THE WALL

"The Wall" marked the end of the art rock PF period throughout the 70s. It is unbelievable how many ideas have been placed on these 2LPs ... but to me it is also the disadvantage of this record. The story is dark and so are many of the songs, or should I say fragments? Best songs here: "Comfortably Numb" (What a great shot !!!) and "Another Brick In The Wall, Pt. 2".

Breathtaking effort. Dark, cynical, painful and complainant ...but a brilliant album. You can say everything about The Wall, analize and criticize but is a monster. A well crafted monster by Pink Floyd. AND I LOVE IT

Dark it may be, but The Wall is deservedly considered an album equally great in its own way to Dark Side, and among the most phenomenal albums every conceived and recorded. (It is also eerie - if not downright prescient - that the album was released just as the Berlin Wall fell (11/9/79), which means that its conception and recording were completed BEFORE that.) With another trademark PF theme (uncatharted anger over the circumstances of one's birth, upbringing and education) - and with one of the most complex, state-of-the-art productions in rock history - The Wall was an instant masterpiece, and remains so. Nitpick if you will. But the overall effect of this album is so powerful that it is almost too difficult to get through: like cramming a year of therapy into 80 minutes.

Alright so sue me. I used to LOVE this album, but over the years I have found it bleak and depressing. When I feel I want to slice my wrists, I put on side 3.

Artisiclly, its incredible. The production is impeccible. The concept is unique. Sadly, I truly find myself unable to listen to all of it at once anymore.

I actually find myself apologizing to my old self .....lol.....

Overall, give it a go. Just don't do it while suicidal.

it's not just "dark" as people usually call it, it's realistic... the way the world works, society, humankind... all of this is "dark" itself, and we fight everyday, to avoid building walls ourselves, or just to break the ones we've already built, and that's really hard because it seems like the world wants to help us build them... and besides the excellent work about the mood and content of the album, there is a master work with music itself, the album just existing as an entire album and not a group of songs, i would never tell about good or bad songs, i just listen it complete...

there is no contest.this is the ultimate floyd album ever and one i find listning to well over a decade now.there are always one or two songs you always skip on a album but not here.i personally think,the final cut is a close second.the wall should of been the most sold album of floyd ever.my biggest regret is not seeing floyd live,especially the wall.no cd collection should be without this double cd masterpiece

Can't quibble with any of the views expressed here re the quality and impact of this record - I've been listening to it for more than 20 years and still love it - but Maani (post 06/01/04) needs to get his/her social history straight. The Wall was indeed released in 1979, but the Berlin Wall came down a full decade later, in November 1989. So attributing some kind of prescience to Waters, Gilmour et al may be stretching things just a bit...

Fifty words to describe this when all of my dear colleagues did such a fine job? Well, let me explain why this does not get the maximum rating, then. Actually, it gets 4.5 stars but there are moments I avoid on side 3 (from Is there Anybody out there? to Vera Lynn to Comfortably Numb included - I overdosed on the last number).

I never bought the CD to replace my vinyl since I rarely have the urge to listen to this anymore (I know every note by heart) and got the live version recently released (Is There Anybody Out There?) instead which I think is superior. I also saw the film about twenty times, and always wondered why the first number (depicting the death of Pink's father in WWII) never appeared anywhere in the studio and live recordings.

So the debate is: which of the three versions should you not get: The Movie, the live version or the original studio one? They've all got little plusses and a few minuses. The movie has the images that help you grasp the story best and has the Corporal Fletcher Memorial track but is with Geldof singing some tunes and lacks the superb Hey You! (it is in the bonus features, though) . The studio version lacks the Fletcher track and the images but has the tracks as originally sung. The live album is tremendous and a good rendition of the concerts and has an extra track on it and has the false PF band playing. I got all three but will never have the studio version in digital form.

As for that Immersion boxset of 2011 The boxset of this huge concept album is probably more interesting than the WYWH one, not only because there are more discs, but it's more complete. Aside the multi-speaker versions of the original albums, we're finding the Is There Anybody There live album (released 10 years ago or so), the usual DVD video stuff, including three documentary interviews (one concentrating about the movie) plus concert animation visuals and a video-clip Another Brick of yesteryear. You might be pleased with the illustrated concert picture book, and the other one concentrating on the album (lyrics, gatefold and piccies of the project and memorabilia), but the huge foldable "poster" with the lyrics is absolutely useless. If you already own the studio and live versions, the more interesting discs are the work-in-progress tracks, where some of these tracks are in a very different state than the final version. Very interesting to hear once or twice, but your mileage will vary on these, but most likely it won't get regular spins. The only thing positive about the oversized width of these Immersion boxes is that you'll find space for the Parker movie DVD package, which is sadly missing here. Hardly essential, unless you have nothing about this huge and bombastic concept album.

Simply, the most intellegent, most emotionally poweful, best-conceived and executed Rock album ever. Indeed, this is not merely a brialliant rock album, not even a magnum opus, but an artistic and intellectual acheivement on the same level as Tolstoy's War and Peace, Ingmar Bergan's 'Seventh Seal', and Beethoven's 9th Symphony. Roger Waters has here provided, in a rock-opera format, a contemporary companion to Marx's 'Capital' for understanding our selves and our collective past.

another concept (this time including 2 disks) is actually Roger Waters solo album. Another great album in Floyd's collection. We have here rather short tracks, blast of emotions. Roger's voice is very intimate and the music is warm. I love this.

Nothing to do with the Pink Floyd I loved: no trippy instrumental parts, songs instead of suites, no musical innovations, a record too long for such a limited singer like Roger. Dave's guitar playing lacks personality, it is full of commonplaces, sounds like any other good player. This bunch of songs ( some quite good, naturally ) don't sound progressive at all to me ( to hear a helicopter linking two songs is not my idea of prog ). And about the lyrics, well, I don't think that's the reason why anybody would listen to prog-rock. When it came out, it was the only PF record I didn't enjoy. A huge disapointment. Even if I was a big fan.

It's hard to find words to describe such a masterpiece. How do they manage to express all that anger, frustration, pain... in such a powerful, beautiful, dramatic way? One of the best records I've heard in all my life. And nobody mentions the film here? I think the film is brilliant too.

Often after I listen to music I realize that the website is missing many great albums and this was the case with "The Wall". Sometimes the most obvious is not so obvious until you sit back and look at it... "The Wall" was in my opinion the crowning moment for PINK FLOYD. Requiring 2 albums to fully explore, Waters, Gilmour, Wright and Mason take us into the dark world of a warped out rock star who builds walls to survive in his world. "The Wall" is a remarkable concept album which has become one of the all time most popular double album sets. Songs and themes vary from the "nightmare'ish" court room scene to the dark and repressive schoolroom where teachers engage in physical measures to teach their students. If you have not heard "Another Brick In The Wall" or "Run Like Hell" then I would say you need to buy this album right away. Clearly a masterpiece all the way through.

Their most famous concept album, the output of such "Roger WATER's alienation": well actually this album is prolix and in my opinion is not in compliance with a true "team work". That is it seems the output of the music efforts by WATERS alone, despite of recognizing some great moments of their typical "FLOYDian trademark", which can not be emulated!!

The Wall is the best of the Pink Floyd albums! The Wall is a double album really well made: Roger Waters is the genius behind that! He is able to put orchestral arrangements in his stuff to produce an outstanding serious rock chef d'oeuvre. Waters doesn't care about the technical performance of rapid and complex progressive moods. He produces a really accessible and addictive record.

He rather does in the smooth, relax, moving, serious arrangements for a classical rock theme, which, in fact, is very pleasant to hear because it is professionally made. David Gilmour plays pleasant and emotional solos, and he has a solid sense of catchy acoustic and electric rhythmic guitars arrangements here. Wright's keyboards are more merged with the overall music, and they often consist in delicate piano, ambient organ parts and mellow effects: with the omnipresent orchestral arrangements, the keyboards occupy a less substantial part in the music, or at least they are more discreet. Subtle & special sounds, like explosions, conversations, phone tonalities, fanatic crowds, closing doors , birds sound emulation, TV movie sounds, passing cars, playing children, helicopter, steps, among others, are present more than ever.

The Wall is not a complex music; the album must be seen as a whole, because it has a real story to transmit. It sometimes happens that music has not to be complex to be excellent; simple music can be good or very good, but you have to be a genius like Waters to create EXCELLENT simple music!!

Roger Waters is a genius in a certain way, and he still proves it with his outstanding solo album "Amused to death", which may be considered as "The Wall part 2".

EXTREMELY RECOMMENDED!

If you havn't heard this album... Your ears havn't lived. Do yourself a favour and get this album today, better yet get it right now. This two disc 80+ Minute voyage through the life of a rockstar of the brink of insanity is a very fine piece of music. With great effects that help bring you into the insanity, the smashing TVs... The German Bomber sounds... The random babble on the TVs...

Two Words - Totally Amazing. Do yourself a favour and get this album if you don't have it.

Built on shifting sand

A disappointing, overlong Waters led monster, or the band's finest hour? Pink Floyd fans themselves are very much divided on it, with many considering it a masterpiece, while others rue the final demise of the Syd Barrett influences.

For me it's the disappointing etc. option. "The Wall" does indeed have some fine moments, but it's ironic that the best is Dave Gilmour's contribution to "Comfortably numb". Waters is far too dominant on the album, which not only makes it somewhat mundane and dull, but also results in a collection which might have made for a far better single LP.

Part of the problem is that Waters has something "important" to say. As a result, at times he relegates the music to second place, some distance behind the need to voice his opinions and personal grievances. There are some rare moments of lighter relief; the surprise hit single "Another Brick in the wall part 2" for example.

The album lacks any sense of excitement. It is single paced, with far too many lyrics, and far too few instrumental passages. The story is too obscure to make any real sense, and tends to drift along without any real focus. There are enjoyable passages, but they are few and far between.

When compared to the band's finest hours, "The Wall" is found to be very poorly built.

Ironically, the live album "Is there anybody out there" captures the essence of "The wall" far better than the studio rendition, and is thus the one to go for.

Soory, this is the most overrated album of all history, is a good one, and has a lot of catchy songs, but is not a team work effort, is the vision of the great mind of Roger Waters, with a very slight collaboration from David Gilmour, that's all. This is the most "rock- pop" record of floyd in terms of popularity, perhaps, only TDSOTM is more famous and, have to say, more complex and better than this one. However, is a good record that must be attached or featured along with the movie, which is EXCELLENT. For any Pink Floyd this is a must, and for everyone else is a fair record to be bought

I hate to think that I would have liked this album more had I heard it less while I was growing up...unfortunately, in a mass media world, we are constantly bombarded with sensory input and for me in the 80s that included not just this album and the singles (which are STILL overplayed on classic rock stations worldwide) but the film and the images that go along with it. I find it difficult to be objective; it may not be a coincidence that "When the Tigers Broke Free" as well as the extended version of "Empty Spaces" are some of my favorite musical moments and yet they appear only in the film. Seldom are the instrumental talents of the band members put to full use, and improvisation is almost non-existent. For a band whom I loved mainly for the instrumental voyages they took me on, that's a killing blow. On the earlier post-Barrett albums ("Ummagumma" through "Dark Side"), it was very clear that this was a group of guys who enjoyed making weird music, who had fun creating scary and 'trippy' sounds. The transition came around the time of "Wish You Were Here" and "Animals", where that impulse starts to get weeded out in favor of establishing a concept, and as a result we have a darker, less noisy and random, and more obviously alienated mood. It worked very well- "Wish You Were Here" was a melancholy paeon and "Animals" still scares me- but by the time of "The Wall", Water's dedication to portraying alienation had succeeded in distilling out almost everything I liked about the band. It sounds sterile to me, as emotionlessly theatrical as a lackluster high school musical, and devoid of any emotion but dull bitterness for much of the album. How much can someone enjoy listening to a millionaire rock star complain about his life? Even worse, how much can someone enjoy listening to a stilted semi-theatrical production based on those complaints (listen again to "The Trial"...it's the musical equivalent to a bad B-movie that wants to be an art film)? Still, I have to admit there are classic moments on the album which make it worth hearing if you don't have every note burned inescapably into your brain the way I do. I still get the shivers over "Hey You" and "Goodbye Blue Sky"; I adore Gilmour's guitar work on "Comfortably Numb" and "Mother" as well as others. The other members of the band, obviously, should have been allowed to make a bigger contribution, for the actual amout of music on the album is surprisingly limited (there are only two main melodic motifs, reoccurring endlessly throughout these 80 minutes..and beyond, as they return in parts of "The Final Cut" and Waters' solo album "Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking"). I suppose if you are new to Pink Floyd, you HAVE to listen to "The Wall", but please dig deeper and you may find, as I did, that you enjoy almost every other album more...I give it one star for being the last real Waters/Gilmour/Wright/Mason album, one star because I recognize it to be an important "classic" rock album, and one star for having a few still-enjoyable musical moments after all these years.

On the animals tour, an incident occured where Roger spat in a fans face, thus making him feel alienated from the great audience that had built up around the bands astonishing career. This alienation was used to build up the amazing double concept album, The Wall. One of pink floyds more experimental pieces but none-the-less there is top pink floyd quality here across both discs.

The Wall is made up of lots of smaller length tracks than the usual pink floyd albums, no epics, suites or side-length tracks here, but the album plays as one flowing track with no gaps between the songs. There are often revisited guitar riffs in songs like "In the Flesh?", "Hey You" and "The Trial" to give the whole album a sort of claustrophobic feel and to help link the songs together. The story may be hard to follow unless you have seen the film but that doesn't matter because as a piece of music this is a solid piece that flows brilliantly and shows off some of the bands best musical work and lyrics.

Unfortunately this was the last album keyboardist Richard Wright would appear on (until his return in 1987) after being layed off by Roger. This in mind, Richard still plays with all his heart and it is a great note to leave off on. Unfortunately nothing after this album was as good as the 60's and 70's floyd. The Wall is perhaps the final masterpiece and the last time the band would work as a full unit.

This is brilliant stuff. Highlights include "Another Brick in the wall (Part Two)" with its attack on education and use of a school choir and impressive guitar solos, "Hey You" with its impressive dark riffage and flowing vocals, "Comfortably Numb" with its inspiring guitar solo and "The Trial" with its dark humour and voice impressionism by Roger. This album is lyrically flawless and easy to listen to baring in mind the length of the album. The only problem is it can be inconsistant at times with songs like "Stop", "The Show Must Go On" and "Bring The Boys Back Home" which are just annoying fillers. Add this album to your collection.

Man, I keep changing my mind about this album! When I was 14, it was THE BEST THING EVER PERIOD. At 18, it was "not proggy enough." Now, at 22, it's "Really Great!"

I'll level with you - this album holds a special place in my heart. I was obsessed with it for months; I'd never heard anything like it before. It was so "deep," so "intelligent" & cohesive. I STILL think it is all of these things, but I'm pretty biased.

The music here isn't complex or "Progressive." It is more along the lines of classic rock stuff from that era, and sounds a LOT like Alice Cooper's "Billion Dollar Babies" album in terms of "sound" - in fact, it sounds way more like Cooper than Pink Floyd; it's no coincidence that Bob Ezrin produced both albums.

The lyrics are excellent. I can't do them justice; read Bret Urick's complete analysis for a wonderful take on that subject: http://home.mchsi.com/~ttint/

Some highlights for me:

"In the Flesh?" erupts like a phoenix from ashes. It's bloated cheese-metal, for sure, and it wobbles along in a menacing crawl - it's the sound of a man that just doesn't care any more. A brilliant introduction that sends shivers down my spine.

"Goodbye Blue Sky" is beautiful. If I say more I might start sobbing. "Empty Spaces" really gets me as well. "What shall we use to fill the empty space where we used to talk?" --- What indeed?

"Young Lust" has a great riff.

"Don't Leave Me Now" is incredible, and VERY underrated. Ambient & heart-wrenching, especially when the drums swoop in for the final chorus.

"Another Brick in the Wall Part III" is my favorite of the three.

"Hey You" is probably one of the best songs ever written under the Floyd name.

"Is There Anybody Out There?" gives me goosebumps. I love the acoustic guitar threnody that forms its coda - it's some of the loneliest music ever recorded.

"Nobody Home" is another great song that doesn't get enough attention. Sing it at home sometime. You'll end up memorizing the little samples of television dialogue that permeate the background.

"Vera Lynn" is also underrated, but it only makes sense if you understand the context.

"Bring the Boys Back Home" occupies a strange place in my perception. I don't like it - but it does form a nice contrast to the incessant softness of the first half of Disc 2.

Everyone likes "Comfortably Numb." If you don't, get stuffed.

"Waiting for the Worms" just plain sounds awesome. VERY Bob Ezrin, but captures a lyrical nihilism like no other. "Sitting in a bunker..."

"Stop." I sing it when I am alone, curled up in the corner of some bathroom. It resonates beautifully.

Absolutely essential. It doesn't sound like Pink Floyd, but it does sound great.

And the five star ratings keep rolling for probably the best band of all time. Am I delusional? I think not....The Wall comfortably continued where Animals started really and it is a wonderful concept double album piece. There is not a track on it that is poor although I do agree with one of the other reviewers on overdosing on ' Comfortably Numb'. The story is now well documented so I will save on that element just to say that if it took 2 years to release the Wall how the hell does it now take Roger Waters 12 years to release a new studio album? That amazes me...The Wall is mainly Waters doing the composing and lyrics, yes he had more control of the band then. I personally have no problem with that as we needed a dark cynical paranoid character to deliver the feel and vibe of the message that needed to be conveyed. Let's admit it Roger Waters is the master of cynicism and had tons of rage too.Sure he made enemies but what did he deliver in return...wonderful albums. The Wall for me is excellent from beginning to end but I will highlight the following songs only because IMO they do standout above the rest,' Mother', ' Goodbye Blue Sky', ' One of my turns', ' Hey You', ' Vera Lynn' " Nobody Home' and the epic dark' Don't leave me now'.Twenty five years ago this album was released, tempus fugit.

Maybe the messages in the lyrics in this album are very good, but they are difficult to understand without the support of the images as in "The Wall" Movie, which is better than this album alone. This album is depressing, boring. The best songs of this album are "the best" because David Gilmour contributed to the songwriting and also have his very good guitar playing and vocals: "Young Lust", "Comfortably Numb" and "Run Like Hell". "Another Brick in the wall part 2" is good too, but it is because it sounds as the other members of the band played in this song. This was the album which totally finished Pink Floyd as a real band during the Waters`s ego reign (1977-83). Rick Wright`s contributions in previous albums were ignored and he was fired during the recording of this album, only being recruited under salary for "The Wall" live performances (to give the impression that the band was still a quartet). And he was the only one of the "members" who earned money from those performances, because they lost money and as he was paid as a hired hand, he earned money!

An excellent record - even if some critics call it "ragnarok of progressive rock". Nevertheless, this not as easy as "Dark side of the moon"!

This record is an evidence of Roger Waters's genius...but it show its megalomany : He neglect David gilmour's talent - in spite of his EXCELLENT work in "confortably numb" or in "run like hell"... Maybe, it is too autobiographical - we can see the, obsessions, the fantasies of Waters...but also his humanity and his fragility... - but I think this is one of the best "conceptual" record of progressive music - with The "lamb lies lies down on Broadway" (Genesis)...

The best tracks of "The Wall" are : CD one : "Another brick in the wall part 2" ; "Young lust" CD two - the better - : "Hey you" - VERY good - ; "Confortably numb" - I cannot find the words to describe my feelings.. -; "Waiting for the worms" ; "the Trial" - Bob Ezrin's jewel

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

The last masterpiece of Pink Floyd.

Great band, terrible album. I think this gets a lot of hype for being "art" but in reality, it's nothing more than noise. It's like when a great painter randomly throws a bucket of paint on a canvas. Becaues he's a great artists, everybody raves about howe creative the work is. People who don't see that are dismissed as being too narrow-minded. However, in reality, it's nothing more than an artist randomly creating something in his medium. Say principle with this album. It's Waters venting at the world with creative lyrics, but no music, just sound effects. Because he was seen as so great though, this album is considered to be very deep.

It's very deep lyric wise. If you like poetry, get this album, if you want to buy it to complete your Floyd collection, that's fine too. If you just want to hear great FLoyd music, look into AHM, DSOTM, WYWH, or Animals after you've developed a taste for the previous three.

From the opening chords of 'In the Flesh?' this album had me. It comes in where Animals left off and takes you further into Roger Waters subconcious, probably further than most listeners would want to go. It is not easy listening by any means and some tracks have some very subtle, but disturbing undertones. This should not put you off buying it though, it may not be the best Floyd album musically but it really is a masterpiece. Waters lyrics are sublime, Gilmour has some very good moments on the guitar (unfortunatley these are few and far between due to Waters creative-control) but all in all you cannot fault the album. Waters was spot on with everything in the album and some songs that you wont get after a few listens (Bring the Boys Back Home, Vera etc.) will become much more clear when/if you see the film version. For such a dark, cold album the worst feeling you get out of it is dissapointment. Why? Comfortably Numb, possibly the best song on the album was the only song co-written by both Roger and Dave and it gets me down just wondeingr how good this album would've been if they'd worked together like that for all of it.

It's a must have. BUY!

Pink Floyd's the wall could sum it up in one word eligent!! The Wall is the best form are set up of an album i know theres a meaning behind all of there music but it means something to me i can get up and listen to it all day know word for word and just be a true FAN of pink floyd's..NOVEMBER 30th 1979 will always live on the day the best album has every came out know to man....

I consider myself as a big admirer of Pink Floyd and I have to admit that, from my own point of view, The Wall is not one of their best LP. It's overall more based on the lyrics than on the music which seems quite minimalist to me. Ok, there's a lot of "beautiful sadness" in this LP, a lot of pure emotion, that's why I rate it 4 stars. Anyway, I would not be able to rate a Floyd 3. But it's not the Floyd style I do more enjoy.

The first time I listened to this double-album my opinion was very close to 'crap': too many short songs, no long tracks with floods of keyboards, no long soloing and I couldn't understand the whole idea behind this album, far too dark and vague. But after a few sessions (most of my prog rock friends were very enthusiastic about the album and played it on and on) my opinion turned 180 degrees and I became a hugh fan of the album because of the splendid combination of the lyrics, the music and the visuals (from Gerarld Scarfe, sharp as a razor blade). Enjoy the alternating climates, wonderful coloured by the musicians, from the almost tear jerking "Mother" to the aggressive "Young Lust", from the bombastic "Vera" to the moving "Hey You" (one of the best guitar soli in the prog rock history) and from the maniacal "One Of My Turns" to the disco-like "Run Like Hell". For me "The Wall" is a masterpiece that never bores, keep that in mind Mr. Collins!

1979 was not a good year for Progressive Rock, the famous bands were taking the easy road towards a more commercial approach, changing epics and concept albums for songs in short formats, the old but glorious mellotrons and Hammonds were being replaced by simpler and smaller keyboards that tried to simulate with little success the incredible sound of their predecessors. Neo Prog' was trying to keep the interest in Progressive Rock but in a much simpler format, in other words, it was not the time for complex conceptual albums any more.

But against the odds, Roger Waters defied the evolution of rock and released The Wall, an album conceived, and composed by him and for his own glory, it was not a typical Pink Floyd Album but a Roger Waters project with the assistance of Pink Floyd, somehow like The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway with Peter Gabriel, The Wall was Roger Waters son.

But how to rate an album that was without doubts one of the best releases of the year but not so good according to Pink Floyd standards, well it's a hard task.

The music is strong but lacks of the deep atmosphere of Dark Side of the Moon or the nostalgic mood of Wish You Were Here, but it's still Pink Floyd and David Gilmour in songs like Comfortably Numb or Run Like Hell doesn't let us forget that. But I believe the most important legacy of The Wall is not the music alone, but the complex and intelligent concept.

Somehow the story is a combination of Roger Waters political views with his childhood traumas and a bit of Franz Kafka influence, especially from his masterpiece The Trial, but still I can feel some clear references from The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. Honestly I was clueless when I first listened the album, but when I finally caught the thread of the story, I found it very intelligent and interesting.

Won't try to review the album song by song because a conceptual album must be listened as whole entity that is more valuable than the sum of it's parts, and IMO the album as the concept itself are strong, but not enough to reach the level of a masterpiece.

I believe four stars is not the exact rating (3 1/2 would be precise), but the ambition of the project and the effect on the prog' culture deserve some recognition and three stars would not be fair.

Conceptually, perfect. The best idea for an album ever, you can't top this one! The story excellent, the lyrics among Water's very best, man could this be one hell of an album. if only. if only the music was just as strong. Yes, it's a real pity, but it's true. There is just so much potential here. what a shame. Of course things are really not that bad, as a matter of fact the music does go quite well with the concept and the feel. but it's significantly weaker than their previous 4 or so albums. I'm sure Floyd didn't see it as a step back, but forward and I don't think they consider this to be wrong, obviously they must be, or had to be, quite happy with the end result (maybe not. but highly unlikely) and I would never call this one a bad album. But, if only the music had been better jejeje, if only they had followed a similar path than they did with their previous ones, cause this one is really quite outside the box if you look at their back catalog. Is it a transition album then? Probably, because The final cut would follow quite in the same direction as this one, but then again, Water's left the band after that one so. who really knows?

.man, could this have been one hell of an album

I remember my brother always saying that the "Wall" was a masterpiece. I recall him saying it was one of the top three Pink Floyd albums of all time. For a few years i found the album to a little annoying and too complex of an album to understand. But, a few months ago i listened to the album and found a lot of songs to be simply amazing. Comfortably Numb has to be the best song on the entire album. The powerful lyrics are very compelling and the guitar solo by gilmour remains a favorite of mine. Run- Like has an upbeat sound with a good laugh of a crazied man laugh and tire screechs really add to the joy of playing the song. The Trial is a song that main character Pink puts his actions and his behavior to the courts and the ruling was as following- The evidence before the court is incontravertible. There's no need for the jury to retire. In all my years of judging I have never heard before, Of someone more deserving of the full penalty of the law. The way you made them suffer, Your exquisite wife and mother, Fills me with the urge to deficate! No, Judge, the jury! Since, my friend, you have revealed your deepest fear, I sentence you to be exposed before your peers. Tear down the wall!

Young Lust and one of my turns are great songs on disc one, and both play an important message of life's unexpectancy.

The album i think is trying to tell us that Life is a good thing and that people tend to build walls around themselves through all the hardships in life, which can sometimes be very bad. Tearing down the wall and fighting the hardships of life is something I felt the Judge had to rule!

At the end of the Animals tour in 76/77, Pink Floyd was playing it's final concert before a rumbunctious crowd in Montreal. Roger Waters had grown rather tired and pissed off with the fans just at a concert for a drink and a good time. He pined for the old days of Pink FLoyd concerts where one could "here a pin drop." The event that took place in this Montreal stadium is well documented by progrock/fan sites across the web. Roger Waters was playing, and, nearing the end of their show, he spat in the face of a fan in the front row. Already before this, he had been grumbling about a wall being built between him and the audience, and how the post- dark side audiences have all been increasingly building this emotional wall.... From this unfortunate event came the best concept album of prog rock. An astounding masterpiece chocked full of hidden messages, connections between all songs, and some of the deepest lyrics packed into a perfect package. From the opening riff in "In the Flesh," to the haunting masterpiece ending "Outside the Wall," Roger Waters, with help from David Gilmour and Bob Ezrin ("The Trial"). However, some of the best songs, if you can isolate songs from this concept album, are not by David Gilmour, which give a nice popular tone to the album, but some of the overlooked songs. here are just a few: "The Thin Ice," "Mother," the amazing anti-war song "Goodbye Blue Sky," the two songs, "One of my Turns," and "Why are you running Away?" On the second album though, the true beauty of Roger Waters' lyrical and musical power shines through with "Is there anybody out there?" "Nobody Home," "Hey YOu," "Vera Lynn." Finally, this album's finale is the most amazing and climactic ending ever: starting with "The Show must go on," the main character, Pink, has been forced to play, regardless of any ridiculous walls. The result is "In the Flesh?" an offensive song, which must be listened with careful ears, otherwise one would get the wrong opinion, that is that Pink's emotional wall between him and everyone else has made him become fascist. Then comes "Run Like HEll," and "Waiting for the Worms," both of which are amazing lambasts of nazism and fascism, and are linked back to of course: the wall. "The Trial," provides some of the best speaking instruments i've heard in years because there are so many instruments, they use the right ones at the right times, you'll know what i mean when you here it. Finally, "Outside the Wall," as "Pigs on the Wing: part2," provides a hope that was pretty much smashed in the entirety of each respective album. No prog rock, rock, or music lover's collection is even close to being complete without the purchase of this collosal magnum opus of Pink Floyd. And if you're not already a fan of Pink floyd, rest assured you will be after a few listens to this double album of the century.

3.5 stars really.

I am rewriting this review. My first time I gave it five stars. I still think its one fantastic album, but in terms of having it in a progressive collection it is unworthy of having the five star rating. Pink have done much better (in terms of progressivness), as have many other bands. Anyway, as I said this is a great album. Its at times very minimalistic, bombastic, controversial, and groovy. There are many famous songs from this album and even some that are overplayed. But that should not hurt the albums rating. The concept is strong and one of the better ones, at least from this time. This album should appeal more towards fans of Roger Waters or classic rock, however, i think all Floyd fans need to at least listen to it. 3.5 stars.

As with its predecessor, Animals, this album is very much an exercise in what could have been. Unlike Animals, which had strong music, but a weakly constructed concept, The Wall has one of the strongest concepts in PINK FLOYD's catalogue--but some of the weakest music. Hearing the live rendition of The Wall (Is There Anybody Out There?) makes it even more painfully clear what's missing from the studio album. Even before I learned the band's history, I always felt a distinct chill in the atmosphere of the album...as though something had been forcibly drained from it.

That said, I should note that The Wall as a concept is very coherent...though unfortunately, it is the classic example of a concept so overbearing that it has completely overrun the music (and as such I rate it lower than Animals, because if not for the music, what would we have but a glorified poetry reading?). It was a first, and last, for PINK FLOYD (mostly Roger WATERS at that point with some input from David GILMOUR) to attempt to tell such an intricately narrated story, with a character and plot. Until The Wall (and also after WATERS' departure), their concept albums had been somewhat more cryptic, interpretive explorations of a central theme. The Wall leaves very little room for interpretation, relegating the listener to the part of passive spectator if one cannot identify with the experiences of the character, "Pink".

The strengths of The Wall are mainly lyrical and conceptual, although both vocalists are in fine form, and so is the guitar playing. Personally, I do not have a problem with the songs others might call filler--from my perspective they do serve to advance the narrative. Another main strength of The Wall is the use of sound effects and TV clips to help create the album's atmosphere, or even to make comments about the lyrics themselves, such as the following example where a clip from Gomer Pyle is placed to make a sarcastic remark: "...when I try to get through on the telephone to you (surprise, surprise, surprise!) there'll be nobody home." In light of the studio album's deficiencies, it's a good thing these were there.

In PINK FLOYD works before The Wall and after The Final Cut, there was often a spooky, unusual, sometimes experimental musical atmosphere that helped to set the tone of the album without a word. This music could be interpreted however the listener wanted. I believe a large part of this was the work of keyboardist Richard WRIGHT. Unfortunately, he was forced by Roger WATERS to give up his position in the band. The Wall's lack of that ethereal grace is what leaves the album cold. Except for a few beautiful parts like his synth solo on "Run Like Hell", it's clear WRIGHT had no more freedom left--and for this the music suffers.

Ultimately, I gave The Wall 2 stars, as I felt that the musical lack on the studio album was a very serious flaw. The live album, Is There Anybody Out There?, shows how much better that could have been--that version receiving 4 stars from me.

However, I'm going to suggest that those interested in similar themes to The Wall, but with far stronger music and a less overbearing concept (not to mention one with a much healthier coping process) check out AYREON's The Human Equation...in fact, you'll even hear on this album some of the vintage synthesizers the FLOYD could have taken greater advantage of had WRIGHT's talents not been restrained. While lyrically not quite as strong, the difference in experience is like the contrast between night and day, and it is The Human Equation that actually caused my opinion of The Wall to drop below the 3 stars I would have given it awhile back.

Being a huge PF fan believe it or not, it is my least favorite PF album. First, the album is grossly overrated! I get sick and tired of hearing most PF songs from this album from my local radio station. There is more to Pink Floyd than the Wall! Second, this album is not a group contribution. Rick Wright is asked to leave the band and is blackmailed by Rog that he won't get paid if he leaves. Third, the music is short and boring. Meddle, Animals, Wish You Were Here and Dark Side of the Moon are much better musically. I'm sorry but the Wall in my opinion gets a failing grade.

This is the best Pink Floyd album ever. If you have not heard this album, even if you aren't a fan of Pink Floyd than you have not heard anything! Amazing guitar solos and scenery in their songs. You couldn't understand what that means until you hear it! Some key songs I would reccomend you listening to are Hey You, Comfortably Numb, Another brick in the wall 1,2,3, The Best Days of Our Lives, or The Trial. After hearing any of these you will want to buy this Album! FIVE STARS!

Maybe not reckoned to be one of PF's very best by their die hard fans but I love it.Ideally music should be emotionally appealing as well as carrying intellectual clout.This does both.Roger Waters has managed to create a work that although dark in design has moments of rare beauty.The 2 massive talents of Gilmour and Waters combine majestically on classic songs such as Comfortably Numb and Goodbye Blue Sky.If you havn't heard this album at least once..then WHY NOT??!

IMO this is a masterpiece ... even though there are other Pink Floyd albums that are even better - like Wish You Were Here and Dark Side of the Moon. Those albums are more progressive in many ways and an amazing team effort, whereas this is essentially a Roger Waters solo album. It is also regressive, it might even be considered easy listening by the standards established by their previous albums. But then again progressiveness and musical complexity cannot be the only criteria.

I am not going to review all the album. I think that as a Opera concept album this one deserves a 5 stars rate but in Progressive Rock I think that Waters let himself go into the commercial tunes. The first album is better than the second which has too much of Waters war paranoias (Vera and Bring the Boys back home are not really Pink Floyd songs). In The flesh is a great starting (Drums reminds us that is Mason who plays them) Antoher Brick is the main theme and Confortably numb their other Big hit

Lirically - Brilliant Musically - Below average Don't get me wrong, but from what I understand of prog music, instrumental qualities are much more important than lyrics. THE WALL have a brilliant concept, brilliant lyrics and brilliant atmosphere (a little dark, but that's OK), but musically, it was the 80's! Gilmour's guitar sounds like disco sometimes... Sorry, but for me I'd rather stay with ATOM HEART MOTHER, DARK SIDE and WISH YOU WHERE HERE...

This album marks the dawnfall of Pink Floyd. The concept is interesting and works well with the movie. The big problem is the music. There is a lack of synergy and like the group, the music is also falling apart. A lot of music is just filler. Some musical ideas are not bad but most of the songs are short, undeveloped and relying mostly on sounds and effects. Fortunately there are also a few good tracks e.g. "Another Brick In The Wall Part II ", "Hey You" and "Comfortably Numb". PF is one of the greatest groups but this album was disappointing!

Conceptually, its brilliant. Musically, its a little weak. This mostly due to Gilmours waning influence. This more of a Roger Waters album with pink floyd doing backup. This shows in the writing, which is absolutely brilliant. But the music falls short. Inconsistent track quality bugs me. Great songs like "Comfortably Numb" are contrasted sharply by songs like "Young Lust," which is the worst song on the album, and one of my least-favourite floyd songs of all time. There is no denying the lyrical and conceptual brilliance this album contains, but the music just does not live up to it.

I think to properly appreciate PINK FLOYD's discography, you must own "The Wall". It is most often the starting point for people getting into the FLOYD. Hell, it is a lot of people's first introduction to rock music in general. "The Wall" is PINK FLOYD 101.

This album echoes teenage angst and youth in general. There is so much that young people identify with on this album: alienation, loss, self-seclusion, aversion to authority, etc

It is also, all too frequently, the ONLY album by PINK FLOYD that people usually own (along with "Dark Side of the Moon"). And for that reason it has become somewhat of a cliche. FM Radio continues to this day to belch out heavy doses of 'Another Brick', 'Young Lust', 'Hey You', 'Run Like Hell' and especially 'Comfortably Numb'. Is this a bad thing? Unfortunately most music elitists feel it is. After all there is so much more to FLOYD's music than this commercially successful monster of a double album. I see things differently. I see "The Wall" as precisely what it should be: a bridge or a gateway to other (better) FLOYD music. And then hopefully, the newly converted will be moved to explore other greats in the progressive and classic rock realms.

As for the record itself, Waters appears to have had too much material for just a single album, but most definitely not enough for a double album! Sides 3/4 (or CD #2) are notoriously weak in places ('Bring The Boys' / 'Vera Lynn' for example). However to say that this album is 'musically weak' is farcical. Yes it does not have any any typical 'long' tracks. Although, one could say that "The Wall" is a single 80 minute long piece of conceptual music if one so wishes.

One of the Top 5 best selling records of all time. Essential.

I guess 'The Wall' is somewhat comparable to the Beatles' White Album. Two discs, and whether it's their best or worst album is still undisputed. I personally love it, but it also it's my only Pink Floyd album. It is a quite difficult album to listen to, but if you do it long enough it will become quite obvious this is a very good album with music that was and still is quite extraordinary.

great album. classic and should definitly get as much or more credit than Dark side of the moon. i dont undertsand how anyone can feel diffrent unless they just don't like pink floyd. if your a fan of pink floyd, this is in my opinion, tied wtih dark side of the moon as their best album. amazing guitar playing.

I'm not a student of music theory, but I absolutely rank The Wall as one of the best albums ever made. I'll admit that the story is a large part of why I love it. I think that the vocals on this album capture beautifully the emotions of every song. For example "One of My Turns" moves effortlessly from a sort of brooding, lost mood into a fit of rage. Also, though I seem to be in the minority, I love "Vera" for the same reason. The vocal effect is intense and the music is masterful. I enjoy listening to the whole album and being pulled into Pink's world, but I also enjoy listening to select tracks as well.

First got this album in the early eighties and on first listen I thought I had wasted my money- However after a few more listens my opinion started to change - A few more listens again and I was hooked - this album is a classic, and has a special place in my collection as it got me into the band. I know they ask you to reserve the 5 starts for perfection and there are a couple of songs on the album which are stocking fillers in my opinion, but the overall experience of listening to the album is superb - Only wish I could have seen them perform it live!

The Wall was for us in the Eastern Europe definitely a symbol. I remember how we were watching the movie in illegal cellars. But music was better than the movie. To listen to PF's the Wall was something like to take a part in fighting against the communism: 'we don't need no education.' At that time, I perceived it in this way, it was a legend for me ('Pink Floyd' sounded in my ears similarly to 'Radio Free Europe'), and that's why I saw absolutely no shortcomings in the music. It was very strong and definitely one of the most important album of my youth. But then, suddenly, as a miracle, the wall of Berlin was falling down and I have started to recognize more. I see now that there was too much depression within this music, too much dark sentiment and egocentrism, but less musicality; with the best tracks definitely that where at least David Gilmour had contributed significantly in addition to Roger Waters. In other words, PF was eclipsed by RW. If it had been a RW's solo project, it would have been a real emotional intimate personal masterpiece. But in the frame of PF, it was a loss of an important branch of music. Do not get me wrong, the music is still perfect, but missing something important and vital and is slowly getting boring, and these tendencies got clear in the next RW's solo projects (final cut, kaos.). But still, the wall remains one of the most important milestones in my life.

Pink Floyd's "The Wall" is the last album of its kind--or at least the last one made that's worth listening to. After "The Wall", the long, trippy chords that characterized the most dreamy--and at times the most cerebral--popular music ever made all but disappeared as the airwaves and clubs were all but taken over by Punk and New Wave influences. Along with Pink Floyd, the carrers and reputations of nearly all other progressive and art-rock bands faded into a twilight.

What's more, I think the album is one of the last attempts any band ever made to use its music to convey, intuitively, a psychological and spiritual journey. Others wrote songs that described such a process (too often in self-pitying ways); while others beat drums and ripped through guitars and such to express rage. But The Wall is one of those rare works-- especially rare in pop music--that can be called a jeu d'esprit. Apres "The Wall," la deluge!

AWESOME!!!! I love the creepiness. brilliant lyrics and music. get lost all you creeps who dont like it. PINK FLOYD IS GREAT!!!! Comfortably numb has a brilliant solo, it sends tingles down my spine. It is great to listen to LOUD. I have it on Vynil, which is great. i put it on the record player, and im in bliss.

This is my favorite album. I can't say enough about the story, the music, or the visuals that accompany it. It is a story that has elements in everyone's lives. Anyone can relate to being mistreated in school, for example. The album is a commentary on life in general, from overprotective mothers to war to our materialistic society. Not to mention the amazing music! Every song has significance and good music. Although 'Bring the Boys Back Home' and 'Vera' and kind of weak musically, they carry excellent messages about what should be important in life and ask why we need to fight for matierial gain. These two songs are considered by Roger Waters as the core of the story, but are often overlooked. They also are accompined by some of the most profound portions of the movie. The album also has some amazing guitar work, such as on 'Another Brick, part 2', 'Run Like Hell', and my favorite song, 'Comfortably Numb". Both of the 'In The Flesh' songs are awesome as well, and overlooked. This album has deep psycological meaning but is also great to just listen to. I would also highly recomened the "Is There Anybody Out There?" live version, which expands on the music and hints at the spectacle of their live shows.

I know, that The Wall is subject of discussion for a lot of rock fans. Is it really too complicated and pathetic? For me this album is the best rock work what I ever heard. I like the symbiotic relationship between music and lyrics. The lyrics and atmosphere of this album have still deep impact to my feelings and mood. Thanks PF for this album.

The thing with The Wall is that it goes two ways. It absolutely must be in every prog lover's collection, because, I mean, it's The Wall, for crying out loud. It's a staple of rock music as a whole. However, it is not a masterpiece. The concept behind it is one of the best concepts for an album ever, and the music is exceptional. Waters does an incredible job at telling a story through music. Although it is a must-own, 5 stars is too high for it. Here, I won't go song by song, as I usually do, because 26 songs is a lot to go through. However, the standouts are: In The Flesh?: A legendary album opener. Another Brick in the Wall, Parts 1, 2, 3: Yeah, just pure incredible. Goodbye Blue Sky: Blew me away. Hey You: Can't really describe it. Is There Anybody Out There?: I feel this is an underrated and overlooked song. It gives me chills. Comfortably Numb: Nope, no words to describe it. The Trial: Best listened to in context with the whole album.

Well, don't get me wrong. Every other song is at least good. And you must own this album, because it is legendary in the world of music. But, strictly speaking, 4/5 stars.

I bought this on double tape when it came out. Unfortunately, I was going through a strange and not altogether happy period in my life, and I found this album quite dark and cold. Eventually, I lent the tape to a friend, and never got it back. For Xmas 2004, however, I asked my sister to get me the remastered cd, and she did. It all came flooding back to me, and I can now appreciate it better than ever. This is Floyd at their most cold and cynical, yet also at their most effective. What this band have done with this, as they did with Dark Side, is manage to create unusual and disturbing images, whilst always retaining their superb ear for melody and dark humour. Like their other masterpiece, the tracks here flow seamlessly together, and the musicianship is of a very high standard. Yes, it is bleak, and the follow up, The Final Cut, was undeniably disappointing, but not this. This can be listened to as a series of good tunes, or, at a deeper level, as a crucial comment on modern life in the spotlight. Too many songs here to choose a favourite, though the obvious 'Comfortably Numb' springs to mind, as do 'Hey You', 'In The Flesh' and 'Waiting For The Worms'. Not a weak track here however. Is this their magnum opus? Hard to say. For me it is still a toss up between this, Dark Side and Meddle. I just enjoy all three. I suggest you do too!

You've got to hear this to believe it. Though the bias is the fact that Roger Waters conceived most of the material contained in the album, the music nonetheless hits a home- run slam that covers a brief (and I mean VERY brief) stage of history, psychological imbalance from the speaker in each ode, and most importantly, a realm of philosophy unsurpassed by any other form of modern music. Certain areas simply involve two guitars while others include an entire symphony. The diversity in this album gives it the special taste needed to create such a masterpiece.

Basically, The Wall enters the mind of a happy boy who later becomes a delusional and, often times, sad adult who constantly questions his past. Buy it. Any Progressive Rock fan who does not have Pink Floyd is in dire need of good music.

Ah The Wall, is it a sell out? is it prog? What the hells it about? Questions I have no definite answer to. Other than to myself the wall can be anything to anyone. Before I extol its virtues, and indeed there are many, there are weaknesses we need to examine. These take the form of a few weak songs i.e. stuff like Vera and Bring the Boys back home, yet even these serve a purpose in the overall narrative. And what of the lack of that classic Floyd sound? A replacment of the spacey for the damn sight dirty and gritty feeling of the wall? Different yes, unwelcome, not at all.

Personally I love the wall, and regard it as THE best album ever released. In terms of whether or not it is the best PROGRESSIVE album ever released I don't know, how progressive is it?

But why do I give it such a title, surely no album can actually be the best album ever? Well for me, it can. The Wall achieves success in virtually every area, it is conceptual to a fantastic degree, has numerous different styles, involves the listener and is not afraid to sound uncommercial at times, suggesting that it is not a sell out (witness Don't leave me now and The Trial).

Firstly the actual music, for naturally, it is the most important factor. It varies to a wide degree, from the gentle, acoustic tones of Mother, goodbye Blue Sky and some of the Thin Ice to the bombastic heartbreaking heavy riffs of in The Flesh, Run Like Hell and Another Brick in the Wall (PT 3) allows for a decent diversity in mood.

And what of mood and atmosphere? This is where it shines, the whole concept, that is the building of the wall and the experience of life with a wall is served very well. There is a ominous element of many of the earlier tracks and the panic and desperation of the later tracks on the first discs followed by the feeling of aggression and hate on the second, with the calm after the storm on the last songs, Goodbye Cruel World.

So The Wall, why does it work? Because it connects, personally this is an album has got me through some difficult times, I read somewhere it is like weeks of therapy crammed into 80 minutes, I couldn't agree more. If you're after deep listening it's here, if you're after good songs, they're here. This is not an album that showcases the highest degree of musical talent, Pink Floyd weren't ever about that, what it does showcase is one of the best lyricists creating a concept that can connect with every human on earth at some point in their lives and the mastery of Floyd at creating a world seemingly tailor made for you whilst selling 20+ million copies.

Yes it is bleak, yes it is a bit of a whinge, but that's why its so brilliant. I love this album.

This is Water's descent into the maelstrom. It is no coincidence that this is his last Floyd album (I'm sorry, but Final Cut in 1983 doesn't count for me). The music is totally subservient to Water's vision and concept. And the music IS Floyd! There are examples of excellent lyrics from this band such as Dark Side of the Moon. But Dark Side is a grand anomaly, it permeates the air when you play it and the music and lyrics meld together into a cohesive whole like virtually no other album ever recorded! Floyd has always been about sonic experimentation and there is very little of it on Wall. Waters holds the rest of the band subservient to the story he wants to tell. Of course, this album 'plays' well on the radio (as I recall ad nauseam in the early 80's) but there is a lack of the innovative and 'push the envelope' musical ideas that make Floyd what they are to the rock n roll pantheon.

I think that the music of this album works much better in the magnificent movie made by this record, but as a pure aural experience this gets too boring for my taste. The songs quite basic rock songs, and there's not much any imaginative or moody elements on it. The best song here is "Comfortably Numb". A big disappointment for me.

