though its sister is very weaker and everytime i listen to Rog saying "Hey boy, you're a hero, take this cigaaar" i feel like scratching my stomach to see if i can get a pain worse than the one my ears get when i listen to that line. Too Much Rope is a boring song, that i usually skip, fortunately What God Wants II comes and starts in a awesome way, with those very catchy lines along with the backing vocals saying the chorus, which will lead to more nice lyrics by Roger. Part 3 is very different from its two sisters, and it is very good, the best of the 3 parts, it has a Gilmour esque guitar solo that really brings back some wonderful Floyd moments. Roger's vocals weirdly get decent here, compared to some of the other tracks. I guess this is my fav track from ATD. Too bad that after the best comes the worse...Watching TV is: annoying, boring, weak, mediocre and it has those horrid lines saying "we were watching tv, we were watching tv" #$$%@!!!! Surprisingly this can be worse than the ''hey boy, take this cigar" part. To save the album, Three Wishes arrives. It is a very good song and very creative as well. Has some great moments, and it is one of the outstanding ones from the album. It's A Miracle is another strong momment. That keyboard intro is very moving, and i get touched everytime i listen to it. Plus, that guitar solo at that cosmic ending is so awesome that i dont get why so people consider this song 'boring' (though i respect their opinion, everyone is entitled to them). The last song is a bit weak, and i think it is an unnecessary one. I think that It's A Miracle would be the PERFECT closer, mainly due to the short though touching guitar solo.

It has some amazing moments and very weak ones, therefore this album is a great Roger's try, and worthy having, though it is not even close to be a masterpiece as i considered it some time ago.