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Originally the third disc of The Wall, Floyd's record company would not let them put out a triple album. So Waters & Co. spruced it up a bit, added the first "3-D" sounds ever recorded (if you've listened to it on headphones, you know what I'm talking about), and released it as a single album. And although it is best listened to as if it were in fact the third disc of The Wall, I believe it stands on its own as an exceptional album. Your Possible Pasts, One of the Few, Paranoid Eyes, The Fletcher Memorial Home, The Final Cut and Not Now John are as good as any of Floyd's previous "songs." I find myself listening to this one even more than The Wall, and indeed more than most Floyd albums except WYWH and Animals.

This is the one step too far that every giant prog group seems to take and I would rather think of it as a Waters solo album, but not his best one either (Hitch-hiking and Amused To Death were both great). Gloom and Doom and under average tunes - just too much for this progheads. I hold in high regards Waters' storytelling but here I am afraid he lost me. Simply not convinced by this oeuvre.

Even the new re-issue with the extra track will not convince me to ever buy it again. By this time Water's ego had thrown Wright out of the band without the others agreeing, pretexting that he had not participated to anything since Dark Side. If you listen to Wright 's first solo album in 78 , the man definitely was writing some excellent stuff , but apparently Waters did not care for it.

Not a perfect Floyd album by any means, more of a Waters solo project (as was, arguably, The Wall); however, as an album of sheer desolation & isolation, this album is hard to beat - just keep any sharp objects away when you're listening or at least have the Prozac handy; this album is so depressing, it's occasionally (unintentionally) funny.

The "Final Cut" is the last album where both Roger Waters and David Gilmour work together. Rick Wright has already left: as rare keyboards, only piano, Hammond organ and harmonium are present. Anyway, the omnipresent orchestral arrangements provided by the National Philharmonic Orchestra are more than compensatory. Probably David Gilmour plays his best guitar solos here, quite comparable to the perfect ones on the "A momentary lapse of reason" album: the guitar solos sound is really loud, present and very sustained. Gilmour does not play very much rhythmic guitars here. Like "The Wall", the tracks have full of special & subtle sounds, and they really contribute to enhance the artistic value of this record: steps, passing cars, meowing cat, ticking clock, whispers, conversations, laughs, blowing wind, passing jet fighter, explosion and barking dog among others: all those effects need a careful listen and of course an excellent sound system to be fully appreciated; actually this album has the "Holophonics" technology, a 3-D sound processing, and not the "Qsound" technology, which is the case for his solo album "Amused to death". Roger Waters monopolizes the VERY emotional lead vocals, being half narrator, half singer. The overall rhythm is VERY slow, so that this record may sound boring for many: probably a relax mental predisposition must occur during such a listen. Some elements, like the lyrics, evoke some war commemoration, which naturally emanates from the overall mood when the orchestra is playing. There are some very good sax parts on a couples of tracks. The famous Waters' female backing vocals make their appearance, especially on "Not now john".

This record mainly has the same orientation as Waters' solo album "Pros & cons of hitchhiking", plus the delightful orchestral arrangements, and minus the exceptional Eric Clapton's bluesy guitars.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Field Marshal Roger von Waters confines Private Dave Gilmour to the barracks while Rick Wright is AWOL on this one. This work is essentially a Roger Waters solo effort and a continuation of themes explored on the Wall double album. It has little to do with the trippier Floyd albums like Meddle or Animals. Still not able to come to terms with the death of his father who lost his life serving as a Royal Air Force bomber pilot during The Second World War Waters uses this album as a platform to condemn political policies and ideologies and focuses to some extent on The Falklands War. Inconsistent throughout, the album does have it's moments and the listener's full attention is required. Despite all the anger Waters has to get off his chest the music is rather subdued as it weaves it's way through many different textures employing various effects. We even get to hear a sonic boom from a jet fighter which introduces the track Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert.Definitely get the headphones out for this one for it is superbly engineered. If you had too much of The Wall, though you might want to bypass this disc.