Well this here is quite an overrated album. Its got a lot of good stuff, its just a little too ugly for me. Pink Floyds earlier music was much better, ust because it wasn't so dang ugly and dark. But anyway, the album starts off quite nicely with In the Flesh? Which is a good rocker, and the album continues with the Thin Ice, with some excellent vocals from both GIlmour and Waters. Then comes Another Brick in the Wall pt. 1, which is the best of the three. Nice synth. Then the happiest Days of our lives is pretty good, but the part over the percussion is really great. Another Brick pt. 2 is overrated in my opninon, partly because the solo doesn't really do anything for me. Mother is one of the best songs on the whole album, featuring great acoustic guitars, great vocals from both Gilmour and Waters, and a nice electric guitar solo from Gilmour. Goodbye Blue Sky is another great one, all acoustic, with a dark verse and an uplifting Chorus. Empty Spaces is a weird one, nice guitar all around, cool vocals. Young Lust is pretty much just a traditional rock song which doesn't do much for me. One of my Turns starts out slow and uninteresting but it starts rocking. Don't Leave Me Now= worst PF song ever. Worse than Seamus. Terrible whiny vocals from Waters. Another Brick pt. 3 is good stuff, great vocals, Goodbye Cruel World is pretty much filler. Not too good, but I guess it progresses the story.

Disc Two starts off with Hey You, an ominous acoustic song which rocks in the middle. This song I find is pretty boring, except the middle part. Then comes a scary song 'Is there anybody out there' which ends with a nice acoustic guitar. Nobody home= boring. Vera is not terrible, plus its short. Nice vocals kind of. Bring the Boys Back Home is the best short song on the album. Great great military style stuff, with some nice wailing from Waters overtop. Then comes Comfortably Numb. Now the verses, sung by Waters, are terrible, but the chorus, sung by Gilmo0ur, is pretty good. The 2 solos, 1 short and 1 long, are both pretty good, but I still don't see why this song is worshipped so much. The show must Go On is a great song, although it is too short. In the Flesh is pretty much the same as the opening track, except with some new lyrics. Run Like Hell is a good rocker, nice riff, nice vocals. Waiting for the Worms is this album's hidden gem for me. It starts out all slow and 50's pop styled with the 'ooooooooh you cannot reach me now' etc etc. Then it starts rocking, and its just an all around great song. STop is another great short song, even though there isn't much to it. Great piano. The Trial is a very operatic song. Its not too good until the Judge comes in, and its all heavy metal styled after that, until there's this huge explosion and the album ends softly with Outside the Wall, which is a pretty good ending I think.

So this album is pretty good, although it is overrated and not as good as PF's older stuff (Dark Side, Wish You Were Here, Animals). The High points are: In the Flesh?, The Thin Ice, Mother, Goodbye Blue Sky, Is there anybody Out There?, The Show Must Go On, Waiting for the Worms, and the Trial I suppose.

This album has some great moments, but has some incomprehensibly un-Floyd moments and the flow of the album suffers greatly. Its essentially a Waters solo album, and there is just too much of him and not enough Floyd. That said, there is a lot of great material. It would make a very fine single LP, had an editor judiciously cut some of the nonsense out. The Beach Boys harmonies are just so anomalous and incongruous that the album suffers greatly as a whole.

So, and this might not make much sense thematically, but I cut out nearly half of Disk 2, and made a new CD, starting with those tracks from Disk 2, and then continuing with all of Disk 1. I think it makes a much more consistent work; it all fits one one CD and makes a much better album, if you will. The Wall as released warrants a solid 3 stars, but my new re-configured album gets an extra star.

Just when I clicked on the rating a message appeared on my monitor. It said that please use "zero" and "five" stars sparingly, that a CD that you didn't like could have its positive qualities and that not every album you enjoy should be a perfect "masterpiece". Well, this one TRULY is. Only few other progressive albums can compare to this one (of course including DSOTM, Close to The Edge, or Moving Pictures). "The Wall" is a record composed mainly by Roger Waters, but still such a great disc for many of its factors. In my opinion, this is the LAST great album, all the next ones are acceptable but they do not reach the quality of the original PINK FLOYD. Those are like million of light-years away from Syd Barrett.

This album mainly talks about war. But it talks about the way civilians, innocent people, look at it. Like in "Goodbye Blue Sky" (the title refering to the change of "color", maybe because the smoke and fire produced by bombs, the destruction), it starts with a talking of a young girl's voice saying: "Look mummy. There's an airplane up in the sky". This reflects the innocence in young childern that suffers each day due to conflicts and attacks.

The song "Another Brick in The Wall (part I)" its about the case of Roger Waters and many other people losing their fathers at a very young age (that fact made possibly Roger inspire to write songs for many albums of PINK FLOYD, like in The Final Cut, it's mainly a post-trauma of this loss). In the already mentioned song, there is a part of the lyric that says: "... Daddy's flown across the ocean, leaving just some memories, a snapshot in the family album... Daddy what else did you leave behind for me?...". Many people felt anger at their disappeared parents for not being there with them.

The lyrics on this album are very inspiring, and you can see they come from the bottom of the heart. It talks about real things that are happening even today. Very depressing facts. This album has got to me and made realized how important is this wars and how lucky I am for not being on a situation close to that.

You can hear some great epic song such as "Mother", "Goodbye Cruel World", "Hey You", "Is There Anybody Out There?", "Young Lust", "Goodbye Blue Sky", "Nobody Home" (song about the missing of persons, the return of people to their homes and finding noone there, or a place very distant to the way it was before), "Vera", etc... (Mainly all the song in this record are great). But the greatest of them all are the 3- part "Another Brick In The Wall", but mostly the two songs that the guitarrist David Gilmour co-wroted: "Comfromtably Numb" adn "Run Like Hell". This last songs are a bit different from the others, but are more creative.

They've also made a movie based on the CD and the themes it talks about that goes by the same name. I've just bought it, so I hadn't see it, but I've recieved such good opinions and critics about it.

Simply an essential album on ANY shell.

This is a superb album, more of a rock opera than a collection of stand alone songs. Completely captures the emational highs and lows and misgivings of a rock star, but still has elements that everyone can relate to (if not to the extremes that this goes to). If you get a chance to watch the film then this album is enhanced even further, though does get very druggy at points.

This is without a doubt a masterpiece of Rock. IT may not be prog, but it has the famous emotional story of a rock star in it. It is much less virtuosic and restrained than the previous 'animals' but it has songwriting of the highest level, and unlike 'lamb lies down on broadway' this album contains strong material in both CDs.

Starting out with strong and heavy 'In The Flesh', the album starts already in frustuation, sadness, and anger. The musician "Pink"'s father has died in the World War II when he was a baby. The first CD is about him hating reality and building a wall on his mind to hide from it and let insanity take over him. This CD includes the highlights 'another brick on the wall pt I' with its echo guitar; 'mother' with its beauty and guitar solo ; "Goodbye Blue Sky" also with mellow darkness, "Don't Leave Me Down" due to the psychedelic atmosphere. The rest of the songs are all solid and at the end of the CD, The wall is complete.

The Second CD is about Pink being inside the wall, losing all sense and becoming insane imagining being a Hitler like figure, until he shouts 'STOP!' and confronts his problems and succeeds. The opener is a big highlight of the album with its pretty acoustic section contrasted with the heaviness following which contains the trademark Wall riff (E, F#, G, F# ... E, F#, G, F# ... and so on). The next song is also a highlight with its soft acoustic piece of beauty. Comfortably Numb is a famous tune which contains a great sing along chorus, and two of the best guitar solos from Gilmour. My other favorites are Run Like Hell in which you can clearly feel paranoia in the music and of course the climax 'The trial' which contains a very majestic arrangement of strings and explodes in guitars and a deep Voice of the Judge.

Because this album is not progressive, it doesn't mean it is not good. This is a landmark of music history, and we should be glad this album is famous. WE should be angry if Linkin Park becomes famous which feels like it has already happened.

Non-prog cannot get better than this. It blows away most non-prog albums, and the material sounds much better on a live format. My Grade : A

I'll give it credit for ambition, but otherwise this album fails to deliver. It's got none of the things that made the Pink Floyd before great, except a few thought provoking lyrics and guitar solos. In parts it's way too commercial and in other parts it's too self indulgent. It's kind of depressing that people's knowledge of Pink Floyd are limited to the radio hits of this album. And the fact that it came after the masterful Animals is just as depressing.

The Wall is certainly one of the most powerful and influential albums ever recorded. It was the first Pink Floyd album I listened to and ever since I've been hooked on the Floyd's music. However, I'm a bit ambivalent about this album because while this is NOT a Waters' solo album as many have claimed (both producers Gilmour and Bob Ezrin made considerable contributions)in many respects the Wall is not a true Floyd album. Before this album the band played all the instruments themselves with the exception of Dick Parry on sax, but on the Wall a number of session musicians contributed. Furthermore, gone are the long dreamy instrumentals which showcased Wright's soothing keyboard performances and in their stead are 26 rather snappy more traditional rock songs which showcase Waters' lyrical narrative. However, the dramatic change is not entirely bad because Waters' lyrical concept is so gripping and relevant. While I'm not a rock star who feels isolated from my audience, I do conceal my true feelings from the ones I love quite often and I'm sure the feeling detachment is felt by people on a universal level, which is really what the Wall is all about. Furthermore, I can empathize with Waters' sadness at the loss of a parent at a young age. However, I do find the rock star turned dictator bit near the end and Waters' comparison of rock concerts and war farfetched though as Gilmour put it I can get into it as fiction.

Although most of the material for the Wall was written by Waters, Gilmour's contributions are nonetheless significant and moving particularly his dazzling guitar solos. In fact, the three songs Waters co wrote with Gilmour on Comfortably Numb (best song ever), Run Like Hell, and Young Lust along with Hey You and Another Brick are the albums best songs. My biggest criticism of the album is that the lyrics are too often over empathized at the expense of the music, something that usually didn't happen on previous albums, and which is also indicative of Waters' increasing control over the band. However, if Floyd music is to be obscured by lyrics I wouldn't want them penned by anyone but Waters. All in all while not nearly as musically experimental as the group once was, the Wall is a great album and probably Waters' crowing artistic achievement with Pink Floyd which is saying a hell of a lot. So check it out.

The most ambitious but highly overrated final album by the classic line-up!

Even though this LP was amongst of those which forced me into music addiction in the first place, today I can more feel that this well-elaborated concept album is a bit outdated. I like Waters' baritone but here his voice is often too stressed and neurotic. The operetic concept was interestingly devised at the time, but now I don't enjoy this boring arena- sounding pomposity. "The Wall" is as close as PINK FLOYD gets to mainstream pop-rock fused with some punk aggressiveness and hate. While that is not necessarily bad thing, quite on the contrary, Waters' frustrated and angst-filled libretto is very difficult to follow. The best moments are nevertheless among my all-time favorite Floyd songs: mini- epic "Another Brick In The Wall", "Mother", "Good Bye Blue Sky", "Empty Spaces", wonderful ballad "Hey You", beautiful instrumental of "Is There Anybody Out There" and "Comfortably Numb". And by chance on most of these Gilmour has a prominent role as collaborator/vocalist. The rest pretty much consists of the Waters' exhibitions and boring and painful stuff that is better to skip. I would say this is a good album for Floyd fans and for general pop-rock listeners.

The Wall has a sort of uneasy feeling to it, right from the end of the first track, In The Flesh?, to the disturbing feeling of death at the end of the album. The overall tone of the album is somewhat insane and dark; it takes you through the thoughts and feelings that the subject of it has. While it is the least instrumental and 'spacey', album of Floyd's career, at least up until '79, it contains some of the absolute essential Floyd tracks, such as Another Brick in the Wall and Comfortably Numb.

The subject of the album goes through many different stages, some of which the listener can relate to, others which they cannot. In the Flesh?, the beginning track, represents the subject's joy of stardom. The Thin Ice is a metaphor for how greed and overindulgence in a "rock n roll lifestyle" can ruin a person's life. As the album progresses, He starts to experience the feelings accompanying superstardom, such as loneliness, depression, regret, and being homesick. Being under this pressure causes him to take drugs, and then by somewhere around the end of the album he dies.

It's hard to tell exactly what happens in the album, in what order it happens, and if it actually happened or not. The death of the subject, for example. He may have tried to kill himself by overdosing while he was high on Goodbye Cruel World, and then on the other disc, on Hey You, is high, comes close to death. Then he realizes all the assorted awful things going on in a state of false enlightenment. Then on In The Flesh he is high, and goes to the show and exposes himself, and his opinions, whether they are real or not. He seems to die in Stop, hence the title, so he kills himself. He can't even be left to rest in peace. All he wanted was to become famous, but soon he couldn't take the people prying into every aspect of his life, so he killed himself. Even in death he couldn't escape them. Maybe the wall is life.

The music is slightly different from other Pink Floyd albums, and is somewhat of a 1979 crossover album. Less deep lyics and shorter, less spacey tunes, and no sax, would have been more appealing to music fans other than the regular prog fans, while still keeping the old Floyd fans. Run Like Hell would be a song that is more danceable, more upbeat and, dreadfully, more disco- influenced. Pink Floyd didn't drop the meaning of the album though; it was captured wholly through the songs, the lyrics and the way they were played.

Roger Waters insightful look into the world around him should be looked at as a lesson for us all. If you have seen the movie, you will really understand wha "The Wall" is about. The main character, aptly named Pink , is driven to insanity behind his "wall," a protective barrier that keeps him isolated from the real world. This wall is built of "bricks" of his past, such as his father's death in WWII, His overprotective mother, the forced conformity of his education, and his older life of Sex, Drugs, and Rock'n'roll. The album itself is very vague, but if you watch the film, it all comes out in plain daylight. Pink's younger life is loosely based on Roger Waters, and his adult life on Syd Barrett. The musical side of The Wall, while slightly overshadowed by the lyrics is also a splendid performance.

CD 1

1. In the flesh? - 5/5

2. The thin ice - 4.5/5

3. Another brick in the wall Part one - 5/5

4. The happiest days of our lives - 4/5

5. Another brick in the wall Part two - 5/5

6. Mother - 5/5

7. Goodbye blue sky - 4/5

8. Empty spaces - 4.5/5

9. Young lust - 4/5

10. One of my turns - 4/5

11. Don't leave me now - 4/5

12. Another brick in the wall Part three - 5/5

13. Goodbye cruel world - 4/5

5+4.5+5+4+5+5+4+4.5+4+4+4+5+4 = 4,46

CD 2

1. Hey you - 5/5

2. Is there anybody out there - 5/5

3. Nobody home - 5/5

4. Vera - 4.5/5

5. Bring the boys back home - 4/5

6. Comfortably numb - 5/5

7. The show must go on - 4.5/5

8. In the flesh - 5/5

9. Run like hell - 5/5

10. Waiting for the worms - 4.5/5

11. Stop - 4/5

12. The trial - 5/5

13. Outside the wall - 4/5

5+5+5+4.5+4+5+4.5+5+5+4.5+4+5+4 = 60,5

60,5 : 13 = 4,65

Final Note: The Wall is an Epic.The words mean more and make more sense if you listen to it a few times. The best thing about it is that there is nothing of pointless and meaningless babble that comprises most of todays music. The music speaks volumes about our lives and struggles, about chaos in our society, and most of all, about hope. If you are going to listen to only one album in your life, this should be it. Highly Recommended.!!!

4,46 + 4,65 = 9,11

9,11 : 2 = 4,6

Essential: a masterpiece of progressive music

Curiosity: There is a secret reversed message on Empty Spaces that starts about 15 seconds before the singing and ends right before "What..." It says: "Congratulations. You have just discovered the secret message. Please send your answer to old Pink, in care of the funny farm-" "ROGER!" "Chalfont!" "Carolyn's on the phone!" "Okay."

The last Prog Rock LP of the Prog Rock era.

The Wall like Dark Side of the Moon is seen as a masterpiece, and the last LP to feature Roger, David, Nick and Rick together as a band.

The Wall is Floyd's proper studio double LP as Ummagumma was rteally a live/studio set.

The album features dark, beautiful and somehow disburbing songs, and also features the smah hit "Another Brick in the Wall".

My favourites include:

Comfortably Numb: a beautiful and a sad song, with mellow, symphonic appearance, great lyrics, very moving, and an awesome Guitar Solo from Gilmour. (Rating 4/5).

Run Like Hell: fast, rough, raw, punchy track, just a great rock track almost Punk in a way. (Rating 5/5)

Hey You: an epic, soft, mellow but disturbing track, excellent bass solo almost like a slithering sound, nice to bop along too. (Rating 4/5)

Mother: starts of slow and quiet with soft acoustic mellow sounds, Roger sings in a husky voice which I like very much, and anytime the bass, electric guitar and piano kicks in and changes that mood. (Rating 5/5)

plus there are other classics on the album too, be aware that the album contain a dark and disturing atomosphere but there are uplifting tracks.

A rock masterpiece, and a theatre show through loudspeakers, epic - maybe so, but a Prog classic.

Not sure why this album is not appreciated more by progarchives frequenters, but I love it. And why is 'Meddle' regarded more highly? With songs like 'Seamus' that just shouldn't happen.

Onto the strength of 'The Wall.' We all know it is the famous Waters compositions and that the band was dividing, Waters tried to make Wright a studio musician for the album and not list him as Pink Floyd, etc. But whatever went on in the studio, Floyd recorded some amazing music. This double LP worked. It's almost THE concept album, if not for the Lamb.

Lots of good comments have been documented through various reviews so I'll talk about something slightly different and more interesting to me. It is also what gives the Wall such value and why it impresses me so much. Double LPs are incredibly ambitious to say the least. Trying to write such a collection of great music in one go is understandably difficult. It's hard enough to write to albums back to back that are spectacular, and then trying to use a single theme between the two and coordinate the effort takes considerable confidence.

Looking at Rock's track record some absolutely amazing bands have not faired too well. First off, Tales from Topographic Oceans was pretty terrible (Wakeman readily admits - on this site, even - that the songs were padded to fit onto sides). Cream had difficulty with Wheels of Fire. The best of the album are my favorite Creem songs, but the whole album isn't flawless. Dream Theatre's Six Degrees lacks in integrity and power, especially as a followup to Scenes From a Memory. And even the mighty Led Zeppelin couldn't pull off the double LP with Physical Grafitti. As mentioned, the only band that did it in my book was Genesis... and Floyd.

Double LPs must be treated delicately. On one hand they cannot be full of crappy, non-sequitor songs just because it is two albums. But to be fair I do think of them as having more potential points (such as judged events in the olympics where the performance is out of more possible points). The Wall is packed full of great songs that play together wonderfully. And for that reason it is one of my favorite albums, probably mt favorite by Floyd. Lord knows it a mile ahead of 'Meddle'.

-- we began?

Alright. So it has finally come time to write a review for the album that introduced me to Pink Floyd as well as progressive music as a whole. For those reasons alone this album will always hold a very special place in my heart, but that is not to say that those are the only things that earned it a 5 star review. Pink Floyd's The Wall IS a masterpiece no matter how you look at it. Unfortunately... it is not Pink Floyd's masterpiece. It is Roger Waters'. Let's all be honest. This album had to be made. Waters had to vent somehow and vent he did. Perfectly, even. But no one would have listened to it if he put it out under his independent name. Just look at Amused to Death!

If I was reviewing this album purely on Instrumential value, I would have to give it a lower rating, perhaps a 4 or even a 3 star. But the fact that this album doesn't compare to the instrumental genious of Wish You Were Here or defeat the 'foreboding tunes' of Darkside of the Moon... that doesn't mean it isn't a masterpiece.

Lyrically... this album is THE best I have ever heard. That's right. I said it. Number 1. Waters, with the occasional contribution from Gilmore, wrote all 26 (27 if you include When The Tigers Broke Free) of these songs to portray areas of his life and all of the anxiety, turmoils and pressures that came with those areas. Though the later character in The Wall, Pink, is more-so portrayed to be Syd Barrett the child star is obviously Waters. Mother and Thin Ice; two songs that almost anyone could relate their childhood to, and Waters especially could. At some parts of this album I find myself completely in awe of the imagery, and several other literary devices, that Waters uses, like In the Flesh? for instance. You don't have to think too hard to figure out what that title is suppose to mean but... once you watch the movie you might actually UNDERSTAND where he was coming from when he wrote it. Also, I don't think I know of a better song that more strongly symbolizes insanity than One of My Turns. Quite bluntly a 'turn'ing point for the protagonist and it isn't pruely conincidental that this song takes place right after Young Lust and before Don't Leave Me Now. Look into this album more please, skeptical readers. I haven't found a part of The Wall yet that wasn't meticulously thought out or allusive.

If you haven't given this album a shot, yet. I strong suggest it. It is a masterpiece of progressive music. And if you are like one of those people who will post after this review saying that The Wall is "crap" in order to balance my 5 star review... listen to the damn thing again before you do and try to care about the lyrics more than the ambience, which I also love, because I know that if you gave it another shot and heed my advice you might find something you truely love in The Wall, like I have.

Isn't this where--

The Wall is the last album that Pink Floyd ever worked on as a unit. It is a masterpiece with moments of exquisite highs and striking lows. The Walls impressive emotional spectrum (which ranges from paranoia and anger to an almost happy nostalgiac feel) is supported by a very strong concept and an equally strong musical backdrop. Waters lyrical prowess is breathtaking throughout his career with Pink Floyd but here is where his talent hits its peak and what a peak!!!!! Gilmours guitar playing as always is excellent, he produces the greatest solo of his career on this album with Comfortably Numb and contributes good songs to the album such as Young Lust and Run Like Hell. MAsons drumming is as solid as ever and probably more than it will be again after damages to his confidence thanks to Waters. Ricks keyboard playing on this album although not as prominent as on others is very enjoyable and very good considering what he was going through at the time.

1. In The Flesh The daddy of all intros to an album. This is so good with its rising guitar and keys and steady drum beat. This all finally leads into the main theme and vocals by Waters who adresses the audience. This is a complex intro for a complex album lyrically and to put it all together "you'll just have to claw your way through this disguise"!5/5 2. The Thin Ice This is a slightly naff piece in my opinion. Waters vocals are very nice but the skeletal piano does get on the nerves a bit. There is some nice guitar work to redeem this though! 3/5 3. Another Brick in The Wall Part.1 This a nice transitional piece to Happiest Days of Our Lives. Good steady song but better. 4/5 4.The Happiest Days of Our Lives This is a great tune with Waters attacking the education system being backed up by a very good steady rhythmperfect intro th Another Brick Part Part.2 4/5 5. Another Brick in The Wall Part.2 Brilliant tune! I love the disco beat makes it a very easy song to listen to and Waters properly introduces The Wall theme here. The children singing the second verse and chorus is genius. 5/5 6.Mother One of the strongest songs on the album lyrically. Waters sings about his over protective Mother in this song it is backed up by nice chords on guitar and a nice organ piece too. 5/5 7.Goodbye Blue Sky This is a lovely song with beautifully picked classic acoustic guitar playing melody and Gilmours vocals are lovely here too. 4/5 8.Empty Spaces I really dont enjoy this song there is very little melody here and the marching sound can get a bit annoying after a while. 2/5 9.Young lust I really enjoy this song. This is teh first time we hear a Gilmour composition in the album and it is greatly welcomed as a contrast to Waters bleakness. 4/5 10. One of My turns This is a brilliant song if only just for the lyrics. It is well supported by some good tunes also a gem. 4/5 11. Dont leave me now No Comment1/5 12.Another Brick The Wall Part.3 What a change to early they take a much more aggressive approach to this song now. The pulsing keys make the real difference great tune. 4/5

1. Hey You This is one of my favourite songs on the album. Waters lyrics here are inspired. The guitar is excellent in this piece. The only thing i can fault this song on is Waters weak vocals as he strains to hit certain notes. 4/5 2 Is There Anybody Out There This is a great song with great atmosphere and guitar playing. I really enjoy this song and it is one of my favourites on the album. 5/5 3. Nobody Home This is a very good piece with great lyics and vocals. i have a new found respect for the piano here as i tried to learn it and it is very difficult indeed. 4/5 4. Vera This is a nice piece on the album but mostly serves as a medium for the concept of the war in The Wall. 3/5 5. Bring The Boys Back Home This is not he most important piece on the album Roger!!! Its is an average piece never really catches my interest. 3/5 6. Comfortably Numb This is the graetest song in existence in my opinion. The contrast of the two vocals is inspired first and the music is divine. It is worth listening to only for the solo. 6/5 7. the show must go on This is a bit naff for my liking never really listen to it. 2/5 8. In the Flesh 5/5 9.Run like hell 5/5

I think I've waited long enough to submit a revierw about the famous Wall... Since I was young I knew that album, but I never listened at any Floyd except Money and Another Brick part 2. I didn't like it at all. But then, a couple of years ago, I was involved in Floyd, then in prog, by a top 100 guitar solos on the net. The song Comfortably Numb appeared in it and I said, what the hell is that doing there? I downloaded the song and fell in love with it. Then, I discovered DSOTM, WYWH, Meddle and Animals, and all that time I still tought that The Wall wasn't good as those. I heard it a couple of time and then I bought it in vynil and discovered a really conceptual and theatral album. This is a really good album, that goes on frome the beginning to the end with the same feeling, with great little parts, contrary to usual Floyd who did long epics. Even if the two songs I knew first are still the best, to me, this album deserves a godd listening and I think that Waters didn't stell anybody's place in that album. Very good, thanks again, Floyd.

The Floydsters pretend to need no education, but clearly they needed to be taught a thing or two about making enjoyable songs. On 'The Wall' they decided to abandon the incredibly long and boring songs of old in favour of short and boring songs and this makes the album slightly more listenable than their other predominantly boring 70s output, although not by much. 'In the Flesh' is the only thing that keeps this disastrous album from boring the listener to tears and the Floyd seem to have been aware of this since they put two versions of the song on the album. Apparently 'Comfortably Numb' is popular among the fans. Richard Wright was fired from Pink Floyd around the time The Wall was made, and for all I know it was because he suggested that they quit making such boring music and do something energetic for once, and the thought of doing that scared the rest of the band so much that they just had to fire him. Even with two versions of 'In the Flesh' this album isn't essential for anyone. Perhaps two or three versions more would have made it essential? Nope just kidding.

PINK FLOYD's rock-opera The Wall is definitely one of the most artistic and perfect pieces of music ever written. Roger Waters' concept and lyrics are a work of genius, and while this is not as complex musically as many of previous FLOYDian progressive works, the band still manages to maintain the typical atmosphere of their music present here, in a full emotional and meaningfully deep work. The highlights here are of course "Hey You" and "Comfortably Numb", but as with any concept album you must listen to it entirely...and i don't have trouble doing this since i don't consider any of the 20+ songs here barely weak, i have a deep love for each one on their own way, even the unfairly maligned "Young Lust" has a place in my heart, so has the apparently forgotten gems "The Trial" and "Is there anybody out there?", each one is special and beautiful. "The Trial" and "Outside the Wall" mark one of the most epic and beautiful album closers ever done by the band, if you don't feel moved and hipnotized by the people screaming "tear down the wall! tear down the wall!" you really don't understand the point of PF's music. Period.

Essential album, perfect masterpiece and despite not being as prog as many previous FLOYD albums, it still was done to test your emotions like all FLOYD music does: touching your brain and heart at the same time, with intelligent and moving music.

One of the best albums ever from one of the best bands ever!!! The music is just perfect, deep, sad, melodic, complex. A real piece of art! Waters in his best. His image of the world we are living in, full of hidden fears, almost scary and so true. 5 stars for ever!

Reasonable album overall but miles below some of the earlier material like Wish You Were Here, Animals or Meddle. Waters is too dominant in the composition and it's only when Gilmour gets involved that the music rises above the just OK, as on Comfortably Numb. There are some real horrors too; how did Young Lust ever get recorded? Floyd are best when Wright and Gilmour are let loose and Wright is almost anonymous on this album. Would have been better with the crap removed and in single LP format; there's too much padding. Interesting concept, imperfect execution.

The best Pink Floyd album ever? Nope, afraid not. I, like everybody when this album was released, flipped out over it and played it to death. With the passing of time however, I would rate it in fourth place, behind Meddle, Wish You Were Here, DSOTM and maybe even behind Animals. Don't get me wrong, this album will stand alongside other great pivotal rock and roll releases, such as The Beatles' Revolver, Dylan's Highway 61, etc., etc. but I just don't think it's their best album. Sure, the playing and recording is sometimes breathtaking (such as Comfortably Numb, Run Like Hell, etc.) but for a double album there are really only a few great songs, while the quality of the rest of the songs just aren't up to par. Plus, although we all know this is a FLOYD album, it really sounds more like a Waters/Gilmour epic. Whatever the reason for Rick Wright's lack of contribution to this album, in my opinion he is sorely missed and is pretty much utilized as a sideman. Still, I think the album is still a "must-have" but in all honestly I will probably never listen to it all the way through again, as unfortunately FM radio has ruined it for me by overplaying Run Like Hell, Hey You, Comfortably Numb, Another Brick in the Wall.

... we came in

People used to love or hate this album. I love it. Don't care what other people say. This is my very first introduction to Pink Floyd and progressive rock. What do I love in this one? Great lyrics, excellent guitar work by Mr David Gilmour, great depressin and sad mood. It's excellent. My favourite track are: In The Flesh?, Another Brick In The Wall parts I and II, Goodbye Blue Sky, One Of My Turns, Goodbye Cruel World (so sad), Hey You, Is There Anybody Out There (excellent acoustic guitar song), Nobody Home, Comfortably Numb (who don't know it?), Waiting For The Worms and The Trial. All those song are beautyful. Very good melodies, musically good.

Thank you Pink Floyd.

Excellent album!!

so this way...

Hey, not bad, guys. This album does have some filler (i.e. "Is There Anybody Out There?", "Goodbye Cruel World"), at least on the album alone, but this all seems to fit in the film version. Gilmour gets his due, and Waters spouts all he wants.You really must appreciate the simplicity of Floyd's riffs, and how, though Gilmour is no speed demon on the fretboard (something I as a guitarist identify with), he seems to make the best of it, using sublte nuances, and textures on the guitar (almost always a Stratocaster), rather than musical masturbation. Good stuff, fellas (and dames).

I gave it 5 stars because it is certainly a must-have rock album. Arguing that an album is not good because it's 'dark' or 'depressing' is just plain stupid. This is Roger and David's last great collaboration, Pink Floyd will hit unbelievable lows from Final Cut and beyond while producing few notable singles, but no concept albums in rock hitory are as worthy to be in your collection as this one.

Pink Floyd has produced flawless experimental music in 'The Wall'. Fans criticize Water and Ezrin (and Pink Floyd in general) for incorporating too many elements in their later recordings and this perhaps explains why "Darkside of thee Moon" has become their most enduring classic.

DARKSIDE OF THE MOON IS NOT PINK FLOYD'S BEST ALBUM, THE WALL IS! I'd have to agree with Waters. 'The Wall' is beautiful music to many ears, it is well-orchestrated and Gilmour's screaming, emotional electric guitar is played as intricately as a stradivarius, whereas Darkside of the Moon, however great, will not be appreciated by as many people. And yes, if you're not looking for some hidden recorded elements, parts of Pink Floyd's albums can be repitiive, but keep in mind that their transitions were revolutionary at the time. 'The Wall' is one of the first real prog rock albums so if u don't have it, u better go out and get it.

Notable tracks on this album are: Mother Don't leave me now Hey You Nobody Home/Vera/Bring the Boys Back Home (all together) Comfortably Numb Run Like Hell and The Trial

The most poular song is of course the Happiest Day of Our Lives/Another Brick in the Wall Part II

"The Wall" is almost a solo album from Roger Waters. It's rather disappointing after the great "Dark side of the moon" and "Wish you were here". Not many great songs - too many fillers and too many dull songs.

First, no "When the Tigers Broke Free" ... Disc I starts with "In The Flesh ?", a correct intro. The Another Brick In The Wall (Part I)/The Happiest Days Of Our Lives/Another Brick In The Wall (Part II) sequence is really rocking - one of the best part of the album. Then 5 minutes of sleepy music with "Mother"... "Goodbye Blue Sky" starts another trilogy of good songs - great acoustic song, very emotional, fading into "Empty Spaces" - a song that creates the atmosphere for the following rocker "Young Lust". Here is the only input from another member of the band (Gilmour), and guess what... it's the best song of the album (this one got a lot of airplay on rock/hard rock radios, maybe as much as "Another Brick In The Wall"). Usually I stop listening at that point, because the last four songs on the album are very boring and I would instantly fall asleep.

Disc II starts with the beautiful "Hey You" - so melancholic and tortured - a pure gem. "Is There Anybody Out There ?" is another classic acoustic piece - one of those you can learn when you take guitar lessons. At this point I encourage everybody to skip the following three tracks (dull fillers) and jump directly to "Comfortably Numb": another collaboration from Waters and Gilmour and another outstanding track (the live version on "Delicate Sound of Thunder" is even darker - a pure masterpiece). After *another* filler, "In The Flesh" starts a sequence of more rocking songs (though it's disappointing to have two versions of the same song on an album) with "Run Like Hell" and "Waiting For The Worms" (a funny song but a good one). "The Trial" would have been a great song to close the album - it's totally silly and it makes the atmosphere at the end of the album more lighter, but there is again another boring filler...(I guess the last song is ok for "The Wall - the Movie" during the display of the ending credits)

Rating: 72/100 (disc 1 - 3 stars) + 59/100 (disc 2 - 1 star)

The first album i bought in my life, it was 1982, three years after it came out. I was 13 years old : those of you (most of you) who know this album can understand what this music, lyrics, guitarplaying, singing, speaking, art-concept, ... must have done to a 13- year old boy. I was absolutely overwhelmed although it was at that age quite impossible to fully understand and absorb this piece of art. Now so many years later I still regard this as one of the greatest pieces of modern music ever written. Mr Waters was at the peak of his artistry at that time and so was Gilmour. Many of you regard Comfortably Numb as the high point of this album. I have a few high points though : The Thin Ice (play this one really loud, shivers up your spine!), The Wall pt 1, Mother, Don't leave me now and The Show must go oOOOoon!!!

Could we ever be treated to such a masterpiece again? I wonder.

I never owned this album and now have only the film version, though I have listened to the album version. The anticipated follow-up to Animals was a bit of a disappointment back in 1979. (In 1978, I had spent my hard- earned paper route money on Tormato, And then There Were Three and Love Beach and was not going to fork over money for a double record that held the single, Another Brick in the Wall.) Another Brick in the Wall, Pt 2 was Floyd's first number one single. I don't think that Pink Floyd was a band that fans wanted to share with the immediate world though they were already pretty huge by 1979.

When the Alan Parker film came out I was still unimpresssed with the album. I think that there is something lacking, although over the years many of its big hits have grown on me, Comfortably Numb, In the Flesh, Young Lust and especially, Run Like Hell. I would argue that it never reaches the musical depth of previous albums but ultimately, I would not criticize it for that. It is popular music after all, and popular music in the grandest sense of what it can be. From that perspective, it is quite an achievement.

Pink Floyd became a very accessible band after Dark Side and The Wall is really a culmination of the conceptual ideas that Waters and the band were developing over the three previous albums. The popularity of the band, whose music tends towards the dark side, shows that the issues grappled with are key and coming to an understanding of the themes that these albums are developing is a necessary prerequisite for understanding 'modernity.' What is brilliant about The Wall concept is its use of the image of the wall, which tied so closely into Cold War paranoia and the Berlin wall. As well, its Apollonian/Dionysian conflict is central to rock and roll, and romantic art in general.

After Dark Side, which ends on a pessimistic note but with a sense of irony, the subsequent Floyd albums ended on a positive note, the quick change to the major at the end of Wish You Were Here and that wonderful guitar riff at the end of Sheep. In the film, a young boy empties a molotov cocktail at the end and we are left to believe that there is hope that things will get better. Overall, it is an important message and a successful attempt at popularizing the band without totally losing a sense of the progressive ideology.

I have been reading some of these reviews and most of them i like but when people rate this 2 or 3 stars - that is depressing. Don't you people know that this was the #1 top selling album of the 70's (THE GOLDEN ERA)!!!! To be #1 at that time is a huge thing. This album is simply a masterpiece. Every emotion you can possibly feel- tragedy, happiness, lonelinous, rebellious- is all in this album. I 've been a huge floyd fan for years and i've done my homework on this one. If you believe this is a bad album, you simply don't understand what pink floyd is trying to tell you. Songs like Comfortably Numb, Run Like Hell, Hey You, Young Lust, Another Brick in the Wall part1,2 and 3 and the list goes on and on are known worldwide. But one of the best things in this are the lyrics!! Its like reading poetry only in psychedelic rock form. So in conclusion this is a masterpiece that will never die-out. This is a must have album for any collection!!

The Wall is one of the most overrated albums of all time. Sadly, this is the album Pink Floyd is remembered for.

I don't want to go into detail on the individual songs, because they basically all suck. Even the highly regarded "Comfortably Numb" is a pale shadow of anything Pink Floyd did before this album. The playing here mostly resembles cheesy 80's rock (that feel hitting its peak with "Young Lust").

The concept of a Rock-Opera essentially gives the musicians no room to breath. Instead of well-structured 10+ minute tracks we get a string of 3 minute fillers used only to push the story along. The story isn't really even tangible anyway; even after reading the lyrics and seeing the movie I was just left dumfounded by the completely disjointed and weak storytelling.

The one and only interesting track here is "Goodbye Blue Sky", which would have made a good opener for something similar to Animals.

Roger Waters comes off as whiney and self-indulgent. Its like listening to a kid at the store whose parents won't buy him the toy he wants... I can tolerate most emotional expressions in singing, but not whining.

Please, if you are reading this review in hopes of discovering Pink Floyd- just pass up this album, no matter how popular it is. Go back and try WYWH or Animals first.

What a perfect album. Ever since I listened to Dark Side of the Moon for the first time, I loved Pink Floyd. The Wall was the next album I listened to by them. Man-it was glorious. It is perfect. The songs are rocking, but they are cutting at the same time, and they drill the story into your head very clearly. The story: a burned-out rock star, named Pink Floyd coincedentially, sits in a hotel room. He examines the wall he has built around his life, including his childhood and the death of his father(which leads me to think this is semi-autobiographical for Roger Waters-his father died in WWII as well.), his overbearing mother, the cruel schoolteachers which terrorize him, his wife who is seeing another man, and so on and so forth. Too many shows, too many drugs, too many bricks in the wall of his life eventually cause him to break completely down and he leaves reality and imagines himself as a world-ruling dictator, not unlike Adolf Hitler, and I think the Hammer Army(just a name I like to call Pink's army) is a representation of something like the Nazi Regime. Finally, Pink is confronted by a court of his own mind, which leads to the destruction of the wall. This album has so many emotions, so many foundations, that it's impossible to analyze. In my opinion, this is the greatest concept album of all time and should be a title in any Floyd fan's library. This album has just hit in me in so many places. It is truthful, provocative, excellent story, and of course rocking music from one of the greatest guitarists ever, David Gilmour, and written by one of the greatest songwriters ever, Roger Waters. Suggested Songs: 1. Another Brick In The Wall (Part II) 2. Comfortably Numb 3. Goodbye Blue Sky 4. One Of My Turns 5. In The Flesh 6. Waiting For The Worms 7. The Trial If you are new to Pink Floyd, I would suggest listening to Dark Side of the Moon or Wish You Were Here first.

This album represents the peak of Roger Waters career with Pink Floyd as the follow-up album "The Final Cut" was perceived by most observers as Waters' solo project. When "The Wall" came out I was happy as many people who previously did not know the band's name were becoming aware of it due to the popularity of "Another Brick In The Wall" Part 2. Quite entertaining for me as previously none of my friends knew the band very well until The Wall was released.

The opening track "In The Flesh" sets the whole atmosphere of the album with great combination of guitar, bass, soaring keyboard and powerful drumming enters the music in a high emotion. It flows into a silent part where transparent voice enters the scene and the music returns back on high state and ends up beautifully. It flows seamlessly to baby cry voice followed with bluesy music under "The Thin Ice". What follows is a great keyboard program and bass lines that accompanies vocal to open the great song "Another Brick In The Wall" Part 1 and 2. This presentation of five opening tracks has indicated how powerful this album is. There is no such thing as bad or mediocre track on Disc One so I give disc one a full five stars rating.

Disc Two starts off with a ballad style with bluesy style and ambient nuance "Hey You" with excellent acoustic guitar work. The bridge "Is There Anybody Out There" is a very good one - with very nice acoustic guitar work augmented with cello - that brings to my best favorite track of this album "Nobody Home". Yeah, Nobody Home gives me a sense of excellent melody, powerful lyrics as wells as top notch vocal quality. Musically it comprises mainly vocal and piano, violin / orchestral arrangements plus other sound effects (typical Pink Floyd music). I always repeat this track over and over. It's so powerful! I love how Waters vocal characterizes the song. "But I've got nowhere to fly to .. fly to .. fly to . Uh .. Babe who'll pick up the phone? There's nobody home ." . what a great and memorable lyrical parts! "Vera" is another great follow-up of "Nobody Home". "Bring The boys Back Home" contains colossal orchestration which elevates the overall album nuance.

Who does not know the heartbreaking "Comfortably Numb" which has become a title which reflects musical ecstasy? It's a wonderfully crafted song with great natural flow from start to end. Without any intention to demean other tracks, my ultimate favorites of this album are three tracks that form a very good story under: "Waiting for The Worms", "Stop", "The Trial". One thing that I really like about these three tracks that must be enjoyed in its entirety is the opera style of the song.

No one should argue with this wonderfully crafted concept album. The composition is tight, the musicianship is great, the songwriting and performance are top notch. So, you should not miss this phenomenal album. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

I've seen that most of you guys respectfully prefer 4 or in some cases 5 (including Meddle) other Floyd albums.I can only think of two reasons why this happens: One, you didn't spend much time with it. Two, you spent way much time with it.

What i'm trying to say here is that 'The Wall' is us. It's you, it's me, it's everybody. It's your fears, your complexes, your childhood, your nightmares, your lusts...All of these short themes are the fragments of your life... just put the pieces together...So, for those of you who just heard it and immediately compared it with WYWH or DSOTM, of course you thought it was worse.. It takes a lifetime for someone to discover (or not..) himself, imagine how long it takes to do that via someone else's work... For those of you who spent a looot of time with it, it's natural to have hated it..i have too... i mean, it tottaly got in me, swallowed me from the inside and then threw me up along with all the s**t a human soul can hide in...

Plus, i believe that at that time, Waters crossed the line between insanity and genius... If Geoff Tate spent some time in a psychiatric clinic after recording Operation : Mindcrime because he got into his characters, Roger Waters must have the presidential suite of the clinic reserved for life...

In addition to that, as far as the tour is concerned, we are probably talking about the best art work, light show and live performance ever... Ironically, during the tour, even though all shows (only 29 shows, if i remember correctly,due to the cost of the stage show...) were sold out, it was just the trend that lead all those people to watch the show and not appreciation of the work (Floyd were the hottest act then) just as today...

But, wait a minute, this is about music we are talking about...What about it? Well, this is the album with the best Gilmour song (Comfortably Numb) and probably his best guitar work ever... It has the most recognizable riff ever (Another Brick In The Wall), hard rock dynamites, beautiful preludes and ballads, theatrical pieces and generally whatever a music fan asks...

To sum up, 'The Wall' is not something for you to buy or not, to accept or not, to criticize, to rate... It's something for you to experience to your very core, and haunt you till the day you die... It's Roger's soul spilled at your feet...If you don't like it, just leave it to its existence... Maybe, it should just be in the PA as a simple mention to Floyd's history... Can you rate paintings like 'Guernica'? Books like 'War And Peace'? Then don't rate 'The Wall'... Simple as that...

I remember when I first bought the Wall back in January of 2003. I was not prepared at the time for what the album contained. I listened to it endlessly for days at a time, truly convinced that this was the perfect album. I hailed it as a masterpiece for 3 years. Now, in retrospect, I look back at The Wall fondly. But at the same time I am disappointed a bit by it. Roger Waters had now taken full creative control of Pink Floyd, and the results is a mixed album of strong ideas and weak ideas all amalgamated into a mammoth concept album about the mental decomposition of a disillusioned rock star who has been, throughout his life, tormented and has had his soul tortured. The story behind this album, dark and dreary as it may be, also is a bit uplifting, teaching us values of not letting ourselves be put behind mental barriers and to try and communicate with those outside of ourselves. But for the most part, you'll feel really down by this album, because it's not a very positive one.

The album opens with In the Flesh?, which is in my opinion one of the strongest on the album. A strong guitar riff and some nice hammond work are highlights, and Roger Waters lyrics are great to say the least. It segues into The Thin Ice, which is a pretty useless piece in my opinion, despite a nice guitar solo from Gilmour, it doesn't really have any context with the story. After The Thin Ice comes the first of the three part Another Brick in the Wall. The modulated guitars (phased and delayed) surely inspired some later works from Steve Rothery of Marillion, but to get back on track, the riffs and guitar themes in this song are okay at best. I wouldn't really consider them to be terribly strong. The Happiest Days of Our Lives/Another Brick in the Wall Part 2 will go down in history as the most overrated songs in my opinion. Nothing but a steady dance beat from Mason and some lyrics pertaining to the youth's dislike to the education system. Even Gilmour's solo can't save this piece, which in my opinion, is totally overblown.

Goodbye Blue Sky makes up for that though, with some haunting acoustic work augmented with droning layers of synthesizers to give it a more frantic feel. The lyrics in this song are also among the strongest on the album. The harmonies that Gilmour and Waters create are great as well. Empty Spaces/Young Lust are another segue couplet, with a particularly uninteresting guitar theme for Empty Spaces and a moderately strong theme for Young Lust. The guitar solo in Young Lust is also among the best on the album. One of My Turns follows, and it takes a more keyboard oriented approach this time around... that is in the first minute though. After the first minute, the piece explodes into a frantic piece of muddy chords and passionate screaming from Waters. Don't Leave Me Now follows, and it is among my favorites on the album. Dissonant organ drones and delayed guitar rhythms conquer this song, but towards the end the whole band enters and gives the piece a formal ending. Another Brick in the Wall Part III/Goodbye Cruel World ends the first half of the album, in a similar fashion, nothing particularly interesting again.

While the first half was filled with uninteresting pieces, the second disc takes a turn for the better. Hey You opens it, Gilmour doing a great job on fretless bass on this one. The solo on this track is also among the best on the album. In There Anybody Out There? is next, this acoustic lead piece is another beautiful display of Gilmour's ability on guitar. The depressing chordal progression really suits the feel of the album nicely. Nobody Home follows, and it is a piano based song where Roger gets really personal. It's among my favorites on the album as well. Vera/Bring the Boys Back Home follows, and that's where the album takes a turn for the worse (again). Shortly thereafter, though, the best song on the album is played. Comfortably Numb is one of the best Pink Floyd tunes out there, mainly because of the overly impressive and emotional guitar solos from David Gilmour, these solos are often hailed as his best solos on guitar ever, and I can see what they mean. The Show Must Go On is a song that features some great harmony vocals and some great vocals from Gilmour. In the Flesh is a reworking of the opening song of the album, with Pink's fears being fully realized. Expect essentially the same as the first one.

Run Like Hell features more echoey and delayed guitar tones as well as a strong main theme compliments of Gilmour. Wright's synthesizer solo is also very strong. Waiting for the Worms/Stop/The Trial/Outside the Wall end the album. The best of these songs being the Trial, which features a great orchestral score (compliments of Bob Ezrin and conducted by Michael Kamen). In the end, the album ends with the same theme that began the album, and thus one of the biggest selling albums ever concludes.

Overall, I like about half of the album and I dislike about half. There certainly is a nostalgic value of this album for me, but I feel left cold and unimpressed after I listen to it. It's not a bad album at all, it's just been wrought by people hyping it too much, therefore in my opinion it is a bit overrated. Pink Floyd fans and Classic Rock fans will enjoy this album. 3/5.

- Uncomfortably numb

Ah, the famous concept-album "The Wall". The Floyd's most commercial successful effort together with Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here, but also as brilliant as these two incredible masterpieces? Well, IMO the answer is nope. That doesn't mean that The Wall is not a great album though, but it has it's flaws.

The concept behind The Wall is Roger Water's two disc meditation on the travails of a rock star, whose unhappy life causes him to build a psychological barrier between himself and the rest of the world.

