RADIO K.A.O.S.

The second solo studio album of Roger Waters was released in 1987 and unlike its predecessor from a few years earlier, the concept record 'Radio K.A.O.S.' aims to be an inherently "modern" work that echoes the stylistic and production values of the late 80s, with its blatant use of programmed drums, mechanical feel and a slight preference for the saxophone over the guitar. Stylistically this is an art rock release that utilizes a lot of electronic sounds, together with various studio effects, tapes and the like - all intertwined into Waters' hefty concept, which is neither as captivating as some of his previous concept records, nor it is as explicit as you might expect it to be. Still, the conceptual side brings a more interesting edge to the album, which comments extensively on monetarism as well as popular culture and politics, and utilizes the morse code both sonically and visually, through the album art.

As a Roger Waters album, 'Radio K.A.O.S.' tends to be a bit too predictable and musically austere, which makes the comparisons to 'Pros and Cons' and 'The Final Cut' difficult, given that all three of the aforementioned records are flawed in one way or another. Occasionally, the conceptual edge overshadows the musical inspiration here, which results in some incredibly dull and uninspired tracks, which are further butchered by the frantic desire to "dress" the music in the typical production qualities of the late 80s (think of the opening track 'Radio Waves', or 'Four Minutes', which are just bland). However, this album does work rather well as a continuous listening experience, and most of the songs on here make more sense in the context of the record itself, with some mostly very good entries being 'Who Needs Information', 'The Powers That Be' (Waters is indeed a fine songwriter here), and 'Home'. Yet overall, 'Radio K.A.O.S.' is a generally inconsistent and a stylistically unrewarding effort, even if it offers several interesting musical ideas and somewhat of a unique concept, it seems to be all about that Roger experience!

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