This is the only Floyd album I would ever even consider calling bad. It's good enough for two stars just because of the well-done lyrics and occasional good song, but it's still easily the weakest Pink Floyd album. Roger Waters had taken full control by this point. With Richard Wright now out of the fold, Roger made this pompous, highly personal solo album released under the Pink Floyd name. Roger wrote every note on here, with David Gilmour and Nick Mason having virtually no influence (Nick didn't even play drums on "Two Suns in the Sunset", which was handled by Andy Newmark). "Your Possible Pasts" and the title track are pretty good, but the record as a whole really gets boring. It's pretty much a huge rant about Roger's hatred for war and his anger about losing his father in world war 2. Musically, it pretty muck sticks to a formula. Quiet opening, short loud part, another quiet part, followed by an emotionally charged loud part setting up a quiet finale to the song, generally with an uninspired solo thrown in every now and then. Fortunately, Roger's solo career got better when it was no longer operating under the Floyd name, but this stands out as probably the worst thing Roger has ever done as a songwriter and musician (other than maybe Music From the Body, but that's another story).

In a perfect world, "The Wall", "The Final Cut", and Waters' "Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking" should be mixed together, shaken well, and distilled to make one last decent album by PINK FLOYD and one interesting Waters solo album. At one point in my teenage life "The Wall" hadn't yet worn out its welcome and I was hungry for more, which was good because that's mainly what "The Final Cut" and "Pros and Cons" delivered: more of the same. More cultural criticism from the perspective of an isolated, world-weary rocker, more introspective musings steeped in neurosis, more WWII imagery and gospel-tinged rock drama. Richard Wright is sorely missed on this album, and Gilmour's efforts are even more limited than on "The Wall", but there are moments of beauty and despair that almost redeem it- the title track, for instance, is perhaps as close as Waters ever came to making an honest expression of emotion. The clarity and balance of instruments is better here than on "The Wall", with a more lush texture and more varied palette of tones, and there are no embarrasing rock-opera moments either. It beats any subsequent (i.e., non- Waters) release by the band, but it still takes last place compared to all previous PINK FLOYD albums. I would even rather listen to "Several species of small furry animals gathered together in a cave and grooving with a Pict" for 43 minutes...and that's saying something.

I certainly have waited enough to review this album, and the time to do my part has come. I waited because I wanted to put the very exact words to describe such piece of work. Many times all along my already posted reviews I have constantly used the words "emotive", "beautiful", "masterpiece" or even "exquisite work", but this very album overshadows those adjectives by all means. It isn't only the album were Roger WATERS bares his soul for the very first time before his true deep feelings he had held in for his father's memory; it isn't only the album were Michael KAMEN (conductor of the National Philharmonic Orchestra), took over the keyboards to replace Richard WRIGHT for the very first time; and it isn't the last PINK FLOYD album James GUTHRIE produced and engineered. It is a masterfully crafted, polished gem that speaks for itself in every single tune, evoking dark, profound passages of fear, sorrow and pain. This requiem for the post war dream by Roger WATERS applies the accurate dosage of silent screams inside your head, gives away the precise amount of unspoken words to your mouth, brings out the uncontainable times you have awaken inside a dream and just to set you in front of yourself to face your inner "you", to confront the battle from within throughout WATERS eyes and ears.

From "The Post War Dream" to "Two Suns in the Sunset", this conceptual album drives the way through innumerable disturbing guitar passages and dry moments on the drums. GILMOUR and MASON compensate the lack of cohesion with WRIGHT on keyboards in this album by committing themselves to fit perfectly into the symphonic arrangements by KAMEN and into the WATERS obvious composing demands. Featuring songs like "Paranoid Eyes", "Southampton Dock" and "Not Now John", experience several moods and emotions, but the particular thing in between them, is that they all share the "Final Cut" alignments, they all contain a bit of the memories and experiences of WATERS, but most important, the band knew how to put together this farewell album in order to be believable and convincing.

I think of this album as the end of an era for the band, and as the beginning of a brand new one for some of the members apart from the PINK FLOYD experience. WATERS has already launched 5 albums on his own, WRIGHT commenced to do so back in the 80's when he released "Wet Dream" and GILMOUR came up with "About Face" (Don't want to bring up MASON and BARRET's works because that is a whole different story to be told in some other review). The remains of "The Final Cut" are still burning in some other recordings by the band with or without WATERS ("A Momentary Lapse of Reason" or "The Division Bell") and even so in the last live album by Roger, "In the Flesh".

This album is for many reasons, the best PINK FLOYD album to me. Its mysticism and sadness won my heart and my mind from the get go. I know many prog rockers out there think of it as incomplete, unconvincing and messy, but it maybe just be that in order to comprehend the true story surrounding this album, we might as well need to have wider opened ears and eyes and let ourselves drive us through it with no resistance at all. This is the PINK FLOYD album, this is the beginning and the end.