The musical content contains brilliant songs, as well as some flawed ones. Most of them are short interludes between the "real" songs, which seem like filler material. The album definitely has it's flow, like any great concept album should, only that The Wall hasn't the consistence of other great concept works, like for examples, Operation: Mindcrime, Metropolis pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory, The Perfect Element, Quadrophenia, The Lamb lies down on Broadway or even American Idiot (purists may now want to hang me up on my balls, but that's the same to me). Before you are going to write me hate-letters to my private messenger mailbox, I want to say I really like The Wall. Roger Waters is a passionate, if very depressing songwriter, who threads on nagative things like war, hate, familiy/society struggles with pointful, aggressive disapprovement in his lyrics. I highly respect that, even if some listeners may have problems with the general dark tune of the music, which is immensly collaborated by the lyrics, which set the tune for the music. Like said before, in lyrical terms it ranks as one of Pink Floyd's best works, but not always musically. Highlights including the strong opening "In the Flesh?" which flows perfectly into the short but effective "The Thin Ice", the three essential "Another Brick in the Wall" parts, the emotive masterpieces "Mother", "Goodbye Blue Sky", "Hey You" and "Comfortably Numb" (co- written by David Gilmour, including one of the greatest guitar solos ever), the underrated "Is there Anybody out There", the beautiful piano piece "Nobody Home", the aggressive rock'n'roll vibe of "Young Lust", the dance-compatible "Run Like Hell" with it's amazing guitar work by Dave Gilmour and the fitting closer of CD 1, "Goodbye cruel world". The double album seems like a rendez-vouz, where meets light and darkness. There are also dull pieces like the mostly awful "Don't leave me now" (the only good thing about it is the guitar solo at the end), the annoying "Bring the Boys back Home", the Beach Boys-alike but pretty uninspired "The Show must go on", the annoyingly strange "Waiting for the worms" (which has a good guitar work though) and the misplaced "The Trial", which is not that bad but would be better fit on a Gabriel-era Genesis album, specially The Lamb lies down on Broadway.

By some (Roger Waters) fans considered as Pink Floyd's biggest or even finest hour, or by some press-people called the best concept album of all time, I must say it's great, but could have be done better. Without a doubt highly influential and it's essential to any PF fan and progressive rock lover, alone for the highlights this release includes. But if it's truely a masterpiece, then a flawed one. I prefer the criminally underrated The Final Cut (The Wall part 3?), which I find more consistent and doesn't scream "hype" at all.

album rating: 8.5/10 points = 85 % on MPV scale = 4/5 stars

point-system: 0 - 3 points = 1 star / 3.5 - 5.5 points = 2 stars / 6 - 7 points = 3 stars / 7.5 - 8.5 points = 4 stars / 9 - 10 points = 5 stars

This album is really not very special at all, Here we see Floyd riding on the reputation of their earlier, breathtaking albums, creating an album which is much more arty that progressive. Roger Waters I think wrote this on his own, which is never a good thing (see 'Tales from Topographic Oceans'). I never did much like the use of samples and sound bytes in 'The Dark Side of the Moon', but they at formed a minor element, whereas in 'The Wall', long sequences of noise and sound effects pass for songs, which are downright annoying. Most of the songs are really not very compex and offer little other than what first appears on the surface. 'Another brick in the wall' and 'comfortably numb' are both Floyd classics brilliant songs however, though I cant imagine why 'Ather brick in the wall' is repeated three times, other than there was a lack of imagination and there needed to be even more filler material for this ridiculously long album.

This is my last review of the Pink Floyd albums. This is undoubtly Roger Water's greatest work (all but four songs have sole credit to him) and PF's best selling album (3rd in music history)

Yes this album is bleak and depressing but tells a story almost everyone can relate to. We all have something in our lives that we want to wall up and hide from, only in this album the wall was to block out the entire outside world.

It is undoubtly the greatest concept album ever simply because it was written by a man about his own expierence being the front man of on of the greatest rock bands ever. Yes, Waters was on an ego trip at the time, but that was what caused him to write this album. If he hadn't reached that leval such a great album would never have come about.

While it doesn't rech the perfection of "Wish You Were Here" or "Dark Side of the Moon", it carries on themes from those two albums and does it well.

The major flaws with the album lie in the lacking of musical quaility, only in Comfortably Numb, where Gilmour was allowed to take leading credit of a song, do we see the any great preformance on the guitar.

The lyrics are wonderful, but many songs are so short, they fail to clearly get across major parts of the story. Especially on side 4, where Pink has reached the hights of insanity and has a vision of himself as a dictator, what exactly is happening becomes unclear.

To fully understand why Waters had to make this dark and cynical album is revealed at the end of the Wall when he is sentenced to "be exposed before his peers". He exposes himself in his following album "Final Cut" which is essentially the epilouge to the previous album

The opening track "in the Flesh" makes for a great concert opener and an excellent warm up track. However, it is followed by the mediocre "Thin Ice". "Another Brick 1"/"Happiest Days of our Lives"/"Another Brick in the Wall 2" is a nice group oif songs that slowly build up in intensity. The highlight of Disk 1.

"Mother" is a slow song that drags on a bit, especially in the movie.

"Goodbye Blue Sky" is perhaps one of thier most underrated songs and is a beautiful ballad. A love the bass riffs at the beginning

"Empty Spaces"/"Young Lust" is another good set, but fairly bland in context

"One of My Turns" and "Don't Leave Me Now" are both decent songs where Pink switches from depressed to mad to depressed agian

"Another Brick 3"/"Goodbue Cruel World" is a great way to end an album even as dark and depressing as they are.

The first half of disk 2 (side 3) is the best part of the album. Opening with "Hey You" a cool ballad with an great solo, it is the second best song on the album. "Is There Anybody Out There?"/"Nobody Home" are great songs, though followd by th e weak "Vera" and "Bring the Boys Back Home". But then there is the classic masterpiece "Comfortably Numb" which by far the greatest PF song.

The story contiues with "The Show Must go On" a nice peice but then followed by the widely misunderstood "In the Flesh II". "Run Like Hell" is another classic PF song although it is far better live, as they can play it its full length. "Waitning for the Worms"/"Stop" is a another cynical song. Closing the storyt is "The Trial", a cartoonish track where we actually see the story from other points of view, via the Schoolteacher, wife, mother and judge. Closing the album is the cheesy, unclaer song "Outside the Wall". In which we are told the moral of the story, but not the fate of Pink. (that is revealed in The Final Cut, he tries to kill himself but can't do it)

So, not a great album, but by far an essential to the music history of the 1970's But not essential for Prog rock

Most likely the most overrated album in Floyd's discography. There is pure Floyd brilliance on this album, yet we only get glimpses of it. Tracks like "Goodby Blue Sky", "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 1", and "Comfortably Numb" are all true standout tracks. There are no really BAD tracks on this album. just what some people would call "rubbish". The mina problem here is that Roger Waters became too self indulgent here, yet oddly enough this worked much better on the follow-up, the brilliant "The Final Cut". Though there is some vintage Floyd here, and it is a key album in their history, the album is not as good as people would have you beleive.

3.4 Too much filler!

This album, of course, contains some of Floyd’s greatest tracks, i.e. “Comfortably Numb” “Hey You” and “Mother”, but the remainder is boring, despite the heartfelt lyrics. This was a very commercial release for Pink Floyd, primarily due to the world famous “Another Brick in the Wall”. This was the first step down into the struggle of the worn-out imagination, which encapsulates every band. They were heading downhill with the absence of brakes. (My opinion, of course.) However, the album is well crafted and the vocal emotions are easily conveyed. The music itself is not particularly grasping.

My suggestion is that you borrow this double cd first, as it is a very like or dislike affair. (Don’t know anyone who hates it). This may bore the hardened prog listener.

Necessary to call yourself a fan of prog, just because of its historical importance. However, most of us here know that this is not their greatest work, and really sub par when compared to other PF works like WYWH and Dark Side. Comfortably Numb is a great song, but it certainly can't carry the whole album. The work is never really able to stand on its own two feet. Much of it feels out of place and is not very inspiring or interesting. Nevertheless, it's necessary to have because it's still a Pink Floyd album.

Well, the sensation after re-hearing "THE WALL" is just the same I had more than 25 years ago when I listened to it for the first time: it reminds me a fair, neat, honest movie but perhaps you won't see it again at least for a good period of time. Unlike other Floyd's works something here does not run accordingly which means not the train derailed although it was close. Maybe the over worn theme - school and childhood problems, parents' absence, madness; all look recurrent in band's output or maybe the pomposity, the same noted in "Dark Side of the Moon" but thankfully not observed in the two previous albums.

Considering "THE WALL" as a movie soundtrack then all tracks have a reason of being but evaluating it as a musical feature then the filler is notorious. However, some filler tracks have better tunes and solutions than those one could call main tracks. The general feeling toward the short (filler) tracks may vary according to the moment and also from hearer to hearer.

Interesting to notice are the common places surrounding "THE WALL": the last output of prog's golden era, the nail in the prog-rock coffin, the ultimate Floyd's work. None of these urban legends proved to be correct. Prog's first golden era had finished a couple of years before album's release; there wasn't and still isn't any coffin prepared for prog-rock facing the issue that it is still alive and well (even with some periodic medication); Pink Floyd was able to release other fair productions in the following years.

"In the flesh", the opener, has a kind of thunderous motif providing great expectations for things to come, hence it promises more than what's really supplied. "Another brick in the wall" is really album's main theme, repeated in three different parts along the album, being the so-called 'part 2' the most well-known, video-clip included. This song was so exhaustively played that we forgot sometimes that it sounds great, catchy, intense - one of the best in the album. "Goodbye blue sky" is probably the most beautiful of the short tracks, with fine acoustic guitars and Beatle-esque vocals. Keyboard background brings some comparison to old Floyd stuff and some Moody Blues tunes."Hey you" is a well-known song, very emblematic of that Pink Floyd era, in the turn from the 70s to the 80s, but it's a good and pleasant song, being not its guilty the fact it was so much radio friendly. "Comfortably numb" is another well-known song that has been since then radio and TV aired in a frequent basis, in spite of or even so the music quality is great, with fine arrangements and almost certainly the best album track. Other tracks are hearable, no need for skipping here - if you're in a mood to hear the album with a considerable time gap from another hearing. Pay attention to "Run like hell", a really good rock.

Fair to mention that band member's musicianship was high and album production was great, since at this time Pink Floyd had reached the peak of their fame and label treated them quite distinctively. It's also good to remember that the year "THE WALL" was released (1979) was not properly the most adequate for a progressive work - someone could claim that this is not a real progressive piece, and the courage to release it, during those dark times, shall be permanently enhanced.

An important note: "THE WALL" is comprised of a double album or a double CD, and it's quite noticeable that disc 1 is a bit superior than disc 2, but the result is more or less balanced, with the good and bad parts well distributed.

Overall, a classic and essential album, compulsory at any music collection, but not truly a masterpiece. Final rating: 4.

In 1979, Pink Floyd has released their revolutionary album, "The Wall". Only the people who witnessed to hear this album, knew what everyone knew back then: music will never be the same again.

But as "The Wall" turned Pink Floyd to a "Stadium Monster", and gave them the place in history as a milestone that changed the face of the music, it has started the break-up between the members, and this was the beginning of the end of Pink Floyd.

"The Wall" is so special, because it was a rule-breaker. It is a story, based on music. perhaps that's the reason it's one of the only albums that was an inspiration to a movie (In the same name, by Allan Parker - 1982). The idea behind the album is to really speak about the walls between ourselves, and these are the walls we should "tear down".

My favorite tracks of "The Wall" are many, but if i have to choose two of them, il'l choose "Comfortably Numb" - one of the first Pink Floyd songs i've ever heard, and from the first moment i've heard it - it just couldn't get out of my head. Extra-ordinary writing, who can really tell what it feels like to be helpless. To tell the truth, it's really hard to express in words what i feel about this song, you should just hear it to believe it. Simply, one of the few songs i can ever call them "Perfect". My second favorite track, is "Nobody Home". A Waters-style ballad, that can really remind you of a lonley home. It talks about being alone, and how it's can destroy you.

To conclude this review, i believe "The Wall" is an important prog release, but it's not perfect. In my opinion, "Dark Side Of The Moon" & "Wish You Were Here" are better, because it's simply a Waters album, with a few Gilmour touches - but not more than that. 4 stars will be enough.

... one of the biggest selling albums in history, and one that still provokes discussion by Pink Floyd fans. Was 'The Wall' the last great Floyd album; the start of their decline; the point of no return; or the band's unsurpassed masterpiece?

Everything about this album smells of ambition. In many ways, it's bass player / new vocalist Roger Waters' personal pet project. From the unusual double album format (a 4-side LP in the olden days, later updated to double CD) to the repetition of themes in the lyrics and melodies to the appropriation of the band's name for the protagonist in the album's storyline, it's almost as if Pink Floyd finally felt ready to record their magnum opus, six years after they'd already accidentally done that with 'Dark Side of the Moon.'

The Pink Floyd sound is intentionally stripped down and simplified for The Wall, a departure from the extended jams and ambient instrumentals that typified their sound through the seventies. This shallow sound can't be blamed on the near-absence of keyboard player Rick Wright (who Waters fired during the making of this album) as the previous release 'Animals' achieved a comparable atmosphere to the synth-heavy 'Wish You Were Here' with only minimal use of keyboards, as did much of their early work. The style would seem to be a combination of Waters' style-over-substance attitude, the focus being on his intelligent concept through the lyrics, and the desire to produce a more profitable and commercial album filled with shorter and simpler radio-friendly material, following the somewhat disappointing sales of 'Animals' with its ten-minute- plus Orwellian rants. The concept of The Wall is intrinsically linked to its sound and overall style, more so perhaps than in any other big-selling album, and as such has to be dealt with in addition to the music itself.

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Disc One

1. In the Flesh? 2. The Thin Ice 3. Another Brick in the Wall part one 4. The Happiest Days of Our Lives 5. Another Brick in the Wall part two 6. Mother 7. Goodbye Blue Sky 8. Empty Spaces 9. Young Lust 10. One of My Turns 11. Don't Leave Me Now 12. Another Brick in the Wall part three 13. Goodbye Cruel World

The first disc is by far the more impressive of the two. The opening is strong, the songs are good and the pace doesn't let up for a long time, only losing my interest in the bleak section at the end. The Wall Disc One stands strong as an independent album, as the repetition of musical themes is successful (namely in the 'Another Brick in the Wall' pieces) and the songs are varied enough in style and mood to make for a successful album. Even the all-important 'Pink Floyd' concept draws to something of a conclusion here, though the existence of the second disc benefits the story greatly by offering solutions to the character's grief and presenting the consequences of his actions, elevating the concept above the cynical, world-weary rant it would have been at forty minutes.

Lyrically, disc one is a speedy scene-by-scene, brick-by-brick overview of Pink's formative years and experiences, the wailing baby's birth immediately preceded by his father's roaring plane crash and the lyrics dealing with school and an over-cautious mother. After track seven the listener (or even reader) is brought back to the 'present': Pink the rock star failing to find contentment living his dream and spiralling deeper into despair. The concept is cool, and it's carried out well by the music, although it's a shame that the brief and intriguing voice samples from early in the album give way to lengthy performance pieces later on, as in the opening to 'One of My Turns' when Pink invites a groupie to his hotel room. The arbitrary, trivial criticisms of the insane headmaster in the early tracks are fun to listen to ('how ken ya hav'any puddeng if ya dorn't eat yer meat???') and there's some nice foreshadowing in the almost inaudible ringing phone.

Musically, disc one is loud, mid-tempo rock music that ranges from the grand opening chords to the anthemic 'Another Brick' hit single to the quiet and reflective 'Mother' and 'Goodbye Blue Sky' to the mellow pop-rock of 'Young Lust' and, finally, the drawn- out bleakness of 'Don't Leave Me Now' and 'Goodbye Cruel World.' The opening song is great and energetic, and although it's a little disappointing that this power fades away so soon with the piano-led 'The Thin Ice,' the Brick sections at least keep things bouncing and plodding along in a relatively satisfying way, even if that infamous school choir on Another Brick part two sounds pretty grating, especially at the high volume that the production of this album demands.

The stripped acoustic style of 'Mother' works incredibly well, and the eruption into to Dave Gilmour's guitar solo works perfectly, a feat that is sadly never achieved again in the course of this disc. Both 'One of My Turns' and 'Don't Leave Me Now' attempt the exact same thing, only the contrast between the quiet body of the song and the electric finale is more pronounced in these latter two, and the resulting solos and melodies are cut off before going anywhere interesting in both instances. This reliance on pointless volume-tinkering and a contrived electric guitar 'wow' factor would later be one of many failings of the follow-up album, 'The Final Cut.' In Gilmour's praise, he makes excellent use of the limited time he's given on these later tracks, no matter how much they clearly demonstrate his losing position in the band's compromise with its control freak of a bass player.

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Disc Two

While some of the second disc's failings are down to loss of the initial enthusiasm listeners may have got a kick out of as they realised disc one was telling a story, there are also clear reasons why it fails in places as a strong album. For a start, the tracklist is deceptive and exaggerated: 'Is There Anybody Out There!,' 'Bring the Boys Back Home' and 'Stop' are all mere interludes with very little merit either on their own or even in their positions on the album, although the first would have seemed more fitting as the opening for disc two, as was originally intended, continuing the hopelessness of disc one's finale rather than seemingly going backwards here after the more optimistic 'Hey You.' It would be unfair to condemn 'Vera,' 'The Show Must Go On' and 'Outside the Wall' as not being 'true songs' just because they're all very short also, but they are eclipsed by the longer and more worthwhile songs, which end up comprising only seven of the thirteen tracks.

The concept of disc two is predominantly routed in the present tense of the character's experiences, as he is forced to continue living and performing under medication, and reacts by abusing his position on stage by turning his concert into a fascist rally. Pink retreats into his own mind once again, this time to confront his demons, the bricks in his symbolic wall personified by the characters whose negligent attitudes were responsible for his descent. The ending is ambiguous: Pink's fate is unknown, but the Wall is audibly demolished and, of course, the CD loops back round to Pink's father's death, the first brick, to begin construction all over again.

The musical style is even more varied than on the first disc, but this isn't necessarily a positive thing. Opener 'Hey You' is my favourite on the album, a short but progressive song with a great rock chorus, effective contrast of moods and even a nice electric reprise of the 'Another Brick' guitar riff for the first of several instances on this disc. The other hit singles are also the most prominent songs on this side, the sombre Gilmour classic 'Comfortably Numb,' proof if any was needed that Pink Floyd was never all about Waters, and the disco beats of 'Run Like Hell,' one that I'm not so fond of. The music once again ties perfectly to the tone of the lyrics, the boost of energy that accompanies the protagonist's performance permitting the sequel / prequel (it depends on your point of view) 'In the Flesh.' It also means that anyone bored by the melancholic sound at the end of disc one can look forward to things improving as the second disc continues, the quieter acoustic pieces sounding more reflective and chilled out than dismal.

My main issue with the second disc is that the story is permitted and encouraged to completely overpower the music on several occasions. While 'Comfortably Numb' is implicitly about injecting the character of Pink with some kind of drug so he's ready to perform, it could be about anything, and that's why people request it for their funerals. By complete contrast, 'The Trial' is a disappointingly melodramatic conclusion to the album that offers very little in the way of musical entertainment and is mainly a chance for Waters to put on an even sillier Irish accent than usual and scream a lot. 'Bring the Boys Back Home' also sounds very out of place, to the extent that I can't see where in music it could possibly have any place, and doesn't even succeed in making the point about cheery wartime propaganda that I guess it's making. The song sounds really obstructive and annoying before 'Comfortably Numb,' and could have been handled differently, in any other way, and been more pleasing. The album's true (but still disputed) finale is nice and pleasant.

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The Wall doesn't match up to Dark Side of the Moon, its immediate rival within the band's discography. In fact, I don't think it matches up to much of their output prior to this, but I also think it's a huge step above the dismal disappointment of the Waters- dominated 'The Final Cut,' and the mediocre albums the band produced after his departure. Dark Side is an incredible listening experience that works from start to finish, while The Wall features too many slip-ups and inconsistencies, not to mention that it's really stretched out at just over 80 minutes. Where Dark Side innovates new ways of sounding, The Wall deliberately rejects them and oversimplifies itself for consumers; unnecessarily, as the record buying public were already eager for anything with the Pink Floyd name.

At least there are some fantastic songs amidst the filler, especially those that are full band collaborations. Sadly, all the band members are restrained and consequently don't get to sound much like themselves, especially notable in Wright's diluted Hammonds (that nevertheless improve the album greatly) and Nick Mason's reduction to time- keeping percussionist. Waters relies too much on understatement in the mistaken belief that low volume is somehow more meaningful than loud rock music (so what are those amps all about?), and this means that only around one-third of the album's softer pieces end up being good songs. The best cuts are 'In the Flesh?' (and its similar, punctationless companion), 'Another Brick in the Wall part 2' (grudgingly), 'Mother,' 'Goodbye Blue Sky,' 'Hey You' and 'Comfortably Numb,' with perhaps 'Run Like Hell' added if you like disco. The rest of the album is mostly nice, but acts as a bridge between the good stuff.

The lasting legacy of The Wall is that it gives attentive listeners a fair amount to think about. It can't all be about the depressed rock star plot, as the music has to back up the story with equal brilliance, and it mostly succeeds. While the jingoistic upbringing, rock star privileges and drug abuse motifs prevent this from being an 'everyman' tale (imagine that. A whole generation of Roger Waterses. Depressing or what?), some aspects of the album are nicely open-ended for interpretation. Watching Alan Parker's 1982 film version of this album would probably help in spoiling it all for you with some kind of definitive message, but luckily I haven't seen that.

Personally, I view some of the album's louder, more typical rock and roll moments such as 'In the Flesh' and the Thin Lizzie esque 'Young Lust' as being songs from the guitar and repertoire of (the fictional character) Pink Floyd, especially as the latter sounds so different and so much more consciously commercial and genre-based than anything else off the album. If 'Young Lust' is indeed an ironic parody of the mellow, gravely voiced, swinging guitars hard rock style, it's a damn good parody. it was even released as a successful single! The album would have been even more impressive if more songs were open to interpretation, and things like the over-exposure of 'The Trial' were watered down.

It's not enough for the album to rely on the merits of its lyrical complexity, as this serves at best, giving a theoretical example (that's not at all based on my own experience.), to immediately wow listeners with its intelligence, have them reading all about it on the internet and then deciding that The Wall is one of their new favourite albums because it's so clever, only to listen to it again at a later date and realise that the music's not actually that revolutionary or inspired at all. And feeling cheated by myself. I mean, themselves. The theoretical people that aren't me. It's a nice gimmick to split a vocal sample over the end and then the beginning of the album, but that alone isn't necessarily enough to encourage cyclical playing.

Of course, this was a massive selling album and not everyone who owns it is going to be interested in burdening themselves with exploration of the concept. They just want good rock songs played by great musicians at their peak, and for this reason The Wall is ...

Very Overrated Pink Floyd Album. Don't get me wrong, there are some really great tracks on this double disc. But all-in-all, I don't find the songs to flow at all within each other and I feel as though that is very essential especially for a band such as Pink Floyd. On the first disc you have a very good batch of songs that I feel are just randomly put together. It's really hit or miss for me with this side. The second disc I can't stand. I was never a fan of Hey You and besdies Comfortably Numb, that was considered their best song on this disc. I enjoy Comfortably Numb but am sick of it after hearing it for the Eleven-Billionth time. Run-like-Hell is probably the closes thing to "Ok" on this disc. Overall a very pretentious album as a whole.

I joined the forum for no other reason than to write this review. Sorry to all who love this album, but for me it proved a grim disappointment.

When I first heard DSOTM an entire world was opened up to me, limited as I'd been before then to the Top Twenty and knowing nothing of what lay beyond. I became an avid Prog Rock fan and, for me, Floyd were the pinnacle. I laid hands on everything from 'Piper' on, 'Echoes' was my all-time favourite track, DSOTM my all-time favourite album and my only concern when WYWH came out was whether I could justify putting that at the top of the heap instead.

However, there was a slight wrinkle of concern that came with WYWH, that being 'Have a Cigar'. DSOTM had dealt with the eternal verities, ageless concerns, the issues that have us reading Shakespeare 400 years after his death. 'Have a Cigar' grated for being a bit of a parochial moan on the part of a gent, Waters, who had a lot less to moan about than most of his audience. Successful rock star me but oh, my dear, the money-men. Well yes, good point Roger, you love the music but hate the business... can I have the album for free then? I can afford to buy it a lot less than you can afford the loss.

The twinge of anxiety intensified into a spasm with Animals. I'd been through the stage of sixth-form political thinking by then and yes, Mary Whitehouse was indeed a pain, but a whole album of it? People as pigs, or dogs, or sheep... well yes, I could see it if you simplify everything down and forget the fine details but this was starting to read like a treatise from a 16 year old anarchist, anarchic by default in understanding little of politics and society, only knowing he didn't trust either much.

This may seem like a long preamble before I even get to the album under review, but not to note that progression and there'd be no review. The Wall marked the culmination of a depressing slide and with it Floyd, my favourite band, my revelatory band, lost me completely. Waters had taken over and the slide backward from the eternal verities through adolescent anarchy and into pre-pubescent angst was complete.

The Wall is the ultimate concept album in that that is largely all there is. A concept. I'm not saying there aren't some great pieces of music here, see above; but as has been noted above, they were seconded to Waters' Great Message and to my mind it was never a message that was all that great in any case. At the age of 20 I found myself listening to the whine of a guy of 35 about stuff I'd grown out of at the age of eleven. So much for Shakespeare.

Strangely I have come to reappraise the album in the last six years. It is actually relevant. I have seen the realities it talks about and yes, even seen people driven to near suicide on the back of it all but I have to give that its context. I've spent the past six years living in China where the CD, pirated, is surprisingly popular. Or unsurprisingly when you see the education here, the parental control masquerading as affection and all the other nonsense Chinese youth has to put up with. It is relevant. Stunningly so. If you happen to be an 18 year old Chinese. Which in 1979 Waters was not by any stretch of the imagination and nor were his target audience.

That people should gush so much over this album depresses me. Prior to this there was genius - yes, even with Animals, though the genius was on the slide by then. It worries me that newcomers to Floyd, being told this is somehow the definitive album, will be put off when they hear it and miss out on the gems that came before.

Had this album originated with another band it would have been interesting. But it didn't. It originated with Floyd. And as a Floyd album it is, quite frankly, substandard to the edge of pointless.

For long, Pink Floyd's The Wall was one of my favourite albums. I couldn't understand my liking for it very well. It is utterly depressing, yet when I listen to it I also feel uplifted in some bizarre way. It had a special resonance with me, it meant something to me. But time passes, and it doesn't seem to appease me as much as it once did. It's still enjoyable, but the personal touch I once received is gone, and in its place are simple songs and defected, bitter romance. I find it hard to listen all the way through, because atmosphere is shaky and not dreadfully gripping. However, it's still a great album, with memorable tunes, and much originality.

The Wall- This is one album that I would bring if I were trapped on a desert island and could only bring 5 albums. Not only is it amazingly well written it expresses emotion very well throughout. The album is made up of main tracks that are played to hell on radio stations and smaller filler tracks that make up transitions and carry the premise of the album throughout. Some of the tracks are a bt tedious on this album and some are way overplayed. But that isn't Pink Floyd's fault. The album to me though doesn't feel quite complete. I wanted it to go out with a bang or with an amazing ending track but instead it just kind of simmers out. This album is yet another masterpiece but isn't the best FLoyd album although it did very well in the sales department. I am giving it 4 stars because it just didn't feel quite complete to me but because it has some amazing songs and is made up of a lot of songs, two albums, i would take it to my desert island.

Ok, I'm not rooting for Roger here, but some misconceptions must be cleared here in his favour, before I get to reviewing The Wall itself.

A lot has been said, blah blah blah, about Roger taking total control after Animals, well what did you expect??

Let's start with David first. By his own admission very recently he didn't contribute much to the Dark Side cos of 'laziness'. And by the time of The Wall he didn't have much beyond Comfortably Numb, no-one has since disputed this, least of all himself. Remember, the bulk of it was written before recording commenced.

Now with Richard, everyone knows he's more of a traditionalist keyboardist, more Hammond and piano than synths. Indeed, the VCS3s in On The Run on Dark Side was Roger's and Dave's work. David has claimed the excellent synth work on Welcome To The Machine in Wish You Were Here as mostly his, Richard has never denied this. So I can understand when he said Roger rejected his work on Animals, maybe his stuff just didn't fit in, and remember at this time Dogs was written about 5 years before, and it's a song that definitely calls for more keyboard drama than just piano and Hammond.

Nick, well like Ringo, was lovable and had a good sense of humour, and that's enough!

So if by 1979 Roger had developed an ego, well quite frankly none of the other members had anything artistically to keep it in check. Brutal but true. As a band Pink Floyd was finished after 1977, let alone after The Final Cut.

And now one last thing before the actual review, some here are astonishingly unaware that no-one can actually tell who was playing what on The Wall album. The only certain performer was Gilmour on guitar, and maybe Roger on more than a few bass parts. No- one, and I mean no-one can tell where Wright or Mason was playing. Many studio musicians, including drummers, keyboardists, and guitarists were enlisted in the sessions but were not credited on the album. If I'm correct David had first brought this to light in a few interviews in 1987/88. So even by 1979 the Floyd could hardly be called a nuclear entity. Sorry folks, that's just how it was.

Now to the album itself, in a way it's a continuation of Animals, with Roger's increasingly sardonic tone, now expanded.

Side One starts off strongly enough with In The Flesh, but in contrast to many fans here, it's my least favourite side. Sure, ABITW (2) and Mother are great, but...

Things get really cooking for me on Side Two. The harmony singing on Goodbye Blue Sky is stunning, and to my ears the music, lyrics and singing come together spot on. Then to my next favourite, which nobody else seems to like, is The Empty Spaces, which I think is just a brilliant prelude to Young Lust. I think many don't get it, Roger has said it's a rock and roll pastiche, and to me it's a great rollicking song that flows. David's vocals and guitar solo are sublime! Which leads onto Young Lust, which I think again, people either get it or don't, it's just excellent, the way it builds up from the woman in the room, to the protagonist letting out his frustrations. Again, musically, lyrically and vocally it all comes together. And hats off again to Gilmour. And now, MOST JUST DON"T GET Don't Leave Me Now. It's actually a song about how husbands deride wives, and maybe vice versa, in social situations such as restaurants and other public places. I think everyone has experienced this at some point in their lives. I repeat again, I think it works perfectly. And the side ends perfectly with ABITW (3) and Goodbye Cruel World, which signifies Pink's wall as now complete. Sorry folks, again, you either get it or you don't.

Side 3, again one of my favourites. I don't need to harp on as to how brilliant the bookends of this side are, everyone agrees. Where I will disagree is everything in- between. I LOVE Is There Anybody Out There, and Nobody Home is just sublime. Sure maybe the rest are not essential but I think the flow from Bring The Boys Back Home to CF is very good. So this side, some love, some don't, and that is that.

Side 4, I agree with most others here, is not as successful, but after listening to the album after maaaaaany years, I think The Show Must Go On is very good indeed, from the Beach Boys harmony to the actual melody, it works well into In The Flesh reprise, which is excellent: notice the instrumental harmonizing before Roger sings, very effective, and i dare find it funny! Whoever said he has no sense of humour, I'd have him or her shot! Run Like Hell was never my favourite, but I now like it more after listening to this album after, um, about 10 years. Waiting For The Worms is however the centrepiece of this side, and again works very well. The Trial, yes, I don't think has aged well, but has some merit I suppose. Outside The Wall ends the album on a high note, I love the harmonium on the song.

Now about this prog-rock bull[&*!#], I see it this way, Dark Side and Wish were more musical, whereas the Wall is more expressionist. Yes, maybe I sound a bit pompous here but I think The Wall is more akin to an expressionist painting.

So there's my two cents.

I hate to give a PF album 3 stars, as I am an insanely devoted fan. But progressively speaking, I'm not sure this album captured as much of Floyd's deep, psychedelic essence. There are some great songs on here (of course, Comfortably Numb, Run Like Hell, Nobody Home, Another Brick In The Wall, Mother) and the album has an amazing concept. It's pretty mind-blowing, actually.

This is an amazing classic rock album, as well as an amazing concept album. But as much as I dislike saying this, I can't give The Wall the credit of being an amazing progressive album. I still enjoy listening to it immensely, though. I'd still recommend it highly, just not if you're looking for PF's more progressive side.

Pink Floyd's the wall is a great CD, and my favorite of all the albums they released. It's got an interesting mood to it that they preformed well. Not to also add, that The Wall has some classic songs such as "Another Brick In the Wall Part 2", "In the Flesh", "One of My Turns" (a personal Favorite), "Mother", "Hey You", "Waiting of the Worms", and "Comfortably Numb". In my opinion Pink Floyd deals some of the best psychedelic/space rock ever. Not only did it deliver some intersing emotion and power. But this album aslo contains some of my all time favorite guitar solos. Such as comfortably numb. Give it a listen, it does have a lot of short songs, but they're still good. All in all, Pink Floyds 'The Wall' is an album worth buying. It's got good money and it would be an excellent addition to your collection. It's truely remarkable.

This is the most expensive, self-indulgent, self-centered, cathartic, eighty minutes of psychotherapy on record. Not only did Roger Waters write almost the entire thing in psuedo-biographical form, he made sure he got credit for anything that he even remotely had something to do with. I count 8 credits to him on the CD cover. I remember on the double-LP version of this, when there was more room for liner notes, he had even more honorable mentions to his brilliance. The tour was a financial disaster, the movie was quickly relegated to midnight showings (I saw it at midnight in Copley Square in Boston in 1986). Having said all of that - it is a better than good album. Roger IS a great lyricist, albeit an incredibly cynical and self-absorbed one. The band sounds great! But therein lies the problem.. . . these world class musicians had become nothing more than the precursor to Roger's own "Bleeding Hearts Band". "Richard, you're fired", "David, play this", "Nick, don't put a fill in that spot". . . . . "The band is just fantastic that is really what I think, oh, by the way, which one's Pink?" THE WALL should answer that question once and for all, and least in the mind of Reg, or is it Rog? Still, This has got to be in the Top 10 listened to albums in my collection - thanks to my teenage years. I gave it a spin again this week for the first time in 3 years. Verdict, it went from 10 stars out of 5 to 4 stars out of 5. 4/5! Shine on You Crazy Diamond.

The Wall with more than 20million records sold is the most successful prog album of all time. It is an epic story in which Roger Waters takes you for the ride of your life with much help from David Gilmour who gave The Wall Comfortably Numb which has the best solo ever. This album has to be heard from start to finish or it would be like only picking the chapters of a book you want to read.

This is one of the saddest albums in music history. And one of the most beautiful at the same time. And the fantastic thing is that the album is all about the album. I mean, it's just about the musician alienating from the audience: and during the Wall, Pink Floyd began to fall apart. I mean it's self-revelaling in a sense. And it's a full coming-of-age story as well. The dimensions of this album make it even more astounding. I practically grew up with this album. When i feel depressed, i listen to Comfortably Numb and Nobody Home and i get even more depressed but then it goes away much quicker. This album is one of those things you take away on a deserted island.

I think I've waited long enough to submit a revierw about the famous Wall... Since I was young I knew that album, but I never listened at any Floyd except Money and Another Brick part 2. I didn't like it at all. But then, a couple of years ago, I was involved in Floyd, then in prog, by a top 100 guitar solos on the net. The song Comfortably Numb appeared in it and I said, what the hell is that doing there? I downloaded the song and fell in love with it. Then, I discovered DSOTM, WYWH, Meddle and Animals, and all that time I still tought that The Wall wasn't good as those. I heard it a couple of time and then I bought it in vynil and discovered a really conceptual and theatral album. This is a really good album, that goes on frome the beginning to the end with the same feeling, with great little parts, contrary to usual Floyd who did long epics. Even if the two songs I knew first are still the best, to me, this album deserves a godd listening and I think that Waters didn't stell anybody's place in that album. Very good, thanks again, Floyd.

Progressive rock, as far as I know, is based on unlimited use of exotic and unusual instrumentations, complex arrangements, etc. So how can one say that "The Wall" is a landmark of the genre? I think most prog fans get it all wrong when it comes to Pink Floyd. But don't get me wrong, this is an exceptional band, but it seems to me that their historical value surpasses their music it's self in occasions such as The Wall, even though is not a bad album at all. It has great moments such as Thin Ice, In the Flesh?, Goodbye Blue Sky, Mother, Hey You, Comfortably Numb, etc, Disc Two being a total bore aside. Have been said, all those worth mention tunes are pretty good, but progressively, doesn't qualify. At least I don't think.

For me, the best PF album. Not "that" progressive though, at least relative to Dark Side, or, Animals. But, a better album overall. There are so many great songs here. Probably my favourite album over any genre. What's not too like?

It's been critisized as having too much of a Roger Waters influence. That may be true, but, this is far better than the Syd Barrett inspired albums.

Well, what else to write about this mythical album?

I like this record very much, but not just for the music, which I found to be less interesting than other PF records (even though they're not among my favorite bands). What I like about this album is the emotion that it has on its lyrics and vocals, the whole concept of a guy building up a wall to escape from the world that sorrounds him and the problems he's had through his life... And the fact that the story is quite personal for the writer.. That's what I most appreciate of this album.

There are plenty of good tracks here but I don't think ANY of them are at the level of the prog rock masterpieces that bands like YES or GENESIS created...

I can't give this album less than 4 stars because what prog music is about is not just focusing on the techical aspects of it but also on the emotion that you may experience when listening to a record... and this album sure makes you cripples when you pay attention to what it's trying to tell.

excellent album and a must have

Pink Floyd's "The Wall" is Roger Water's semi-autobiographical rock opera. Starting with the awesome opening of In the Flesh?, the Wall visits 'Pink's' childhood and the highs and lows of growing in a post-war, father-less family. With the No. 1 single 'Another Brick in the Wall Part 2', Pink dreams of an uprising against education and schooling. He sings of his 'Mother' who was very over-protecetive. Further on, he becomes a rock star, and marries (Someone who were are led to believe cheats on him while he is away on tour). In his dazed, drug-crazed state he retreats behind his 'wall'. In the second part of the album, Pink starts to grow lonely with 'Hey You' and the classical-guitar piece 'Is There Anybody Out There?', he continues with drug-use and is found by his manager in the hotel room, is given a drug to make the show go on, making him 'Comfortably Numb' - which is in my opinion the highlight of the whole album. He becomes (in his mind) a faschist and fights against minorities. Until he puts himself on 'Trial' and is ordered to 'Tear Down the Wall'.

"The Wall" is an album that buries itself deep inside your mind, which matures over time.

Listening for the first time may be limited, but after that "The Wall" is one of the best concepts ever created, and although it may not really be 'Prog', it is definetely worth adding to your collection if you do not already own it.

This album was something of an obsession for me when I was 18. I was at a new college, far from the town I grew up in and lived in for the previous 17 years, feeling very alone and isolated and depressed. What better album for such circumstances? It amazes me to this day that I didn't go through with actually killing myself.

I know, quite an introduction to a review for a piece of music, eh? But what can I say? Waters would probably be pleased to know that his baby had that effect on someone. Honestly, at the time I mentioned above, I was listing to this album over and over again, all day long. Not a healthy thing to do. So, admittedly, I liked it quite a bit initially. But my reasons for liking it had more to do with my mental state at a very difficult time in my life, and it is safe to say that this album did more to hurt me than to help me. But that is not the fault of the album.

Still, my view of it more recently is that it is quite childish in its whining and complaining tone. And the fact that that tone is being directed at the listener by a late - 30's super rich rock star only makes me dislike it more. It is one big ego trip, by someone who I simply can not relate to on any level (at least now, anyway). I mean, am I really supposed to feel sorry for this rich guy who is so overwrought about being a rich rock star? Hardly.

Still, there ARE great songs one here. Comfortably Numb was the first Floyd song I fell in love with and it is still a great song, even after the millionth time. Run Like Hell, Hey You, and a couple others are quite good, mostly thanks to Gilmour's contributions. But overall, my least favorite Floyd album (yes, even the More soundtrack seems better to me in retrospect). I'm afraid that after all this time, the best I can muster is 2 stars.

Musically varied, and somewhat difficult for those hoping for a rerun of Dark Side Of The Moon or Wish You Were Here, The Wall carries some of the band's best music tucked in amongst some quite different fare from brass bands, orchestra, strings and the like, as well as the infamous contribution of a bunch of school children. But it is the story that dominates the album, a semi-autobiographical tale of the rise and fall of a rock star - Pink - and the personal hell he endures while building a metaphorical wall around himself to keep the world out.

Which one is Pink? Well, he is each one of us to some degree - I can recognize something of myself in there, which makes the story personal and poignant. The Wall can only be understood through reference to the storyline and specific lyrics, for instance 'Vera' on its own makes little sense until it is seen in context. Overall, a brilliant creation, though the live version 'Is There Anybody Out There' is now the definitve performance of this masterwork in my eyes.

OVERATED.

Roger was so "paranoïd" that he imagined to get a wall being constructed between the audience and themselves while they were performing it live (this idea grew already during their supporting tour for "Animals". Dear friend Roger also wanted to kick Rick out of the band.

Rick mentions : "Roger came up with the whole album on a demo, which everyone felt was potentially very good but musically very weak. Very weak indeed. Bob Ezrin, Dave and myself worked on it to make it more interesting. But Roger was going through a big ego thing at the time, saying that I wasn't putting enough in, although he was making it impossible for me to do anything. The crunch came when we all went off on holiday towards the end of the recording. A week before the holiday was up I got a call from Roger in America, saying come over immediately. Then there was this band meeting in which Roger told me he wanted me to leave the band. At first I refused. So Roger stood up and said that if I didn't agree to leave after the album was finished, he would walk out then and there and take the tapes with him. There would be no album, and no money to pay off our huge debts. So I agreed to go. I had two young kids to support. I was terrified. Now I think I made a mistake. It was Roger's bluff. But I really didn't want to work with this guy anymore."

Like a lot of double concept albums (starting with "Tommy" - the greatest in the history IMO), it is normal to have some weak or transition tracks. The problem with "The Wall" is that it really gets too much of them (ten or so). The record company (or Roger) were hesitating whether to release a double or even a triple (!) album out of this).

Fortunately, for the time being we'll get only a double (but we'll get the extra stuff later on).

"In The Flesh" opens the album quite well I must say. High hopes (this reminds me of something ...).

The main theme is being split into three parts : the best known being their hit single and video clip form Part 2. I wasn't any longer very much into Floyd in 1979 and this track was really not my cup of tea. But the relative weakness of this album makes this trilogy not too bad after all (the inclusion of "The Happiest Days..." working quite well I must say). "Empty Spaces" being another good song from this first part.

Half of the numbers from disc one are monotonous and have poor melody (" The Thin Ice", "Mother ", "Goodbye Blue Sky") this leading to some kind of boredom at the end.

Disc two is slightly better. It contains the best three tracks of the whole (of which two are co-signed with Gilmour if you see what I mean). These are of course : "Hey You", "Comfortably Numb" and "Run Like Hell". Some fillers as well (but less that on the first disc) like "Nobody Home", "Vera" or "Bring the Boys Back Home".

I quite like "The Show Must Go On" and "In The Flesh" (part two). At last a bit of emotion in the music. The last two tracks ("Stop" not counting as a track) are rather weak (specially "The Trial") and leaves the listener with a bitter taste. Where is the grand finale ? Not here, man.

The tensions within the band were inmense. I quote Nick "The recording was very tense, mainly because Roger was starting to go a bit mad. This was the record when he fell out badly with Rick. Rick has a natural style, a very specific piano style, but he doesn't come up with pieces easily, or to order. Which is a problem when other people are worrying about who did what and who should get the credit. There was even talk of Roger and Dave elbowing me out and carrying on as a duo. There were points during The Wall when Roger and Dave were really carrying the thing. Rick was useless, and I wasn't very much help to anyone either."

Roger will tell "The most unnerving neurotic period of my life with possible exceptions of my divorce".

So, no wonder this album could not lead to a true band effort.

It is more a Waters solo effort than anything else, although two of the best songs are co-signed Gilmour / Waters ("Hey You" and "Comfortably Numb").

I guess you can call me a HUGE Floyd fan : starting to love them in 1971 with Meddle, having all their offical catalogue + forty non official recordings. This allows me just to be honest with this review as I have been with some of their early work (studio album from Ummagumma, AHM, and OBC).

Just a last comment : I have been listening at least 200 times to "The Lamb Lies Down" or to "Tommy" in their entirety. I will NEVER be able to listen to even a tenth of these ones for The Wall.

As I mentioned already, there are only three great tracks on this DOUBLE album, which is kind of weak for Floyd. A few days before I started to work on this review (about six weeks from now), I was attending a live concert from the tribute band "The Machine" (which I really recommend). They were playing "Wish You Were Here" and "The Wall" in their entirety. That's where you understand that one is a masterpiece (WYWH) while the other one is quite hard to "digest". This one will hit Nr. 1 in the US and Nr. 3 in the UK.

For me it only deserves three stars.

Here is the cornerstone of the contemporary music, well, not only contemporary music, but also the contemporary art. Everything about this album is wonderful, especially Waters' genius lyrics stand out. I really feel out of words to describe this amazing piece of art as it is clearly more than just an album, involving a quite dark storyline with deep messages to tell.

I agree that "The Wall" offers not so much for the prog music; It's more of a "classic rock" album, but I mean, seriously, what collection of music can be taken seriously if it doesn't contain "The Wall" ? It surely influenced many people involving great musicians, and enriched our worlds. For that, it more than deserves 5 stars...

One last thing, it seems to me as this album represents a kind of "exhaustion" in Pink Floyd's music; first of all, prog elements are not that often found as they were in Floyd's previous albums, and from this point PF will crumble down musically, "The Wall" being their last high quality album. It is also sad that such a great band (greatest ever in my opinion) had to collapse earlier than their natural lifetime.

All the bands have one like this, not to that it must, but the same phenomenon in all the bands is seen good or in which they have wanted to make transcendental and fastuosos works, there are exceptions as KING CRIMSON ("Space Groove" does not consider a conceptual one) or GENTLE GIANT for example, each band or of very special way or simply like a chance have created to which I have had the audacity to call the conceptual ones in people that they look for, find or show, the fact is that there are many similar things, for example GENESIS "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway", YES "Such of Topographic Oceans ", MARILLION" Misplaced Childhood ", etc., I name these single to mention some examples, clear this that PINK FLOYD does not make reality the project of Roger WATERS since David GILMOUR this very in agreement with the concept and this is not modified slightly, either agreed in" Animals "in the vision of Roger WATERS of the people, but who it would be in agreement with it WATERS ideas I I would say that nobody so that every one has own ideas, as well as the discs that previously mention also the ideas and concepts in them, making reference at the low level that I had to appreciate this disc in first the listening, but in truth is very complex to understand truely disc like this, since it has very many details, the understanding of the connections and the notion of the space time, I believe that many people entirely do not understand this disc, not by less to appraise appreciation of same people, but not is simple to listen disc of almost 80 minutes, is more within same style that is great difference between to understand and to appreciate, because many magnificentes people do not understand them work like this, that would be due to listen completely and with an opened mind, there am here the problem of the present time in where she says herself not to have time and to waste it in banal things that even demand more time, but clear this that for that reason we existed the people who we have that quality that is very strange but necessary to appreciate this style of music, I do not include/understand as to somebody it can give laziness him to listen to a subject of more than one hour without at least trying it, is necessary to occur time to try, like is possible that in the past the patience had to listen You operate of up to 5 hours and now 80 minutes defeat to us, will say that there were interludios, because here also there is it, so pretexts only the one of not wanting. "The Wall" is the concept of Roger WATERS, in which without a doubt some I mix myself with the ideas of the other members to make a music piece excelsa, that they are had made hundreds of landmarks of this disc, in where the WATERS traumas of and obtained affluent interpretation of their companions visualize, the concept is basic, "The Wall" was conceived mainly (the concept and most of the subjects) by Roger WATERS. Through his songs it relates the life of a rock star from his childhood. Each one of the songs goes interconnected with the following one, giving a argumental thread to all the disc, a complete history. It contains songs with a high dose of social critic: to the educative system, the war, the institutions in general. In addition, it treats subjects like the maternal sobreprotection, the sentimental failure or madness, great subjects of general knowledge, in where there is of everything, from instrumental passages, atmospheric creations, subjects of great beauty, everything a repertoire of good music. It is a concept very interpreted in different forms, since after to have recorded in the study in where by the technological limitations it did not fit completely, later the live interpretation, with a magnificent production that I cause rage by the emotional reaches throughout the world and the original concept, during the concert constructed a wall between I publish and the band, with giant marionettes, lights and everything what it could does at that time, after the presentations the film came, and later that knows more that, is certain is an art piece, but included/understood or only fanatically appreciated.

