THE FINAL CUT

Probably Waters finest hour as a solo artist. Even if the album was released under the Pink Floyd banner, the other members had little or no imput at all concerning the making of this work. It also sounds a lot like a continuation of The Wall, but again that LP - even if it was basicly another Waters concept - did sound a lot like a Pink Floyd record, thanks mainly to a bigger presence of Gilmour and Wright. Wright´s contribution to the trademark PF sound has been long underrated, and yet he was responsible for much of what we came to know and love as the music of this legendary band. But he was sacked from the band since the completition of the previous disc, so it was all down to a trio. Pehaps even less than that. Both Gilmour and Mason are underused here (the latter a lot more than the former, though).

This is not to say that The Final Cut is a bad record. It is not. In fact, as I mentioned before, it may be Waters grand work after The Wall. Not an easy listening album, it still struck chord within the public at the time. In fact, it so attuned with the period (Reagan and Thatcher´s politics, the cold war, the Falklands, etc) I think it difficult for anyone who hasn´t lived through it to fully understand the concept. And as the times changed, it was also quickly forgotten. But not before it topped the charts and got some raving reviews (Rolling Stone calling it a masterpiece when it came out). But again this is a totally uncharacteristic album: there are very few moments when it reminds of the band that made such colaborative works like The Dark Side Of The Moon or Wish You Were Here. In fact, only Not Now John - the only track sung by Gilmour - can be said had enough familiar elements to make it recognizable as a Floyd´s tune to anyone but the hardcore fan.

If you liked The Wall, then chances are that you might enjoy this album very much (although the word enjoy may not be fitting for such bitter and angry work). Michael Kamen´s arrangements did improve the songs a lot and - along with the occasional Gilmour excellent, blistering guitar solo - does make the music quite worthwhile (something Waters often lacked on the following solo output). I liked, even if it took me several spins to fully understand and appreciate the music. Highlights are Your Possible Past, the title track and the aforementioned Not Now John.

Rating: 3,5 stars.