The Final Cut loses Richard Wright and as the albums after this have proved, pink floyd are no good unless they are a full unit. This album is barely a pink floyd album but morely a Roger Waters solo album. There are no vocal contribuitons from gilmour and him and nick barely get a look in here. It is all Roger till about track 8 when you finally start to release that dave and nick are on this album.

Some say that this was meant to be the third disc too the wall but i'm bloody glad it wasn't. The Story would have gone completely...off the wall. Imagine after they tear down the wall and convict pink in the trial, the story then carried on to a rant about the war. It just wouldn't fit and would have dragged the wall down so much. Also the film would have had an extra hour tagged onto it of complete nonsense.

The lyrics here are very meaningful but for a pink floyd album it was exectuted terribly. It is interesting to see a more symphonic approach with the inclusion of Michael Kamen but this is a shoddy follow up to the wall. Rogers singing has become much poorer and every bit of music here is too far under par to compete with any of the 60s and 70s album. It follows a similar concept to the wall but it feels like an embaressment to go from the wall to this! Each track sounds vaguely similar and there aren't many progressions and its patchy in so many areas. It is very upsetting and should not have been a Pink Floyd album but a Roger Waters album. He has tried hard but let down the band here.

There are only 3 good inputs by david gilmour on this album in the solos to "the fletcher memorial home", "the final cut" and "Not Now John" but these efforts are barely up to his usual standards. There is a nice piano intro to "The Gunner's Dream" but the fact that it is not played by richard wright is upsetting. I guess if Roger had stayed on we would have seen another album like this which was even worse.

Avoid this like the plague.

For the life of me I cannot understand all the negative hype about The Final Cut. It is a chilling beautiful ( as Roger Water's puts it) requiem for the post war dream. The only negative thing about it is that Rick Wright is sadly not on it. The album has excellent production as well and as another reviewer states, listen to this on good headphones and you will understand.Sure it has Water's angst, so what, it is this kind of inspiration that makes great albums.Just listen to ' Your possible pasts'' The Gunner's dream';' The flethcher memorial home' and the superlative sad ' The Final cut'. Gilmour's guitar is excellent as usual and Michael Kamen's contribution on keyboards is a more than able substitute to Rick Wrights.I think the Final Cut was a ftting end to Water's time with the Floyd and he left on a definite high.

Waters of change

The "final cut" for Roger Waters as a member of Pink Floyd maybe, but reports of the demise of the band were somewhat premature. It is easy to see when listening to this album why something had to give. Waters dominates the proceedings throughout, to the extent that its virtually a solo album by him. He writes every track, and takes on lead vocal duties.

With Rick Wright sacked by Waters, Gilmour and Mason were present pretty much in name only Five other musicians were therefore brought in by Waters, plus the National Philharmonic Orchestra.

"The final cut" is very obviously a follow up to "The Wall", in fact it could well have formed a third LP for that album. The music follows a strict pattern throughout, with alternating slow, soft and loud passages, only "Not now John", an unsuccessful single, breaking the mould slightly. Gilmour gets to throw in the occasional guitar solo, such as on "The Fletcher memorial home" and the title track, but in all the album seems like one tediously long track.

The melodies are generally strong and pleasant, belying at times the overtly political message the album seeks to impart. On this album, it seems as if getting that message across is more important to Waters than creating an entertaining and diverse album.

Waters complained later that the Pink Floyd name should not have been put on the albums they made after his departure, but here we have what amounts to a Waters solo album which by the same logic should not bear the band name.

Roger Waters criticized dictators and he became one of them in Pink Floyd. I agree, it is more a Waters`s solo album (even Nick Mason said it in interviews). Despite Waters`s ego was out of control more here than on previous Pink Floyd`s albums, is still a good record, better than "The Wall". The lyrics are very good and show that Waters is a very good lyricist, more than a good singer and bass player. It is an album full of emotions. But Gilmour and Mason had enough. It was impossible to work with Waters again.Waters left in late 1985 and his ego wanted to stop Gilmour, Mason and Wright (which sound more like Pink Floyd than Waters alone) to being Pink Floyd in new albums. But Waters failed to stop them.