As many have stated this is a concept album about a rock star who has been buiding a wall around himself in order to protect himself from reality and life that has caused him so much pain. Written by Roger Waters this is pretty close to his life's story with a few changes thrown in. We see our subject starting to build the wall from his youth because of his teachers, because of his mother, because of his father not coming home from war, and because of his wife betraying him. Yes this is a dark, cold album about fear, loneliness, humiliation and heartbreak. To our subject the wall represents freedom, but in reality he is building a prison for himself. He ends up trying to commit suicide and becomes hooked on sex and drugs.

Disc one opens with "In the Flesh ?" and the organ work of Richard Wright really stands out. The jets screaming at the end of the song is so cool. Nice ripping guitar solo on "The Thin Ice". "Another Brick In The Wall" comes in three seperate parts.The first one is more psychedelic and atmospheric and is my favourite of the three. The second one is of course the one you heard on the radio all the time back in 1979. The third is more raw and aggressive sounding. "Mother" is such a great tune. The lyrics are biting and emotional. "Goodbye Blue Sky" is a good representation of the mood of this record, as it is very melancholic. Great vocals on "Young Lust" and some raw sounding guitar as well. "One Of My Turns" is another favourite of mine. The fragile vocals that give way to the explosion of sound that are led by powerful vocals is quite dramatic. "Don't Leave Me Now" is a dark, sad song with theatrical vocals.The same mood is even darker in the song "Goodbye Cruel World" to end the first disc.

Disc two starts off with "Hey You" and is another favourite of mine with great drumming,axe work and vocals. "Is There Anybody Out There !" is so eerie in the beginning with a haunting background throughout. "Nobody Home" has this line "I got a little black book with me poems in". This is such an uplifting song, very emotional. To hear Gomer Pyle in the background on the TV is cool. Yes I do remember watching that on the TV when I was a kid. "Vera" is really too emotional, as I always think of Roger. "Bring The Boys Back Home" is as powerul as hell. "Comfortably Numb" has an almost 2 minute guitar solo that is one of the best I have ever heard. Perhaps Gilmour's finest moment. "Run Like Hell" has such a good beat. Great tune. For me the final 7 songs (except "Run Like Hell) are just ok.

This album for me is easily 4 stars and one of Waters finest moments.

The final of the three Floyd masterpieces.

Pink Floyd created three masterpieces in their time together. First was Piper which was Syd's revolutionary mind bomb, second came the warm perfection of Dark Side, and last the conceptual Waters triumph of The Wall. Just a few years later Floyd released its last real album The Final Cut and it was all over.

I can remember being knocked out the very first time I heard The Wall when one of the older kids got on the middle school bus had his tune box cranked. Back then we all thought the radio songs were cool but in reality it is the intricate little pieces that are the glue to this great work. This is such a complete masterpiece of lyrical perfection, great musical beauty, and complete epic grandeur. It is strange to me that so many people don't like The Wall so let me address some of the complaints.

Lots of people feel that The Wall is too dark, too disturbing, too bitter. Hmmm..Lots of great rock music has been built on derision, pain, and outrage. Think about Plastic Ono Band, or Townshend, or punk/metal stuff. Others miss the great long instrumentals and there I can sympathize completely. True there are no epic jams here like Shine On or Dogs but even these short pieces work brilliantly for the stage play style of this album. And look beyond the hits! The best songs on this album are some of the least known: The Thin Ice, Goodbye Blue Sky, Empty Spaces, One of my Turns, Is There Anybody Out There, The Show Must Go On, Nobodys Home. The only lesser tracks are Young Lust and perhaps Run Like Hell which can get pretty old hat after a while. But then you have classics like Hey You, Mother, and Comfortably Numb. What's not to like? While the melodies may be simple ones they are numerous and instantly memorable. Finally, people say that The Wall is too Roger and not enough Dave. True, but Gilmour was simply not supplying adequate good material in the late 70s and someone had to do the work. Gilmour has admitted that Roger did the heavy lifting while the rest of them were content to go home at 4pm for early supper. Dave is a great singer and guitar player but let's be real: without Roger to write the majority of the great songs from Dark Side/Wish/Animals/Wall, you'd have four more Momentary Lapses instead of those classics. Scary, isn't it? It's the material that matters, not who can sing prettier.

The Wall was really the end of the Floyd for all intents and purposes and WHAT a finale it was. The Final Cut has some nice moments but is essentially outtakes from The Wall. Now if they would just release a definitive live DVD from the Animals or Wall tour, we could all die happy. I know Pink must have such footage stashed away next to the little black book with the poems in.

"You are only coming through in waves. Your lips move but I can't hear what you're sayin'. When I was a child I caught a fleeting glimpse, Out of the corner of my eye. I turned to look but it was gone. I cannot put my finger on it now. The child is grown, the dream is gone. And I have become comfortably numb." [Waters/Gilmour]

This is a very critically aclaimed album that cannot seem to live up to its hype. yes Pink Floyd is a great band, yes I think that they are probably one of THE greatest bands, but this album has a few great songs such as all of the Another Brick In The Wall's, Hey You, Comterably Numb. All the rest are just throwaway songs.

Another thing that isn't exactly about this album, but concerns me is how this is an album in which all songs are linked. This album wouldn't exist if it weren't for THE WHO. They were the first ones, with TOMMY, to even make an album like this. TOMMY basically began most of the great progressive rock albums, and I am astonished to see that THE WHO isn't even mentioned and LED ZEPPELIN is.

I think the most amazing thing about this album was that it was released by a band that was frankly in decline in 1979. This was due to a number of reasons of course: they were famously broke due to a series of bad business deals; the seventies were coming to a close and most of the sixties psych bands were considered anachronisms from long ago; and they had released only two albums in the more than six years since ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ exploded on the scene. Plus it’s very unusual for a band to have their biggest smash hit a dozen years and a dozen albums into their career. It’s much more common for that pinnacle release to happen (if it ever does) early in a band’s career. Anyway, disco was king in 1979 and Billy Joel was at the top of the charts. This was a very unlikely hit, although the band has always been big enough to have anything they put out at least sell a few million copies.

Actually I remember the movie coming out more than the album. The film gave a greater context to the lyrics and overall theme of the music, as up to then it seemed like the album was mostly getting played at the uber-cheesy “laser” light shows that stoners went to at the town cosmosphere on Friday nights.

Even though most of us in our forties have heard this thing 10,000 times and almost never play it anymore, it is still an unquestionable classic masterpiece of rock music.

For me the album ranks as one of the better (but unexceptional) Pink Floyd albums right up until “Goodbye Blue Sky” creeps in. Everything changes after that. “Empty Spaces” sets the tone for the next forty minutes or so, and “Young Lust” thrusts the band (pun partially intended) into the eighties. That song is the definitive separation between ‘Animals’ and ‘A Momentary Lapse of Reason’ as far as I’m concerned. Almost everything the band did before then was at least nominally connected to the band’s psychedelic roots. After “Young Lust” they became a larger-than-life rock band.

Anyway, ‘Lust’ was a turning point, but “Hey You” will probably always be one of a handful of tunes that instantly characterizes this band. Waters, Gilmour, and Mason are all dead-on for this one. Wright is typically understated, but that’s par for the course too. I think Gilmour really perfected a whining sustain here that carried him in his solo work and next couple of Floyd albums to come.

And I’ll take back part of what I said about “Young Lust”. I do think it was a split with their former selves for the band, but there is one brief relapse on “Comfortably numb”, which is the quintessential stoned-Floyd bubble-gum psych number. Brilliant – don’t get me wrong, but really this one sounds like it was engineered by Alan Parsons it’s so silky smooth.

I’ve always thought the climax and ending for this album were a bit muddled and hurried. The band (well, Roger Waters) spends well over an hour telling Pink’s story in a fair amount of emotional detail and with exquisite visual clarity, only to bring things to a crashing and hanging close in just five short minutes. It’s all too abrupt really. Not artistically, but aesthetically. Waters intended this to be a three-disc album, and I have to wonder if they had spent the extra time while the band was still clicking so well in the studio to finish out the ‘Final Cut’ tracks and other assorted studio cut-outs, this could have easily been stretched to three discs with a drawn out ending / epilogue. Of course, it probably wouldn’t have sold 30,000,000 copies if that had happened, which is of course why it didn’t happen.

No matter, this is an essential classic, no question in my mind. I played it today for the first time in over five years, and it was like I just heard it all the way through yesterday. I think I’ll be able to play this when I’m sixty and the words and notes will still comes rushing back to my mind completely intact. How many albums can you say that about?

peace

To start I must state that before I had heard this album I had no idea that rock, or music in general could be more than a verse, chorus, verse, chorus collection of individual ideas. I was wrong. Rock in its best form is a cohesive epic story put to music.

The first time I heard the wall I had dug it out of my dads old CD collection, the bricks on the CD cover and the fact that it was two separate disks brought an element the unknown, I had to listen. I put the disk in the player and hit play, I did not hear anything, and then there it was loud and in your face. The first four chords blared out of the speakers and drilled into my mind, the Hammond organ screeched in the background and then. "So ya, Thought ya, Might like to go to the show. To feel the warm thrill, of confusion, That space cadet glow. Tell me is something eluding you, sunshine? Is this not what you expected to see? If you wanna find out what's behind these cold eyes You'll just have to claw your way through this disguise." And I did want to know what was behind the eyes, and so I clawed through the disguise.

Suddenly I was swept in to a tragic story as I witnessed the birth of a child at the end of "The Thin Ice." I felt the pain that the child suffered as his father left him to go to the first world war and the even greater pain of his never returning. I commiserated with how mean his teachers were and moaned along that I didn't need no education. I understood how his mother could not understand him or take his fathers place in his life, I suffered with him as England was being bombed, and grooved along to his "Young Lust" of his teenage years, and understood the warning of how that turned out with him no longer young and falling into chronic depression with none of the rock star amenities consoling him in the least. I was right there with him on the brink of suicide. And then the first disc came to an end.

My hands trembled as I inserted the second disk. When he called out hey you he was talking to me. He was asking for me to stretch out my hand and help. Then there was the question is there any body out there. I wanted to call out "YES!" I wanted to help but I could not. The mood became darker and darker until "is there any body in there, just nod if you can hear me, is there anyone home" and then there was help for this miserable soul, one of the most amazing solos I have ever heard. From there he comes out of depression, but things get a little hazy, there is some kind of fantasy world with crazy neo Nazis and giant talking worms. I think it represents his fears and past or something, but that's the mystery, it can be seen so many different ways. Then at the end he is put on trial with a giant fanciest worm as judge and a jury of his mother school teachers and other assorted enemies. In the end the he is convicted of showing feelings and so his wall that he built gets torn down, and he is left wandering defenseless in the wild.

This was the first prog I had ever heard and I didn't even know it was prog, but it laid the seeds for me, and therefore at least to me personally it is one of the most important records I have ever heard: 5 stars.

This album, as opposed to be a progressive landmark, is rather a musical landmark...both for good and not so good reasons. This album shines in some places and drags down in others. The first half of the first CD is amazing, perhaps aside "Another brick...pt.2" which is a very overrated song in my opinion. The second half drags down and becomes boring after a while. Waters gave way too much importance to the whole concept and forget to make the music a very enjoyable experience. This album is still something not to be missed because of the few real gems that are on it, notably "In the Flesh", "Comfortably numb", "Hey You", "run like hell" and a few others...final verdict : 3 stars...give it a shot

I have a real problem with this album. There are some perfect songs like In the flesh? , Another brick in the wall Part one , The happiest days of our lives , Another brick in the wall Part two , Hey you , Comfortably numb , In the flesh or Run like hell. But on the other hand all in all it does not form a whole for me.

I hve tried to like this LP more but it was hopeless. I do not like it. But... as I said there are few great songs which are worthy to listen the whole LP.

3 stars

THIS IS WHERE ALL STARTED

For me, this is a very special album because it was one of my first serius contacts with PF and Prog in general. Because of that i decided to give it my first review as a member of this site, as i just joined today.

I know there´s nothing really new to say about this recording, a masterpiece for some people (including me) and not a big deal for others, but i think no one can deny its influence and importance on prog history.

I remember how hypnotized i was when i listened it for the first time. What Waters and Co. did to me was definitive. Maybe if it was DSOTM could have the same or similar effect on me, but it was The Wall, and i can't say it's better than Dark Side, Animals or WYWH, actually i think all of them are almost in the same level, but because the impact it had on me remains my PF favourite and one of all time.

Also this led me to watch the movie wich also had a big influence on my teenager years, but that's another story(another review). The 5 stars i'm giving it are not only because of the sentimentalism implicit, but definitively because of the combination of all the elements existing here like musicianship, inspiration, writing, production and artwork. Although this is a Roger Waters conception, would´ve not been the same without the contributions of Mason, Wright and specialy Gilmour.

I could say a lot of things about the songs, one by one, but nothing that hasn't been said. I think is more important to apreciate the album as a whole, as the concept it was concieved, with all of its darkness and psycological aspects, hard to understand at once, but amazingly introspective when you get deep into it.

So, in a word : ESSENTIAL.

Viva el Prog!

There appears to be a curse on all double LPs released by classic prog bands. They have the remarkable affect of splitting their fanbases into two camps: those who believe the album to be the greatest the band ever released, and those who wish the band had curbed the pretentious ramblings into a more coherent set. For whatever reason, I always seem to find myself in Camp B. Lamb Lies Down, Tales From Topagraphical Oceans, and this album all seem way overdone to me. With Animals Waters assumed full lyrical and instrumental control, and The Wall is a continuation of this tyranny. Lyrically, the album is founded on a good idea (the price of fame), but it, like the Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, repeatedly loses its focus and becomes a chore to decipher.

To be sure, there are a fair number of Floyd classics here. In the Flesh, Another Brick in the Wall, and Comfortably Numb are some of the finest Floyd songs out there. Numb is the highlight of the album, which amuses me as it is the one where Waters did not have total control (there's a lesson in that). Gilmour's emotional solo is searing, and it stands as my favorite Gilmour performance. The rest of the album has its moments, but it really loses steam in the final push of the album.

The Wall is seen by many as the apex of Floyd's career. I would say DSOTM is the rightful zenith, but it takes all kinds to make the world turn. While I didn't mind Waters' dominance on Animals due to its lyrical sophistication and instrumental brilliance, this one shows Roger reaching beyond his grasp and this album would likely have sounded much better if the rest of the band was given input, judging from "Comfortably Numb."

EDIT: 4/22/2008

I've gone back to Floyd after nearly a year-long sabbatical, and the second place I went (after Animals) was this album. I've come to appreciate the album a lot more, and I thought about deleting my review and starting over. However, I stand by everything I said the first time I wrote about The Wall the first time I reviewed it; I merely do not view these flaws as harshly as I once did.

Too much of the album is merely there for Roger Waters to blame everything he perceives as wrong with his life on others. He blames his father, who was killed in action in World War II, and his overprotective mother for his childhood. He blames his teachers for trying to break him. He blames his audience for...I dunno, liking him (what a bizarre issue to have). However, even though The Wall exists as his own soapbox at the expense of the band's input, the music itself is superb. Mother is a track that has steadily grown on me. It's somber message over a light acoustic tone and the sudden searing blast of electric guitar is sublime. Goodbye Blue Sky is another song that uses a light sound to convey a dark message. Really, the album is noteworthy for being able to simultaneously depress and uplift you, which makes it rather unique. I just wish Roger hadn't lost the lyrical focus and had invited other members to contribute.

Grade: C+

This is one of the boldest, brightest and most essential albums ever made - a two disc concept album released in the days when punk was riding high and most albums featured 1 disk that struggled to top 30 minutes. There are few bands with the pedigree to make such a concept work. Of those few, Pink Floyd would probably top the list.

Anyway, what can you say about an album about which so much has already been said? Not much, really. So...

If you haven't got a copy of this album then buy one. If you haven't heard this album, waste no more time and buy it. There are short songs, long songs, rocking songs, ballads, marvellous sound effects, a rainbow of characters, and an actual story to be told. Gilmour's guitar-work is unparalleled, Wright's use of the piano is sublime, Mason's drumming out of this world, and the combination of Waters' sneer and Gilmour's melody weave a pattern of vocal wonders.

This is one of the few concept albums that really works, it is cohesive and gels to form a single piece of work rather than being a lose collection of related (vaguely) parts. I'd say it was Pink Floyd's finest work were it not for the fact that all their work sits atop the same lofty peak.

The Wall truly is a masterpiece of progressive music and is absolutely essential!

(Another Brick in the Wall Part 4.5)

I had long celebrated The Wall as the greatest Pink Floyd album, an erroneous statement on my part. Not that it's not the greatest; oh, it is. Dark Side of the Moon? HA! There's not a single "Pink Floyd" album that can really hold up, as a whole, to either of the first two "Pink Waters" albums, this one in particular. See, my problem was that I didn't actually own it. I'd just seen the movie. The soundtrack kicked ass of course, but the album cost over thirty bucks! Stupid Pink Floyd; had to be a popular band AND release a double album. So, more than an examination of the music or philosophy of the album, this review should be read as a guarantee that your thirty plus bucks...were well spent. Let's go.

The best song might just be the ferocious album opener "In the Flesh." That cold riff, girded by blocky organ chords and powerhouse drumming might seem like a perfect combination for a genericky classic metal number, but, so what? It's totally un- Floyd. It's awesome! This is one of Pink Floyd's best, most honest hard rock efforts. Besides, it was supposed to be played by the "support band," right?

"The Thin Ice" has awfully familiar lyrics. Where have I heard that before? Skating away on the thin ice of something? Oh well. It's actually a kinda cool number. "Another Brick in the Wall Part 1" has eerie soloing, chilling vocals, and a real nice bassline.

"The Happiest Days of our Lives," aside from some fantastic lyrics (I dare you not to love the line "fat and psychopathic wives") provides a fairly driving and funky opening to "Another Brick in the Wall Part 2." Which is, of course, the "we don't need no education" song. I used to hate it, 'cause it got played on the radio so much, but in the context of the album, it's actually pretty good.

"Mother" is a nice ballad that takes a turn for the electric. Creepy lyrics though. Which is, I guess, the point. I love those final lines, "Mother did it have to be so high?" "Goodbye Blue Sky" is a ballad with a pretty chorus. It always SEEMS like it's ready to go over the top, but it never does. Atmospheric "Empty Spaces" is just plain creepy; I'm aware of the lighthearted purpose behind the backwards noises, but to hear 'em blasted through your headphones? Scary man. "Young Lust" is a fairly pointless song, but it's angry enough to slip by without any damage.

"One of My Turns" starts out with a sad little melody, depressing lyrics, but then it absolutely slams you against the wall (excuse the joke) with those violent vocals. Nice guitar work at the end too; once was my favorite song on the album. This morphs into "Don't Leave Me Now." Now, I used to HATE that one, what with Roger singing purposefully off key, until I listened the lyrics. That's gotta be one of the most sincere expressions of love (or NEED) that I've heard this side of Peter Gabriel's Us. Cool ascending guitarline at the end too.

"Another Brick in the Wall Part 3" has since become my favorite part of the trilogy. It lacks the atmospheric values of "Part 1" and the melodic values of "Part 2," but it's just angry, so...final. In fact, I'm surprised that we close the album with "Goodbye Cruel World," a bit of that's too short to really do anything.

The second half of the opera opens with the hopeful, desperate "Hey You," which contains perhaps the most gorgeous moment on the album in the form of that descending chorus, as well as a good solo and a reprise of our favorite riff (nice nods, melodically and lyrically, to Animals sealed in there too). It actually holds a decent shot for best song on the album.

Unfortunately, we hit a bit of a slump from which we cannot rise until...well, you should have a pretty good idea by now. "Is There Anybody Out There?" is certainly less creepy than "Empty Spaces" (cool acoustics though). The best aspect of piano ballad "Nobody Home" is that weird intro with Roger shouting at someone to shut up. The tune is okay, but Mother does it have to be so long? Or maybe it just seems long because "Vera" is essentially the same thing. Okay, tune, almost pretty, but not very effective. "Bring the Boys Back home" is also an almost good tune, but underdeveloped. Or perhaps it's TOO developed; the brass band is a bit bombastic even for me. Not to mention it sounds totally out of place in the album. Was Rog so angry he HAD to insert a blatant anti-war song on its head right here? ...Yeah probably. Cool enough though.

Now what's all this rot about "Comfortably Numb?" I can't see why THIS is the song that everyone remembers. It's not like it's evil or anything; the tune is, like most of the stuff at this point, decent enough. But the soloing is utterly forgettable (the first one is okay, but the second? Ugh. I find what's going on underneath the solo far more captivating). It's not heavy enough to be a power ballad, so I guess it's...soft rock? Don't you like your Dave angry? I know I do. Gimme "One of My Turns" anytime.

"The Show Must Go On" has some weird, Queen-like vocal harmonies...told you this was the least Floyd Floyd album...but it's just a precursor to "In the Flesh." Yeah. That one again. It still kicks ass. Really evil lyrics here; probably my favorite Nazi rocker of all time. Can't sing THESE as you waltz down the street like your precious Dark Side material, can ya?

"Run Like Hell" is the final Gilmour contribution. And, actually, it's probably the best, a driving, effective rocker (the lyrics are pure Waters though). But I still prefer "Waiting for the Worms," a march-like anthem of fascism. It's a smooth collection of some of our favorite themes, and Roger's encoded howl parallels Dave's smarmy intonations perfectly. Not to mention that it spills perfectly into "Stop," a desperate little number that, in turn, spills perfectly into "The Trial."

"The Trial" is just as bombastic as "Bring the Boys Back Home," however, it fits perfectly into the opera. It's got this back and forth verse alternating with the floaty chorus perfectly. And, at the end, where it gets all metallic? Awesome. Of course, the Wall must come down, and "Outside the Wall" is a fantastic ending, totally countering the bloated "Trial" with its simple, pretty, accordion/mandolin (?) based medley, as well as countering the entire plot as we've (thought) we've known it.

In fact, that's what makes this Wall thing so great, perhaps the most important record to ever come out of the progressive movement. At least, considering that a classic band, at the end of the era, when everyone else was either selling out or releasing a low key, sorta okay, progressive product, the fact that Waters pulled through with such an artistic statement AND sold it has got to mean something. And the other wanted him dead. Fools.

Okay, I know it's very personal, but it's still intelligent: the fact that the meaning of the thing is turned on its head by those last two tracks, and that it starts back up again, has got to make you rethink at least a couple of things. Like, where are we when start? Is the wall up or down or what? And what about "Hey You?" Is that being told from the inside, the outside, or...both?

Oh well, it's hardly my (or anyone else's really) place to tell you what the Wall is about. No one really knows anyway, not even ole cold, calculatin' Mr. Waters (he admits that he's still not sure what happens at the end). That's actually a bit of a dent in the artistic integrity. Hmm...maybe that Roger dude ain't so clever after all. I mean, the plot does sound somewhat familiar...kid, pilot dad dies in the war, raised by an involving yet distant mother, gains celebrity, launches global campaign, is turned on by followers, everything ends badly. Now, Who did that before? Can you hear me? Actually, I prefer to think of the Wall less as Tommy's evil clone, and more of its dark anti-thesis (Tommy dealt with pseudo-religious fantasy, The Wall is about the horror of insanity (NOT a descent though; Pink was always nuts. If you think it's a descent, you've missed the point of the opera)). Either way, it's a hell of a ride.

In fact, barring that slump towards the start of the second record, it's a really stable piece. A bunch of repeated themes to be sure, but it's an opera! Get over it. Besides, the whole thing flows like a well oiled machine: the melodies, the lyrics, the sound effects, everything. That first record is probably one of the most perfect albums in prog (and has less than a half of a Gilmour song! HA!). Very Thick as a Brick that.

Oddly enough, the best musician on this album is...Nick Mason. He really drums his guts out here. Uh, in a relative way (Nick Mason drumming his guts out just means that they get all over the kit, as opposed to Bruford, who'd get 'em all over the studio). Suffice to say that the last time I was ever this AWARE of Nick was on "One of These Days;" a single song.

Everyone else? Well, ole Dave serves out some his usual bag of guitar chops, but I'm more impressed with the intense riffage than the soloing. Roger gives himself some solid enough bass parts, but his strength is the vocals; what? Was he trying to outdo Peter Gabriel or something? The lyrics are not quite as good as those on Animals, but still, some real choice material ("One of My Turns," "Hey You").

What places this farthest from all other Floyd albums is Rick Wright; the synths are toned way down, there are no keyboard solos to speak of ("Run Like Hell," and...that's it?), and Rick sticks to piano and organ. Any synth effects are used for atmosphere, and most of the atmosphere is handed off to the sound effects anyway. I'm not complaining though; Rick was never a Wakeman at the keys, so a restrained performance from him takes on very noble connotations.

Obviously, The Wall is almost endlessly debatable (I didn't even question when the reality ends and the fantasy begins)...assuming that the "debate" never settles into the comfortably numb world of name calling (I think Pink's wife was innocent." "Yeah? Well, I think you're a stupidhead!" Hey, this'll be fun! Let's check in on 'em later). However, I do feel I can answer the question I posed at the start of the review. YES, this album is worth your thirty-five dollars and ninety-nine cents. Besides, I had a thirty percent discount...

This album is definitely over rated, it is not Pink Floyd at their best in any means. If you compare this to Dark Side of the Moon or Wish You Were Here this album is quite mediocre. The only thing that is really memorable is the concept of this album, though it's not that really strong...The best songs on here are In The Flesh, Comfortably Numb, and Goodbye Blue Sky. Another Brick In The Wall and Run Like Hell are great pop songs, but that's the problem; it's pop and nowhere reaches Pink Floyd's standards.

3 Stars. This album is essential only if your a Pink Floyd fan other than that, I would stay away from this album or get Dark Side of the Moon first.

On The Wall, Roger Waters takes the concept album to its limits. The question is: did he overdo it? I'm of the opinion that yes, he did. And it's mostly due to a complicated and long storyline that covers a lot of personal issues for Waters. It takes many, many listens to fully understand the message of The Wall. Many listeners will be left wondering what on earth the blasted thing was about. Even watching the film that was based on this album, one may still have confusion concerning the whole story. This is definitely an intellectual work and if that's not what you're looking for, The Wall could be a dreadful experience.

Waters is entirely behind The Wall album, as the other members of the band took a back seat only contributing musically. Wright had a falling out with Waters and even though he is credited, his contributions are minimal as Waters hired several session musicians to fill in, plus an orchestra. With this in mind, you'll notice right away that this doesn't sound much like earlier Pink Floyd efforts. All of the songs are short pieces of a larger concept with the focus more on vocals and lyrics than anything else. So musically, it suffers because of it. There is very little room for musical development. Another point worth making is that if you listen to Waters' solo albums from the 1980s and 1990s, you'll notice they have a similarity in structure and format with The Wall. This is Roger's baby, just using the Pink Floyd name.

With all of that in mind, The Wall at times is an enjoyable listen, and at other times is a skipping parade in the CD player. My thoughts are that Waters' concept needed to be trimmed down a bit to fit the format it was to fill. Taking the best tracks and separating them from the garbage, one is left with about one LP worth of decent material. In other words, Waters fell victim to what troubled Peter Gabriel's The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. The music suffered and there were way too many lyrics. It's a shame Gilmour, Mason, and Wright didn't put their collective feet down and rein in Waters when he took the concept too far. Also, if you thought Animals was bleak, The Wall is probably one of the most depressing albums ever made.

Definitely a good album, but I don't think this is essential for the progressive rock genre, so my conclusion is three stars. Every Pink Floyd fan should have this and if overdone rock operas are your thing, you'll probably love this. For the rest of you, I'd recommend starting with their previous three albums.

When reviewing the album which got it all started for you, it's hard to be completely objective about it's qualitites and not get all sentimental, but i'm at least going to do my best.

But first, a short story. On one of the internet boards i used to frequent "back in the days" there was a thread where members were asked to make a soundtrack for their lives, i.e a tracklist of songs which best described their lives and who they were.Rather worryingly, many people had either of the three pieces of "another brick in the wall" by pink floyd on their list, and since i had barely heard of pink floyd before, other than my father talking about them with a friend of his, i thought it was the coolest thing ever that they had done a sing in not on, not two, but THREE parts! Wow, i have to check that out, i though. So i downloaded the three tracks (by themselves) and just assumed that they were supposed to be played consequtively. So i did that for a while, and then my father told me how it really was supposed to be, with the whole concept of the album and all, so i got interested and decided to listen to the whole album. At first, i wasn't very impressed, i litened to a few songs here and there, liked some, but i mosthy kept to the brick part 2 one. One day, however, the movie was on television, and i watched it and, well, liked it. But i also understood that i needed to listen to the whole album in it's entirety to really get what it was about. And then i made the biggest mistake of my life.

Pretty much in the same way as heroinists spend theit whole life trying to get that sensation of their very first shot, so is it with me and The Wall. There have been times when i have had that feeling of mistening to an album, and sometimes even surpassed it, but that first time i listened to the wall in it's entirety, i was completely blown away. It was late at night and i needed to go to school the next day, so i meant to only listen to the first few songs or something, but i ended up doing the whole double disc. I think it was about 4 years ago, i was 15. The whole concept of music as something more than background noise to drown out the bus engine or substitute for the horrible tunes of "Diablo 2" was revealed to me that day.

However, after spending the last few years listening to more music than i really have time for and frequenting progarchives more than is good for my economy, i can no longer say that "The Wall" is the best album in the whole wide world. Tastes change and memories fade, and something you used to be able to love and identify with in yout youth will inevitably become less and less important as you grow older, no matter how much you try to hang on to is.

"The Wall" is at it's stongest lyrically. It is really required that you listen closely to the story to really apreciate it, as musically, it can be rather lacking. Fortunately, Roger is not totally in the obscure about this story about Pink, the rock star who gets separated from the world he lives in by a huge metaphorical wall, you can listen and be moved (if you want to) freely, without having to decipher too much of what he wants to tell us. At the same time, it is theatrical and metaphorical enough that there is no fear of it ever getting too "in the face" and always staying interesting.

When i said that it lacks a little musically, i mean that if there were not the story backbone, there is far too little musical material to warrant two lps of it. Roger gets a huge amount of space to do his thing, and the music has certainly taken a few steps back in favour for the words. Still, it's not like there aren't any spots of musical brilliance at all, they just aren't as frequent as on the three previous albums.

Now, i would like to award 4.5 stars to this absolutely essential album, simply because of the unforgettable and emotional journey it could poteltially hold for everybody woth and open mind, a taste for dark and slow music and an attention for lyrics. There is also a high potential for dissapoitment, due to it being so hyped yet so different from the more Gilmour'driven albums, or maybe the story just doesn't appeal to everyone.

Highly recommended, but listen only when i the mood. More of a movie than an album.

So much has already been written about "The Wall" that it's terribly hard to write something new. Before being a progressive rock Masterpiece, it's one of the most powerful artistic statement of the 20th century, for sure, capable trough its own plot/story to make light on one of the themes mainly common to the contemporary man, since human society became a mass-society: Alienation. "The Wall" after all these years have become a milestone in rock music and a contemporary icon in culture, it's a matter of fact that if you go around the streets asking people: "do you like Pink Floyd?" the first thing they'll answer you will be:" Pink Floyd?...oh, The Wall...". This album is mainly a Roger Waters' creation, though it's not entirely autobiographical, in fact there are references to Syd Barrett... The plot of the concept is extremely reknown by everybody: it's a story of a decadent rockstar, living out his nightmares from the obsessive mother, his horrible years at school, trough his wife's adultery and so on, to the decision to build an imaginary wall between the rest of the world and himself; the progression of the story shows the main character descent into madness, significant are the last songs on disc two in which he consider himself as a fascist dictator and looks at his fans as his "slaves"; only in the very end of it all, the decision to "tear down the wall" will be taken. Of course the only thing I can suggest you is to go buy this very touching progressive rock Masterpiece, which, personally speaking changed my life like no other work of art has ever done.

5 Stars.

This album is absolutely amazing. From beginning to end this album has no bad songs. I can hardly find any song that would be even close to bad. Songs like Comfortably Numb and Another Brick in the wall make this album great. The music and the background sounds fit perfectly in with this album. The story line to it is just absolutely brilliant.I think this album is a must have for any Progressive Rock fan.

Of all the Floyd albums, this is the one that fluctuates most in my opinion of it. Sometimes when I listen to it, I consider it a masterpiece, other times, it sounds messy and heavily bloated.

The concept and story within is a great idea, and the use of the metaphorical Wall works very well throughout, leading to some great emotional moments.

Some of Floyd's best work is here, the two versions of In the Flesh, Waiting for the Worms with its fascist themes and great drumming, The Trial with its multiple characters in the style of Gabriel' Genesis and its "Tear down the Wall!!" chanting, the vocals of Mother and Goodbye Blue Sky, coldness of Nobody Home and Vera, hard rocking Young Lust & Run Like Hell and the classics Hey You and Comfortably Numb with their incredible lyrics and mind blowing guitar solos.

Unfortunately, aside from a shortening number of keyboard sections, and the good use of accordians in the opening and closing of the album, too much of the musical impact here is on Gilmour's solos, and as well as he delivers, it makes the album feel a little stale and predictable. Sound effects no longer seem to add to the atmosphere, but many seem there for the sole reason of being there.

Also, some tracks are very weak, especially for Floyd. Bring the Boys Back Home is noisy and out of place, three parts for Another Brick in the Wall seems unneccessary, and I don't rate the song that highly myself, and there are songs that lack material and as a consequence, drag a little.

However, there is too much quality here, despite the big flaws to rate just three stars, and it is definately essential.

While many see this as Pink Floyd's greatest album, i think it has some incredible moments but it just doesn't descend into the phenomenal as many of their other works do.

When a band becomes popular it doesn't make them any better or worse, but it can become irritating when the only songs by pink floyd people know are Another Brick in the Wall and Comfortably Numb. No doubt two very nice songs, but i've heard them so many times that their material is just too difficult to praise.

That isn't very good basis to dislike an album, i think The Wall is far too long and has far too much gliding time where songs become uninteresting and ininspired. Some great songs, Thin Ice and Waiting for the Worms, are overlooked as incredible songs.

Also, the concept of isolation and insanity doesn't interest me at all.

After three perfect albums (Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, and Animals) The Wall is extremely dissapointing in how commercial Pink Floyd sounds.

I've never been the biggest fan of this album and i just can't get behind it as one of their best albums, but its definately worth checking out if you're a Pink Floyd fan... obviously

the obviously incredible musicianship and talent makes it worth listening to, but not one for remembering

A vastly overrated, hit-and-miss conceptual nightmare that features some amazing, memorable moments (such as: anything you'll hear on the radio), and many many eccentric experiments which fall flat on their face... making it very difficult to work up the effort to make it through this album's bloated entirety. The songs are not as complex, dynamic, or as emotive as anything found in earlier albums, and Water's vocals are well... bad, making for some goofy moments here and there (the "Trial" anyone?).

I recommend a new comer to Floyd's classic library to save this one for last.

Songwriting: 3 Instrumental Performances: 3 Lyrics/Vocals: 2 Style/Emotion/Replay: 3

The last great PF album and what a way to end the 70s with, 1 of the best selling albums ever and not hard to see why its loaded with amazing music from the genius Roger Waters and a litle help from Gilmoure, the only complain i got is that Dave culd have been alowed to sing some more since he was the best singer PF ever hade other then that this is a land mark album, sure it may not be the most prog album ever made but who cears what it is when its this good. For me there is no weak tunes no filler yust like Genesis masterpiece The Lamb, everything here is perfect and fit toghter. I remeber buying it for a high price since its a duble but it was worth it. One of the greatest albums of all time, 5 stars.

A terrifyingly bleak tour of the mind's disintegration and concomitant social alienation, PINK FLOYD's 'The Wall' is a seriously flawed but ultimately brilliant masterpiece, ROGER WATERS' magnum opus and the centre of his life's work.

This album is brutally compelling. Anyone with sensitivity will be overwhelmed by the relentless outpouring of vitriolic lyrics and the incessant pounding of the music, and will be drawn into the plot until the main character's probable suicide at the end of 'The Trial' becomes a cathartic relief. This is a million miles away from 'Grantchester Meadows'.

But isn't this where we came in? A fair question on every level. WATERS has examined the question of madness before, most notably as a central theme of 'Dark Side of the Moon' and obliquely on 'Wish You Were Here'. Associated with this is the well-known fate of the band's original guru, SYD BARRETT. This is not the first time, then, we've heard these sentiments, but they have never been more powerfully expressed. Moreover the album itself is a cycle: the album opens with the words '...we came in?' and finishes with the words 'Isn't this where...' indicating that the self-destruction pictured here reoccurs in society. Powerful stuff.

However, there are a myriad of problems with this work. By this stage in PINK FLOYD's existence they were almost completely a one-man band. WATERS would go away and make the demos, and would hire a wide variety of musicians (some of whom might coincidentally be his band-mates) to do the bits he couldn't. Thus the bitterness - the incipient madness this semi-autobiographical tale references - remains unsweetened by the melody or grandeur GILMOUR and WRIGHT might have introduced. Everything here is tight-sphinctered, teeth-grinding, utter depression. It's a shattering experience to listen to it once, but repeated listenings merely serve to grind one's soul into the dust.

Moreover, WATERS invites his family to the party. In fact, this would better be titled 'The Waters Family Album' as the death of his father in the war looms large throughout the record, giving us many a pointless and distracting moment. Rock operas work best when they stick with one theme: the concept becomes diluted on Side 3 when the album becomes an anti-war diatribe. There are half a dozen complete songs on this record, and the rest are song fragments. I can't help feeling the complete songs needed a little more space. Some excellent songs - 'Mother', for example - could have done with expanding. I can't help feeling that the first two sides could have been expanded to cover three sides. Thus 'Goodbye Cruel World' would be followed by 'Comfortably Numb' and then 'Hey You' would lead into Side 4 (which is where it should be, as it introduces the worms that are the central subject of Side 4).

There are many places on the web that will walk the neophyte through the intricacies of WATERS' vision. I'm more concerned with the music. The space-rock PINK FLOYD has vanished, replaced by a much more condensed art-rock feel. There's little one would normally consider progressive here, though I'd argue that the album as a whole can be treated as one progressive track, particularly as there are a number of recurring leitmotifs throughout the work. The 'Another Brick' theme, the main riff from 'ABITW Part II', which appears repeatedly on Side 4, the continual television samples filling the silences and lifting the paranoia level ever higher, the cries of 'Oooh Babe' ... the list goes on. Each is a clever device to link the disparate parts of the record together.

I must mention a few songs. 'Another Brick in the Wall Part II' is often disparaged for its disco beat, but such a beat is repeated throughout the album, a reflection of the marching hordes (hammers, fascists etc) that populate Pink's mind. I see it as artistic necessity, not a sell-out. The guitar solo is superb. 'Empty Spaces' is a compelling song fragment, and industrial throwover to 'Welcome to the Machine', a powerful moment that ought to have been expanded. 'Comfortably Numb' is a GILMOUR masterpiece, originally intended for release on his 1978 solo album, and is cruelly cut short by the limitations of the vinyl. I concur with those who rate this solo as one of the best - if not the best - of all time. It is introduced by a lovely build, begins with that distorted harmonic and is underlain by compelling rhythm and chords: like the solo on 'Stairway to Heaven', much of the magic is in the context. Then, just as he reaches for the heavens, bending those notes like only he can, GILMOUR is cut off by the end of the side. If only some of the pointless stuff beforehand had been pruned a little: this song needs more room to breathe.

'The Trial' is unique in the annals of progressive rock. I'm a WATERS critic, I believed his megalomania and the band members' indifference destroyed the band, but here he got it exactly right. The music-hall style trivialises the various participants, yet the power of the music and the sheer weight of what has gone before means that when GILMOUR starts in with the leitmotif guitar theme we are horrified at what is happening. The intensity cranks up moment by moment until the chants of 'Tear down the Wall!' assume Nazi-like proportions, petrifying in their menace. I cannot praise the conclusion to this album highly enough, nor its pathetic denouement. Some may laugh, but I consider this moment the climax of WATERS' musical career. Somewhat ironic, that, when you think about it.

Yes, there are serious flaws in this album, sufficient that the rating is a fair reflection of its overall merit. It could have been even better than it is. However, there is enough sheer brilliance in this record that, despite the misgivings, its masterpiece status must be acknowledged. If any album in these archives can be considered essential, this, the last great rock opera, certainly can.

As ambitious, brilliant and dramatic as the concept of this double album set was in 1979, it musically pales in comparison with the monstrous three studio records which preceded it. Pieces are in a shorter, more pop-oriented song format. Gilmour's voice and guitar are great on the record and Waters' lyrics are genius. The creative influences and keyboard textures of Richard Wright are regretfully stifled and suffocated under the grandiosity of Waters' highly theatrical scheme. The end result of it all was an excellent double album recording which established new heights in the arts, but that new height was reached more at the level of theater than at the level of music, with much of the musical elements and textures that made much of Pink Floyd's work earlier in the decade great conspicuously absent on this recording. The band's focus (or should I say Waters' focus, as by now, it was quite clear who was in charge) became that or spectacle rather than that of sound. In the execution of the concept, the work is exceptional. In its totality therefore, although this is a progressive music page rather than a progressive "performing arts" page, the result still rates as a five star masterpiece, despite a modest "let-down" in the music as compared with The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here and Animals.

More a selection of pop and rock song than prog, the Wall is, however, fairly well executed, something that cannot be said for other Pink floyd albums. This is streets ahead of Meddle, for instance. However, it only ever contrives to be a poor man's The lamb lies down on broadway. It is quite well produced, and seems to have been very good live, qualities to be commended. Pink floyd's best album, but overlong, and failing to work as a two-disc concept.

The last of the great floyd albums, and the 4th concept album in a row. This also the last album with both Richard Wright and Roger Waters. The album is a fantasy rock opera with a basis in Waters' childhood. The story involves a rock star called Pink who is on tour with his band and has a nervous breakdown. After the first song, the entire thing is a flashback until the second half of the second disc. It describes the life of Pink, going through childhood and schooling (another brick in the wall, mother), teenage years (Young lust, One of my turns, Dont leave me now) and adulthood. He is addicted to drugs for sometime, and his mother, teacher, and lover have all played a role in him building a wall around himself, making him paranoid and schizophrenic. In the final, climactic scene (the trial), Pink is put on trial, with many characters showing up, including the mother, the lover, the teacher, and a few new ones like the Judge and the prosecutor. This is by far the best song on the album, with orchestral backing and some amazing waters lyrics and vocals, changing to suit the change of character. The final involves the judges deliberation and the final destruction of the wall.

Overall, the pure emotion poured into this album makes it a fantastic close tot the era of the Floyd. The Final Cut was intended as the third disc of the wall, but the record company executives refused to allow it, saying it was far too pretentious. So, the floyd era comes to a close, and the 80s begin. it seems so sad, but the 90s would kick up again.

This is one of my favourite albums of all time, and definitely one that I prefer to Floyd's "Dark Side of The Moon". This album has so much to offer, whether you're looking for a moving and lyrically breathtaking concept album or excellent guitar solos and well placed musical sections throughout, you will not be dissapointed. Almost every track on this album is a cracker for me (The only obvious exception being "Is There Anybody Out There?") and most of you will know such infamous tracks as "Another Brick In the Wall" and "Comfortably Numb" well enough. So instead, I am going to Focus on the less well known tracks of the album. Side ones second track "The Thin Ice" is one of the biggest tearjerker's in my album collection, and an excellent induction to the bitter- sweet (but mainly bitter) feel of the album. "Don't Leave Me Now" is another highlight of disc one, a real example of instrumental delicacy and lyrical exasperation. Disc two I feel is even better, offering such tracks as the almost gothic ballad "Hey You", and "The Trial", which I think is possibly the greatest end to a concept album ever. An excellent album that I would heartily recommend to anyone. 5/5.

One-of-a-kind...emotional...beautiful...involving...the greatest album of music ever made.

I've been listening to The Wall since I first had a copied tape in 1994 at age 16, shortly after I first discovered the Floyd with CD's of everyone's first two Floyd albums: Dark Side and Wish You Were Here.

Wow...I realise most how powerful The Wall is when I've had a long break from it (say a year or more). It's impossible to do a song-by-song analysis, or a review of disc 1's merits over disc 2...The Wall is an 80-minute whole, a journey so perfectly executed that it transcends music and becomes something we can't even describe in words...only in goosepimpled skin, lumps in throat, nonsense rage, maniacal laughter and intense feelings of concentration.

I sing along to every bit of it with all my might...I feel the story...I am the story...at the end I am drained, the wall is down and after a few moments of calming down, of reflection...I resume the reality of my own existence.

Mad bugger indeed.

There is a siginificant similarity between Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall to me. Both albums are considered masterpieces to most people/fans but somehow I have a really different opinion about them. Both albums are granted two stars less by me than the usual of 5 stars. And interesting enough: both albums contain one or two songs of the very highest standard: Money and Time on DSotM and Comfortly Numb on The Wall. And in both cases I have to say I don't really care about the rest of the songs.

The only difference is: I almost dislike the rest of DSotM and in the case of The Wall I think the other tracks are ok but are qualitywise some light-years behind the mentioned masterpiece track. On the other hand I have to admit that tracks like Mother, Hey You and Run like Hell have grown on me through the years and aren't bad at all of course. But for some reason I cannot appreciate the whole album (like many people can) despite its obvious class and significance in pop and prog history. All in all 3 stars for The Wall (3,2).

As nearly all reviewers have remarked, this is less of a Pink Floyd than a Roger Waters solo album. That means it has all the strengths and weakneses typical of Waters efforts. It has a strong story line and strong lyrics - but is less rewarding musically than Pink Floyd's best moments.

Pink Floyd used to be a great band. All member contributed to each track and the net result was much more than the sum of its parts. That has ended here. The warm group feeling and the musical experiments are gone. Instead we have an hour and a half of Roger Waters pessimistic world-view.

However, The Wall contains much good music. Although some songs are weak it would be difficult to condense this to a single album.

With more tasteful production, like that on the other Pink Floyd Waters solo album The Final Cut, I would rate The Wall four stars. Now, the production stands in the way. It's bombastic and overblown, worthy of Alice Cooper. I really can't give it more than three.

Yes, it's a beautiful album. ut Pink Floyd's best ? No, no way it is. The Wall is too long, there is too much filler songs (Vera, Bring The Boys Back Home, Don't Leave Me Now aren't that good), too much noisy effects (screams, ringings, bomb explosions, etc). Some songs are among Pink Floyd's best ever, indeed : Comfortably Numb is probably THE best Pink Floyd song ever. Goodbye, Blue Sky is pretty, moody. Another Brick In The Wall 1/The Happiest Days Of Our Lives/Another Brick In The Wall 2 is one of the most interesting suites I ever listened to. But in its entirety, The Wall is pretty, interesting, though sometimes a little inconsistent. I prefer the movie by far.

A double album that should have been a single album. Like almost all double albums, this one has a few songs that do not measure up to the apex of the albums material. This one just happens to have 3/4 slight filler and 1/4 insanely well written songs. Comfortably Numb is one of the best rock songs ever played, same goes for Hey You but these fail to carry the album. There are a few other gems but the album reaches farther than it should and does not hold up to many listens. I know how important it is but it really was a disappointment to me who, hearing all the amazing radio singles, thought this album would be consistently well put together, not so. On a positive note, it probably is still worth getting and I think if you can take more studio crafted songs paired with inspired songs you could dig all of it.

All in all this is really just another review of The Wall

Now here's one that I've put off touching for a long time. This is one of those albums that you either love or hate, and while the entire rock community seems to have an immense love for this album it's clear that the reactions in the prog community are mixed. Yes, it is considered one of Floyd's greatest, but still people disregard it. There's many things to like and dislike about the album, and those I'll get to in a second, but first let's examine the style of the album. For anyone who is still unfamiliar with the album and how it plays this one is different from anything and everything the Floyd have done prior. While their previous albums had been full of long and spaced out songs even going into their ''classic'' era (post Dark Side) this one takes a sharp turn for the shorter side of things. While other albums had their long, winding tracks connected by theme, this one has short, sometimes choppy tracks connected by a story. Yes, this is a rock opera. And it's a thick one. Indeed, the concept can be very hard to get into at times, especially when you're just trying to listen to the music. The lyrics are omni-present and urge you to listen. Is there any time for you to simply get lost in the music? Yes. But first you have to get immersed in the music.

To talk about the music even more let's get into the sound. This album sounds a lot more emotional and a lot more geared towards ''rock'' than anything the band has done before. The songs are heavy and not really all that spacey. At all. This is fine if you're someone looking for something to sing along to, but if you're a prog purest looking for instrumental goodness then just be warned. Songs like Another Brick In The Wall are very much radio friendly, but they still have their charm, especially the three segments of the previously mentioned track, two of which are scarcely known, being as they really have that prog feel to them.

I'm not going to get into the actual story or it's meanings because that would be mostly semantics, but I'll do a quick overview. If you didn't know - this is the story of a rocker who goes pretty much crazy and builds up a ''wall'' around himself thanks to all the crazy forces in his life and becomes something of a hermit. It also touches on the false idol worship of rockstars and the lot. Written by Roger Waters after spitting on a crowd member at a concert who tried to spit on stage, Waters felt that he was separating himself from the audience, and mixing that with his own childhood memories of his father and the misadventures of Syd Barrett, he created this tale.

Something to note about the album is the age group it seems to effect. Now - this is by no means accurate, but someone once told me something that resonated with me. He told me that it was a very teenage album - an album which is very emotional and whose story can snag people in around that age so that they gain a kind of obsession with it. This definitely rang true with me when I first listened to it so many years ago, and it seems that way with most of the people I've known - they were all younger when they got into the album - although I'm positive that this is by no means the rule.

So this is a prog flavored rock opera with a lot of tracks. While a lot of the tracks are simply intro/outro tracks to press the songs forwards and segue them with the next tracks there's a few songs of high interest. The opening In The Flesh? gets the ball rolling with a bang as Water's lyrics come in to start the show. Mother is a good, slower number which is sure to attract some of the more brooding of the younger audience with it's lyrics (although that's not the only draw). Young Lust paired with One of My Turns makes for a great way to portray rage at it's finest - the sharp and eerie lyrics match well with the hungry guitar to make for a rocking couple of tracks. Other tracks make for a truly lonely and isolated feel that works quite well on the album such as Don't Leave Me Now and Hey You, and especially the haunting Is There Anybody Out There?.

Of course what would the album be without a couple of it's most famous tracks? Run Like Hell is an excellent rocker who's sing-along lyrics actually work quite well, another brooding track with it's underlying message. But of course the definitive standout on the album has to be the masterful Comfortably Numb with it's almost pretty delivery and wonderful solo from Gilmour. The Trial is another amazing track, finishing the album with a bang as the terrifying Judge comes in to make for a very unique Floyd track. As the climax of the story and album you'd want this one to deliver - and it does.

I must say that while it does get mixed reactions this is an essential prog album, like it or not. Whether it be for the story or the music or the love of Floyd there's a lot to like here. The bad things to be said about it are the exception rather than the rule and I'd recommend this one to everyone! 5 cruel worlds out of 5!

A long time ago, daring to confess that merely ever since I first joined the Archives; I determined that if I ever made it to the one hundred reviews, PINK FLOYD "The Wall" would have that respected place on the achieved numbering.

Among all possible reasons that drove me down to that particular decision, the fact of growing up along this album through most of the inner experiences over my childhood up to my now extinct first days as a youngster, set those past memories on fire burning anxiously in my head, waiting to be quenched throughout words.

"The Wall" is to me a generational record, a point of departure cornerstone, the milestone made music and the best rock opera I've aver lent ears to. Besides, the idea of elapsing the total running time altogether in a record was new to me, thus, I was unfamiliar with the term "concept album" and later on, after having myself surrendered to the dazzling story within, I embraced that kind of musical creations as one of my favorites.

I discovered "The Wall" through brief sessions of listening to excerpts from most of the known songs such as "Another Brick in The Wall Pt. II", "Mother", "Hey You" and of course "Comfortably Numb" being this last one, the track that makes my mind wander into de depths of rock star "Pink" performed by Bob GELDOF on the motion picture.

And speaking of the motion picture, when I hopelessly got to "see" the music depicted in images, the loose ends in my head finally entangled perfectly to a whole new world of perspective. As many of you out there I presume, I felt irremediably bonded to "Pink", seeing reflected on that character most of my youth fears, desires, dreams, gathering together to tear down "the wall".

On the lyrical development and far beyond finding the perfect match of words with Gerald SCARFE's animation; I noticed this solid togetherness the band displayed on every single chord, on every single bit of music, on every and each one of the arrangements to come up with a true masterpiece. The rareness and sensitivity of the songwriting is quite different from previous releases by the band, the sounds of interactive backgrounds were unique, the refined composing and the elaborated mind-pictured scenarios fitted just wonderfully.

Every once in a while, I spin the record from beginning to end as I kick back and let my emotions drift away and still, I get those adolescent shivers and creeps, I can sense the aroma of rusty old dreams and feel my soul trying to claw its way to the other side of the wall.

Almost thirty years from its creation have gone by and the reminiscent tracks in our minds are fresh as the first listen. Go dust this album off and let yourselves relive the unforgettable days but if you feel young or even so, are young enough indeed, just get captivated over and over again.

Review 72, The Wall, Pink Floyd, 1979, double-album

StarStar (ooooh....)

There are few albums that inspire as much of a mixture of feelings in me as The Wall. On the one hand, the heights are absolutely brilliant, and some signature characteristics are used immensely well, on the other, there is nothing remotely memorable about several of the pieces, some leave me completely uninspired and some of the 'filler' (will explain what I mean by this later when I come to them) is really nothing more than that. In addition, the ending is feeble and so utterly unconvincing to me that it alone brings down the album somewhat. I'll try to explain the pluses and minuses in a bit more detail:

On the positive side, the inclusions of phone calls, voice clips, film moments and sound effects is generally very, very nicely done. It fits into the pieces very well, keeps up album flow and adds a bit more interest. Equally, the guitar work and vocals are generally quite clean and forceful, and is responsible for most of the album's real high points. Lastly, when everything does come together, which isn't often enough for my liking, it comes together magnificently.

On the minus side, there are plenty of individual tracks that draw my finger towards the dreaded skip button. More generally, the lyrics don't really satisfy me that much overall, being very self-referential, a bit ridiculous story-wise, but without the clever allegorical style that made albums like The Lamb and A Passion Play so enjoyable from that perspective. Additionally, a few of the pieces seem lyrically so un-needed as to make me cold to them by default. Finally, Wright and Mason are mostly boring on this album. At times, they do make valid contributions, but nothing remotely comparable to their roles on, say, Meddle or Wish You Were Here.

In The Flesh (I), after the light theme of the opening (echoed in the closer) provides a relatively effective start to the album with superb hammond sound from Wright and really grappling guitars from Gilmour. Mason, also, is on top form, with bass pedal throbs and very fitting clear percussion sounds. The vocals and lyrics, equally, are pretty good ('If you wanna find out what's behind these cold eyes/ Then you'll have to claw your way past this disguise!'). A superbly bombastic start to the album, with taste moderating the intentionally overboard sound.

A baby wailing brings us onto The Thin Ice, another solid cut, with some really haunting work from Wright's swirling synths and cautious piano as a highlight, and excellent vocals from Gilmour, whether or not they stretch the 'oooh'ing a bit too much. Waters' more aggressive vocals contrast neatly, and a fine snarling solo from Gilmour also marks the piece. The end segues through a thunking, almost electronic bass beat...

to Another Brick In The Wall pt.1, which is the first of the few really fantastic songs on the album, with extremely well-written and accusing lyrics, as well as a brilliant harmony of empty menace over the minimalistic electronic bass-line merging with some little guitar and keyboard effects. Children's voices and the occasional shout punctuate the background.

The Happiest Days Of Our Lives is a moderate mix of biting anti-school aggression and the defiant mockery of these oppressive figures. The rhythm section, unusually for Floyd, takes a really dominant part and handles it finely, and the screeching segue is almost unmatched...

Unlike the following Another Brick In The Wall pt. 2, where, simply, not a lot is going on. The guitars and riffs are very much repeated, the loud children's chorus is simply irritating, and so horrifically out of tune that I usually end up skipping. The lyrics are solid, and the bluesy solo in the middle ain't bad, but those are the only nice things I'll really say about it. The first of the 'let's throw in a few vocal loops' things flops a bit. A phone segue takes us onto...

Mother, which is one of the most lauded songs of the album. Unfortunately, it bores me. A couple of the creepy lyrical lines and deliveries are pulled off with great menace ('ooh ma, is it just a waste of time?', but the acoustic theme is simply un-interesting to me. The additions are mainly propping that up, and since I'm not too keen on it, they don't really help... equally, the self-referential lyrics are a bit of an irritation for me, but that's just preference speaking. The final couple verse and answer are a bit of an improvement, but still not so incredibly fascinating that the words 'classic' come to my mind.

Goodbye Blue Sky has a much stronger and more interesting acoustic, with some haunting background bass supplementing it as well as dark and fairly assertive additions. Much as a couple of the lyrical lines feel a bit basic, it works, and the piece is overall quite enjoyable while handling a psychological menace.

The growling aggression of Empty Spaces is a complete and delightful contrast, with wailing guitar, psychedelic force added by Wright's effects and the German distorted spoken additions, and a forceful and compelling beat. The vocals have this guttural, probably distorted, power behind them, and the piece as a whole, though brief and mainly intended as a lead up, is very effective.

Unfortunately, the following Young Lust is simply not a piece I enjoy. The rhythm section is pretty basic, Gilmour's guitars have such a synthetic edge and the plain rock ends up mainly being plain, without quite enough action to keep me interested. Wright's chords on the hammond have a simply bored vibe, and the lyrics are for the first time a bit of an insertion, rather than a necessity. Not as awful as I'm making it sound and it does at least do the decency of being memorable, but it does nothing for me. Noch ein phonecall-based segue...

Straight into One Of My Turns, also sometimes lauded as a highlight, with a bit more plot-exposition and some very disjointed keyboard work, which I can understand, even if it doesn't hit me. The vocals for the first time feel a little too vulnerable and empty, much as that is the only real option for the piece, and the lyrics do have their moment in the opening section. The musical side... well, it's just not especially fascinating for me.

The breathless and dark Don't Leave Me Now is another very Wright-driven track, even if it's not quite as fascinating as some of the previous ones, and, much as the lyrics are horrific and dark, the rather thin delivery simply doesn't quite work out the way I think it meant to. Three minutes I didn't need to spend, and one superb conclusion, with a whirling guitar, some moving piano touches and the 'oooh babe' motif being used really well.

The biting and hammering aggression of Another Brick In The Wall pt. 3 is the real highlight of the first side for me. The lyrics are brilliantly written, and the forceful, striking electronic-ish beat backed up with little band additions is incredibly compelling. Vocals, effects, guitars... everything works.

Goodbye Cruel World ends the first disc in a subdued way, with a fairly feeble two-note bass thing over some repeats of the organ riff from Another Brick pt. 3, and a simple lyrical set to signify the completion of The Wall (a theme which I've stopped following mentally by Young Lust, anyway...). It doesn't make a great impression.

The second disc starts out promisingly, with the exceptional Hey You. A more medieval-feel guitar theme holds up neatly by itself, giving enough space for the other additions to really hit home. Simple though it is, everything fits neatly, and emphasises the emotions of the narrator. More importantly, we get the amazing guitar theme (diao-da-da-dao...) that will be repeated in the second side in its purest and most stunning form. The vocals also express themselves much more clearly and freely than I feel they've done on the majority of the first side, and the lyrical content is again quite impressive ('Hey you! Would you help me to carry the stone/Open your heart, I'm coming home'). Superb in and out of context.

Is There Anybody Out There is another menacing piece, with just one repeated, maddened line arranged precisely and a mass of psychedelic keys with a couple of guitary and bass sounds, even reminiscent of Echoes. A really pretty acoustic solo from Gilmour highlights the second part of the piece, and much as I'm not the biggest fan of his acoustics in general, this one works beautifully.

Nobody Home features some fiddling with a vocal repeat, as well as a generally good vocal side. The orchestra feature for the first time, if generically, and Wright's piano gets a little space to expand. The first half of the lyrics I really enjoy, the second... don't really impact on me. Overall, however, it is a satisfying piece overall.

Vera is the first of two lyrically pointless pieces. There is absolutely no conceivable reason for it to be where it is, in my opinion. Perhaps on the first disc, it would have fit a lot better, with the touching vocal from Waters and the lush cello not dragged down by plain irrelevance.

Bring The Boys Back Home is the second. The bombastic orchestra is pretty generic, but the highlights of the song is in the vocal wailing accompanying it, truly bizarre. Unfortunately, the segue has the worst of the vocal loops overuses, despite the menacing Is There Anybody Out There? reprise.

Comfortably Numb is a piece I have mixed opinions on. The lyrics are great, but clearly a complete insertion. Equally, the music is fine, but it doesn't match the album, which, at its best is downcast and sullen... the rather upbeat themes of this one have never fit for me. The orchestra inclusions irk me a little, as does the chorus-dragging-on-so-much part. The guitar solos... well, I like them enough, the second much more so than the first, but wouldn't really consider them mindblowing, especially since I'm not the world's biggest guitar person. It's understandable why it is so popular, but I feel quite confused as to why I'm listening to it in the middle of a clear concept album, which it isn't an integral part of.

The Show Must Go On, comparatively, is a piece that was clearly well-meaning, but simply feels like a bit musically invalid to me, especially the vocals. It's clearly trying, but I simply don't like the harmonies and Gilmour's voice on it. The lyrics... equally, feels a bit fill-up inspired. The only substantial plus is the semi-yodel thing handled in the opening harmony.

In The Flesh (II) echoes the first one pretty precisely, in terms of its musical content, albeit acoustics and slightly more stretchy choral things feature prominently. Lyrically, however, the altered context and vocal performance really does give it a fair bit of validity. The lines are again well-written, and quite neat, albeit I completely fail to understand why Pink (erk!) decides he's being Hitler for the evening... The conclusion is, however, great.

Run Like Hell features another more basic beat, and some guitar 'waves' (I like to call them) that, while perhaps interesting to a guitarist, don't get me. The vocals, while experimental and cleverly arranged, also have no effect on me. So we have. a song where I really feel either of the leads and the rhythm section is pretty basic. A slightly redeeming synth solo from Wright marks the end of the piece and returns of the Another Brick 3 theme work, but that's all I can really find to like.

Waiting For The Worms, after a slightly slow opening, features a kicking guitar theme from Gilmour as well as menacing multi-tracked vocals and vicious lyrical madness. Repeats of the godly guitar-theme of Hey You are like ambrosia for my ears, and the overall piece is a very impressive and compelling one despite a vulnerable beginning.

Stop is a deliberate, short anti-climactic break, with really nice high piano playing from Wright.

The following The Trial features the orchestra in its full role, really arranged for maximised effect, and an array of the bizarre characters involved in the album arrayed against our protagonist. The vocals around the line 'crazy... toys in the attic, I am crazy' are wonderfully supplemented by the harp playing. Meanwhile, however, the refrains on that just don't work for me. Though it features again that phenomenal guitar theme, added to the judge's blustering, the piece could have been so much more enjoyable for me with a tiny bit of trimming, and the 'tear down the wall' shouting, while really the obvious way to do it... feels so obvious that it's almost out of place.

Outside The Wall provides possibly the world's most ineffectual conclusion, especially in the context of such a dark piece. With a really light sax theme echoing the opening, and a slightly irritating light vocal complete with daft refrains not really doing anything for the lyrics. An instrumental repeat... well, why bother. Doesn't work for me.

So, individually, a lot of the pieces are alright, a few are really, really strong, and not a huge number really fall flat horribly. However, as a whole, it simply doesn't feel quite there to me, and it falls down to aggressive examination. I'm not that keen on the concept, and I really do not like the ending. Also, I really don't have the money spare to do what some have suggested and head for the film just to understand the concept a bit better... if I'm not the album's greatest fan, and I think the concept is basic, I'm not going to splurge on it, to be honest. It is quite an interesting album from a few perspectives, but the interest... it passes too quickly, and one listen will generally give me just as much information as ten on any individual feature.

Two stars is admittedly a bit harsh, but I simply don't find it entirely satisfying, and that's even as someone who's generally positive towards Floyd. If you're not a fan of the band, it is admittedly so big and influential a recording that it's probably a necessity. Equally, it's interesting to look at why this album succeeded so highly, but in and of itself it isn't, in my view, the masterpiece some proclaim it to be.

Rating: Two Stars Favourite Track: Another Brick In The Wall pt. 3/Hey You

We have the bricks now

Updated in 06/19/11 to match my personal review structure, enjoy :)

Introduction

Here we got the most controversial album from the well rounded group who didn't change the lineup since '69 (even if Gilmour is already present in A Saucerful fo Secrets), let's say that this is maybe the last work of PF all toghether: the next one will be almost a Waters-only release.

Main Theme

So here comes the story of Pink aka Roger Waters and his concept of mental cage seen as a wall, the story is simple: Mr Pink Floyd is a boy that have lost his father under the 2nd world war and The Wall his the conseguence of everything happen to him, from his superprotective mother, to the school, drugs and go on on the same line. I've said controversial 'cause a lot of people think about The Wall as the best effort from the band, for other it is just not. We have 26 tracks almost the half of them are worthless of any kind of structure (apart from being the picture of Pink) and even some good point are ruined by the voice of Waters (the main difference from Animals is the way how Waters sing: sometimes he don't even know where to stop and his voice fails him), some tracks like the 3 bricks parts, Empty spaces, Comfortably Numb, Run Like Hell and maybe Is There Anybody Out There? can be compared in some ways with the previous albums, but it's not enough for 26 tracks of emptyness.

Conclusion

The bricks on this wall are too few to build a solid album, too much hype for a sub par album, which doesn't add anything new in psych music and apart of some nice moments where Gilmour gives proof of what he can do with guitar we got only a untuned Waters. 2 stars.

Unique album! It's the first studio album I've ever called my favourite. Now it's not my favourite,but I regard it as one of the top albums in the world of rock music. This is also the last masterpiece by Pink Floyd and the most remembered Pink Floyd's album by the mainstream community. Moreover, I think this is the best Pink Floyd's album in terms of lyrics. It's also one of the most dominated Pink Floyd's albums by Roger Waters (only behind The Final Cut and prior to Animals). It's obvious that the tendency from Animals continues on The Wall - I mean this album is similar to Animals and was born from the ideas of Animals. Its genre is more understandable than Animals' genre. The album is in strong artistic manner, just what I love to hear. Richard Wright is totally overshadowed by the then leader - Roger Waters - and can't show his musical abilities, but that's not a reason for less than 5 stars, is it?

The Wall Gets 4 Stars. I really like the Wall, it's a great album. But it's definitely not their best. In my opinion, most of Pink Floyd actually gets 5 stars, but the wall is one of their not as good albums. I know it's the most commerically popular because it's played on the radio, and it has that song Another Brick in the Wall Part 2 (No, it's not called We Don't Need No Education!)

I began to realize a decline in creative diversity after Wish You Were Here, with Animals. Animals was still great but there was something about it... it seemed that it was more for the lyrics and less ambient and diverse than previous things like Echoes and Shine on You crazy Diamond. Animals is still a great album and so is the wall, but this feeling I got with Animals became prevalent in the Wall and I knew what was happening. Roger Waters was beginning to take over most of the writing. When I look at all my favourite Pink Floyd songs, Interstellar Overdrive, Careful with that Axe, Eugene, A Saucerful of Secrets, Atom Heart Mother, Echoes, Shine on You crazy Diamond, Dark Side of the Moon, etc, I see a pattern in that most of those songs are written by the band working collectively in the group. But during the Wall Roger had his dominance over the band, and much of that old ambient artistic style of the music had faded. To make up for that, the lyrical style of the album sky rocketed in Creativity, obviously because the wall is a Rock Opera, telling a story concept across all of the songs. And the story is very enigmatic and cool to hear. But the music continued to lack that great creativity of the old stuff. The wall does have progressive moments, but when compared to songs like Echoes, The Wall is almost totally mainstream. I would say that the wall is good for a rocker who recently discovered he might be into the more progressive stuff like Yes and all that. Buy the Wall, it's a good standard for Pink Floyd, and then if you like it, see if you can handle the earlier stuff.

The band were having some problems while recording, particularly with each other and many things happened including Richard Wright being fired.

The Wall is a great and wonderful album. I recommend it to any progressive rock person... it's one of the essential albums. But in my personal opinion, Pink Floyd has done way better than this in the past, and will do way better with their last album, The Division Bell

It's amazing what a little spit can do. This whole concept got going because during one show, Roger Waters spat in the face of an overzealous fan who attempted to climb onto the stage. Waters mused that their was a figurative wall between himself and the rest of the world. This album follows what is essentially a loose alter-ego of his. While many see this as Pink Floyd's greatest work, I find it is a little too drawn out, especially for its "story" (which is really almost stream of consciousness). I'll keep my comments on the loose story limited, as there are manifold interpretations offered elsewhere.

"In the Flesh?" If one listens carefully, one can hear that this album begins where the very last track left off, mid-sentence. Then some dark organ and guitar come in for one hell of an introduction. Waters's voice graduates from calm to quirky to mad, which is something of a trademark of this grandiose vocalist. The sound of a bomber closes the song.

"The Thin Ice" This one begins with a baby crying, and some soft vocals over piano, before Waters takes over and Gilmour gives a ripping guitar solo.

"Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 1" While not the one most people think of when they hear the title, this song carries the same iconic melody as its more popular successor, and has some incredible delayed guitars.

"The Happiest Days of Our Lives" The sound of a helicopter and someone shouting gives way to a splendid bass-dominated part. Waters does a great job describing the tyranny of the schoolteachers (and that of their wives). This short section moves right into the next song.

"Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2" Perhaps one of Pink Floyd's most recognized songs, this is similar to part one, but fuller. It features a children's choir the second time the verse is sung, and Gilmour does a magnificent job playing his solo- it's one that imprints itself on the listener's memory with just a few cursory listens.

"Mother" This song is a loitering one, even between lines; it probably could have been much shorter and just as effective. It's primarily an acoustic guitar-driven song, but there are other instruments that add to it. Waters's lyrics are especially good and fitting here, and Gilmour once again does not fail to deliver on the guitar solo.

"Goodbye Blue Sky" This song juxtaposes beautiful guitar work and ominous synthesizer. It has lovely vocals.

"Empty Spaces" This short interlude prepares the listener for the next song. Waters' voice drags over heavy guitar.

"Young Lust" Another radio staple, this is a pop-oriented song with a strong beat and a catchy chorus. As always, the electric guitar work is very strong. The song ends with the voice of a real-life unwitting operator.

"One of My Turns" This song has a lot of variety to it, but even so, it could have been popular on the radio too. Despite the dark lyrics, most of them are sung over upbeat music.

"Don't Leave Me Now" This track is terribly boring and depressing, and it lingers on, increasing the monotony. Even when things pick up, it's drawn-out and repetitive.

"Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 3" This is a short revisiting of the two parts that preceded it with even darker lyrics.

"Goodbye Cruel World" This would be a throwaway track if it wasn't an integral part of the story- there isn't any music to speak of, and the singing is almost spoken.

"Hey You" Likewise a depressing song, this one achieved radio popularity, featuring verses with a basic guitar solo sandwiched in between. The riff used underneath the solo is a variation on the melody for "Another Brick in the Wall." The lyrics use a lot of imagery, not the least of which describe worms gnawing into the protagonist's brain.

"Is There Anybody Out There?" This piece is the most psychedelic of the bunch, particularly with the haunting vocals and the strange synthesizer. The acoustic guitar section is the more enjoyable part, though, and my opinion is that the band should have expanded on this idea.

"Nobody Home" This is by far one of the most depressing tracks on the album. The lyrics describe isolation, a subject Waters often wrote about.

"Vera" Vera Lynn was a British singer during World War II. The song ironically references her song, "We'll Meet Again," such that the protagonist (and Waters, for that matter), knows he will not meet his father again.

"Bring the Boys Back Home" This sounds like a patriotic war anthem, but the lyrics take an anti-war stance. More broadly (and more accurately), the brief song is about not letting one's career- whatever that is- be more important than one's family and friends.

"Comfortably Numb" One of Pink Floyd's greatest songs, this one has dark verses (sung by Waters) and a buoyant chorus (sung by Gilmour). The two guitar solos in this song are amazingly structured well executed. The lyrics do not describe drugs (well, not in an illegal sense, really) as many believe, but tell the next part of the story. This is my favorite song on the entire album.

"The Show Must Go On" This is a short piece that is derivative of earlier chord structures. It's mostly just an interlude to give information on the protagonist's thoughts about his life.

"In the Flesh" As the title would suggest, this is a reprise of the first song on the album, only it's "live," with Waters shouting offensive things at the least "desirable" members of the audience (gays, blacks, Jews, pot-smokers, the diseased), ordering them "up against the wall."

"Run Like Hell" Yet another radio hit, this one is decidedly simplistic in its structure. It has a basic guitar riff and a simple beat. What makes this stand out, however, are not just the wild lyrics, but the manner in which they are sung. Waters sings with himself, each line panning to one side or the other. This song is the only one on the entire album to have a synthesizer solo, and it's a crazy one.

"Waiting for the Worms" This song compares the protagonist with a Nazi dictator (the counting is even in German and the song references "showers" and "ovens"). The music starts off softly, but builds into musical insanity. The guitar plays the melody of "Another Brick in the Wall" as someone delivers a speech through a megaphone to a hateful crowd.

"Stop" This is just a thirty section interlude that gives insight into the protagonist's mind at this point in the story.

"The Trial" This quirky song is meant to give the impression of an English courtroom. The protagonist's refrain throughout the song is "Crazy, toys in the attic; I am crazy." This is the most dramatic of the songs, and Waters even uses a variety of voices to represent the different characters. The final judgment is rendered: "Tear down the wall."

"Outside the Wall" The closing song is inconclusive about the protagonist's fate after his mental wall is demolished. It's quiet, and almost anti-climatic, but the sound cuts off, directing the listener back to the beginning, where the question "Isn't this where we came in?" is completed.

I really don't get all the fuss about this album, to me it is really boring as a work overall, too many moments where there's really nothing happening, and it does not sound creative at all!

Of course this has its extraordinary moments, "Comfortably Numb" is one of my all time favorite Pink Floyd songs, the beautiful "Mother", the awesome absolutely-no-floyd "Young Lust", "Hey You" and epic "Run Like Hell", but it just doesn't feel right, I'm not moved by the album, the concept is really really weak, and no, Roger Waters could not sing.

I tried a lot to like this, it does have moments of absolute brilliance, but this stopped being Pink Floyd, I think this is the definite goodbye to the Pink Floyd glory it was known until then, this was the end. It deserves 3 stars though, although it is a disappointment, it still has great moments and I just feel so bad about it for being such a let down.

'The Wall' - Pink Floyd (8.5/10)

Put simply, this is not just one of Prog's greatest moments, but one of the greatest works of Rock music in general. It's hard to deny the significant power this album has. From memorable, powerful songs, to pitch-perfect recording quality, to a all-together cohesion that is yet unmatched anywhere else, this is Pink Floyd's crowning acheivement, and that is saying alot.

The year was 1980. The 'Classic Rock' styles of the 70s' were being slowly but surely replaced by more disposable forms of Synthpop, and other styles that sharply contrasted what can generally be considered good music. Keeping this in mind, a masterpiece like this was truly a diamond in the rough.

Now, on to the music itself...

This is everything a rock opera could hope for... A bombastic, full-force prog sound, heavily drawing from Symphonic influence, with a palette of different, strange styles. Of particular note is the absolutely beautiful recording job done on this album. The sound is perfect, and that can only be said for a handful of albums. Each of the beautifully driven instruments comes out onto speakers in a crystal clear light, and it only adds to the beauty of it all.

Songs such as 'Comfortably Numb', 'One Of My Turns', and 'Waiting For The Worms' stood out for me, not because there were ten different time signature changes every minute (a la Dream Theater) but a conveyence of uncompromising emotion. You really get a feeling that each part of the song is engineered to make you feel a very specific emotion, but it doesn't sound contrived at all! The solo in Comfortably Numb is of particular note; each note is perfect, and it has the power to take the listener to heights previously unheard of.

Other tracks, particularly 'The Trial' verge on being Avant-Garde in nature, simply because of how 'out- there' they are. These mesh in very well with the more conventional tracks, and give a good jolt of extra unique-ness to everything.

Performance wise, nothing that wouldnt be expected of Pink Floyd is on here. All instruments and vocal performances are well done, although not technically virtuosic. This album is honestly recommended to everyone who has a sense of hearing, and the time to digest a double album. While it is a masterpiece however, there are a few parts that are 'filler;' 'Is There Anybody Out There?' for example, is a track that I would be prone to skipping through, among others.

This album is one of a kind, one that deserves it's place as being one of the best selling records in history.. This album has sealed it's place in history; an essential classic.

"Just another brick in the wall"...this album that is.

Like Dark Side, I have utterly failed to see what other people see in this album. The only difference is that unlike Dark Side, this album actually gets on my nerves. Honestly, if I have to hear Another Brick in the Wall or Comfortably Numb on the radio one more time, it might convince me to take a physical brick, not a metaphorical one, and smash it repeatedly against my head until I see brains coming out. If it wasn't for the fact that I've been forced to listen to those songs so many times, then I might actually enjoy them, two of the few gems, or more like really good-looking fake diamonds, that I've ever found on here.

Some people may think I'm crazy to give this album such a low rating of 3 stars, but I think it fits very well. Not because I think this album is awful (and it's not, I just can't listen to it much anymore because my interest in it has dropped rapidly), but because I think bigger fans of the band would enjoy it much more than I could. And instead of me going on a long tirade of how this album has wasted much of my life when I could listen to better Pink Floyd albums, I'll simply end this here with a recommendation of 3 stars. While The Final Cut was tolling death bells for this band, The Wall was the beginning of the weakness in the structure. For me anyway. A few decent songs, but not much more.

Let's get something straight:Pink Floyd isn't Genesis,and this album has no resemblance to The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.In fact,it is closer to Tommy than anything else.

I wonder,had it been made in a better period for the band,if Pink Floyd could get a better result out of this work.This is a less progressive and more direct album than any other the band ever made before.Though it's clearly still Pink Floyd,this new sounding doen't please me at all.At times,the album sounds like commercial pop(though I believe this is intentional),like in Young Lust and Waiting For the Worms.Others,it's just a collection of weird sounds superficially intended to narrate a story.Well,The Who did the same thing and obtained a wonderfull result in their masterpiece,but something presented in Tommy simply lacks in The Wall.

It's not fair,however,to say that the album fails to captivate.The story told througout two discs really draws you into it(that is,if you can understand it at all.Well,a few listens are enough to get something out of it).But that's where the album fails:one may get excited by the captivating story,but that doesn't make the gaps of nothingess in beween the most important compositions dissapear.Since the first track,this album makes a promise it never fullfils:to reach a climax in which story and music would be deeply related to create the album's centerpiece(take for exaple Carpet Crawlers or Pinball Wizard).This grants The Wall a somewhat disorientated feel that is hard to ignore.

Musically,the highlights are the three parts of Another Brick In the Wall(then again,the monstruos success of the second part is ridiculously overlooked),Goodbye Blue Sky,Hey You and Comfortably Numb.Most of the remaining tracks are listenable due to the fact that you just want to follow the story,reading th lyrics and following the unfitable mood changes, song by song(hardly noticeable,though,if you're into the story that is being told).To the point that the music contained in Side B of disc 2 is no more than a vehicle for the on-going script.

It's really a shame that the band maintained so few of it's roots in this album(even though they were one of the very feel prog survivors to the Punk momevent).Maybe something more in the mood of Wish You Were Here could be suitable for this specific concept.

Which leads to the big question:why do people and critics praise it so much?My guess is that the highly elaborated concept(plus the movie adaptation)and the cult songs in which the rest of the album's music is hold on are enough to make a masterpiece out of it.I just cannot grant it more than 3 stars.

I have become comfortably numb...

I don't even know where to begin with this album. It has impacted me so much, and has to be one of my favorite albums of all time.

First off, the songs are not as progressive or complex as they have been, before, but the overall concept is deeper and more psychological. Scathing, and pessimistic tones still run deep. The songs are brooding, and bitter. Especially Thin Ice, Mother, ... the entire side 1 is bitter and hateful, fearful and angry, dark and seething. culminating in the eventual loss of hope by the main character. The second half is perpetuated by loneliness and hopeless melancholy. It also has fan favorites like Comfortably numb, and Run like Hell. The whole mood of the album is bleak....very bleak. Only topped by The Final cut.

Story aside, the music is emotional and sometimes very psychologically violent. Going from acoustic and synth pieces, to almost cock rock like Young Lust. this album is carried by its concept. Without the concept, and by themselves, this is a mediocre album, but it is like almost all other Pink Floyd albums, in that it is greater than the sum of its parts. I feel it is essential to anyone to listen to it all the way through, at least once.

Five Stars.

The Wall is one one of Pink Floyd's most popular album, together with Dark Side of The Moon and Wish You Were Here. The precesor to The Wall, Animals, was the beginning of Pink Floyd being controlled by Roger Waters. The three albums under Waters' lead barely contain songs composed by other members than himself. The Wall is a concept album, it's a story about rocksinger Pink, the story is partly autobiographic to Roger Waters and partly fiction. The Wall had some very impressive live shows, during the first half of the show, a big wall was build, at the end the wall collapsed, this also was an idea of Roger Waters. During the In The Flesh tour (Animals tour) Roger Waters got annoyed by screaming fans who didn't seem to really want to listen to the songs, the wall was some sort of "payback".

The first song, "In The Flesh?" has a very powerful riff. The song opens with the softly spoken words "we came in?", the final song of the album closes with the words "Isn't this were". In The Flesh starts out with distrorted guitar and evil organ. After a while Roger is heard singing and the riff repeats. A very powerful and exciting opener.

The second song is "The Thin Ice", which discusses the birth and the first years of Pink's life. The song starts out with a quite simple chord progression and David singing. After a little while Roger does his vocal part and a powerful solo is heard. The Thin Ice is not as good and strong as In The Flesh, but is a very nice song.

The third song is "Another Brick In The Wall Pt. 1". The song is autobiographical to Roger, in the song Pink misses his father, who died in war, and he starts the building of his wall. The song has some delayed, trippy guitar playing and has a powerful chorus. It's not a special song, but it's nice.

Next is "Happiest Days Of Our Lives", a song about teachers. This song also is autobiographical and describes how Pink is being abused by teachers. The song can be seen as an interlude between Another Brick In The Wall Pt. 1 and Pt. 2. Though being very short it's a powerful and fun song.

The big hit single "Another Brick In The Wall Pt. 2" is next. Just as the previous song it's about teachers abusing Pink, which causes him to further build a wall around him. The song is very accesible and doesn't really interest me at all, the guitar solo is very good though.

Next is "Mother", which is about Pink's over-protective mother. In the lyrics are lines such as "Mother is gonna make all of your nightmares come true", which makes it clear Pink doesn't like being over-protected. The song has a very catchy guitar solo and overall is a pretty good song.

Next is "Goodbye Blue Sky", a very dark song about the death of Pink's father. The song has dark acoustic guitar playing and great vocals, Pink continues building his wall.

"Empty Spaces" is a short song about Pink wanting to fill the empty spaces in his wall, to be completely away from everbody else. The guitar playing in this song is powerful which characterizes the song.

The first of David Gilmour's contributions on this album is "Young Lust", a straight on rock song. The song has a catchy riff and a powerful chorus, also the bluesy guitar solo is very good.

Next is "One Of My Turns", which is about Pink's relationship with his wife, that is not going very well. The song starts with a telephone conversation with segues into a typical Roger Waters Song, very much like he would later do in The Final Cut. After the quiet vocal part the song gets more bombastic and ends with a short and simple guitar solo, I like this song a lot.

"Don't Leave Me Now" is about Pink's wife leaving him. The song is very dark and just as One Of My Turns very much like the next album, The Final Cut. Also, this song starts ou quiet and gets more bombastic later on. I really like it.

Don't Leave Me Now segues into "Another Brick In The Wall Pt. 3", were Pink completes his wall. It's the shortest of the three parts, but is the most "rock" of them all.

The first disc ends with "Goodbye Cruel World", a song with a simple bassline, it's simply menth as the outro of disc one, nothing special.

Disc two opens with the fantastic "Hey You", which maybe is the best of the album. It starts with high octave arpeggio's and David's soft vocals. After two verses the strong mid section comes. It's a guitar solo based around a distorted riff which sounds like the "We don't need no education" line of Another Brick In The Wall Pt.2. The solo is followed by a bridge, and the high octave riff is heard again after that. Hey You is really a marvelous song, one of the best of the album.

Next is "Is There Anybody Out There?", which start out with Pink asking if there is anybody out there, while he is completely isolated by his wall. After the vocal part an acoustic guitar solo is played, the song is very haunting and pretty good.

"Nobody Home" is next, it's a gentle, poppy, but still kind of dark, song. Nobody Home is in the same style as One Of My Turns and Don't Leave Me Now, very Final Cut like.

"Vera" is a very short song which also shows the early signs of The Final Cut, the vocal part the song starts out with is one we will hear several times on The Final Cut. Vera is a nice, short song.

Another shorty, "Bring The Boys Back Home". The song is very bombastic and Roger is heard with his shivering screaming vocals. Near the end of the song sounds of earlier song are heard, such as the teacher and the is there anybody out there line.

It segues into "Comfortably Numb", another contribution by David Gilmour, the song is very famous for it's two amazing guitar solo's, especialy the second one is very impressive. In the storyline, Pink gets ill, and needs medicines. The song is very mellow and bombastic at the same time, it's a very epic piece.

After having had the medicines Pink starts to trip, at this time he already is a big rockstar, and while tripping he has to perform. "The Show Must Go On" describes this moment, it's one of my least favorite songs of the album.

"In The Flesh" is next, a different version of the first song of the first disc, with different lyrics and slightly longer. At this point Pink is really tripping and he thinks he is a nazi commander. The song is basically the same as In The Flesh? apart from some slight changes.

"Run Like Hell", David's third contribution is next. Pink tells his audience to run to the streets and start a riot. The song has some delayed guitar just as Another Brick In The Wall Pt. 1 and powerful vocals, it's not a bad song at all...the only problem is that I don't think it really fits on the album with the other songs, which doesn't make it a great moment for me.

"Waiting For The Worms" and the very short "Stop" is next, Pink realizes what he doing is absolutely wrong and he doesn't want to go on. Stop is the shortest song Pink Floyd has ever made, only lasting thirty seconds. Waiting for the worms is very powerful, it has some different parts, like the intro which is sung by David, the megaphone vocals and the riff which is nearly the same as the mid section of Hey You. Waiting For The Worms are a nice pair of songs.

"The Trial" is next. Pink wants to get rid of his wall and joins a trial in is head, in which he realizes that the wall he's made was a big mistake. In the song people like Pink's mother and the teachers are telling Pink what they think of him. The song is sung by Roger Waters, accompanied by an orchestra and later in the song heavily distorted guitar, this makes the song pretty epic.

"Outside The Wall" is the final song, in which Pink destroys his wall. The song is very gentle and ends with the words "isn't this were we...".

Of course, because this is a concept album, you shouldn't just judge the songs on their own, cause it's in fact one big experience. It's like a movie, it's a lovely expierence if you watch the whole thing and follow the storyline, watching the scenes all apart doesn't really do what it's purposed for. The album is not as great as most of the 70's Pink Floyd albums and The Final Cut, but is still very good.

It does deserve more than only three stars, so I give the album four stars, the fourth star being a tiny one, however.

I'll say it right off the bat: THE WALL is my all-time favorite album. I was first introduced to Pink Floyd at the impressionable young age of 5 through, of all things, THE WALL MOVIE :) ! The film version of this legendary album scared me s**tless, but it's music lured me. I didn't receive the album until I was 10 years-old, by which time I owned a couple of Rush CD's and the Floyd's DARK SIDE OF THE MOON. These days, I usually wouldn't go for the over-the-top production and music that dominates THE WALL, but back then I drilled the album into my skull and soaked it up like a sponge until I'd memorized all the lyrics and could air guitar David Gilmour's solos on nearly all of the songs--at least all the ones that had guitar solos. I believe it was THE WALL that brought me into the world of progressive rock (or, alternately, a combination of Pink Floyd and Rush's MOVING PICTURES). A critique of Roger Waters' lyrical and musical genius is unnecessary here, because we all know he's one of the greatest "tortured souls" in rock music and this was his greatest statement as an artist blah, blah, blah...The point I'm trying to get across is one that I feel is important as a progressive rock fan, and I point to Roger Waters and the rest of the Floyd as the musicians who truly made me the music aficionado I am today. GRADE: A+ (99%)

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.

First an unapologetic confession: I've been avoiding "The Wall" for thirty years now, and for a lot of reasons, among them the absurd popularity of "Another Brick in the Wall, Part II", maybe the silliest Top-40 song cluttering the airwaves in 1979. Pink Floyd had apparently stumbled on the perfect recipe for a hit single at the time: bad grammar and a disco beat, in this case with trite anti-authority sentiments borrowed wholesale from Alice Cooper (remember "School's Out"?).

Yes, I understand the album is considered a masterpiece by listeners who didn't grow up with "Dark Side of the Moon", or who never risked exposure to the band's more subversive back catalogue (Ummagummawhat? Syd who?). I'm also equally aware of just how valuable a slice of musical and cultural history it is.

But in retrospect Pink Floyd's (more precisely, Roger Waters') magnum opus has a lot to answer for. Contrary to received opinion Punk Rock didn't kill Progressive music; it was lumbering behemoths like this fan favorite that delivered the final axe blow to Prog's swelling head and shrinking ideals. The album showed exactly how far the 14-Hour Technicolor Dream had devolved by the end of the 1970s, in this case into an artless misanthropic rant, expending a lot of time and energy on a very simple (and dubious) theme: that post-war British middle class society was a cruel and stifling environment for aspiring rock 'n' roll stars.

A crummy film adaptation didn't exactly recommend the album either. Heck, it was even dismissed by Roger Waters himself, and harshly. And I don't even need to critique the music itself (since I'm probably the only Proghead on planet Earth who, until yesterday, had never actually listened to the entire album from beginning to end), except to note the bombastic arena-rock clichés, and belatedly acknowledge the album's influence on an entire generation of Neo-Proggers. Not unlike the movie, the album was a triumph of empty cosmetic style, albeit thankfully lacking director Alan Parker's overwrought visual cues.

But enough ranting on a sore subject. I think what really riles me about the album is that it signaled the end of what had once been a tightly knit creative unit. In the time it took to conceive, write, and record all four sides of the original vinyl, the energy driving the 1977 "Animals" album had completely drained away from what was left of the rapidly disintegrating band. The music snob in me wants to respond by punishing it with a single dismissive star before having heard a single note of music, but I have to at least acknowledge Waters' conviction, and the singleminded care (bordering on obsession) he brought to the project. I also need to applaud graphic artist Gerald Scarfe for copying all those pages and pages of lyrics in his inimitable shorthand scrawl.

It seems to me that Roger Waters was guilty at the time of exactly what he would later accuse bandmate David Gilmour: exploiting the marquee value of the Pink Floyd name to market what really was a solo album. This had been a band that could never be dismissed as sell-outs. But, despite its obvious scope and ambition, that's exactly what "The Wall" represented.

To me, the best Pink Floyd album ever. Shame Roger Waters made Richard Right go away in next album, (Final Cut), because keyboards arrangements are better that a orchestra and in this album both are excelent. One of the best Rock Opera and the concept that songs never end and the last continue to the next are excelent. One of best guitar arrangements made by Guilmor and if the bass work is nothing special, Waters vocals are amazing in some parts. We can recognize all music works in this albun and if last albuns are masterpieces, this is the more mature ever made by this band. This is a good liric story in a banal live of ordinary people, when the war have consequences and this context have is limit in next album. I listen this album many and many times, and I love it. Pink Floy or we love or he hates and I love very much. To me Pink Floy are four musicians and they all are needed. I don't count Sid Barret because I'm not a admirer of Pink Floyd initial psichedelic phase, but one of the great bands that i listen and The Wall one of the best works of Floy universe.

When this album first came out I was young enough to be utterly mystified by it. Then the film came out, and that had the same effect. I remember thinking, "This is deep. Really deep. Too deep for me." Then, time elapsed, I came back to it and found the thing not so clever after all. In fact, it started to get a little grating and I found it all so sophomoric. What once felt rich and complex thematically, now started to feel like one long drawn-out metaphor that just kept hammering me on the head over and over until I feel a bit muddled by the end. Ultimately, it's very hard to get around the impression of The Wall as a Roger Waters therapy album?"Mummy! Daddy! War!"?don't worry, it'll be okay son. (The therapy session was successful, but the patient clearly needed another round, so we got The Final Cut.)

Now this might seem unfair, and it probably is. So, I decided to go back and give it another listen, having avoided it for several years. What I find is that it's a better album than I remember, but it's definitely not a masterpiece. The great songs are still absolutely stunning ("Hey you," "Goodbye blue sky," "Comfortably numb," "Run like hell"), which notably all tend to have a stronger Gilmour presence, vocally. Plus, the whole "Another brick in the wall" motif, in its three variations . . . well, it's so normal and accepted to all of us now, such a given, that it's good to be reminded what a perfect musical theme that is.

The problem is, as others here have said, it's just too long and there's a lot of lesser, forgettable material. I think for me the absolute weakest moment on the album is "The trial," which frankly feels like a lost cut from Oliver! And there are other moments, like the spoken transitions around "One of my turns" that feel less like the great, disturbing spoken interludes on Dark Side and more like a failed attempt at musical theatre. Does The Wall threaten to be a heavy blues version of Evita?

So, I'm very glad to have come back to it and find it more enjoyable than I last remember, but I think I can go a few more years before hearing it again. Curious to see what I feel then.

Pink Floyd left their spaced out music and concepts and took their music down a whole new direction, (or Roger Waters did at least,) to the realms of rock opera. The storyline is a pretty amazing one and is laid down perfectly, (Waters has a tendency to do that). As for the music it sounds like a rocked out version of Dark Side or Animals without the instrumental breaks. People already know tracks like, Another Brick In the Wall Part 2, Comfortably Numb, and Run Like Hell are good, but try not to overlook tracks like Empty Spaces and Don't Leave Me Now which sound quite a bit like old Floyd. The Trial is as far away from old Floyd you can get but it is still one of the best tracks they've ever released with Waters being quite operatic throughout the track. All-in-all this is not a Wish You Were Here or Dark Side of the Moon sound-alike but even the people looking for one will be impressed.

What an overrated album. That about sums my thoughts about this album up. It isn't a directly bad album, but it isn't good either, and it certainly isn't the masterpiece that quite a few name it. What it is to my ears, is a boring set of songs that at times hints of greatness but mostly just sound forced and created as vehicles for the story line. Waters clearly had a great concept in mind, at least I find the story told in the lyrics pretty good, but it's poorly executed. Perhaps if he had included the other band members more in the songwriting, this could have been a new DSOTM? (Although that's unlikely, as some of my concerns, such as sterile, cold, production were a thing of the late 70s.)