If the music of The Wall is "un-Floydian" in comparison to their earlier works, then The Final Cut is a near-complete departure. With Richard WRIGHT completely forced out of the band, Nick MASON no longer drumming on all tracks of an album, and even David GILMOUR's creative input severely curtailed (he even chose to have his production credits removed on this one), TFC was indeed "by Roger Waters, performed by [part of] Pink Floyd." As a PINK FLOYD album, TFC falls short--drained of the others' influence, it merits in extremely strong lyrics and use of effects, but gone are the elaborate chord structures and moments where the music is left to speak for itself. As a FLOYD album, TFC earns only a 3.

However--if viewed as a Roger WATERS solo album, TFC not only earns a 5, but is in my opinion his greatest work ever. Not even Amused to Death tops this achievement. Although many songs on TFC were outtakes from The Wall, the feeling they give me is entirely different--here, underneath the bitterness and bluster, is the sensitive, scared, and soulful Roger WATERS. Nowhere else does WATERS allow himself to be vulnerable to this degree. From his deepest idealism ("Take heed of the dream...") to his deepest fears ("And if I open my heart to you, show you my weak side, what would you do?"), to realizing the futility of bitterness ("We were all equal in the end...") he has laid bare his soul. This is a rare occasion where he is not just blunt--but honest. These lyrics--particularly the title track--expose what lies behind the wall, and that final deep, secret yearning: "Could anybody love [me]? Or is it just a crazy dream!?"

The sound production is nothing short of magnificent, topping The Wall, rivaling Amused to Death. The vocals are easily WATERS' best ever. Ranging from angered to anguished, spiteful to soulful, what he lacks in pitch control he makes up in passion. Yet even his technique seems improved, in places taking on a delicacy and subtlety he has never repeated. Musically, one must not forget the accomplishments of guitarist David GILMOUR--although he is not given any credits, his solos are the match of WATERS' impassioned vocals. While many people seem to be panning them, the solos are angry, indignant, curt--exactly what's needed here. The third figure I believe deserves far greater credit that he is given--that is Michael KAMEN, the man responsible for the gorgeous orchestrations that almost...almost...make even me forget the absence in the band. In fact, I know that without KAMEN's orchestrations, there is no way I would ever consider awarding a 4 to this album.

But ultimately, I cannot forget. There are places where the piano and organ work are woefully uninspired. Even WRIGHT's partial presence on The Wall was more alive. The piano playing is not bad, really, still likable, but as a listener I found myself wondering if KAMEN was told note-for-note what to play, especially after hearing his much livelier performance on the David Gilmour in Concert DVD. But by far, the biggest problem comes from the Hammond organ. Nowhere is it more obviously dead than on "Your Possible Pasts". Never have I heard this normally beautiful instrument emit such a toneless, dry, and lifeless sound. This is where the hole in PINK FLOYD gapes so wide that one almost could almost fall through it. Listen to WRIGHT's masterful Hammond playing on Animals to hear what could have been. It just about hurts.

That said, I do award TFC a composite rating of 4--a mediocre 3 stars as a "Floyd" effort, but a magnificent 5 stars as a Roger WATERS effort. The perception depends entirely on which approach you take. I hope that, whichever side you are on, this review has helped you to a decision appropriate to your tastes.

All band infighting and comments about this being a Roger-solo-album aside, "The Final Cut" is...an acquired taste.

Apart from the obvious difficult lyrical content and historical references that must be navigated through (not an easy feat for anyone born after this album was released!), this album is significantly impressive on the technical level. This album incorporates some of the latest cutting-edge technology available in 1982, in that it utilized 'Holophonics'. Listen again to this album in quad sound if you are at all able, it might change your opinion of it. The music itself is structured quite dynamically, and is very layered, with lots of things going on. Sounds of rain, cars passing, bombs whizzing overhead and exploding behind you are utilized not as 'special effects', but as actually a kind of 'musical effect'.

"The Final Cut" means more to Brits than others, if only because a lot of the conceptual material is quintessentially British. References to: Dame (Former Prime Minister) Margaret Thatcher; the shipyards closing on the River Clyde; the docks at Southampton (where soldiers waved goodbye on their way to campaigns on the continent) and the Falkland Islands' War resonate still with those in GB. Not to mention the use of the poppy flower image, the symbol of remembrance of those who died serving their country, like Roger's father.