The main problem is all the vast amounts of filler. Some tracks are extremely dull and do nothing but tell the story line over simple melodies. I can name the better tracks on one hand: Mother, Hey You, Comfortably Numb and Run Like Hell (I only include this one because of Gilmour's splendid strat riff...) The others mostly bore me except for a few better parts (such as the creepy atmosphere in the 'Another Brick' tracks, I think it sets the scene for the whole school criticizing thing pretty well), but those are few. The sound of the album is also an issue for me. The whole thing sounds mostly uninspired, the instruments aren't played with any sort of feeling except for a few solos. The album sounds sterile and cold, and it lacks dynamics for the most part. This only adds to the boredom of it for me. There are however a few highlights (and not surprisingly all of these involve Gilmour in some way); 'Comfortably Numb' is a pretty great track. The end guitar solo is a real killer, and the vocal alternations between Waters and Gilmour fit the concept (doctor talking to Pink) very well. If only the rest had stood up to this quality!

I give The Wall two stars. Really it's more like two and a half, as it has its decent moments and one truly great track. But 90% of it is just really boring filler material. From a lyrical perspective I see that the so called filler convey most of the story line, but for me great lyrics are nearly nothing if backed by weak music.

How to review the album that has been the first piece of real music that you came to appreciate back when 10 years old? How to do so for an album that has been your trusty companion and quality touchstone for so many years?

I'm sure each of us has an album like that. The Wall may even have been that very album for many of us. So, how to review this in the supposedly analytic and detached way that we are supposed to?

I don't know frankly. Because, when I listen to it now, it disappoints. I can hear many great songs, not really progressive but still intelligent and heartfelt. But I also hear lots of filler. I could easily do without all the songs that come between Dirty Woman and Comfortably Numb. Hey You excepted of course.

My general feeling now is that if they had cut this down to a 60 or 65 minute CD (as technology now allows), a true masterpiece of rock could have come out. But since they had to fill 90 minutes with Waters' self-indulgence, they kind of failed. 3.5 is what I give if I got to know the album now.

Pink Floyd (which at this point is primarily Mr Waters' ego and Mr Gilmour's guitar) rounds out the 70s with the most famous and successful double album in music. The Wall contains some of the greatest, most memorable melodies and lyrics and solos ever pressed to vinyl yet is drowned in its own sprawling ambition.

Strangely, it's hard to isolate filler - every song on its own is a gem. The issue is there simply isn't enough variety in the songwriting to justify the album's length. Rick Wright and Nick Mason are practically invisible, and there aren't any guest musicians aside from Floyd's trademark choir. Song after song is just Gilmour and Waters, and frankly it gets tedious.

Together We Stand, Divided We Fall...We Fall...We Fall...

Growing up in the 80's and graduating in 1990, there was really no album as important as Pink Floyd's the Wall. From grade schoolers blindly singing "We don't need no education" to teenagers gravitating to the morose dark themes, this album held a social place for a wide span of time like really no other during that decade. Released in 1979, it's sounds looked definitely forward. The use of the triplet slap-back delay, used by Floyd as far back as Meddle, becomes a defining element on the Wall, and the Edge used the sound to form one of the biggest bands in the history of rock.

This album, among others, taught me how to play guitar, starting with the perfectly concise solo on the "Another Brick in the Wall" single, on through "Hey You" and "Comfortably Numb" being among the most played and enjoyable songs in my playing career. In college, late night viewings of the movie were a regular pass time. I remember a girl singing "Mother" a capella for a class project. The album appealed across clics, it's introspective ruminations and depression hitting home for almost any adolescent.

Indeed, this is Roger Waters' magnum opus. It is his vision and his psyche that make the album go. And for one last album, the rest of the guys still bought in and made significant contributions. (Unlike the Final Cut, basically a Waters' solo album with perfunctory appearance of his band mates) It is this lopsided balance of power that leads to the albums drawbacks. As many have said, it's too long, too morose, not enough balance.

It is extremely difficult to sustain a work through 2 whole CDs and the pacing here is the major problem with the work. Unlike the Lamb, which was clearly conceptualized more like a story or play, the Wall seems to have evolved as a concept and songs brought in to feed the concept. Certainly, many musicals work this way. A loose plot to tie the big numbers together. But here the plot is so dark, and the intervening pieces are so ponderous, the work looses gas under its own monsterous weight.

The high points are of course all time classics. And this fan, for one, has always listened to the disc piecemeal. And I've always enjoyed it that way. It is without a doubt excellent.

But the fact that I fell asleep during at least half of those late night viewings tells you something.

Many say it is an overrated album, I do not think so. For me, a masterpiece has to be something that will last throughout history that mark the lives of many people, influencing a host of musicians who have an original idea, good lyrics, good music .... The Wall us whether we like it or not is one of the most important albums of rock history. The story is about the moral dilemmas that always struck Roger Waters (the death of his father in the war, maternal overprotection, education, religion ...). However something that stands out on The Wall is its profuse self-indulgence, its dark atmosphere makes it really tense and disturbing. I've heard many people praise and made real plague on the Wall and is something that Roger Waters had planned to release the album, he knew that this masterpiece would not anyone indifferent.

"The Wall" is the 11th full-length studio album by UK progressive rock act Pink Floyd. The album was released through Harvest Records/EMI Records in the UK and Columbia Records in the US in November 1979.

After "Dark Side Of The Moon (1973)", "The Wall" is the most commercially successful album by Pink Floyd. The album has up until now sold around 30 million copies. The album is a concept album. The main theme is personal isolation and the title the wall is supposed to symbolize the the seperation between the main character Pink and his surroundings (family, society...etc.). The Pink character is close to being autobiographical for bassist/vocalist Roger Waters who wrote the initial concept which was reworked into the lyrics on the album. Roger Waters wrote most of the music for the album too but guitarist/vocalist David Gilmour also contributed with material. At that point the members of the band weren´t exactly friends anymore and producer Bob Ezrin was brought in to make sure that the two main songwriters Roger Waters and David Gilmour were able to work together despite their differences. Keyboard player Richard Wright left the recording sessions but returned for some of the later concerts supporting the album. This time not as a full-time member of Pink Floyd but as a hired musician.

The music on the album is quite different compared to the music on their last album "Animals (1977)", which was a very progressive and at times even experimental album. The tracks on "The Wall" are generally short and vers/chorus structured and the longer instrumental sections which were a dominant part of "Animals (1977)" are few and far between on "The Wall". The songs that are are not vers/chorus structured are usually shorter interludes or desperate sounding ballad type songs. Roger Waters sings most lead parts on the album and his distinct and desperate sounding vocals are rather original sounding but also a bit hard to appreciate in larger doses. There are some absolutely brilliant tracks on the album like "In the Flesh?", "Goodbye Blue Sky", "Hey You", "Comfortably Numb" and the orchestral and quite dramatic "The trial" but all tracks on the double vinyl/double disc CD release are high quality material.

The production is the most clean sound production an a Pink Floyd album up until then. It´s a very professional sounding production and the music prospers greatly from the sound. It´s also what I would call a timeless sound production, that doesn´t necessarily tell you that "The Wall" was released in 1979. It could have been released 30 years later and you would probably still think it was brilliantly produced.

"The Wall" is a classic rock album in any way possible. It´s sold millions of copies and it´s widely regarded as a great artistic achivement and as a result it holds iconic status among many rock fans and deservedly so. "The Wall" is a one of a kind type of album and a 4.5 star (90%) rating is deserved.

Power corrupts. By 1979 Roger had that power in Pink Floyd and 'The Wall' is his dystopian personal vision unshackled from group quality control. The album is over-long, over-serious and vastly over-rated.

At the end of side two when Roger moans 'Goodbye cruel world' you sincerely hope he means it, but no, there's a whole other record to go. If it was not for some terrific playing, especially by Roger Gilmour on guitar, you'd be hard-pressed to find much to like in this dismal self-indulgent rant. Richard Wright (r.i.p.) was so depressed he was sent home. The two songs credited to Gilmour - Waters (Comfortably Numb and Run Like Hell) are by far the strongest on the album. And don't bleat about how marvelous 'Another Brick In The Wall, Part II' is - that's only because you've heard it so much you've forgotten that it is used three times on the first disc and can ignore the manipulative use of a children's choir to cover a bilious attack on education generally. (Where did you go to school, Roger?).

The best thing that can be said about 'The Wall' is that it is much better than the album which followed it. Faint praise indeed. If you wish to hear anger and social criticism expressed powerfully and in a controlled way, listen to 'Animals' and avoid 'The Wall'. RATING: Vision & Innovation: 5/30; Playing and Composition: 15/30; Listener Enjoyment: 5/30; X-Factor [cover, antacid, reviewer bias]: 2/10. Total: 27/100 -> 2 Stars (barely)

With 'The Wall' Pink Floyd did a lot to cement their legacy with the classic rock crowd. The 2LP would end up having multiple hits like 'Another Brick In the Wall', 'Goodbye Blue Sky', 'Hey You' and 'Comfortably Numb'. Furthermore, it served as a sort of early 'alternative' rockalbum for distinguished youths and a much loved concept album for the progressive rock crowd. For the latter group the album also stirs up a lot of debate; mainly because of the course set by Roger Waters that would end up alienating keyboardist Richard Wright (who toured with the band as a 'guest musician') and eventually guitarist David Gilmour as well. With Roger Water as the sole song-writer for this rockopera the lyrics got even more political, dramatic and full of teenage angst. Though full of criticisms of society and his personal history (his farther fighting in the war), its actually quite hard to distillate much meaning from concept album; its more a summation of a lot of psychological ugliness and moaning about hiding behind 'an inner wall'. Roger Waters would however end up performing 'The Wall' in every decade since the seventies and projecting various deep thoughts on it. Musically, this is an album full of variation. From bold psychedelic rock songs, eighties symphonic rock, acoustic ballads and a mini opera. David Gilmour would famously use his clean guitar with long digital delays on some of the songs. Though I'm not that enthusiastic about the concept itself, I do love the flow of the album. After I listen to it, it feels like the satisfaction of finishing reading a book. The quality of the hits and some others songs ('Empty Spaces', 'Young Lust', 'Nobody Home' and 'The Trial') can't be denied, as well as the effective use of interludes. The production has some unique sounds to offer for high-fi equipment. Maybe it should have been released as the first Roger Waters solo album, but then again; here's your super famous progressive rock band putting evergreen progressive rock hits on the radio. Do avoid the later live recordings of this album though.

Masterpiece I'll say without any hesitation. Not even second. This album (and also movie) is simply so deep rooted in my heart that it's as a part of my life. A Clockwork Orange, Nineteen Eighty-Four and The Wall, limits of human imagination as far as I can remember. Of course, now I know even more "strong" stuff, but let's stick with bricky barrier, shall we ?

The wall is extraordinary in its suggestive force. It can really brings you into the story and you can feel with main hero, Pink. I studied for a long time lyrics, materials about it, images, various analyses, tried to listen to both CD's many times, to separate songs, asked many people about i t. Including my father, who introduced me into this. This is psychedelic, but as a psyche dream, where you want to wake up, but fate won't let you. Dices are cast and there's no escape. After let's say hundreds of listen (is it enough ? it never will be enough for this), I'm still not sure about everything, all these double/tripe/multiple meanings hidden in it. And my father (47), who spend a lot of time thinking about it feels similar about it. It simply is difficult album. Even I'm sure not everyone will feel good about it, this won't let you go. It's too strong. And if you know the story, at least basics (but the more the better), it helps a lot to understand it all. So where's this big deal ? It's so truth, that's it. You know that these things (even magnified) happened, even to lesser degrees, or worse - it can happen. It's sinister pointing finger raised up and warning us about this.

5(+), the best of them all.

If You don't eat you meat you won't get any pudding, that maybe so but this double album released by Pink Floyd in late 1979 is really the bands swan song and the majority of the meat on this album was done by Roger Waters with the assistance of co-producer Bob Ezrin. David Gilmour's contributions are with Roger Waters the main one being Comfortably Numb and even then compromise had to be meet by both musicians over the final take, also Another Brick in The Wall,Young Lust and Run Like Hell had Gilmour input. Richard Wright the bands Keyboard player left in mid production and was he sacked or did he quit but after that he was only ever on salary with them. Not a happy production but it was a distinct change of sound for the band and this album was the 2nd biggest selling album after Darkside of The Moon and it rocketed to number 1 in the charts.

The album is concept based on a burnt out, psychotic rock singer Pink ( based on Roger was the rumour) and the first single taken off the album was Another Brick In The Wall Pt,2 which sold in huge quantities and the song today is still the preffered song amongst todays teenagers and children with relevances to school etc and the use of the choir and that superb quick Gilmour solo at the end of the track is a real grabber. The song that is by far the best song on the album was the last track on side 3 of the original double record Comfortably Numb and David Gilmour's guitar solo at the end of the track is one of the finest moments on this album. Snippets of TVs, phones and sounds from the war are used throughout the album. Other songs worth a mention are Thin Ice, Mother, Hey You and there are a few others but The Trial,Waiting For the Worms could be considered at the other end of the spectrum.

I have to admit that the production is over blown and the last of the album side 4 is bordering on absurdity, it still is a Classic and in 1979 any Pink Floyd was better than no Pink Floyd. The three prevoius albums that the band released to the Wall are the more highly regarded and rightly so but eight times platinum which means one in thirty seven people owns the album here in Australia. It was big down here and the only thing one can say. Is There Anybody Out There.

And so we face the end of the glory years of Pink Floyd, it was a good run and to be honest, some of the worlds most interesting music had been produced from it.

This album represents the anger and the raw emotion of the enigma, that is Roger Waters.

The concept of the album is based on Roger's own psyche again, but with the representation of a metaphorical wall that he uses to build a schism between him and the people around him, each repressed memory a brick in the wall. With alot of cynicism, involving homophobia, racism, sexual undertones and some very vivid horror images, it really is something special.

The movie that was made after the album was made is amazing and I think everyone should see it. It still freaks me out, but it represents everything that is great and Pink Floyd, weird & wonderful basically. It is also the reason why I have a little respect for Bob Geldof.

This is also my first review of a double album, so this should be fun...

CD 1

1. In The Flesh? - The best riff ever made in my opinion. I love the third harmony that is low in the mix as well. Basically an introduction. Dream Theater also do a very good version of this song as well.

2. The Thin Ice - This song represents the birth of the protagonist. Amazing guitar work and some great vocals from both Roger & David.

3. Another Brick In The Wall, Pt. 1- Introducing one of the main themes. It's about Roger's dad who died in WW2.

4. The Happiest Days Of Our Lives - An amazing bassline flows through this song. I love the lyrics in this song, especially the fat and psychotic wives part. It's a very vivid image of what teachers are even like in today's society.

5. Another Brick In The Wall, Pt. 2 - A classic song really. I'm not at all sure about the children's choir part, but to be honest it does make the song more memorable. The solo is amazing, and is one of my favourite solos to play. This song was ruined by that stupid green cross code advert.

6. Mother - A great song about a mother's love to her child. Another amazing solo is heard and there is some great vocals and some interesting lyrics.

7. Goodbye Blue Sky - A very weird change in tone, mixing a very eerie dark song with some lovely acoustic parts. The vocal harmonies in this song are also amazing. System Of A Down do a complete farce version of this song, so don't even think of looking it up, it would ruin this great song.

8. Empty Spaces - This song is a bit filler, but to be honest it does make sense. The movie version of this song is amazing, the visuals are very avante garde and match the song perfectly.

9. Young Lust - A very blues orientated song with a very catchy chorus. This song represents the teenage emotions basically.

10. One Of My Turns - An amazing song that really expresses raw emotion with some werid psychotic lyrics. The movie version is amazing and Bob really pulls himself off as a complete mentalist, breaking everything in a hotel room.

11. Don't Leave Me Now - For some reason this is one of my favourite songs from this album. Its very eerie and hair raising and the vocals are very sad and almost screamy. Pure emotion is put across basically.

12. Another Brick In The Wall, Pt. 3 - An amazing end to the first disc. Korn also do quite a good version of this, with the other 2 parts and Goodbye Cruel World.

13. Goodbye Cruel World - An extended ending. Very dramatic.

CD 2

1.Hey You - An amazing song with some great lyrics and some amazing vocals from Dave & Roger. Classic Pink Floyd at it's best.

2. Is There Anybody Out There? - A bit of an interlude, asking a rhetorical question.

3. Nobody Home - This song basically just expresses the rock stars own pride, naming all the things that he has, but the one thing that he wants he can't have, and that is his wife's affection. Some great orchestration from Michael Kamen.

4. Vera - The ironic thing is that Roger says, "Does anybody remember Vera Lynn", and because it's her anniversary, yes, she has a best out now. Although her music is supposed to be even more depressing than Leonard Cohen. A nice interlude.

5. Bring The Boys Back Home - Another interlude with a big epic choir.

6. Comfortably Numb - An amazing song with an amazing chorus and an amazing solo. The lyrics are also very beautiful and very dreamy. The Scissor Sisters cover does rape this song though. If you want to see a good cover of this song, check out Queensyrche & Dream Theater's version of the song.

7. The Show Must Go On - The movie version of this song is very scary, with Bob growing new skin. A good sing with some great vocals and hooks in it.

8. In The Flesh - A repeated version of the song, without a ?. This song is incredibly racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic. But, it's supposed to be, with the protagonist own descent into madness as a fascist dictator.

9. Run Like Hell - An amazing song with some very comical lyrics. The band also do a very good version of this song on Pulse. There is also some great riffs provided by Dave.

10. Waiting For The Worms - An amazing racist song with a megaphone in it, to give it a very Nazi-esque feel to it.

11. Stop - The protagonist's own conclusion. Now he must face a trial.

12. The Trial - One of my all time favourite Pink Floyd songs. The words are very conclusive and comical. The orchestration is amazing, Roger's character playing is amazing, the end guitar riff is mammoth and very metal. The movie version is amazing, with weird images and very innuendo looking characters. Just amazing.

13. Outside The Wall - The end, basically. The Wall is now torn down.

CONCLUSION: An amazing album and if you haven't heard it, then you haven't really lived. Buy it now and also buy the movie.

This album came out within a couple weeks of London Calling. I got them both, my senior year of high school, and if I only knew how great, timeless and important they'd both be to me over the years, I'd have treated them with more respect back then. Unlike London Calling. I did get enjoy this album from the get go. Yet, similar to London Calling, its really taken me years to really appreciate it. Back then I'd play sides 1 and 3 and seldom played it all the way through, and hated most of side 4.

I've never used to consider myself a big Pink Floyd fan, even though I had most of their stuff from the 60s/70s. But in the past few years, as I've been re-mining and re-evaluating everything from the 60s and 70s with different ears and mindset, I do consider PF to be one of the greatest bands of the 70s. With several classics under their belt. Gilmour is the best singer in the band, yet Waters sings most of the tunes on The Wall. But the thing is, The Wall is a masterpiece of production and Prog's greatest swan song. I really don't care about the lyrics or story line, but the music and execution of Waters' vision is pure brilliance, and his voice better suited for most of these tunes.

This album is an easy listen for me. It never used to be. As much as I love Dark Side of the Moon, possibly Prog's greatest album, I find listening to it to not be as "easy of a listen" as The Wall. After 30 years, I'm a little "burnt" on Dark Side, but never seem to burn on the Wall.

The Wall is an experience. It is theatrical and operatic. And so, much like a film or play, the 'experience' of The Wall is most intense while actually listening to it, but fades away quickly after it's over. This is why one could rate The Wall with five stars immediately after sitting through it, but the next day only give it three or four. Of course everyone remembers good parts of an album, and indeed bad parts, but it IS difficult to criticise such a narrative when you're mid-way through it. The Wall is heightened by it's tape effects, characters, production, themes, and a whole bunch of other luxuries on stage. The raw music itself, pre-decoration, is actually not so great. It's hard, dark and powerful, but often mediocre and repetitive (sure, some themes are repeated as part of the story for effect, but this is taken advantage of).

Waters' proves with The Wall, that he is an imaginative and incredible lyricist. But musically, I miss Gilmour (I miss Wright even more; his contributions have been minimal since 'Dark Side'). The shining moments on this album all happen to be David's guitar solos. And whilst I dig the storyline to The Wall, that music-lyric balance is not present. The narrative is prioritised. Therefore, I could never give the album the same rating I gave 'DSOTM' because that album preserves the essential formula. The Wall has an unforgettable story, but forgettable music. It's more like a great book [/film] than a great album.

The story of "The Wall" obsession.

Once upon a time there was a song on the radio and a teenager heard it and it changed his life. My quest for "The Wall" began at an impressionable age. I was 17. Every lyric I have become obsessed with, knowing it off by heart. I thought I was weird walking along humming the tunes and having the lyrics swirl in my teenage brain, but of course everyone in 1982 was talking about it due to the movie release. It seemed to go by unnoticed in 1979 in Australia. Before I get to the music, let me indulge. This is the 531st review so everything has been said anyway so here's a new slant.

I remember sitting in the sound lounge at college and a guy walked in and said you have to hear this. He put on In The Flesh and we sat there at lunch listening intently and seriously. He said these words I will never forget. ""The Wall" is the best album ever! The film is the best film ever! Pink Floyd are the best band ever!" Not exactly ground breaking words but somehow I could not get them out of my head. Now, you have to understand, I had never heard the album or even Pink Floyd but I was willing to give it a go after hearing a few songs I liked. Another Brick in the Wall part 2 was on the radio all the time. The music was excellent to my young ears, the consistent rhythm of Dm clanging on the clean guitar, almost reggae, that was the framework for some enigmatic lyrics "We don't need no education, we don't need no full control" I kind of agreed with that. It was rebellious and comforting at the same time. I liked the ominous vocals, the children choir rebelliously shouting the mantra. It all made perfect sense and there was nothing on the radio like this. The lead guitar solo was incredible, I had never heard a lot of great lead guitar being into the glam rock scene and a hopeless Kiss addict, but this was David Gilmour's guitar; soaring, harmonious and virtuoso guitar work that is unforgettable. It intrigued me and I knew I would eventually own it. These days as a teacher I cringe when I hear "No dark sarcasm in the classroom, teachers leave us kids alone", as that's what I do now!

I bought the single on vinyl in 1982, a re release to cash in on the movie, it was great to hear it pumping out the speakers but I knew I needed more. The B Side was One of my Turns and it was "cold as a razor blade, tight as a tourniquet, dry as a funeral drum...." the freakout section in the instrumental passage was creepy, so emotional and heavy, I was stunned. "Would you like to watch TV or get between the sheets or contemplate the silent freeway..." It was not a popular song to play in front of my parents that's for sure. I wanted to hear the rest. I had to save up big because it was a double album. But hey, I managed it delivering newspapers door to door.

Finally the day came. I walked into the music store and those white bricks screamed off the shelf. There was an entire section with a screaming face and grim teacher and tons of polystyrene bricks. It was a monument to the album. I pulled out the $20 note and grabbed the album. It felt good in my hands. Heavy like gold. "This is so popular," the young girl said behind the counter. I smiled. "I have been wanting this for ages." "Enjoy it", she said. So I bought this off the shelf brand new on vinyl after hearing so much about it in magazines and friends at college.

I raced home, locked my bedroom door and put it on the record player stereo system. The first crashing chord blasted, and then after a divine lengthy intro of choral voice harmonies, Waters estranged voice chimes out, "So you thought you might like to go to the show........" It was love at first listen. I was stunned at how the songs merged together, I had never encountered this on albums, the way it ran together seamlessly like one huge track, this was the first true prog album in my collection. The beginning of my obsession.

Waters is the backbone of the album and Gilmour's soft vocals and intricate guitar breaks are the skeletal structure for me. I always liked his contribution the best including the soft sweet, The Thin Ice, "Mother loves her babe and daddy loves her too...." It just sends a shiver down my spine every time. It is difficult to understand listening to it now as a cohesive work that the band were in turmoil. Rick Wright was eventually ejected from the band by the time the recording sessions ceased. The producer Bob Ezrin actually completed the album in Los Angeles using studio session musicians, can you believe that? Waters wrote, breathed, ate, slept this album; it was his baby and he nurtured it. The script, the concept, the entire screenplay of the burnt out musician was his idea right down to the references to poor old Syd. It is a magnum opus of epic proportions. I know many fans of this album that do not even like Pink Floyd, such is the impact of "The Wall".

The spirit of the album is encapsulated in a series of bonafide highlights that always jump out and bite me on every listen. It was always Gilmour who provided the most glorious tracks including the best track on it; the incredible Comfortably Numb. The low key verses are portentous and foreboding and then that uplifting chorus with vocal techniques that would be emulated by many prog artists especially Mostly Autumn's Josh, "There is no pain you are receding, a distant ship smoke on the horizon... when I was a child I caught a fleeting glimpse out of the corner of my eye, I turned to look and it was gone, I cannot put my finger on it now... " masterful, perfect, unforgettable. The lead guitar solo at the end of this is legendary and I have heard many live versions which are even better with an extended screaming solo section, while a massive chandelier UFO light contraption opens above the audience sending out cascading rays of light upon them. A magic moment.

Run Like Hell is an infamous concert closer for the band. This single begins with those scratching guitar scrapes and then the echoing trademark rhythm that we hear all through the album begins to chug along. The guitar 4 chord shapes to follow have been emulated by guitarists worldwide, and why not? They are fabulous atmospheric riffs. The lyrics were always edgy and dangerous, "Cos if they find you in the backseat trying to pick her locks, they're gonna send you back to mother in a cardboard box, you'd better run!"

Mother "do you think they'll drop the bomb... hush now baby baby don't you cry, mother's going to put all of her fears into you". At the time I had no idea what Waters was on about back in 1982 but since then the song has grown on me, I have even sung it as a lullaby to my kids (an abridged version), and it is a perfect song to learn guitar to with easy G C D F chords and a strong rhythm. Gilmour's guitar break is beautiful and sombre perfectly aligned with the melancholy tone... "Mother did it need to be so high" always troubled me.

Goodbye blue sky has a beautiful acoustic feel and ominous chords as the planes fly overhead, see the animation of Gerald Scarfe to gain full appreciation of this. I love the extended breathtaking line that is said without any breaks; "Did did did did you ever wonder why we had to run for shelter when the promise of a brave new world unfurled beneath a clear blue sky". I always sung that with a huge breath at the beginning. I loved the feel of this song and still count it as the best song on side 2.

Empty spaces is fabulous but there is a longer better version on the film with a crunching rhythm and lead solo.

Don't leave me now always resonated with me, I could sense the sheer hopelessness and it still has the same ethereal effect on my senses. A very powerful song that captures the sense of a breakup, losing a girl, "I need you babe to put through the shredder in front of my friends..."

Side 3 began with the incomparable acoustic flourishes and Gilmour's soothing warm vocals 'Hey you "out there in the cold getting lonely getting cold can you feel me... out there beyond the wall". A delicate song excised from the film but always has a dear place in my heart.

Is there anybody out there! maybe overlooked by many but that atmosphere is chilling and the acoustic instrumental is melancholy and lovely, almost uplifting. It is the scariest part in the film too, where Geldof shaves, becomes insanely obsessive creating a war scene with rubbish and broken record pieces, and later is found in the asylum by the war torn child. The picture of a total breakdown and burn out.

Nobody home is notable for the cool lyrics, that I like especially "I've got wild staring eyes, and I've got a strong urge to fly, but I've got nowhere to fly to... when I pick up the phone, there'll be nobody home". This is emotional lyrical work at its best. The aftermath of a broken marriage.

Waiting for the worms is another would be throwaway but essential to the whole concept of the dictator rock star with delusions of godhood. "Waiting... to cut off the dead wood, ....to clean out the city, ....to fire the ovens... for the blacks and the jews"; the nazi references are quite astonishing and used to pummel my impressionable ears. It finishes with a huge loud instrumental that builds to a crescendo before "Stop!"

The trial was the most played song when I was a teen, I loved the weirdness of it, the various sections, the characters, especially the ex wife.... "you should've talked to me more often that you did, but no, you had to go your own way, have you broken any homes up lately, just 5 minutes, worm your honour, him and me alone..." It was a rock opera and I was not prepared at the time for such an incredible finale. On stage of course this section is a highlight. I saw it live with a Tribute band and they nailed this song, receiving a standing ovation.

The last song Outside the wall is the weakest and I have no idea what its saying but I always loved the way it finished abruptly. It is strange too that if you want to put the whole album onto a CD you have to leave this last song off or it will not fit. Did Pink Floyd do that on purpose, how would they know?

Pink Floyd's "The Wall" was the first album I truly immersed myself in as a teenager, the concept, the music, the lyrics, the sleeve art; everything captured my young imagination and it has never left my consciousness. I will never forget the incredible impact of hearing actual dialogue on an album, an actual storyline, I had never even dreamed bands would do this. The album was a monster in its day reaching top position on the US charts and it made it to No. 3 in the UK. The filmclip of the Brick single was on so much I got sick of seeing it. In a sense I have become too used to the music on the album and the impact has lessened but there is no denying that this is an epic achievement.

The live performances of the show have become legendary from both the Gilmour Pink Floyd and Water's version. He always went to greater lengths as it was his child, but the Berlin Wall came down and Pink Floyd celebrated with a full rendition of this album that is still one of the century's best ever concerts, featuring a plethora of guest artists. The movie directed by Alan Parker starring Bob Geldof as Pink, arrived in 1982, further enhancing the experience of the album. I persuaded my friend to drive me to the drive in and we sat there absolutely in awe watching the story unfold; a story that I had memorised in my head. It was a moment of clarity for me. I bought the movie lyrics book that has huge colour photos throughout. The images are powerful in any format. The album transcends mere music; like it or loathe it, "The Wall" is a monumental event. If this review hasn't convinced you, nothing will.

Sincerely I can't understand why so many people rank this album so high in a progressive rock site. Of course I respect all the opinions, but I think that in this case the theatrical and dramatic side of this production is mixing with the progressiveness. Except for the concept, wich is great and is the specialty of Roger Waters, I can't find progressive ingredients in the music. At this time the Pink Floyd music was assaulted by the Roger Waters mega ego, and that's domines everything in The Wall. Thank's God, Gilmour could put some tunes there and the best things became from his collaboration, as Comfortably numb and Run like hell. Of course exists some other good tracks composed by Roger, as In the flesh (a great heavy track but too short), Mother, Another brick part 1, Hey you, and some other ones. But all this tracks has nothing to do with the progressive rock, except some little things like Bring the boys back home, which uses some chorus and orchestra, but in a too short package. In a general music site, I could give 4 stars to this album, but here I can't give it more than three. In a progressive rock context The Wall is good but not essential.

My memory seems to suggest that The Wall was my introduction to Pink Floyd. I'm not even sure whether I happened to see the Alan Parker's 1982 feature film before listening to the actual album. Either way, there's no denying that this concept album had somewhat of an impact on me and I did play it quite a lot during my teen-years.

The style of this album is quite different compared to anything the band had done previously and it can be explained by the fact that The Wall wasn't much of a band effort. By this time, Roger Waters was in complete control of the band's direction which not only limited David Gilmour's and Nick Mason's contributions to a minimum, but also pushed Richard Wright completely out of the picture. This means no lengthy Space Rock passages like the ones on Echoes or Shine On You Crazy Diamond nor the instrumental perfection of Dark Side Of The Moon or Animals. One can attribute some of this change of style to the passing of a decade, considering the '80s were right around the corner, but the rest has definitely to do with Waters' steady grip on the direction.

Either way, The Wall is one excellent album experience that I can definitely recommend independent of whether you're actually a fan of progressive rock music or not. Does that mean that The Wall isn't really prog? I would be lying if I said that it had even the minimum Space Rock requirements to be a part of the movement. Fortunately, what it lacks in the arrangement it makes more than enough for in the concept department. After all, it's difficult to fuse great individual moments without loosing track of the full narrative and even classics like Genesis' The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway or Marillion's Misplaced Childhood had to sacrifice a few instrumental passages to create a fluid narrative in those story arcs.

There's just no denying that The Wall is a great concept piece of work that can be embraced just as much by the mainstream crowd as the most hard-core prog rock fans. It was probably not really the Pink Floyd album fans expected at the time of its release but hopefully even time had proved them wrong. As for me, this record will always have a place on my shelf. I might not play it as much as I used to, but that doesn't mean I love it any less.

Mr. Waters, I'll be seeing you at the performance!

***** star songs: In The Flesh? (3:17) The Thin Ice (2:28) Another Brick In The Wall, Pt. 1 (3:41) The Happiest Days Of Our Lives (1:20) Hey You (4:39) Is There Anybody Out There? (2:40) Nobody Home (3:25) Comfortably Numb (6:49) Outside The Wall (1:42)

**** star songs: Another Brick In The Wall, Pt. 2 (3:56) Mother (5:32) Goodbye Blue Sky (2:48) Empty Spaces (5:36) Young Lust (2:03) One Of My Turns (1:33) Don't Leave Me Now (4:22) Another Brick In The Wall, Pt. 3 (1:17) Goodbye Cruel World (1:05) Vera (1:38) Bring The Boys Back Home (0:50) The Show Must Go On (1:36) In The Flesh (4:16) Run Like Hell (4:22) Waiting For The Worms (3:56) Stop (0:34) The Trial (5:16)

It is interesting that when this first came out I considered it a masterpiece and listened to it all the time for about a year. As time has passed I have listened to it less and less. It is still a great album, but not in the category of the previous 3 Floyd works. There are some outstanding parts...but there are some parts that just drag (side 2 especially). This is, of course, a very Roger Waters effort. It is certainly his best work if you compare it to THE FINAL CUT or solo albums such as PROS AND CONS OF HITCHHIKING or RADIO KAOS. I think the soul of the entire Floyd is missing from this work and the next album. Obviously, the band was imploding. Not 5 stars, but a solid 4 stars. A piece of rock history and prog history.

1979. Disco wasn't dead yet, but it did suck. New wave was taking over. Prog was getting hard to find.

Word was out that Pink Floyd was about to release a new album. Their last three, Dark Side Of The Moon, Wish You Were Here and Animals were home runs. And this was going to be a double album. Bliss.

On the release day, we got to the record store as soon as we could, took it home, and listened...

The first track started, and it was grandiose. And the album continued... and continued...

What a disappointment. Nick Mason was relegated to timekeeper. He even played a slowed down disco beat through the interminable reprises of Another Brick In The Wall. And Richard Wright is there. Barely. We'll get back to that later.

The songs tell the story of a man, who as a child lost his father in World War II, and through a series of unfortunate events, because people were mean to him, closed himself off emotionally from the world. And somehow, because of this, he reaches rock star status. Thing then fall apart, come crashing down around him, and he escapes from his self- created shell. You've heard this before? But there were some other characters like Cousin Kevin and Uncle Ernie? Yep! Despite having a hefty helping of Roger Waters' and Syd Barrett's histories (an apparent obsession of Waters') this sounds alot like "Tommy" (which had better music. Let's hope this catharsis gets it out of Roger's system once and for all.

The music for the most part is drab and boring. It's not surprising that Mason, and especially Wright (see, I told you I'd get back to him) lost interest. The saving grace is Waters' suberb production, and David Gilmour's fantastic guitars.

Among the two albums worth of filler are a few good songs, most notably Hey You and Comfortably Numb. So pick out the good ones, and don't torture yourself playing the whole thing through very often. Or watch Alan Parker's movie based on the album. At least that's way better than Ken Russell's hard-to-watch "Tommy".

This is my 100th review on the site, and i thought that it really needed to be an exceptional album to celebrate this personal landmark.

Well, there aren't many more exceptional than this, the last of the great Floyd quartet that started with Dark Side of the Moon.

This album has never been one to approach lightly. It certainly isn't one that will be playing on your deck each and every night of the week. No, this is like one of those fine wines, a work to be savoured occasionally and treated with the huge respect it deserves.

The album was born out of two major events in Roger Waters' life. On the preceding Animals tour, he had become so disillusioned with the music business, as witnessed initially in Welcome To The Machine from Wish You Were Here, and the horrendous stadia the band were now obliged to play in on US tours, in particular, that he felt a terrible disconnection between the band and audience. This culminated in him spitting upon a fan in Canada when the said fan refused to listen to new material, screaming instead for "classic" stuff. In addition, the band had lost a fortune through the crash and financial management of Norton Warberg. They needed a hit album, and one fast, at that.

Waters had, of course, touched on themes of the war, modern society, and disenchantment in previous works. This was, though, to be the culmination of all of those themes into one coherent whole.

Many contributors to this site have argued that Walters is merely a moaner, and was not unique from his generation in having his father die during the war. The latter is certainly true. However, I think they miss the point a bit. Wars tend to produce very exceptional, and rare, written artists who seem to encapsulate the horrors and futility of it all, such as Remarque. In much the same way, I believe Waters spoke for an entire generation scarred by the horrors of losing a parent or loved ones during that conflict.

The album then takes us through a narrative on sides one through to three of a young boy growing up without his father, cast into an uncaring and unemotional school career, with an overbearing mother, through to adolescence, marriage, divorce, and, latterly, rock super stardom.

The great dividing line in the narrative is Comfortably Numb at the end of side three. For it is there that the semi autobiographical nature of the story is ripped asunder, and we then deal on side four with the true disengagement of artist from audience, and the slide into megalomaniac madness, with Pink at the head of a crazed fascist like movement before being cast asunder by society into the madhouse by the establishment judge reestablishing order. This part has always been played by Waters with utter glee live.

That, therefore, describes the narrative, one that spoke to many people at the end of the seventies such as me, an angry young man despairing of the world. It still does, by the way, as an angry middle aged man.

This would be essential enough, but, of course, it would be nothing without the music as well, and, on this score, the band reach such heights that are only dreamed of by other mere mortal bands.

There are so many highlights on this. Ironically, Brick in the Wall part two became a monster smash hit in the Christmas of 1979. I still, to this day, cannot believe the sheer dark beauty, with the images of killer bombers, in Goodbye Blue Sky, which, to these ears, features some of the loveliest guitar and vocals ever performed by Gilmour.

Any man who has had a row with a loved one, which has turned morbidly dark and angry, will empathise with One Of My Turns, culminating in objects being thrown out of a window in glorious surround sound. Equally, the joys of sowing one's oats are explored brilliantly in Young Lust, featuring a classic rock riff by Gilmour.

Gilmour continued to play the two most popular tracks on the album, Comfortably Numb and Run Like Hell, live long after Waters left. They are stunning. I saw the band perform live at Earls Court on the original tour, and i still have shivers running down my spine each time THAT guitar solo is played at the end of Comfortably Numb. An incredible piece of music.

I would also add here Hey You, the first track of side three, a plaintive plea from behind the wall to anyone passing who might just catch a glimpse of madness and come to the rescue, which features such delicate playing and vocals that you could cry in sympathy.

I can think of only one artist who could possibly match Waters' sense of theatre and narrative, and that is Pete Townsend. Like Townsend in The Who, by the time the Wall was released, Waters was the driving force behind the band, with the rest as a kind of "surrogate band" (this was not an accident, by the way, in the stage show). But what a surrogate band! Richard Wright, on his way out, plays superbly, Mason is reliable as ever, whilst Gilmour utterly excels.

Politics, you know, does matter. This is a political album, as well as being a personal and social narrative. It works on each and every level that it explores, and I simply love it.

Many albums have been awarded five stars on this site, many of them, I suspect, would be worth nine stars on a ten point rating. Not this one. The full five stars, or ten if you like, for a cultural landmark and an utterly essential album without which no prog collection would be entirely complete.

Thanks for indulging me on a long review, and peace and love to all.

I'm in a small minority that claims Pink Floyd has been on a downhill slope since DARK SIDE OF THE MOON, although the previous two albums have plenty of great moments. However, the band seems to have taken a severe nosedive from ANIMALS, binning their progressive psych-rock sound that made them famous in the first place and gaining made- for-FM-radio soft rock. The concept Roger brings is now comparable with ''Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous'' with weird left turns that make no sense. I've never really understood this concept, particularly the second half where most of the filler material comes in.

Songs like ''The Show Must Go On'', ''Vera'', ''Bring the Boys Back Home'', ''The Happiest Days of Our Lives'' and ''Nobody Home'' scream filler to me, serving no purpose other than pad the story length. A standard trick on the first side seems to begin the song quietly then let it erupt unreasonably (and predictably) halfway through like on ''The Thin Ice'' or ''Don't Leave Me Now''. Radio overkill ruined ''Another Brick in the Wall 2'' and ''Comfortably Numb'' for me; the former is lame and vacuous with a VERY disco drumbeat (I believe this wholeheartedly). ''Comfortably Numb'' has a great guitar solo from Gilmour, but that's the only positive I have; the keys lull me to sleep and the rhythm section is amazingly inept.

Highlights are few for me. ''Mother'' is the closest as it progressively builds to an interesting climax, ''Goodbye Blue Sky'' is a nice, poignant track and I can see the classic value in ''Hey You'' and ''Run Like Hell''. Most of the time, the songs themselves are just flat and lifeless, but Waters sometimes worsens them with his vocals. When he sings in a soft baritone, I can deal with it, but he screams in a higher register all too often that sounds like nails on a chalkboard. I also found the last two tracks utterly ridiculous; ''The Trial'' is nearly unbearable for me with the over-the-top and stuffy orchestra.

Is THE WALL an essential album of prog rock? Yes to a fault. THE WALL is a mammoth in the prog rock world in terms of popularity and appeal. And I will say that THE WALL is meant to be observed as a whole rather than a bunch of songs. But I find that the story is too superfluous and the music is much too in common with generic late 70's soft rock. There's way too much Waters and not enough Pink Floyd here, and that's enough of a difference for me to pan this one. There are better Pink Floyd albums out there for long- term usage.

I can't help but rate this a masterpiece because of the incredible concept, the package/recording format (continuous television play connecting all songs), and the anger/emotion captured/conveyed in Roger Waters' magnum opus. Plus, some of rock and pop music's iconic lyrics ("Another Brick in the Wall") and solos ("Comfortably Numb," "Hey You") are present on these discs. This album came closest to achieving all that rock'n'roll music was 'supposed' to do (and what Paul Hewson, aka 'Bono,' says he's concluded is impossible): Change the world. Multi-kudos, Roger et al. You almost did it. Plus, 'prog' crossing over to top of the pops charts!?!?

There's plenty of reviews and also books have been written about The Wall. "Inside Out" and "Pigs Might Fly" are two books on which it's possible to find a lot of information about the album, its background and the meanings of all the lyrics.

So instead of reviewing it song by song, analyzing the plot or speaking about the split up of Pink Floyd to come, I want just underline few facts:

Both the album and the movie have two significant predecessors: one is Tommy (The Who) and the other, less famous, is Privilege (The Blues Band). The final scenes of Privilege, in particular, seem to have inspired both "In The Flesh" (the Nazi part) and "The Trial". The concept of Privilege is represented by a rockstar entraped into an animal cage. The star system is a cage and the star is a captive animal. I don't know if Waters has seen that movie. The concept is so close to Syd's character that it's possible that it's just a coincidence.

One of the reasons why Waters has sent Rick Wright off is the lack (he said) of effort on the keyboards. On The Wall there's plenty of keyboards, even if simpler than usual. I can imagine Wright thinking: "If he has to write everything, I'll just play what he wants". The relationship was already broken actually. However Wright's work on tracks like "Hey You", "Mother" and also "Comfortably Numb" is impressive. It's not a case if the best album's songs are those where Wright is more present.

"Comfortably Numb" is considered the last collaboration between Waters and Gilmour. It's a patchwork instead. The chorus was part of a song that Gilmour was writing for his new solo album. There's a recording on an unofficial rarity boxset of this first version. The stanza is Waters' stuff. Then Waters added the lyrics and Gilmour the guitar solos. It's a masterpiece but it's the patchwork of two songs.

Micheal Kamen (RIP) is the orchestra director. He will work on The Final Cut, too and is the author of the non-Queen parts of the Highlander OST. He is the director of Mike Oldfield's orchestra on the Tubular Bells 2 live and I want to take this opportunity to mention his name to the proggers.

Rating this album? It's essential to understand the whole Pink Floyd history from the eyes of Roger Waters. So it's essential. A Masterpiece? Some songs are masterpieces, and even those that can be intended as fillers are functional to the concept.

It's not Pink Floyd's best, probably, but an album like this released by anybody else would have had 5 stars, isn't it?

I'm just another brick in the wall?

(Or the story of how a hit song introduced a whole new world for a boy)

Well, I really do not know what to say sonbre this album (well I've tried, but I think now it will get better). All I can say is one of my favorites of all time. I mean, I always liked him, but these days I was listening to it again and thought to myself:hey, I like this album more than I thought! That's why I decided to redesign my review, so you can get an idea of how much I like him.

My relationship with The Wall

I think the reason I like both The Wall is that this album is the first progressive rock song that I heard in my life: yes, she, her big hit Another Brick in the Wall. I was just a boy of about 3 or 4 years old at the time, but the memory is very vivid - I was on a tour, and I heard this song. Even at that time I had no idea what it was, today I credit this song to my entrance into the world of progressive rock (which has consolidated a few years later).

However, I've only heard The Wall by a full 10 years later, and that's where my love for this album was consolidated. Today I see as an incredibly underrated masterpiece here on the site (and later I'll tell you why) and it is my second favorite album of Pink Floyd (tied with Animals) , just behind Dark Side of the Moon.

The story of the album

The origin of The Wall is identified in one of the shows of the Animals tour in Montreal in 1977 where he spat on a fan whose behavior was disturbing. Horrified by his own act, he thought of the idea of ​​creating a wall that separated the fans, and the rest is history. Hence was born the concept most famous of all time.

Lyrically the album deals with the story of Pink, a young oppressed by society, alienated by their own ill-fated existence. During a hallucination he fancies himself a sort of fascist dictator creates a wall that will isolate your mind the rest of society.

The lyrics are deeply autobiographical, as if Waters tried to exorcise his own demons. Furthermore they are very critical about the society of that time (and like Dark Side... stay current, unfortunately).

The pros and cons of The Wall

Musically, the album is impeccable. The characteristics of the typical minimalist Pink Floyd still holds, but the album is more bombastic, hard and theatrical than anything the band has created, apart from being a work in his discography. And wow, that work.

It is difficult to pinpoint a highlight in The Wall, as almost all the songs surprise me. I'll fight my desire to describe track by track, for in the stretch miha review, but definitely some of the songs on this album are among my favorite ever.

However there is a problem with this album. And his name is Roger Waters.

The brain behind the creation and composition of the Wall was already showing signs of arrogance in his previous album, but here he was at the limit. so much so that Richard Wright was fired! Ironically, having returned to the studios as a musician he was paid the one to profit from the tour of the album, which went bankrupt Pink Floyd.

Moreover Waters is not a singer. And unfortunately it is he who sings most of the album, relegating David Gilmour (whose voice I always admired) the guitar (which he performs with great skill). Several times his voice sounds like Roger Hodgson of Supertramp, even though that is infinitely better.

Finally ...

Well, after all these considerations can not deny the quality of The Wall, even though the album has its many weak moments. I really wanted to understand why this album currently has a score of "only" 4.03 here in PA, when in my opinion he deserves more. But ... is life, and as I keep enjoying this album is all that matters.

5 stars!

Overrated disappointment.

The Wall is one of Pink Floyd's most recognisable albums, probably second behind Dark Side of the Moon. However, to any fan of their more progressive work it's hard not to attribute this to the radio friendliness and accessibility of a lot of the tracks.

In the Wall Floyd have followed up their progressive rock opus Animals - which contains 3 10+ minute tracks of the finest spaced out, nuanced prog/psych rock ever comitted to tape - with what is essentially their take on guitar-centric rock. It's no surprise that this departure in style marked the beginning of a rapid downward spiral in musical quality which probably wasn't helped one bit by the much publicised drama and animosity between the band members.

Having fully explored the bands discography I haven't ever found myself coming back to listen to the wall, it's a fairly unwieldy and awkward album that lacks much of what made their previous work so special.

The idea of becoming emotionally trapped by our own delusions and fears is something many people can identify with. This album's concept turns out to be quite a story and musically every track is vital to fit the record together.

The Wall is perfectly spaced, with lots of classic moments. "Another Brick in the Wall", "Mother", "Goodbye Blue Sky", Hey You", "Is There Anybody Out There" and "Comfortably Numb" are among some of the finest and most beautifully written pieces in rock history and alone make this worth owning. Surely there is no doubt that it's fantastic.

As I said, the story is fascinating. For me personally, this record has got better and better over time. I even love the darker parts which mostly occupy the end of the first half, especially "Don't Leave Me Now" and "One of my Turns". They are possibly some of the most twisted pieces of music I've ever heard. Other favourite moments are "Nobody Home", "Vera Lynne" and "Bring The Boys Back Home"

Whatever reviewers might think or say about Roger Waters' and his ego, it doesn't change the fact that he was, and is, a genius. Most of the work here was his output and it has inspired millions. His type of creative vision is one-of-a-kind. The music is timeless too and still sounds incredibly fresh over thirty years later. This is one of my top six Pink Floyd albums and it's a courageous work of art. Enough said, you simply must own it! 5 stars.

To me The Wall is Pink Floyd's 2nd best, after Dark Side. The Reason I put this above WYWH, and Animals is this was my first album and has the first Floyd song I ever heard. This is a story that surrounds Roger Waters' life. The main character Pink looses his father from WW2, goes to school to be torchered by his teachers, is controled by his mother and so on. Of corse to most the best song here is "Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2" it is a very good song, but I do not think it is by far the best. I would have to say the best songs are C. Numb, Hey You, and Run Like Hell or Mother. This is the perfect definition of the words rock opera. There are characters, and many opera-like elements. The next best thing to this album is the tour that followed. With the giant wall being built across the stage, the projections, and David Gilmour singing Comfortably Numb, and playing the memorable solo at the top of the wall. There are some songs on the album that I did not mention but other greats like In the Flesh, Young Lust, One of my Turns, Nobody Home, Is There Anybody Out There, Waiting for the Worms, and The Trial. The album is not made of longer pieces like the last two albums, instead there are shorter songs that are still great like Empty Spaces, Goodbye Blue Sky, ABITW, Pt. 3, and Vera. The Wall movie is another great chapter in the history of the wall. But for me one of the best things about this album is, I got to see Roger Waters perform it in 2010 at Atlanta, Georgia. I would definitly recommend this album to anyone who has never listened to it before, I don't see how you could be dissapointed.

Roger Waters' The Wall is a great concept album which, musically, is faultless. However there are certain aspects of this album which make it hard for me to class it as 5 star Prog masterpiece. The main one being that I think of this album as a commercially friendly rock opera, rather than a prog classic.

The album tells the story of some guy named Pink who battles with a metaphorical wall, or something like that. The album flows well and there many great songs, (even radio friendly), but it lacks that true prog element. Because most of the song structures aren't incredibly progressive they struggle to remain interesting after many listens. They're still very enjoyable, just not interesting. Albums like Wish You Were Here or even Atom Heart Mother would remain more interesting than The Wall after repeated listens.

Highlights are Young Lust, Goodbye Blue Sky, Hey You, Comfortably Numb, Waiting For The Worms, and the drama-filled The Trial. Is There Anybody Out There is interesting being that it brings back that guitar effect used in Echoes (I think that's what it is). I also liked the secret message in Empty Spaces.

Overall you cannot say this is a bad album, but if you think this commercial, less proggy album is injustice toward the band that used to be Pink Floyd, I don't blame you. The album spawned a movie along with it's larger audience and success, but I suggest avoiding it. It's weird, confusing and didn't make me enjoy the music any more than I did.

Please, don't leave me now!

Maybe the band was starting to get tense between themselves and those words were actually thought by some of them, if not all. With "The Wall" we can appreciate the pinnacle of Roger Waters' as leader and main composer, of course we had already known his capacity with previous albums, but this time he really put an extra effort and exposed all their inner thoughts, abilities and feelings. We know this album has a personal and special meaning for him.

I had the luck of attending to a last year show that Waters offered in my country, due to The Wall Tour and it really left me speechless, what a night, what a show, I was completely astonished by the visual effects, the music, the feelings and all that was around us that night, a unforgettable one without a doubt. But well, I just wanted to express something of the background here.

Returning to the album itself, released in 1979, it represented a highlight in Pink Floyd's career, and also was truly recognized all around the globe due to the story and the movie with the same title that visually represents what it suggests. Its political context, the lyrics and the satire etc. are things easy to remember which can provoke good chats between people from the whole world. It was actually a controversial album, and I dare say it still produces uncomfortable things to some people.

Musically speaking, it was cleverly composed and divided in two parts. So this is a two-CD album divided in thirteen songs each one that together gives 80 minutes of excellent music. The most representative track is of course "Another Brick in the Wall Part 2", a song that reached first places in charts and a song that opened the gates of the commercial success of this album. With memorable lyrics and guitar riffs, this song has become an icon.

In the first CD we will find a wonderful mixture of moods, rhythms and sounds, with shorter and longer compositions that go together with the concept that is being told. There are no stops, all the album flows and it powerfully produces images and feelings in the listener, at least it works with me. Songs such as "Mother", "Young Lust" or "Empty Spaces" are difficult to forget, as difficult as the whole album actually. However, there are moments where one may lose track and get distracted and lose a little bit of interest, things that don't really happen with some other Floyd's albums prior to The Wall.

The second CD has also memorable and representative tracks, songs that the bands followers love and songs that even people who are not true fans or don't have a deep knowledge of the band surely know. I am referring specially to "Hey You", "Comfortably Numb" and "Run Like Hell", though I would like to remark some cool moments such as the instrumental short beauty "Is There Anybody Out There" or "The Trial", songs that show the band's compositional skills and creative process.

Despite all the above mentioned, and despite I really love this album, I would not really consider it a masterpiece, nor Pink Floyd's best effort, not at all, and I believe people may agree with me, anyway all is a matter of tastes and subjectivity, that is why I will give it four stars, and not the five someday I thought it deserved.

Enjoy it!

Pink Floyd's most theatrical album is a masterpiece... of cynical emotional manipulation, privileged self-pity, style over substance and mistaking daft tricks and gimmicks for genuine depth and intelligence.

Recorded during a period relationships within the band were going sour - and produced by Bob Ezrin, whose treatment by Roger Waters during the recording process was shameful - the album is Roger's exploration of the emotional barriers he had realised he was raising between himself and the audience on the In the Flesh Tour supporting the Animals album. His conclusion? He's an emotionally fragile and tortured soul who needs to bare his psychological scars to reconnect with people! Interesting idea in theory, though Waters' progressive isolation from his bandmates during the recording and over the ensuing years rather suggests that Waters didn't really put his own advice into practice - or if he did, it didn't exactly work out as planned.

The fact is that the album's concept is an infuriating pity-poor-me piece by an overprivileged rock star who uses the album to air grievances which might have better been addressed in a psychiatrist's office, coupled with lazy references to Syd Barrett which drive me up the wall - fine, the allusions on Dark Side of the Moon were appropriate in context and Shine On You Crazy Diamond was a decent tribute, but continuing to wheel out the ghost of Old Pink makes me doubt Waters' commitment to letting Syd rest in obscurity. If Waters were really committed to Barrett's privacy, he wouldn't have continually used the image of Barrett in such a way.

Musically speaking, the album is one of the most turgid and lifeless collections of indulgent but contentless classic rock tunes ever assembled, the band gambling on listeners mistaking sound samples and overbearing production for actual musical depth - and people fell for it hook, line and sinker. What decent musical and conceptual ideas are present on the album had already been presented better and more succinctly on Animals, or would be explored with a bit more nuance and depth on The Final Cut, leaving The Wall itself monumentally redundant except as a gravestone for the friendship between Waters and his bandmates. An ugly album from an ugly era.

And yet... if that's so, why do I keep coming back to it?

See, over time I have come to realise there's another side to all this. It might be hard to feel too sorry for poor, wealthy Roger Waters all alone behind his wall with only his fat piles of money and lack of any anxiety over paying the bills for company, but at the same time there is nonetheless something creatively interesting about how the album is structured as exactly the sort of open display of emotion that Pink is condemned to at the end of The Trial. The structure of the whole thing is, as such, more clever than you might first see, there's more incorporation of acoustic and near-pastoral moments than I sometimes give it credit for (especially on side 3).

Most of all, it was perhaps necessary to have rock stars indulging in this sort of very public self-examination and emotional inventory, and particularly male ones, in order to show their fans that it's OK for blokes to have feelings too and you don't stop being cool. Too much of commercial rock music, especially in the arena rock tier that Floyd occupied, was taken up with macho posturing and denial of all feelings entirely, so for Waters to go against the grain so startlingly was refreshing.

On the whole, treat it like the later Soft Machine albums - not as something which is a successor to what's come before, but a new project outright. In fact, think of it as Roger Waters' first solo album. Given the ego games in the band at the time, it is almost that anyway.

Wow, what an album!

This is my second review on the site. I'm going to keep it rather short, and focused. First of all, I believe the movie is a way better way for one to experience this masterpiece. The symbolic images seen in the film, watching the main character evolve, and the one of a kind animations going with some of the songs are magnificent.

Now, for the album itself. Each track is great on its own. Some track are musically better. Some tracks help the story progress better then the others, and some are very good in both aspects. But the whole point of the album is not just great songs, it's about telling the story. Using latimotifes and other artistic tools to make the songs tell the story, both lyrically and musically. After understanding the album much or less. Your mind will be blown again and again when listening to some of the key tracks in the album such as In The Flesh (with and without the ?), Goodbye Cruel World, Nobody Home, Run Like Hell-Waiting For The Worms-Stop-The Trial.

This is a one of a kind album, and obviously gets 5 stars from me, this should be reviewed as one piece and not a collection of songs.

It's hard to put down to words how great this album really is. I just ask you to listen to it a few times, read an analysis of the album if you don't quite get it after a while, watch the movie, and most importantly, enjoy it.

The double album vinyl is the basis of this review.

Pink Floyd once more overemphasizing--- what to them would never make any sense. The album concept is dissolving. As mentioned the common ground of this is not progressive and they have decided to as a group to envelop sound between atmosphere and voice.

The wall album is not progressive, it is a concept album from their silent movie called the wall. The movie is an attempt to conceptualize sound with image. The album recorded to professional level yet the musicians are once more echoed as their previous album dark side of the moon already tracked.

The return on this album is the acoustic segments yet they recorded a near non-existent part in what England's traditions are on the mainland or known for playing. The large instrumentals are loud for the late 70's and considered an overemphasis or overt reaction.

The problem is there are many conceptual movies before this time period of the late 70's and the need to release a concept album is left with their previous releases. The concept and most of their albums seem or force parallel a reaction to this movie distance called science fiction.

The album is not in good taste and as mentioned the tracks are not essential but lack focus. The album would have been essential with new material released other than the wall tracks recorded-- it is a basic release to the mainstream without a studio mixing new sounds for the album.

In reference this release is a turn out album and should be distanced as a perversion. The highly saturated and dissolving images should be restricted along with the sounds that try and parallel every situation to its extent--overemphasis. The group should not be tolerated on the mainland, it is better to be ignorant of this material--once more it is mentioned criminal to educate the child at this level of saturation. Pink Floyd is trying to mention a problem yet they are a larger part of the problem--mentally ill who have decided themselves to become social critics, they are supposedly musicians.

Pink Floyd does not even know who they are, lost in the translation of time that has never distanced their country except in a consequence or perversion.

4.5, actually.

I personally recognize this double effort to be a socially important work. It's a crooked story of isolation and insensitivity from the protagonist and the people around him. As far as I can see, such passive attitudes are reactions to the passive attitudes of others. There are lots of things that are unsaid in the "book", but they have to be concluded for them to be perceived. Also, I find it very odd that "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" receives more acclaim from critics and regular listeners alike than "The Wall". Both stories are long, bizarre, and half-baked. In the former you have a New York punk Rael, who is on a weird journey with a goal of finding his true identity while facing up to different strange creatures. In the latter you have a young man Pink undergoing a string of trials and tribulations of life, building up a wall as a defensive reaction to the effects of reality. Next thing you know, this story is repeated with another young man. Also, the artwork of "The Wall" has some obstacles of its own for Pink, which is very reminiscent of "The Lamb".

Honestly, I'm interested in the story of "The Wall" just as much as I am interested in the music. For instance, 'One of My Turns' and 'Don't Leave Me Now' are my personal biggest favorites on here. Also, there are plenty of other grim rockers on the album. 'Is There Anybody Out There?' is one of the first songs that I've learned to play on the acoustic guitar. In addition to that, I love the vocal work of both the choir and Roger Waters on 'Outside the Wall', which makes this song another one of my biggest favorites.

Ratings/comments (if you have to ask):

----------- Disc 1:

1. 'In the Flesh?' - ****

2. 'The Thin Ice' - ****

3. 'Another Brick in the Wall, pt. 1' - ****

4. 'The Happiest Days of our Lives' - ****

5. 'Another Brick in the Wall, pt. 2' - ** (Excessive airplay is only one part of the problem. Having the melodies not working for me is another part of it. Also, I've never been abused by a teacher, nor have I ever rejected the importance of education.)

6. 'Mother' - ***

7. 'Goodbye Blue Sky' - ****

8. 'Empty Spaces' - ****

9. 'Young Lust' - ****

10. 'One of My Turns' - *****

11. 'Don't Leave Me Now' - *****

12. 'Another Brick in the Wall, pt. 3' - ***

13. 'Goodbye Cruel World' - ***

----------- Disc 2:

1. 'Hey You' - ****

2. 'Is There Anybody Out There?' - ****

3. 'Nobody Home' - ****

4. 'Vera' - ****

5. 'Bring the Boys Back Home' - ** (Don't you just love it when the person knocking on your door is the last person you want to see?)

6. 'Comfortably Numb' - ****

7. 'The Show Must Go On' - ****

8. 'In the Flesh' - ****

9. 'Run Like Hell' - ****

10. 'Waiting for the Worms' - *** (It's too repetitive for me, which means that I doubt the potential of what's being repeated.)

11. 'Stop' - ** (Well, I like the piano accompaniment.)

12. 'The Trial' - ***

13. 'Outside the Wall' - *****

Stamp: "I like it" (not "Highly recommended" since this album has such a dubious reputation.)

In the 80's, musicians, engineers and producers could be heard, in the studios of London at least, bandying about the phrase "sonically perfect". This album or that album was sonically perfect. Gabriel's 'So' copped this accolade quire often, albeit deliberately distorted and a bit on the bright side. What many of these folks had missed is that the sonically perfect album had been released in the 70's.

The Wall.

It is excruciatingly clear and pristine at every turn ? despite its supposed disadvantage of being a pre-digital birth.

Just on sound alone, The Wall was and still remains a monumental achievement.

Sonically perfect.

First off, when you see that rating up there, please keep in mind that it's actually supposed to be 4.5 stars... I just don't know how to make that 5th star light up only half way. The Wall is one of Pink Floyd's most loved albums, and it's an extremely impressive acheivement, even it's a slight step back musically from their previous efforts, and there are some noticeably dull moments. There are some musical steps forward, though, like the excellent orchestrations, Mason's powerful drumming on "The Thin Ice", Gilmour's guitar work on "Another Brick In The Wall Part 1", and both solos on "Comfortably Numb", and Waters' lyrics are a step forward in terms of creatively and effectively expressing profound and societally important ideas, and the story is extremely deep, but I sometimes wish it would have been developed further into a triple LP with a more complete conclusion. Great songs abound, like "Hey You" and "Run Like Hell", and the songs "Is There Anybody Out There?" and "Goodbye Blue Sky" are essential Pink Floyd. Do include The Wall in your Pink Floyd collection, listen to it many times, and ponder the meaning, but don't just get this one album and think that it's all Pink Floyd have to offer as some have mistakenly done in the past.

In my opinion The Wall is equally great as DSOTM, WYWH & (the underrated) Animals in it's own way.

First of all, I believe this album should be listened in its entirety from start to finish to really 'feel' the album, because it is a concept album (a story, a theme & no gaps) --> ''It is more a theater piece than rock & roll'' - Roger Waters. The first few times I listened it I found it enjoyable to figure out the story of the Wall and what it meant.

The sound of the Wall is something to take a good look it. It is more accessible and less complex than previous albums, but it is still a very Floydish sound: The Wall makes you feel wholly engaged through its accessibility and I think that's why this is a perfect place to start if you're new to Pink Floyd. If you also feel the immersion which the Wall offers me, trust me, you will become a Pink Floyd enthusiast! Once you check out other albums, you will find that each Pink Floyd album sounds different and is a piece on its own with its characteristics.

Thoughts on musical elements: - Waters voice sounds a bit like a lunatic, I think it fits the music. He feels what he's singing. - Gilmours guitar will blow you away, but he is less present than in other albums. - Special effects makes it more like a film, strengthens the feeling of listening to a story. - The songs are well-constructed, the album is well-produced.

The dominance of Waters in the band has created the Wall, it's a fact. Throw aside the bitter feelings of the band heading for the break-up, and respect the Wall as one of the artistic masterpieces of the 20th century, as it deserves to be called just that!

What an effective concept album.

Simple and straight in your face, The Wall hits hard like a ton of bricks. The story is touching, more than some other concept albums like The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway or the A Passion Plays of this world where the story is overcomplex. Here, Roger Waters tells the story of a rock stars who is depressive and eventually builds his own mental wall between him and the rest of the world. This eventually happened in my own country. when Pink Floyd played at Montreal in the Olympic Stadium. Roger Waters wanted to play songs from the new album, which was Animals at the time. The sound was bad, which didn't helped the background of the concert and the audiance wanted songs from the other albums. Roger Waters spat at the audience and he felt disconnected to the rest of them. So the montrealers helped him writing the Wall.

The rest goes to history. The most well known concept album of all time, but also one of the best.

The Wall represents the most dramatic turn in musical style for Pink Floyd, mostly due to the dominance Roger Waters has. It's theatrical, extravagant, and much more commercial than most of Pink Floyd's offerings before. Though, it still carries the basic Pink Floyd sound. But like most double albums and concept albums, the concept often takes over and shadows the music quality, and this is no exception.

Like most concept albums I tend to review the album as a whole instead of the individual songs. With that said, this albums strength is not in the individual songs, but the cohesiveness of the songs which form a much stronger piece. Out of the context of the album, these songs would fail on their own, except for the few which also happen to be more commercially successful. Songs like 'Another Brick in the Wall,' 'Comfortably Numb' 'Run Like Hell,' 'Young Lust' and 'Hey You' are all classic tunes. But the remainder is just weak. Most of side four is a good example of what I'm talking about. Though I appreciate the theatrical side of Roger, the songs just flop musically.

As this is mostly Roger's baby, the output of the other members is severely limited, especially Wright. Gilmour offers some very memorable solos in songs like Comfortably Numb and Another Brick, as well some vocals, but even he sees limited output in the songwriting area.

Overall, the Wall is just too self-indulgent in its concept to be consistently strong musically. This is practically the only album in which I prefer the live version. This sounds a bit too bland production-wise, and a lot of great extended solos are present on the live version. Unfortunately more of the same is to come in The Final Cut, and Pink Floyd will never return to what made them so great in the early and mid 70's.

5/10

Some years ago, my brother told to watch this movie called "Pink Floyd The Wall". At that time i was just a child, and i didn't have any specific musical preference. I recognize the words "Pink Floyd", i knew they were a band, but nothing else than that. So i gave it a try. An hour and half later i was mind-blown. It was one of the most crazy things i saw at the time, the images, the music...just were perfect. That day i started to love Pink Floyd, which is the band that has not only introduce me to the Prog World, but to the music in general, it taught me to really listen to music. Since then, i have listened to the whole Pink Floyd discography, live, studio, bootlegs, everything with the name Pink Floyd in it. So having watched the movie, having heard the studio album, and the live one, what was missing? To watch it live. I didn't think at the time that it was going to happen, EVER. But one day i heard the news that Roger Waters was going to bring his The Wall Tour to Argentina (I am from Uruguay), and i knew i had to be there no matter how. And the March 12 of 2012, my dream came true. Me and my brother had a moment i knew we will never forget. It was one of the best days of my life. Just Perfect.

This album, as you can see, has meant a lot to me, not only because of the great music, and the concept because it's the album that enlighted me, that made me who i am now.

This is one of the best albums ever made and the best rock opera ever (Not Tommy nor The Lamb). And nothing is going to change my mind...

It's just perfect...

I can still remember the feeling of listening to this album for the first time ever. It's a feeling that human beings try to recapture or try to experience again and again but they never manage to do it. It's one of the best records ever made. Why? It's one of the most varied and diverse. It encompasses its fair share of bombastic stadium rock (''In The Flesh?'' ''Young Lust''), but also features disco (''Another Brick'', Run Like Hell''), delicate folk (''Goodbye Blue Sky''), Beach Boys vocal harmonies (''The Show Must Go On'', ''In The Flesh'') and - sneaking arty touches in by the stage door - Tin Pan Alley tunesmithery (''Nobody Home'') and even Gilbert and Sullivan operetta (''The Trial''). This is it folks. Bob Ezrin, David Gilmour and Roger Waters operating with their full creative forces. Can you imagine being in the same room as these three genius were creating this masterpice? Ok, I'll stop.

Pink Floyd was one of those progressive rock bands that I sincerely admired during their heyday, albeit from a distance. In other words, I didn't buy their LPs. However, one would've had to live in a cave to avoid hearing their music so it wasn't difficult to become familiar with what they were creating. The thing that stood out to me most was the incredible fidelity and technical expertise involved in their work that made their records rise above the fray regardless of whether or not I related to the songs themselves. Truth is, even though I now consider the group to be the well-deserved, most recognizable face of prog, I kept them on the periphery of my consciousness until the new millennium dawned and I finally realized that I'd only been depriving myself of some of the best music ever produced. For example, I'd never sat down and listened to "The Wall" alpha to omega till a few days ago. Small surprise that I feel immensely stupid for waiting so long. Being an artist myself, I could readily empathize with the protagonist's struggle against his tendency to isolate and insulate himself from the very people he wanted so desperately to please. 'Tis the nature of the beast.

This respected concept album impressively opens with "In the Flesh." Big, heavy and ominous guitar riffs contrast starkly with the subdued verse, giving a glimpse of the yin/yang conflicts to come. "So ya thought ya might like to go to the show, to feel the warm thrill of confusion, that space cadet glow," Roger Waters sings shakily, expressing the urge to be "special" that plagues us all from birth. "Thin Ice" begins as a somber lullaby, then morphs to a pseudo 50s doo wop vibe wherein Roger warns "Don't be surprised when a crack in the ice appears under your feet." After a brief return to the fat guitar riff the project's indomitable touchstone makes its first appearance. "Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 1" allows David Gilmour to do what he does so well, painting a masterpiece with his guitar on an unblemished canvas while Waters rues the father's unforgivable absence. "Daddy's flown across the ocean, leaving just a memory, a snap shot in the family album, Daddy what else did you leave for me?" he cries. The sarcastic "Happiest Days of Our Lives" then arrives with thunderous propellers whirling overhead and Nick Mason's drums pounding out a flurry of tribal beats. Roger rips into the demeaning world of public education with searing lines like "When we grew up and went to school there were certain teachers who would hurt the children any way they could by pouring their derision upon anything we did and exposing every weakness." "ABITW, pt. 2" is the cut that the population at large would come to consider the personification of the entire album, gaining massive airplay from day one and going on to become a mainstay of classic rock radio. The children's chorale is genius and Gilmour's guitar work shines brightly. Waters begs, to no avail, "Teachers leave them kids alone!"

The members of Pink Floyd have always excelled at using deceivingly simple folk chords and melodies to throw curves into their proceedings yet nurturing them to grow into something magnificent. I present "Mother" as an example of that gift. By employing alternating time signatures they present a tricky platform for Roger to sing of feeling safe in his mom's codependent arms on one hand while bemoaning her unrealistic expectations of him on the other. She set the bar for him, it would seem, and his response is "Mother, did it need to be so high?" "Goodbye Blue Sky" is a case of beautiful construction utilizing acoustic guitar, subtle singing and growling synth notes from Richard Wright. Now on his own, the hero intones, "The flames are all long gone but the pain lingers on." "Empty Spaces" is a bit of a throwback involving a metallic, industrial metronome that turns the mood markedly macabre. Waters voices the perceived need to protect oneself from being hurt. "How shall I fill the final places? How shall I complete the wall?" he asks. The slightly funky groove underneath "Young Lust" steadily guides the gritty rocker about sexual tension that David so tastefully decorates with a bevy of hot licks. The strange phone sequence at the end shows they still had a sense of humor. Wright stays in the background for too much of this record but his organ/synthesizer drone at the start of "One of My Turns" is pleasantly deep and rich in texture. The number features another simple verse that migrates into edgier territory. It's a very eclectic piece that conveys the trouble that the hero's neuroses have brought into his marriage. "But I have grown older and you have grown colder and nothing is very much fun any more," he gripes.

The tragic "Don't Leave Me Now" is a mysterious, dissonant segment in which Roger's voice is akin to that of someone losing their mind. One wonders if our hero notices the irony in words like "How could you go when you know how I need you to beat to a pulp on a Saturday night?" The band's sudden plunge into a cavernous hole is stunning. Slamming doors usher in a reprise of the album's central theme, "ABITW, pt. 3," and we find that the man's social quarantine is now complete. "I don't need no arms around me, I don't need no drugs to calm me, I have seen the writing on the wall, don't think I need anything at all," he claims. At this point the plot dissolves into an unadorned suicide statement via "Goodbye Cruel World." Our boy has given up hope. "There's nothing you can say to make me change my mind. Goodbye," he mumbles. However, his attempt at self-annihilation fails and he wakes up to sing "Hey You." The song begins as a sobering ballad, then escalates to towering heights courtesy of Gilmour's splendid guitarisms before returning to the initial gloomy outlook wherein Waters laments being incapable of even offing himself. "But it was only a fantasy, the wall was too high as you can see," he explains. A low drone drifts in like a dense fog to support Roger's repeated pleas of "Is There Anybody Out There?" The number's gorgeous combination of acoustic guitar and keyboards is arresting. "Nobody Home" is a piano-based ditty augmented by lush orchestration. The hero has gotten what he desired (to be left alone) but now he is disgusted and bored by his lot. "I've got the obligatory Hendrix perm and I've got the inevitable pinhole burns all down the front of my favorite satin shirt," he sings. "Vera" is a short, nostalgic segue piece that asks the poignant question, "Does anybody else in here feel the way I do?"

A marching cadence heralds the entrance of a grandiose symphonic extravaganza entitled "Bring the Boys Back Home" that, as it fades into the distance, paves the way for one of the finest Pink Floyd tunes ever, "Comfortably Numb." It's a wonderful juxtaposition of a haunting melody, profound lyrics and exquisite musicianship topped off by David's timeless guitar ride. How can you not stand in awe of words such as "When I was a child I caught a fleeting glimpse out of the corner of my eye, I turned to look but it was gone, I cannot put my finger on it now. The child is grown, the dream is gone and I have become comfortably numb." (I was oblivious to this tune's splendor until I caught a live performance on TV in the early 90s and it reduced me to tears.) "The Show Must Go On" is a queer composition that incorporates a sublime group vocal performance that keeps the listener on their toes throughout. "There must be some mistake, I didn't mean to let them take away my soul," he mourns. "In the Flesh" is a rerun of the curtain-raiser with its strong riff powering through and the verse section more "fleshed" out. The concert ending is no doubt a parody of what their onstage shtick had become to them. Gilmour's striking, almost Who-like chordings layered over Nick's throbbing pulse personifies what turns out to be a very contagious song, "Run Like Hell," that's unmistakably Floydian. Escape is a phantom, our boy has discovered. "Feel the bile rising from your guilty past, with your nerves in tatters as the cockleshell shatters and the hammers batter down your door. You better run," he exclaims.

"Waiting for the Worms" is a real eyebrow-lifter. The Beach Boys-styled intro is beguiling and the remarkably strange melding of musical flavors and influences is fascinating. Roger seems to be hinting at his own dressing room existence when he sings of "Sitting in a bunker here behind my wall, waiting for the worms to come, in perfect isolation here behind my wall, waiting for the worms to come." They concoct a frightening, claustrophobic atmosphere as the chanting audience closes in. "Stop" is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment but important as Waters warbles "Stop, I wanna go home, take off this uniform and leave the show, and I'm waiting in this cell because I have to know, have I been guilty all this time?" "The Trial" takes the cake as far as sheer audacity goes. Its bizarre, surreal "Broadway musical" aroma is shocking yet it fits perfectly into the story line as the hero is dragged kicking and screaming into the hypocritical court of public opinion. "The way you made them suffer, your exquisite wife and mother, fills me with an urge to defecate. Since my friend you have revealed your deepest fear, I sentence you to be exposed before your peers," he is told by the self-righteous judge. The angry mob at the door is unnerving so the wall-destroying explosion is a relief. "Outside the Wall" is the gospel-tinged finale that's delightfully weird. In it Waters issues a plea for the planet's populace to give its tortured bohemians some slack. "The bleeding hearts and the artists make their stand, and when they've given you their all some stagger and fall. After all, it's not easy banging your heart against some mad bugger's wall."

Released at the tail end of the fantastic 70s on November 30, 1979, "The Wall" signified more than just the end of the Pink Floyd four-man collaborations that effectively altered earth's orbit on several occasions. It marked the death of elaborately conceptualized tale-telling presented on a grand scale and, in some respects, the sad close of the golden age of progressive rock. In today's climate such a risky, courageous undertaking such as this would be rejected out of hand, much less listened to intently by the average Joe. "The Wall" is not what I thought it was. It is phenomenal. But I didn't know that until I gave it my full attention. You should do the same if you haven't already. You owe it to yourself. 4.5 stars.

That is going to make more than 30 years now ? More than thirty years than Pink Floyd will have taken out his double white ? If the notices are really contrasted on this album, anybody can deny that The Wall was an ambitious, revolutionary album and the swan song of the group. Indeed, pushed by the increasing megalomania of Waters, Richard Wright will be excluded from the next album ? Averagely made a success The Final Cut. And from the first notes of In The Flesh the tone is given. This record will be a furious, cold record, in the limits of the hard rock. An album without pondering, without tracks of 23 minutes like Echoes. In The Flesh? Is a real musical explosion, exposing for the first time this riff known well by Floydiens, followed immediately by Gilmour's solo. The piece calms down little then Waters intone the singing" So Ya ? Might Ya ? " The voice of Waters will be dominant on the album as its compositions. An explosion appears from our surrounding (speakers) then baby's tears are listened ? It is the beginning of The Thin Ice unquestionably one from big success of this album. The voice of Gilmour makes soothing in its "Ouuuuh Babe", then arrives again Waters and its cynical voice. Once the thin ice is broken, Gilmour dashes on a very rock solo then the guitar makes again quiet and regular ? It is at the beginning of the masterpiece of this album. The main thread, the trilogy Another Brick In The Wall. In every piece of this (suite), our hero will isolate himself of the world a little more, sinking into the darkness. Waters sing here the absence of the father, the non- unpublished theme because we find it tracks in Corporal Clegg of A Saucerful Of Secrets.

The guitar slowly is covered by a noise of helicopter in flying, we hear noises of playing and shouting children when suddenly, a voice appears from the bottom of your surrounding (speakers): " You, Yes You ? " A note of bass then begins The Happiest Days Of Our Lives: prelude to the biggest success of Floyds, Another Brick In The Wall Pt2. The shock is very real, Pink Floyd is not any more the same, the group smoothing 1970s became a real group , mature, capable of absorbing several styles (here the disco). But, in spite of the fame of this piece, I consider it personally as a piece absolutely dispensable, one of the least good pieces of the album.

A bell of telephone is listened, follows the voice and the acoustic guitar of Wawa, Mother ends the face A of the album in a piece in accents Country music ? In spite of a laborious starting up, piece begins has to take off from the tune, when Gilmour joins the dance. The sound stops and I am obliged to get up and to change the face of the vinyl.

The silence breaks and an acoustic guitar is listened, followed by the voice of Gilmour. Goodbye Blue Sky is doubtless one of the most trivial pieces of the album, but he remains pleasant. Empty Spaces follows who in spite of the absence of What Shall we Do Now arrives has to transport the auditor in the anxiety. It is followed by the hard rock Young Lust and there, we approach the perfection, a powerful piece, which in the kind competes with AC / DC or other groups of this kind. The powerful voice of the guitarist isn't for nothing, this piece will be one of the most good during the lives of 1980 and 81 to become an explosion of 5 even 6 minutes, a real slap which unfortunately does not last for a long time, a voice of phone director being too fast heard.

A door slams, then a dialogue begins ? " Oh My God! What A Fabulous Room!! ", a tablecloth of synth arrives, then the voice ? " Day After Day, Love Turns Grey ? " One of My Turns begins as one ballad, suddenly, within one second, everything tips over: the sound makes more furious, Toilets begins roaring, noises of broken glass are listened. The piece re-calms down and a door tires out ?

Arrives then what is doubtless the worst piece of the album:Don't Leave Me Now, The piece begins very badly, in unbearable synthetic basses before falling over to a big nonsense, and then it is long, but then length ?

I can clearly compare "The Wall" with "Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die!" from Jethro Tull - both albums has a good background idea, a good concept, but the music are just poor. Actually, I can stand Too Old To RnR, but I can't stand The Wall.

The album starts with the song called In The Flesh. It's a fine rock. Nothing more. By the way, I don't like the vocals. So we have The Thin Ice. Nah. Nothing at all. Rather In The Flesh. Gilmour feeling at the guitar solo sounds forced enough. There's no impact. From the third to fifth track, okay, it's good, but I'm really tired of this super hit. Mother is a folk non- inspired song. Again, they had a plot to follow and tried to make it work as a song, but the words Neil Young track is actually better than this folk track. It's the kind of song that I would probably skip if I was listening to at the radio station. Goodbye Blue Sky is my favorite song from the first LP. Is actually a great song, a highlight. Maybe Metallica's Fade to Black intro was a little rip off from this track. Empty Space is an atmospheric prelude to Young Lust. Just fine. Nothing special, and maybe, a commercial rock. One of My Turns is a very representative prog ballad, but since the concept have been hided by the boring music, this track wouldn't be different. After a giant cup of boringness, a sad song (Don't Leave Me Now) is not a good idea. Another Brick part III and Goodbye Cruel World finally concludes the first half.

The B side starts with Hey You, it's a pleasent progressive song, and what a surprise. It includes some references to the main track (Another Brick in The Wall). A good trip, slow, prog and atmospheric. Very... Pink Floyd. Is There Anybody Out There is an atmospheric instrumental including acoustic guitar solo and a cool background following to Nobody Home. This last one is forgettable. Slowly the boring side of the floyd starts again. Vera is awful. I hate when the big bands use to hide the bad music with exaggerated arrangements and singing. The arrangements at Bring The Boys Back Home is needed to the background tale, but is just another boring short track. Finally, another hit. And the media was right. This is a good track. Maybe too commercial, maybe another "wish you were here" formula. I don't know, but it works, and it's absolutely a highligh at this second half. The electric guitar backgrounds are awesome and makes me in the mood to accept the rest of the album, giving me hope to face the remaining tracks. The Show Must Go On is a follow-up, still in the same mood of the previous track, but not so good. Now, cames In The Flesh, better than In The Flesh? at the beggining of the album. It starts as an oldschool heavy rock, with outstanding guitar chords and organ. The song calm down, and still has a good vibe. Run Like Hell is cool too. Very 80s (the guitar riffs and bass-drums rhythm), and great vocals. Waiting For The Worms is a narrative boring song, I really don't like the melody here and chorus. The vocals effect sucks. Stop and The Trial are great, a classical rock with a thriller vibe. This high and low makes the album too irregular, sounding like any commercial cd/lp, that I need to skip a bunch of tracks if I want to have pleasure listening to. And well, Outside The Wall is just the "happy" ending.

The Wall between two Pink Floyds. Everything they did after this album is not for me. The Wall is a hype concept album, overrated in my honest opinion.

The Wall is most certainly more of a Waters solo album than a full-fledged Pink Floyd album. Some detractors claim it moves away from the Pink Floyd sound. I disagree completely. Up until this album, no two Floyd albums sounded alike anyway. The Wall is just an explosion of creativity in writing, recording and use of background voices and sounds that all combine to create one big amazing journey that few albums can rival. Every nook and cranny on this album takes you through the twisted, demented, sad and destructive mind of the main character. Brick by brick his madness builds up until his mind is overrun by his own imagination of the real and fake characters of his life all confined within the Wall that separates him from reality.. The influence of this album cannot be understated. Where would Dream Theater, Queensryche and Anathema be without Pink Floyd? Especially The Wall? You hear the influence of this album to this day.

A complete triumph of originality and creativity.

The Wall is the last of the four Pink Floyd classic albums from the 1970's. One of the reasons for this is that the Floyd are coming part at the seems. Roger Waters has continued to assert more control over the band; so much so that he had keyboardist and vocalist Richard Wright fired from the band during the recording process. (Side note: Wright is brought back as a wage employee and is the only one of the four that makes money on The Wall shows). While it seems to be true that Wright didn't bring much to the table for this album, David Gilmour, the band vocalist and guitarist ups the anty and said why don't they fire drummer Nick Mason too. Waters saves his friends job but this is a good indication of the poor shape of the band at the time.

Waters came to the band with two song cycles, one which turned out to be The Wall and the other that he took solo a few years later, The Pros and Cons of Hitchiking. The Wall song cycle is part autobiographical, part composite of the lives of others and is full of angst, relationship problems, paranoia, loneliness, and drugs and more. That only scratches the surface of Waters lyrics. A light read it is not.

Musically, Waters also takes more of the reigns here too. It generally takes a back seat to words, and the long spacey tunes are gone. Waters has plenty of stuff to get off his chest and a good idea on how it wants the music to sound to convey his message. While the some of the best tracks are cowritten with Gilmour and one suspects that more of the songs had a lot of input from others but they were not credited. There is stellar Gilmour's guitar work throughout and Wrights presence is felt on a few tracks, most notably on Hey You. The drum are solid but never spectacular as again Waters ideas for this album is more direct and functional than prior albums. There are several main songs that the album hangs on while many others help fill out the story, but that does not mean they are fluff or filler. Of the 'major' songs ( Another brick in the Wall part II, Hey You, Young Lust, Mother), Comfortably Numb is the standout track on the album. The orchestra, changing vocalists, and slow, powerful buildup of keys and drums, accompanied by one of rocks most impressive guitar solos mark CN as on of rocks greatest songs.

Sonically, this album is a standout. The production like Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here is excellent. There is plenty of musique concrete here and the attention to detail on every note is great. A musical pleasure for the ears but listening to the album again for this review, the story does not hold together quite as well as I remembered. It is still very intriguing and I spent a ton of time listening to It when it was originally released.

The Wall is a weak 5 star album and the last Pink Floyd album to have the talents of all four members.

Where to start with this all-around gem of rock music? Pink Floyd have impressed us quite a bit in the past, and then they go and make one of the best concept albums of all time. From start to finish I don't think there is one song I dislike, though it certainly isn't as "proggy" as some of their earlier stuff, so I'll give it four stars. If this were a Rock Archives, I'd say five stars but speaking Progressive, this album is an excellent addition to anyone's music collection.

Here we see Roger Waters in, what some consider, his most ambitious and successful works ever. Not to say he wrote everything; a lot of the album's hits were co-written with Gilmour. Though, Waters is undoubtedly the driving power across this 2-disc, 2-LP, 2-iPod tour de force.

Rather than go through each song, I'll point out my personal highlights from the album.

Disc 1: Starting off with "In the Flesh?", the first Pink Floyd song I ever heard, I was immediately caught off guard by the catchy guitar and extremely overdriven (in a good way) ending. Of course, who could hate the medley of "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 1 - The Happiest Days of Our Lives - Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2"? Certainly not me; that transition between the two latter songs is flawless to say the least. It's hard to not find oneself on Waters' side during his rebellious chorus against all the teachers. Speaking of transitions, this album is full of perfect song meldings if that tickles your fancy. The insanity behind "One of My Turns" echoes beautifully into the darkness that is "Don't Leave Me Now" and the reprise of the "Another Brick in the Wall" theme with Part 3 will send any Prog rocker wild.

Disc 2: "Hey You" is, in my opinion, overshadowed by the other popular songs that surround this album. The heaviness and intensity that peaks during this song lets the listener know that Pink Floyd certainly has enough good material to fill 2 discs/LPs/iPods. Another 3-song medley follows and reprises quite wonderfully, in a way that lets the listener understand what exactly Pink is going through (Pink being a rock star spiraling down into nasty things and the central concept behind this album). "Comfortably Numb" is the rock staple that, with "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2" helped seal the charting success of this concept album. "Run Like Hell" is also a satisfactory hard rock song that gives a beat and vibe. "Waiting for the Worms" is probably my favorite track, simply because of its intensity and oppressive madness that builds up to a point where all you want to do is scream "Stop". "The Trial" ends the madness with one of the biggest 'bangs' in rock history.

Worth mentioning is the ending. "Outside the Wall" is a calm little tune that is honestly, easily forgettable. That's the beauty of it though, the song literally cuts off when someone says "Isn't this where-" and then it just stops. Originally annoying me, I was soon ecstatic to discover that the insanely quiet intro to the very first song, "In the Flesh?" begins with someone saying "-we came in?" and the light continuation of the flute melody before the actual song explodes into view. And herein lies Waters' fascination for cycles and how, in theory, The Wall will never actually end.

You know, I used to think that The Wall by Pink Floyd was the best thing ever. This was partly due to me having very little music at the time, and just happening to pull this dusty double album CD out of a random shelf and sliding it into my computer. I thought everything from the music to it's concept were fantastic. The stars were aligned in this album's favor. After actually comprehensibly listening to all of Floyd's music, I have a much more different idea. This album wasn't as fantastic as I remembered.

My main problem with the entire thing is Waters' complain-y sort of way he tells his life story. Not in the way of the actual subject matter or what he's trying to get across, but he tries to make his music sort so artistic that it just seems snobbish. Not to mention, it's only him really doing anything, because he barely let his band members contribute to it. It was, in a way, Waters' child. And when something like that happens, things can usually go awry. In this case, the music is so focused on his point of view that his fellow band mates couldn't play as well as they had before. Quite a disappointing prospect that was not very enjoyable to listen to. From the pseudo-metal of 'In The Flesh', to the bad attempt at spacey psych rock 'Comfortably Numb', Waters' magnum opus was nothing but a double sided excuse for over-exaggerated self pity.

I mean ugh, I don't want to sit here and listen to Waters preach to us how he's just a fragile soul who's emotional barriers caused him to be such a rude dolt to everyone who cared about him. That brings us to his treatment of his staff and fellow band mates during the tour. Bob Erzin, the producer for Pink Floyd who in the end was able to grace them with a platinum record, was treated with less than how he should have been treated. But this isn't a biography on Roger, so let me explain WHY I don't like this album in more detail.

Most of the music is built on pillars of keyboard synthesizer and spoken word that gives the album the illusion that it's way smarter than it actually is. But even then, Wright was kicked out of the band after the release due to Waters' remarks of his ineptitude on the instrument. It is all a confusing mess. I must admit that some of the vocal effects they pull off on say 'Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 1', but that's one of the few things I did enjoy. Many of the songs are drawn out to their full extent in order to really blast you Waters' story and make you feel sorry for him. Not enjoyable at all. Some tracks are keepers, though. Most of them are on the second half, and are the only reason I'm not dumping this into the one star category. 'Run Like Hell' and 'Waiting For The Worms' are two pretty cool tracks, and 'The Trial' is a mighty fine piece of conceptual music, with spoken word actually being used expertly well. The album just ends on a terrible note with the child-chorus of 'Outside the Wall', totally ruining anything 'The Trial' had accomplished. At every turn where the band actually seems to have a grasp on Waters' personal nonsense music, they fail extraordinarily with more synth led acoustic or attempts at radio friendly rock songs like 'Young Lust' (which happens to literally be filler because the band needed more space).

So, in the end, this whole album is pretty much a tangled mess that got all of the juice squeezed out of it until it was nothing but pulp. The album had extremely successful singles that weren't even that good in the first place. In the instance of the lame disco-rock like 'Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 2', very reminiscent of what Yes tried to do with 'Owner of a Lonely Heart' years later and succeeded at as well. This album is not good, and I appreciate it very little. The biggest growth it had on me was it introducing me to the band, but even now I've heard so much better than it in past years, so this is just in the back of my memory now. I have no desire to revisit this album any time soon.

I do not recommend this album.

I struggled between either 4 or 5 stars for the rating of this album, the album that essentially waved "goodbye" to the traditional era of prog, as the 1970's gave way to the 80's. But in the end, I settled for 4, not because there are faults with it that prevent me from giving it a higher rating, but it's just not my most listened to Floyd album.

I don't think people would disagree if I considered this a "rock opera", because that's essentially what it is (I'm not going to bother explaining the story behind it, most of you know by now, if not, just google it or read other reviews). But Pink Floyd established itself in the late 60's by taking the psychedelic style of music, forged from the 60's with help from the Beatles, and before long, a "signature sound" was developed, and "The Wall" took that signature sound (unusual forms of music-making, ambient soundscapes, hallucinogenic jams and "totally wicked" guitar solos) and cut them up into easily digestible chunks. Almost, too cut up.

After all, the hits you hear on classic rock stations ("Another Brick In The Wall", "Hey You", "Comfortably Numb", "Run Like Hell") weren't necessarily designed to be accessible, commercial commodities, born to assault the pop charts and launch the artists into fame and stardom. But then again, because of the way the album is scripted (similarly to an opera or broadway show, mind), the longer "hits" where bookended by smaller minute-and-a-half-or-so "bridges". Therefore, the attention immediately gravitates to those longer tracks. And because of that, I've heard these songs so many times on the radio, I've kinda gotten sick of them for the moment.

Of course, that all goes out the window you when you press play on "In The Flesh" and stick it out for the entire album. Then of course, it's a different experience, it's now a story, a movie in aural format. And frankly, that's not a bad thing at all. My biggest gripe is that I wished "Another Brick In The Wall" was not cut up into three parts (that's why when jam bands play this song, it's like 15 minutes long. It BEGS for an extended jam and guitar solo).

But despite the album maintaining the soundscapes, signature long jams and guitar solos, and unusual contemporary extended techniques (radios, groaning, symphonic samples, re-occurrence of themes), there is something profoundly missing from "The Wall" than other albums, something that I just can't quite put my finger on, something you really just can't explain:

There's no.... catch....

There's something with songs like "Atom Heart Mother", 'Dogs", "Echoes", "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", that you just literally just turn on, tune in and drop out. And yet, for some reason, I can't do that here. Maybe that's I'm comparing apples to oranges, as the songs I mentioned where gigantic psychedelic epics that just can't be compared to this album, and that's probably true. But something with this album just doesn't click, and maybe partially, that has to do with the length....

Which is weird, because recently I've lost interest with longer scale prog epics (Wobbler's first album immediately springs to mind), and perhaps it was all a sign of the end of prog's "golden age". When you comb through prog in the 70's and flash by Yes, King Crimson, Genesis, ELP, you could almost see the writing on the wall and expect it to end, perhaps because of eventuality, or maybe because of sheer boredom, which I can attest to. But then, when I play this album, and realize that this (right behind Yes' "Drama") heralded the end, I immediately get nostalgic for the jams from "Animals" and "Wish You Were Here". Or maybe that's because of my innate obsession of jams, improvs and non-stop noodling.

Or maybe it's the fact that the songs are too short that by the time you grasp onto them, however that may be, the song is over the story continues on without you. And perhaps that's why out of Pink Floyd's "golden age", this album is the least of my favorites, even behind "Atom Heart Mother" and "Obscured By Clouds". That of course means nothing in terms of the significance of this album, the incredible storytelling and attention to detail, and the way it pretty much signaled the end of Pink Floyd as we know it today in its most famous guise (Waters, Gilmore, Mason and Wight).