My favourite song on the album, 'Two Suns In the Sunset' is quite possibly the darkest piece of music ever written by Roger Waters. "As the windshield melts, and my tears evaporate. Leaving only charcoal to defend." Uplifting stuff about a car crash!

Gilmour's contribution to this record is quite small. But where he does appear, his solos convey an awful lot of emotion considering how limited the input Waters allocated to him. "The Final Cut" barely deserves 3/5 stars. Definitely not essential.

Listening to this album is like slogging through a marsh. One can only listen to Roger Water's misery and despair for so long. While his anti-everything rants had wonderful music to back them up on previous Floyd outings, ("Animals", "The Wall"), this one sounds basically the same throughout. It is as if Roger Waters is giving a monologue to sparse musical accompaniment. The songs are basically interchangeable, (which is not at all a good sign). Nick Mason (Drums) and Dave Gilmour (Guitar) rarely show up on this album, and Rick Wright (Keys) isn't here at all, having been fired during the making of the wall. Essentially this is a Roger Water's solo album under the Pink Floyd banner, made up of bad material intended for a third LP for the wall. The stronger songs amongst this cheerless mush are: "The Fletcher Memorial Home", which features an outstanding solo from Gilmour, and "when the Tigers Broke Free", originally from the Wall soundtrack, a touching song about the death of Water's father in WWII. Overall, unless you are an intense Floyd/Waters fan, avoid this album - 2 Stars.

I am afraid to say this but...IMHO PF should had called quit after The Wall!! since this one is more than a continuation of the previos one, I would have consider this as the first Roger solo effort with PF members help!! but, that is just me...For hard fans, and completists only. Shadows of what it was......what a shame!

"The Wall" was the last classic FLOYD album and having Wright left the band, Waters took the remaining poor Gilmour and Mason to back him up for this "sequel" to "The Wall" - a boring, lousy album with weak songs, over-lamentic themes and Waters ego-trip. I was able to actually sit through this album only a couple of times before I decided to sell it cheaply at the local music exchange. Avoid this, unless you must own everything that bears the name PINK FLOYD or Roger Waters!

Pink Floyd was turned into a one man show in 1983. The man in charge was Roger Waters. Some of the other Floyd members were still around but didn't got any input. Only the splendid guitar solos of Dave Gilmour does remind you you're listening to a Floyd album. Unlike on their previous work, Water does all the vocals, leaving only "Not now John" for Gilmour. On some moments the voice is the only thing that's on the front besides the piano and the wonderful orchestrations of Michael Kamen. MK could be considered as the non official replacement for Richard Wright. But I like the voice of Water as well, during several excerpts on this album he seems to be more whispering than singing. On the quiet song "the gunners dream" he sounds truly fantastic, a bit similar to the voice of Loyd Cole. This beautiful song is on par to "nobody home" from the Wall. Being a fan of Floyd, I miss the atmospheric moments and the albums lacks some up-tempo songs and harmony vocals which are a trademark of the sound of this band. Let's be honest, this shouldn't be called progressive rock.

On the final cut Waters digs deep into the subject of the second world war. I always considered this album as an epilogue to The Wall where the absence of the father was presented as one of the bricks between the main character and his audience. It seems that the message is more important than the music. As a Waters album, it stands better than "The Pros and cons of." but worse than "Amused to death". Just like on the quoted albums, you should listen from start to finish. The separate tracks don't make any sense without hearing all of the album especially concerning the lyrics. To my humble opinion, "Your possible pasts" , "the gunner's dream", "get you filthy. and "Two suns in the sunsets" are the best tracks this album has to offer. Especially "Two suns in the sunset" shows the best side of Waters. His excellent song writing is unquestionable. Overall there're no major flaws, only "not now John" sounds like a fish out of water as it is the only up-tempo track and not a very good one. On the remaster there's a bonus track added. "Where the tigers broke free" would have been more suitable as a bonus for "The Wall" to my opinion. Here it also doesn't really fit in musically.

Overall the final cut isn't a bad album but there 're not many moments I like to listen to this kind of memorials. Rarely I'm in the mood for this kind of pessimism in my spare time. In an interview Waters told once of an old lady who thanked him because this album gave her the chance to get over the loss of her husband who was killed in the war. He quoted her to convince the press that this was a good album. From a lyrical pint of view it is and I can sympathise to Waters views on the matter. Musically there's so little Floyd in here. The cover art gives you a clue what you can expect from "The Final Cut". A sober, modest affair.