But as usual, I'm nitpicking between gold and silver. "The Wall" is one of the most iconic albums ever released, especially considering the time when it was released, the political upheavals all across the globe between the 70's and 80's, it's an album that always has, and will continue to resonate throughout the world, but maybe excluding songs like "Mother, "Comfortably Numb", it's really an album that's best appreciated when listened from start to finish with no interruption, and albums like that aren't for everyone. So really, it's more of an icon, a symbol, rather than just an album.

Musically, it may not be the easiest to grab onto, but for those who know, it's a symbol of a powerful image in a tumultuous time. An icon for sure.

Review Nº 94

"The Wall" is the eleventh studio album of Pink Floyd. It's a conceptual album released as a double album in 1979. It was performed live with elaborated effects and adapted to the film "Pink Floyd The Wall". It was also played live in Berlin, Germany, on 21 July 1990, to commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall and to raise funds for the World War For The Memorial Fund For Disaster Relief. A live album and a video of this concert were also commercially released.

Hailed by critics and fans as one of the best Pink Floyd albums, along with "The Dark Side Of The Moon", "Wish You Were Here" and "Animals", it's also known as a classic rock album and their songs have inspired many contemporary rock musicians all over the world, even in our days.

As with their previous three studio albums, "The Dark Side Of The Moon", "Wish You Were Here" and "Animals" released in 1973, 1975 and 1977, respectively, "The Wall" is also a conceptual album. This time it deals with personal isolation. The creation of the album was a personal Waters' bet. The inspiration for Waters appeared during the "In The Flesh Tour", also known as the "Animals Tour", the live tour of "Animals" in 1977. Water's frustration with some spectators became so acute that he began to imagine building a wall between the performers and the audience. The story is a rock opera centred on the character of Pink, who is largely based in Waters' life. As the character Pink, Waters also lost his father during World War II. The album is also modelled by the decline of the band's original leader Syd Barrett. For instance, the album includes some references to Barrett, including "Nobody Home", which hints at his condition during the Pink Floyd's abortive US live tour of 1967. The story portrays fictionalized the life of an anti-hero Pink, which is mistreated by the society since the early days of his life. Suffocated by his mother and oppressed at school, he builds a wall in his consciousness to isolate him from the society and takes refuge in a fantasy world created by him. During a hallucination caused by drugs, Pink becomes a fascist dictator only to have his conscience rebel put it in court, where his inner judge ordering him to have his own wall down and he opens to the outside world.

All songs were written and composed by Waters, except "Young Lust", "Comfortably Numb" and "Run Like Hell" which were written and composed by David Gilmour and Waters and "The Trial" which was written and composed by Bob Ezrin and Waters. Due to be a conceptual album, the music flows together harmoniously. All the instrumentation on the album is lovely and the sound changes from track to track gently. Some songs are quite heavy and angry, while others are sad. All of the songs are worth a listen to and they never get boring, too long or repetitive. Despite some morbidity of most of the material on the album, there are some very beautiful and now classic tunes like "Another Brick In The Wall", "Hey You" and most notably "Comfortably Numb" with the Gilmour's searing guitar solo. It has become the single track that most defines Pink Floyd. This album showcases many different musical types. So, the sound of "The Wall" ranges from bluesy to hard, beautiful filled solos by Gilmour and very nice vocals by Waters that goes so well with the main character, Pink. However, for the most part it's a progressive hard rock opera.

During the recordings of the album, Richard Wright left the band but continued to play in the concerts of "The Wall" live tour as a salaried musician. He was forced to resign from Pink Floyd by Waters. He only returned to Pink Floyd after Waters have left the group, first as a session musician but later he returned as a truly band's member. After the legal battle over who had rights to use the name Pink Floyd, the band won the legal rights to use Pink Floyd's name and Waters won the legal rights to "The Wall". So, his name is most associated with this album, now.

Conclusion: "The Wall" is the most ambitious, difficult, challenging, complex and powerful conceptual album released by Pink Floyd and one of the most ambitious projects ever made, by any band. We can make some parallelism with two other studio albums released by two other great bands, Yes and Genesis. I mean "Tales From Topographic Oceans" and especially "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" which was also mentioned for being produced as a possible film project by filmmaker William Friedkin. Sincerely, I don't consider this album less progressive, too pretentious, too ambitious, too megalomaniac and also too commercial as some consider. Pink Floyd isn't guilty of being a famous progressive band and some songs from the album have passed very often on many radio stations. So, I think this is a great album from the band and is also unfortunately their last masterpiece. Sincerely and in my humble opinion, all of us who are unconditional fans of the progressive rock music should be proud for a progressive band like Pink Floyd and a progressive album like "The Wall" are so well known around the world, even in our days.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

Even More Relevant Today in the era of Trumps Wall

Pink Floyd are the masters of the concept album, and The Wall is the ultimate concept album. While some fans of PA may be more (or only) interested in the musical side of progressive rock (and I include myself in this when it comes to a lot of albums/musicians), and that is fine, I don't think anyone can deny the importance of this album when it comes to the concept, which is largely Roger Water's brainchild. While the music on The Wall is not quite as strong as that on Dark Side or Wish (some tunes, like 'Bring the Boys Back Home" have little musicality, but they are thankfully very short, and they still add to the story), the Wall still contains some of Floyd's best songs (Comfortably Numb, Mother, etc), and some of Gilmour's best guitar solos, and it all comes together exceptionally well. Most importantly, Water's lyrics here, in my mind, are the best ever written for any rock album, ever. Back a long time ago when this PA site first started, I wrote a few reviews, including for this one (not sure if those reviews exist any more - the site looked very different back then). I called this album the rock equivalent to Tolstoy's War and Peace or Dostoyevsky's Brother's Karamazov in literature, or Ingmar Bergman's Seventh Seal in film. That is, and iconic, original, and masterful work of art that will stand the test of time for many centuries. (A hundred years from now, university programs offering courses in musicology, or even history, may assign whole units to the study of this one album - I think it is that important). I would argue this album and the message the Waters puts forward here has become increasingly important over time. Indeed, life is beginning to (once again, unfortunately) imitate art, in Trumps call to build a Wall along the border with Mexico! Water's concept is about how the horrors of war and a failed post-war dream (for building a peaceful society that is prosperous for all) fuels both resentment and emotional isolation. The internal emotional Wall that the working- and middle- class create for themselves to protect themselves emotionally then gets articulated externally first in destructive, uncaring or selfish behaviour, and then later through the support for intolerant racist populists who want to kick out the foreigners and "make their country Great Again". It is an album that spends a lot of time making these linkages, with the lead character becoming ever-more hateful (one of the cliimaxes from the live shows - both the original and Water's recent performances - is Run Like Hell). This builds up to the finale ('The Trial') where the main character (Pink, which is not only a proxy for Waters himself, but for all of us) tells the world to stop so that he can search his conscience/ face himself for his conflicted feelings. The judge (partly representing social norms, and partly representing that part of our brain that is self-critical of any inability to meet such social norms) declares Pink (us) guilty for having feelings and questioning the mainstream ethos, and sentences him "to be exposed before your peers" (as a real person whose is/has always been internally afraid and unsure, like all of us are, for having real feelings), and orders the wall to be torn down so that everyone can see the real person behind it. Waters is here saying that the only real way forward for building a peaceful world is understanding and accepting our inherent humanity. We have to tear down the Wall of indifference, intolerance, uncaring. The final piece - 'Outside the Wall' - speaks of the solution going forward - the "bleeding hearts and artists" making their stand, helping others find peace and understanding through their hard work, their art, their writing, their political organizing. This is a message that resonates very strongly, and to this day remains unmatched by any other album that I know of (if you know of one, please fill me in!). I give this album my highest ever rating, a 9.9 out of 10 on my 10-point scale (it loses 0.1 as the music is not totally perfect, although I can think of no better match for the lyrics).

But I think this album goes beyond ratings. I think it is absolutely essential to continue hearing this message today. The world seems to be becoming increasingly beset by intolerance and unwillingness to try and understand others, an inability to see ourselves and our humanity in others, to accept even in ourselves our shared existential fears, and like Water's predicted, it is being driven by the failed dreams of everyday people who are becoming disillusioned (and, I would add, ever-deeper in debt). It is leading to the support for intolerant leaders and authoritarian populists who scapegoat the weakest, and who in turn are irresponsibly bringing the world closer to mistrust, conflict, and hatred, just like in the album, and potentially even to war and violence. We need to resist. We need to build understanding, not walls.

Tear Down the Wall !

REVIEW #17 - "The Wall" by Pink Floyd (1979). 08/29/2018

A quick foreword; I was personally surprised to see that this album has received such divided opinions among the ProgArchives community. I was also surprised to see this album come up on the random review generator; I did not expect to have the liberty to review such a well-known album so early.

The year 1979 was perhaps one of the darkest years for progressive rock. The rise of punk rock in the years 1976 and 1977 had finally manifested in the popular embracement of simpler, less complex music that was more commercially friendly. Furthermore, it seemed that all the creative juices for the titans of prog had been used up; King Crimson had disbanded five years earlier in 1974, leaving bands such as Yes and Genesis to take a more mainstream approach to their music, or in the case of ELP, wither up altogether. However, one prog band proved to stand the test of time, that being Pink Floyd. Created in 1967, the band had already established itself as one of the most successful musical acts of all time following the critical success of their 1973 album "The Dark Side of the Moon." Ever since the year 1971, the band had been relentlessly churning out classic albums, from "Meddle" to 1975's "Wish you Were Here." Pink Floyd is an anomaly in prog history; not only did they survive the punk rock revolution, but they excelled amidst it - how was this so?

Pink Floyd's success through the years 1977 to 1979 couldn't have been achieved if it weren't for bassist Roger Waters taking over creative control of the band. Waters, while not being a spectacular bassist like a Chris Squire or Geddy Lee, was able to formulate a style of music that emulated the angsty and iconoclastic elements of punk rock, while retaining the musical complexity and depth of prog rock. 1977's "Animals" featured a concept based on a counter- cultural interpretation of George Orwell's "Animal Farm" and is considered one of the greatest prog albums of all time on this site. However, its successor "The Wall" was able to break its way into the mainstream the same way "Dark Side" did, and today is considered to be one of Pink Floyd's most seminal albums. Like "Animals", "The Wall" is a concept album, composed almost entirely by Waters, and contains allusions to the bassist's own personal struggles. This album came at a time where the band was on the verge of implosion; blink and you might miss the contributions by keyboardist Richard Wright and drummer Nick Mason, and while guitarist David Gilmour is responsible for some of the album's incredible guitar solos, "The Wall" can almost be considered a Roger Waters solo album.

In order to understand "The Wall" we have to learn more about the background of Roger Waters. Born in 1943 during the Second World War, his father would be killed only five months after his birth during the Allied Invasion of Sicily at Anzio. The loss of Waters' father plays an important role in the story of "The Wall"; but for the next theme we have to enter the present day; the year is 1977 and the band is finishing up the arduous "In the Flesh" world tour in Montreal. Tensions between the members of the band were already beginning to deteriorate, and during the final show Waters would spit at a group of fans in the front rows that were being annoying. Waters ultimately wished that he could build "a wall" between the audience and himself, as he was tired of the fame he and the rest of the band had carried on their backs since 1973. Finally, the final theme of "The Wall" has to do with the life of a rock star; we all know that rock musicians have a tendency to dabble in vices such as drugs and non-monogamous sexual intercourse, well Waters had not only found it difficult with the constant temptation of vice, but also the infidelity of his girlfriend. All of these very sensitive topics are conveyed to the listener on the album through the story of the protagonist Pink. Out of all the progressive rock concept albums, "The Wall" may be one of the most personal, as Pink is basically a pseudonym for Roger Waters, and the bassist was extremely nervous regarding how he thought the public was going to respond to such a personal and sensitive story. Imagine having to discuss your personal issues with a psychiatrist, but instead of one person it is millions of critical rock fans.

I know this is a rather long introduction, but I feel the need to address the album's rating on ProgArchives. It by no means stands up to "Dark Side", "Wish you Were Here" or "Animals" when it comes to overall rating, and most of the subpar reviews seem to be coming from people who view the album as not being progressive enough. There is a level of truth to this, with many of the song's seminal tracks have commercial undertones on them, but even then you have to understand that in the year 1979 progressive rock was essentially dead. While there were other prog bands that released commercially successful albums (think Yes's "90125" or Genesis's s/t album) Pink Floyd's music still retains rock and roll elements, instead of ditching them for synthpop or new wave. Furthermore, I consider the lyrical subject matter of "The Wall" to be very progressive, and therefore I consider this album to be a progressive rock album. Some may disagree with me, but I respectfully disagree with them in turn.

Anyhow we start off with a succinctly mellow English introduction before thrusting ourselves into the opening track "In the Flesh?". Musically you cannot ask for a better way to kick off an album; soaring guitar riffs and a maelstrom of crashing sounds as well as the formal introduction of our concept in the form of some sort of narrator announcing the story of Pink through a speech. Ending on the crashing sounds of the Ju-87 Stuka's Jericho trumpets, the tempo immediately grows low as we start off with Pink's early life in "The Thin Ice." Gilmour performs vocals alongside Waters to a very simple musical structure through a flashback, meaning that the story starts in media res. This piece is concluded by a short solo before falling off into "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 1)" where the lyrics turn to Pink's father going to war and his subsequent death; the parallels to the story of Roger Waters become evident, and the wall begins to be formed in Pink's head. The Wall isn't a physical barrier, but rather a mental barrier that isolates the character of Pink from the rest of the world; isolation is a key theme in this concept. The sound of a helicopter completes the transition into "The Happiest Days of Our Lives" where Pink's struggles with conformity at school begin to be elaborated upon. An interlude, it connects us to the commercially successful single track "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" which is probably the most recognizable track to come off the album. Played to a rather menial disco beat at the request of record execs, the themes of conformity and iconoclasm make themselves known as a chorus of English schoolchildren demand they don't need education or thought control among other things. One character in the story that functions as an antagonist is the school teacher, who enacts strict policies and acts very unkind towards the students. This song's theme and catchiness allowed it to top the singles charts in several countries, namely in both the USA and UK, immediately fulfilling Columbia's desire for the album to be profitable, for which they were skeptical when Waters presented the album to them. We get a simple yet cool guitar solo by Gilmour to conclude the piece, before going into the acoustic "Mother" where we delve deeper into incredibly personal themes. Pink's mother is another antagonist in the story, as she is very controlling as many mothers may be. Pink asks his mother for advice on everything from social issues to political issues yet she demands that he be shielded from anything challenging or "dirty" as he goes through his teenage years. In effect, she is helping Pink build his wall that would isolate him from society. Musically this track features a good amount of challenging time signature changes, and ends on a rather abrupt note to make way for the second side of the first LP (note that "The Wall" is a double LP.)

On the flip side, we start off with the chirping of birds and the sound of an airplane to signal the beginning of "Goodbye Blue Sky", one of the few tracks on the album to be entirely composed by Gilmour and features some mellow acoustic parts and chant. On the movie version of the album which was released later in 1982, this song is coupled with the incredible animations of Gerald Scarfe, who apart from designing the iconic gatefold cover art on the LP, also drew incredibly detailed and evocative cartoons that wonderfully portray the dark themes of the album. The Wall is now being built, and Pink is portrayed as a very vulnerable rag-doll, completely at the mercy of the carnage forming around him. In the animations we get allusions to Nazism and other dark elements of our society; many of these will be revisited later. "Empty Spaces" starts off with a backtracked message; Waters is known for doing these, namely on Floyd's 1968 album "A Saucerful of Secrets" where he hid a message on one of the longer instrumentals which asked the listener if the band was being "avant-garde enough". On the movie version, this track, which is a very long build-up representative of Pink's descent into madness, features great animation by Scarfe, and segues directly into "Young Lust" which returns us to the commercially-accessible dance rock style we heard earlier on "Part 2". This time, the themes of sexual hedonism are on hand, and Pink finds himself dabbling in vices now that he is an adult and a burgeoning rock star. The concepts of sex and drugs are generally sensitive topics in rock, mainly because they are practices that generally end bad for musicians, especially the latter. "Lust" is one of the more rocking tunes and features a nice Gilmour guitar solo before fading off into a telephone call where Pink learns that his wife has been cheating on him while he was on tour. This is an allusion to the infidelity of Waters's real-life girlfriend, and Pink's rage is expressed on the next track "One of My Turns" where he unleashes his anger on a female groupie following the revelation that his wife was cheating on him. This is personally one of my favorite tracks on the album given its synth- heavy intro and subsequent build up; the lyrics are deeply evocative and convey the personal anger of Pink to the listener very well, especially after the long-awaited breakdown into a more rocking motif. Waters makes reference to an axe (maybe the axe from "Careful with that Axe, Eugene"); in some places on the album you can see allusions to Pink Floyd history outside of the usual concept of Syd which was explored deeply on the "Wish you Were Here" album. We move onto "Don't Leave Me Now" where the concept of the affair continues to be used; at this point I am a little bit ready to move on, and the very long buildup on this track did not help my case. Eventually the band gets back into gear and breaks out once again, but one problem with the album at this point is the general amount of filler and interlude tracks which ultimately take a little bit away from the experience. Simply seems like a case of having too much material for one LP, but not enough for two. Anyhow, "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 3)" is a more aggressive take on the previous two parts, symbolizing the progressive descent into rage by Pink. All the vices, fame, and emotional despair have brought Pink to his breaking point, and in "Goodbye Cruel World" he finally isolates himself behind his wall to conclude the first LP.

The second LP opens up with the wonderful "Hey You", another single track which performed very well. Like "Part 2" and "Young Lust" you can still hear this song given airplay on classic rock radio stations. While this track, which I consider to be one of the album's highlights, was cut from the final edition of the movie, it was re-added in subsequent reissues after it hit theaters. At this point, Pink has regretted building the wall, and was to assimilate back into society. However, it seems that once the wall has been built, there is no taking it down, and Pink has essentially doomed himself to being cut off from others. Interestingly enough, Waters does not play bass on this track; however, the bulk of the music is based on the guitars and vocals, so this is sort of Gilmour's track even though it was not written by him. The vocal bridge works very well on this tune to supplement the guitar solo, and eventually Waters takes over on the final verse to take us out and into an intercalary track called "Is There Anybody Out There?" where Pink calls out to anyone who may be around in the midst of his isolation, but no response is heard. Among the hazy synth, you may hear sounds that remind you of the band's 1971 epic "Echoes"; blink and you may have missed it, but the iconic opening ping from that sound did appear in "Hey You" around the three minute mark. More examples of Waters incorporating old elements of Pink Floyd into this album. This piece is finished off by an acoustic guitar solo that brings us into the beautiful "Nobody Home" which is probably one of the most emotional parts of the album. It references the case of former Pink Floyd frontman Syd Barrett, and was one of the final pieces to be added to "The Wall" at the request of producer Bob Ezrin. While throw-ins usually fall flat, Waters shines as he does a great job describing the fragile mental state of not just the character Pink, but also that of Barrett, who by this time had faded into obscurity. Some of the lyrics also refer to keyboardist Richard Wright and his cocaine addiction at the time; overall, this is one of my favorite tracks on the album. I have to be in the right mood to listen to the follow up "Vera" which of course is based on Vera Lynn who released the song "We'll Meet Again" during the Second World War. Waters uses the song as a way to create a connection between the subject matter in that song and his relationship with his father that he never met. Of course this parallels Pink's story, and offers another example of recollection for the protagonist during his bout of isolation. Another short interlude in "Bring the Boys Back Home" continues on the theme of warfare; in the movie it is paired with a wonderful track called "When the Tigers Broke Free" which unfortunately isn't included on the album, but it's basically an extended build-up to the part that we do get on the album, complete with a drum beat and a frantic chorus. Of course, all these little filler tracks build up to the finale of side three, that being the esteemed "Comfortably Numb" which I'm sure most people are familiar with. At this point, Pink is so disconnected from reality that he has to be given drugs in order to perform his concerts. This was originally a leftover demo piece created by Gilmour, but it was modified to fit into the album with great effect. What is most important about this track are the two guitar solos, the second being perhaps one of Gilmour's best. Pink Floyd was so successful thanks to Gilmour's musical ability and Waters's creative genius. When those two elements come together is when we get the band's best music; if there is too much Gilmour, we get musically proficient yet directionless albums like "Momentary Lapse of Reason" or "The Division Bell" while if we get too much Waters (in this case this album is an example) we get great lyrics and themes, but the music is simply lacking. Here on this track, there isn't much else to be said. It comes together and we get a masterpiece - the second solo is one of my favorite musical moments of all time.

We're almost to the end. This has been a long review indeed, but I feel an album like this is worthy of my time and an extended analysis. "The Show Must Go On" indeed, and we begin side four with another short piece that opens up with harmonized vocals. Originally the Beach Boys were gonna do this part, but they cancelled on the day the album was recorded. At this point in the story we are getting closer to finally rejoining where the album originally started, and indeed we hear a reprise of "In the Flesh" this time without the "?". While at the beginning it may seem like a carbon copy of the opening track, the lyrics now portray Pink speaking out to a crowd on stage. He has embraced dictatorial tendencies; typically those who may feel powerless or disenfranchised tend to sympathize and identify with dictators, and here Pink is doing just that. He singles out homosexuals, drug users, and even Jews in the audience to be attacked by the rabid mob. This of course is all a hallucination in Pink's mind; the Dictator is another character. There is a hammer logo that is used extensively in the movie and in the album's gatefold cover; this in many ways relates to the Nazi swastika as we see many parallels between the Dictator and Adolf Hitler. Once the lyrics are all done, we get the same guitar solo as before but this time we segue into "Run Like Hell", a cool lounge-style rock track which has garnered acclaim and is even still played on classic rock radio (at least my local radio station). Pink continues to have fantasies of oppressing the marginalized; at this point in the album we get a lot of political references. In the movie, they hired a skinhead group to play the part of a mob as Pink leads his men to attack those who he singled out in the previous song, as well as raid diners and attack interracial couples. The bass is especially prominent in this piece, and is probably my favorite bassline off the album. Once again, bass parts are performed by Gilmour, and we even here Waters's trademark primal scream before the music fades off into the sound of marching to indicate the beginning of "Waiting for the Worms" where Pink continues his acts of violence. He demands his followers attack homosexuals, Jews, communists, and people of color, promising the return of the British Empire and the deportation of non-whites. Of course, Waters is a self-avowed socialist, and has been largely critical of political happenings in the modern day as many nations have seen an increased interest in nationalism that have stirred opinions similar to those of Pink in "The Wall". I suppose in many ways, this album can be seen in the actions of a group in addition to that of an individual. Musically this is another hit for me, as we get some radically intense vocal passages that really build up the tension and creates a furor. An intense chant finishes off this one and abruptly ends with "Stop" where Pink finally gets fed up with his fascist tendencies, and segues into "The Trial" which serves as the concept's final climax. All of the characters from earlier in the album in addition to a judge hold Pink on trial as he is forced to face the consequences of his actions. It is the first time that Pink does not narrate the story to us, but rather through the antagonists. This is another very emotional song among the vitriol from the antagonists until the Judge enters in and things instantly intensify as he demands that Pink's wall be "torn down" and as we hear the sound of the wall coming down, the album is closed out by "Outside the Wall" which serves as a bit of an epilogue to the concept. I prefer the movie version which is orchestral as opposed to the mellow album version which makes use of the original opening motif and a children's chorus, but it is a fine ending to what has certainly been a wild ride.

Pink Floyd's "The Wall" is perhaps one of the most famous albums in prog history. Pink Floyd had a knack for shaping the genre on a grand level, and this album signifies the end of the band's golden age. From here on the band would grow so controlled by Waters that it would eventually result in the exodus of Wright and the dissolution of the band. Following a brutal battle in court, Gilmour would eventually win rights to the band's name and continue on with Mason (and Wright on a supporting level), with Waters never returning. "The Wall" represents the magnum opus of the musical work of Roger Waters as a person; for this album his story will forever be immortalized in music history. While there is much debate as to whether this is truly "progressive" album, I still think that this is an essential work of the genre, even if it has its imperfections. The concept is perhaps the best in rock history, and has the ability to relate to any listener who may be dealing with depression or extended isolation. I don't think there is any question whether this album deserves five stars or not, but rather how high of a rating it gets from me. "The Wall" has its imperfections; as I mentioned earlier there is a lot of filler that has to be removed in order to extract the gems; something that seems to always afflict double albums. Beyond that there is a commercial element to this album; those who want the same atmosphere provided here in addition to more progressive music should seek out the band's 1977 "Animals" album. However, this album is in my top five for albums to introduce a new listener to progressive rock; it's very accessible and has a very well-defined concept. Finally, to cap off this extensive review, I give "The Wall" a five-star (92% A-) review; essential to the genre, especially the 1977-1981 years, and every listener of the genre should at least give it a full listen at some point.

Review # 95. The Wall was the band's 11th studio album, and it was released on the 30th of November 1979 as a double album. It became a smashing hit almost everywhere. It was produced by Pink Floyd and Bob Ezrin. (Famous for his work with Alice Cooper, Kiss and Lou Reed among others).

The Wall was a concept album, and it's about Pink (the main character), and his relations with the people around him as he grows up, starting from his over-protective mother, his teachers in school, his girlfriends, his wife, all his friends, etc; and it ends with his final breakdown. The main idea was that Pink builds an imaginary wall around him as he grows up, and at the end, he is isolated from everyone. There he collapses. There were rumors saying that this album was actually a Roger Waters project, and the main character was based on himself as he was growing up. The story contains also many traumatic memories that Roger Waters (as a child) had from the 2nd World War where he lost his father. (Eric Fletcher Waters died in Italy in the battle of Anzio in 1944). Some other rumors were saying that Pink is actually a mix between Roger Waters and Syd Barrett. (The band's first singer in the '60's). In any case, the only sure thing is that Roger Waters was heavily involved with the story of this album.

During the recordings, there were many problems between the members of the band, and at this point, Richard Wright (the keyboard player) quit the band, but he remained as a session musician, and performed with them during 'The Wall Tour'. Actually, The Wall was the last album including the line-up Waters, Gilmour, Mason and Wright.

Commercially, it was a huge success. Up to 1999 its sales were over 11.500.000 records in the USA, and over 20.000.000 worldwide, and it was certified 23 times platinum! It is also Pink Floyd's best selling album, after The Dark Side of the Moon. Upon its release, it received contradictory critics. Some fancied it as a masterpiece, whereas others found it pompous and shallow. Despite the mixed critics, the album climbed at the charts all over the world, reaching No.1 on many occasions. Speaking for myself, I literally grew up with The Wall, and in my opinion is a very important album and a must-have for every Rock fan. Nothing more, nothing less. 5 stars

4.5: A masterpiece by Pink Floyd, it was released at 1977 being one of the most successful album of the band, and also the only one that put a single in the first place of the charts with Another brick in the wall Pt. 2. The concept of this album was almost entirely constructed by Roger Waters, and was presented to the band along with the first solo album from Waters to let the other members of the group decide which one they were going to make. This album began a lot of confrontation because of Roger's excessive and strict control about all the recording process. Musically, is almost perfect the musical composition is very well constructed and although it doesn't have a lot of the characteristic space prog style of the band, it does have prog elements, but what is more notable is the minimum contribution of Rick Wright to the keyboard section, in fact he was fired, and only used as a session musician for the album. Lyrically is where the album shines. It talks about a person who after having a lot of traumatic experiences like losing his father in a war, his wife cheating on him and other situations he decided to construct a metaphorical wall to avoid any contact with the world. They used the style of recording of the solo albums of Waters, I feel them repetitive in certain occasions, because he used the same chords and riff for several songs. At the end, I think, despite the issues commented, is a must have album for any prog collector.

The cult of one:

John or Paul? Peter or Phil? David or Roger?

I listen to Pink Floyd thanks to my older brother Alex (that's rather a story about Atom Heart Mother), but to say it shortly, Pink Floyd has been the most influential band in my puberty, my top band. And if you asked me what album by PF he would chose to be the only one to entertain him on a desert island, I think, It'd be this one. I know my brother takes it as a masterpiece.

The whole concept is just a remarkable piece of art / study of life. Personal history on the background of the history of the whole society. It is a vicious circle, a question what was first: egg or chicken? Interdependece and influence of one to the second - history forms a personality, a personality creates history.

The whole concept of the wall as barriers, state frontiers, personal boundaries. At university, I read Bartleby, the Scrivener by Herman Melville. What a work would it be to write an comparison essay on the concept of wall in Pink Floyd's album and Herman Melville's book. Wallstreet...

And these ingenious ideas, I don't doubt that Roger Waters is a genious, lead me somewhere where I don't like it anymore, into the Ivory Tower, home of all intelectual loners, those who believe that their ideas are more important, that they are somehow superior to the others, that they are the creative brain and the rest just slows them down. Today, I watched the famous The Wall concert where the stage is being bricked up during the show. I saw David Gilmour, who is my favourite member, I also saw the rest of the band for a very modest couple of times. And I saw Roger Waters, with a number 1 white t-shirt in the front. The work is his baby, an ingenious one, but only his. The rest of the band changed into just some musicians holding instruments, not equal band members. Well, if Roger was not so ambitious, this album wouldn't have been created, but frankly, without trying to be too much philosophical - the most important things are more difficult to see and one of them is friendship and cooperation and this is not here anymore.

I prefer Paul to John, but with the Beatles, I don't think John took over the whole band. I also prefer Peter to Phil, until he took over the whole band.

When in 1978 Roger Waters presented the other musicians with 2 concepts for them to decide which theme they want to develop for the group's next work, one became The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking, which ended up being a personal work by the bassist and singer with a modest success, and the other was the conceptual double album The Wall.

Once again the issue of war is present, Waters bitterly remembers that from a very young age he was left fatherless during the Second World War, together with an overprotective mother who wants to defend her son from external dangers, criticism of the educational system that most that allowing the growth and fulfillment of people turn them into simple bricks, and as well as a repeated tirade against the music business and its monetary interest above all else, are the central themes. Waters' increasingly profound criticism and obscure reflections on the different aspects of society, politics and human relations, and that he used music as a vehicle to be expressed, generated intense conflicts with the direction that David Gilmour and the rest The band wanted to give the group, more likely to give more relevance to the musicality and that the lyrics are more a companion instead of a manifestation of principles.

All in all, The Wall is another of the superlative works of Pink Floyd, in which in addition to having its biggest commercial success with the well-known Another Brick In The Wall Part 2, we find classics from his discography, such as Mother, Goodbye Blue Sky, Hey You, Run Like Hell and the extraordinary Comfortably Numb, one of the best songs of the group, and which has one of the best solos in the history of rock of all time on Gilmour's guitar, a must in practically every concert of Pink Floyd from that moment.

The last masterpiece.

Review #13

Is "The Wall" a Pink Floyd album or a Roger Waters album?

It started in "Animals", which's well known, but in "The Wall" Roger Waters took the role of the absolute leader of the band and created a strong work which would be loved and hated by Pink Floyd fans because it doesn't sound at all to any of their previous albums, this was almost a Roger Waters' solo album with the collaboration of David Gilmour and Nick Mason, and, oh, yeah, Rick Wright.

The double album is a conceptual opera rock containing 26 short songs and narrating a story about a rock star called Pink and his awful journey through parental orphanhood, drug abuse, wife's infidelity, school mean teacher traumas and a suffocating relationship with his mother and how all of these events locked up the guy into a huge imaginary wall that isolated him from the real world and people.

Unlike how I did with the three previous reviews that I wrote of Pink Floyd, I will not describe this album song by song since it has a lot of them, I'll describe the album in general terms. Yes, I believe the album is a masterpiece and deserves the highest rate on this website, and here is why:

1.- The plot of the album: As I said before, the album narrates and describes through music a lot of awful things happening to one simple person and gives us great interpretations of mental illness as depression and how it can break people into something that no one would like to become to.

2.- The characters: Besides Pink, "The Wall" has a lot of interesting characters that are a crucial part of the story and Roger Waters developed them really well through the album.

3.- The legacy: "The Wall" became one of the most representative albums in Pink Floyd's discography and a lot of interpretations have been made from several artists (including Roger Waters' show in Germany playing it with a lot of well-known musicians of the eighties), the film released in 1982 and of course the fact that Roger Waters has been playing it for more than thirty years filling stadiums all over the world.

4.- The music: Of course, I can't rate a musical album without taking a look at the music: there are no long songs or long instrumental passages, only short songs complementing the soundtrack of a movie that wasn't been released yet but would be. It has slow songs, fast songs, melodic and obscure ones, rocky and drummy ones; it has acoustic arrangements, orchestral arrangements, rock and roll arrangements, instrumental arrangements (just a few); happy songs, sad songs, scary songs; it has babies crying, falling bombs, people shouting, birds singing, walls falling; it has a judge, a mother, a beloved woman; it has drugs, alcohol, sex and depression. Anyway, it has everything.

With this album Pink Floyd closed an era and a decade, it was the last album in which the four classic members of the group were playing and after this nothing was ever the same and it was a majestic way to make that closure, that's for sure.

SONG RATING: In the flesh? 5 The thin ice, 5 Another brick in the wall, 1, 5 The happiest days of our lives, 5 Another brick in the wall, 2, 5 Mother, 5 Goodbye blue sky, 5 Empty spaces, 4 Young lust, 4 One of my turns, 5 Don't leave me now, 5 Another brick in the wall, 3, 4 Goodbye cruel world, 5 Hey you, 5 Is there anybody out there, 4 Nobody home, 5 Vera, 5 Bring the boys back home, 4 Comfortably numb, 5 The show must go on, 4 In the flesh, 4 Run like hell, 5 Waiting for the worms, 5 Stop, 4 The trial, 5 Outside the wall, 4

AVERAGE: 4.65

PERCENTAGE: 93.08

ALBUM RATING: 5 stars

I ranked this album #93 on my TOP 100 favorite Progressive Rock albums of all time.

The Wall, released in 1979, is the eleventh studio album released by Pink Floyd. The Wall is a concept album that takes a look at the life of Pink, Pink is a depressed rock star who built a metaphorical wall around himself due to the many traumas of his life, be it the fear of what the war could do to him, his dad dying in the war, abusive teachers, and a couple of other things. This leads to him completely avoiding all human contact, and thus the metaphorical wall is completely built. He gets drugged up and goes on stage where he hallucinates that hes at a Neo-Nazi rally where he proceeds to attack minority groups, this makes him feel guilty and makes him tear down the wall, and hes back in the real world, now having to deal with the consequences that will surely follow. And that is where the story ends. I find this to be a great story, and I enjoyed every second of reading the lyrics and listening to the music. Definitely a essential album in any prog or classic rock collection 5/5.

Ah, The Wall. Probably my all time favourite album. Just everything about this album screams perfection. It is a concept album centered around a rock star named Pink, who began feeing very isolated, alone and depressed and wanted to blame it on whoever he could. After pointing the finger at everyone he knew, he ends up realizing that it was his fault all along. The concept is delivered perfectly, with the deep pain of the main character coming across clear as day through the albums dark, depressing sound. This album also includes numerous classic rock anthems, including "Comfortably Numb", "Another Brick In The Wall Pt. 2", "Hey You", and "Mother". Some other good tracks include "Waiting For The Worms", "Young Lust" and the dramatic album closer "The Trial". In conclusion, I would recommend this album to everyone. Though Pink Floyd has been known for creating some very progressive, inaccessible pieces, this album has much less of a proggy sound and more of a mainstream rock sound, which makes it a great entry album for those who want to get into Pink Floyd or prog rock.

Who am I fooling? I guess I fooled myself for years. Thinking that this album isn't as awesome as I perceived it when I was young.

This album got me hooked. It turned me into a Pink Floyd fan. I can't recall how often I played this one. Over and over. I knew every second. Was amazed from start to finish.

Then years passed And I got into DSOTM, WYWH, Atom Heart Mother, Animals. I started to like them more and more. Listened to The Wall less and less. I started to believe the people who said The Wall was bloated, self-indulgent, self- important, and a megalomanic Waters solo project.

Then I started listening to it again, a few weeks back. And I am back at loving it. The story is amazing. One of the best concepts in rock history. The songs are constructed so well and elevate the story.

I am also amazed by how Pink Floyd managed to stand firm amidst the punk and new-wave storm that blew away most of the other progressive bands. They reinvented themselves again. As they did so many times before.

This is a solid 5 star album. Making it four in a row from this great band.

Review #15!

I wanted to like 'The Wall' because I like Pink Floyd, but there were two particular elements that made me dislike this album. (A)I personally found Roger Waters's vocals to be at their absolute worst on this record. (B)The blob of one-minute songs piecing each song to the next like a puzzle piece was just not for me. So many tracks felt largely unnecessary to the plot of this album, I feel I could pick and choose songs to shorten the album to a single disc and leave the album's concept unharmed. These unnecessary tracks made the album lag on, and I was bored at parts, particularly at the end, after 'The Trial'. But this review was not written to hate on this album. There are honestly some great elements in this record: classic rock anthems like 'Young Lust', 'Comfortably Numb', and 'Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2' are loved still today. Hidden gems like 'Empty Spaces' and 'Nobody Home' are great additions to anyone's definitive Pink Floyd playlist. But, in my opinion, the cons outweigh the pros this time. On the lower end of Pink Floyd's discography, methinks.

**The Wall Is a Middling Album, and This Is a Hill I'm Willing to Die On**

This part of the essay is a bit I've been eagerly anticipating writing for a long time. And if one were to scroll through my personal Reddit account, one could find embryonic versions of the ensuing discussion.

The title of this section is a thesis I've long proclaimed. Setting aside lyrics for the moment?I will get to that?the music on The Wall is woefully inconsistent. There are gems buried in here, but much of the record is plodding and monotonous. There's a pretty decent 40-minute album buried in this 82-minute slog of bloat and self-indulgence.

I've stated many a time on this site that I'm not a lyrically-focused individual. In general, I like the sound of the human voice, and I like the structure of human language, so I prefer music with lyrics to instrumental pieces, all else being equal. However, bad lyrics can hurt otherwise-good music, as can a bad vocal delivery. Roger Waters was never a strong vocalist, and his delivery is especially weak on much of this record. 

The lyrics on much of The Wall are bad, and they're delivered in an impossible-to-ignore way. To start, the main conceit of the album is not a strong concept. "I'm so isolated, I feel like I'm behind a wall," is not a particularly new or unique idea, and it's not presented in a very interesting way. It comes off as whiny and full of self-pity. While relatable, this narrative presented in a facile and achingly unoriginal way. The story?adapted from a much more explicitly autobiographical first draft?is overwrought.

The compositions tend to be either blandly spare or needlessly over-orchestrated, and things certainly weren't helped by the band members' deteriorating personal relationships during recording. A combination of depression (stemming largely from a failing marriage) and a falling-out with Roger Waters led to Rick Wright being fired from the band. He was hired on as a session musician for the tour, however.

Wright's reduced input is obvious, as most keyboard parts on The Wall are plain and simplistic. Jazz is noticeably less prominent as well, as Wright often was the one bringing in those uncommon chords on prior compositions. It's Gilmour who carries the instrumental aspects of this album without Wright. Waters was never a standout bassist, and Mason's drumming is so restrained that even Ringo could have pulled it off.

The Wall also suffers from an abundance of sound effects. Snippets of conversation are littered throughout the album, and it often stretches decent two-minute songs to interminable four-minute lengths. The constant background chatter becomes draining. Contrast this to Dark Side, where conversational snippets were smoothly integrated into the fabric of the music. On The Wall, these elements feel hastily and thoughtlessly slapped on.

The individual songs were composed almost entirely by Roger Waters, with only four of the 26 tracks having a credited co-writer. And unsurprisingly, those four songs are some of the strongest on the whole record, demonstrating that Waters usually needed outside input.

"In the Flesh?" opens the album, and it's a bit of a mixed bag. If I weren't told this was a Pink Floyd song, I'd think it was fine. It's Stygian, prog-ish arena rock, but it's nothing to write home about. I do like the soulful backing vocals, but everything else here is either way too much or not nearly enough. That is to say, it's an odd mixture of overblown and unambitious. "The Thin Ice" features an uncharacteristically weak vocal performance from David Gilmour, and the piano-and-synth backing is underbaked, a quality which most of the record suffers from.

"Another Brick in the Wall (Part 1)" is the strongest of the three parts of this song. It's got genuine menace, and the sense of isolation and abandonment is palpable. Unfortunately, this mood isn't upheld in either of the following tracks. "The Happiest Days of Our Lives" is a weird, unfocused prelude to what follows. It's more sound effects than substantive music, and the many ideas jammed into this sub-two-minute cut feel disjointed. "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" meanwhile suffers from the irredeemable ill of a child choir and half-assed white-boy faux-funk.

"Mother" is uneven. A not-insignificant portion of this cut is folky, singer-songwriter bull[&*!#] that I simply don't like. Once "Mother" gets going, though, it's not a bad composition. It's not great, but this solid-C+ cut is a relative strong point on The Wall.

The Wall has some oddball tracks which I really love. "Goodbye Blue Sky" is one of those. It combines wonky folk motifs with sinister synthesizers and opaque-enough-to-be-good lyrics to make something compelling.

"Empty Spaces" is more notable for its stupid backmasked message than for anything else. It's an aimless, forgettable interlude which could have been trimmed from two minutes to 30 seconds. ("What Shall We Do Now?" was an inexplicable exclusion. Originally placed after "Empty Spaces", it was quite a strong 90-second piece, and The Wall would have been stronger to include it.) "Young Lust" also overstays its welcome. Co-written by David Gilmour, this song is a send-up of late-'70s bluesy sex songs. It's another alright cut, but the premise wears thin by track's end.

"One of My Turns" is one of the great successes of The Wall. It aptly conveys the sense of desperation and mania the Waters was striving to portray, and though it's rather unimpressively played, its internal diversity is strong enough to let it stand on its own. Sadly, this is followed by what is likely the worst slog on the album. "Don't Leave Me Now" has Waters warbling off-key over atonal organ chords in a hazy torpor of uninteresting depression for four punishing minutes.

Disc one of The Wall ends with the perfectly passable duo of "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 3)" and "Goodbye Cruel World". Neither is particularly noteworthy: the former is a slightly more energetic rehash of Part 1; the latter is a dull-but-short organ-and-bass dirge.

Thankfully, disc two is markedly stronger than disc one.

"Hey You" is a standout on The Wall, but if it had been on Wish You Were Here, it would have been underwhelming. It isn't a bad song by any means, but it does fall victim to many traps of late-'70s arena rock which I have a distaste for. In addition to being generically overblown at parts, the production is a bit much for me here. Gilmour's solo is decent, but its backing track is repetitious and uninteresting. The organ is too dramatic during those moments, as well. This song thrives in its quieter moments.

Unfortunately, Roger Waters can't let us have two consecutive good songs on this record, it seems. "Is There Anybody Out There?" begins as a dull synth drone, but its second half features more interesting acoustic elements. "Nobody Home" is a track I have an unjustifiable soft spot for. It's a simple piano-based piece with big, warm swells of string and brass that feel almost embarrassingly earnest.

"Vera" is simply pointless. Let's skip this one. Y'know what, let's also skip "Bring the Boys Back Home". Christ, these two messes made it in but "What Shall We Do Now?" was cut? Revisiting The Wall is simply reinforcing my anti-Roger Waters bias.

Finally, we're getting to the good part of The Wall. "Comfortably Numb", on paper, suffers from many of the symptoms of bloat which I'd normally decry on this record. The simple playing and overly lush sound palette would usually be red flags, but the melody has drama to it, and the song has an understandable arc. Gilmour's masterful closing solo certainly doesn't hurt either. (For a truly amazing rendition of that solo, listen to the live version of this song from 1994's Pulse.)

"The Show Must Go On" is nice and warm, if forgettable, and "In the Flesh" is a pointless retread of the album's opening track.

"Run Like Hell", however, is an amazing, energetic, anxious track. It's both claustrophobic in its tight rhythm and wide-open with its guitar tones. It truly evokes the feeling of sprinting from some danger. Waters's snarled delivery is befitting. This song features Rick Wright's one solo on the album, but it's a strong one. Though not particularly technical, the wobbling insecurity of his synth suits the subject matter well.

One of the weirdest tracks on The Wall is "Waiting for the Worms". It's full of allusions to the preceding songs, and the oddball vocal deliveries suit everything wonderfully. It's thumping and lurching and scary, though it's also got some of the most beat-you-over-the-head obvious lyrics on a famously straightforward record.

After the 30-second piano interlude of "Stop", "The Trial" is another strong, wonderful oddball cut. There's a Vaudevillian theatricality here that is absent elsewhere in Floyd's output. The song's sheer weirdness is what saves it. The lyrics continue the trend of ditching any semblance of artfulness, but everything is so odd and surprising, I can't help but love it. "Outside the Wall", which closes the album, feels like an afterthought and makes no lasting impression.

A few paragraphs ago (or maybe a few dozen, it feels like), I mentioned I felt that there was a decent 40-minute album buried in this unfocused mess. Coming from my lyrically-deemphasized standpoint, here is my proposal for an improved, abbreviated tracklist. Certain songs would need to be trimmed down, and those songs have been noted with asterisks. If they were to be taken as-is, this The Wall would wind up north of 50 minutes. Seeing the tracklist now, I'm not sure I could whittle it down to 40 minutes, but 45 seems totally reasonable.

My Streamlined Wall

In the Flesh?* Another Brick in the Wall (Part 1)* Mother* Goodbye Blue Sky What Shall We Do Now? Young Lust* One of My Turns Hey You* Nobody Home Comfortably Numb Run Like Hell Waiting for the Worms The Trial

Lyrics would need to be rewritten if you wanted the story to make sense, but unlike my view on films, I don't need a coherent plot in my music.

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2021/03/01/deep-dive-pink-floyd/

Looking at the PA ratings The Wall is obviously alternating between A Masterpiece and An Excellent Addition, while DSOTM, WYWH and Animals are more close to A Masterpiece. So here on PA the Pink Floyd fans do not consider The Wall at the level of the abovementioned Pink Floyd albums. Personally I was very disappointed when I listened to The Wall for the first time, just after its release, like I was with ATTWT from Genesis, TFTO from Yes, Presto from Rush and Black Moon from ELP. But while I still don't like these albums from Genesis, Yes, Rush and ELP I slowly start to appreciate The Wall, and a few months later I was in Earls Court watching The Wall, mesmerized, blown away, by the music and the visuals. What happened in those months between my first listening session with The Wall and attending the The Wall concert?

Well, at first The Wall sounded to me as a quirky bunch of many styles, from prog and rock to pop and even disco, with the focus on vocals, rather than long instrumental parts. And so many melancholical and theatrical overtones, this was not Symphonic Rock Heaven for me. But one friend of mine kept on playing The Wall at his home, I had to listen, and slowly a prog miracle happened, also due to the mesmerizing cartoons by Gerald Scarfe that helped me to consider The Wall as a concept album, a rock opera. I started to understand the connection between the music, lyrics and cartoons. And Roger Waters turned into a genius for me, as the creator of The Wall.

The great thing for me on The Wall is the wide range of emotions in the songs, from fear and depression to lust and anger. The one moment intense like in Mother, Goodbey Blue Sky, Hey You and Nobody Home. The other moment bombastic like in Young Lust, Run Like Hell, Waiting For The Worms and of course The Trial. These many different atmospheres turn The Wall into a very dynamic and compelling musical experience, fuelled by the excellent vocals from not only Roger Waters but also David Gilmour, each with their own range and expression.

On The Wall the focus is on Roger Waters his vocals, lyrics and compositional skills, but second best is David Gilmour, especially his guitar soli in Another Brick in the Wall (part 2) and Comfortably Numb (one of the best ever in rock history), I will never forget the moment that he appeared on top of the wall, starting to play that Guitar Heaven solo, what a build- up and climax!

I wonder how many rock fans that dislike Pink Floyd will appreciate The Wall as a rock opera, because this Pink Floyd is not the Pink Floyd on DSOTM or WYWH, perhaps more close to the dark Animals, also a Pink Floyd album with strong control by Roger Waters.