Carried with emotion, this work written by Roger Waters' lacks some great musical moments which are replaced by long and amazing lyrics. I think this is a mark of WATERS' songwriting, but i maintain a preference for the instrumental than the vocals, so this album doesn't have the same effect as other FLOYD works. I think it is an incredibly intelligent piece of music, but the melodies sometimes fail to captivate me.

Personally, I love this album. It's not a plethora of credentials the band has earned with its previous albums but it's more on the music per se. If I was not given any information that this is a Pink Floyd album I still love this one. Two reasons that support my opinion: 1. I like the energy the singer sings throughout the album which basically has less music than vocal line. 2. The music is thematic even without knowing what's the story line of the album. In fact, I purchased this album in cassette version but I got trouble with the noise level that became obvious because this album has many silent parts. So, couple of years later I purchased the CD format. The result is remarkably different: now I can hear clearly the sighs and silent sound effects in its subtleties especially if I listen to it using earphones or decent stereo set at home.

The opening track "Post War Dream is a requiem after the war. Eevn if I put off the war context I can still use this track to contemplate for other life issues facing most of us on daily basis. The stream continues nicely with "The Possible Pasts" , "One of The Few" to "The Hero's Return". In "The Gunner's Dream" I like the accentuated vocal by Waters whereby the peak happens when he screams "And hold on to your dreams!" with daunting music that continues with saxophone solo. Oh . what a great part, my friend! Not the sax solo per se but the time when he starts screaming the lyrics, it's really cool.

As I mentioned before, I personally like this album. So, despite bad reviews about this album, I still recommend you to have this album in your collection. If you doubt it, borrow the CD from your neighbor, play the first five tracks only. If it blows you, it definitely the whole album would blow you! Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

Between the years of 1979 and 1983 Pink Floyd released a mega successful concept album, a subsequent tour of said album, the release of a major motion picture of said album, and the loss of a key member of the group in Rick Wright. In 1983, David Gilmour, Roger Waters, and Nick Mason returned to the studio to record what would be the last Pink Floyd album to feature the bassist/lyricist, and it would also be Pink Floyd's worst. The album in question in The Final Cut, and the title of the album says it all, this was the final cut of the classic Pink Floyd lineup. The story behind this album is more of a continuation of the subplot of the lost father subplot of The Wall, but in this instance, the father returns home and becomes alienated by the change that surrounds him. This album is more of a cynical view of politics and snipes every major leader of any major foreign power in the process. This album is often looked at with disgust among fans, and I can see why.

Opening with The Post War Dream, the orchestral scores and the depressing lyrics are there from the beginning. In fact, this may be one of the most depressing albums ever written. There is little guitar and this is more of a vocal album for Waters to show that he can (at least try to) sing. Your Possible Pasts continues the depressing theme, and I do like the main melody in the song, it has a sneering feel to it which I like. One of the Few is a little interlude piece that (yet again) continues the depressing, unwilling to change the world theme. The Hero's Return features some nice orchestration, but I still just can't get into it. The same goes with The Gunner's Dream and Paranoid Eyes, the melodies and themes just blur together and there is no real coherent flow to the album. Get Your Hands off My Filthy Desert/The Fletcher Memorial Home/Southampton Dock are among the tracks I do like. With Waters at his most cynical and descriptive. The main lyrical theme, "Maggie what have you done" is repeated many times during these 9 minutes.

The Final Cut is the precursor to my favorite song on the album, and acts as a nice introduction to it. Not Now John is my favorite song on the album. It's Gilmour's solen contribution vocally, and he really hits the mark. His bitter vocal performance of some of Water's most hate filled lyrics (filled with explicit language) is further added by the female chorus repeating, "F**k all that" over and over again. Gilmour's solo is his best on the album and this song really saves the album fromg getting a 1/5. Two Suns in a Sunset finishes the album, and it gives a nice conclusion to the story of the Final Cut. I like the lyrical finale to the album, it really sums up Roger's sentiments well, "Ashes and diamonds/foe and friend/we were all equal in the end".

Overall, I am left cold by this album, more so than the Wall. I view this album as Roger going overboard with the "my daddy died and I never got to know him" theme, which is something that I find hard to grasp. If you like Roger Waters' solo albums, you'll find something to like about this. Despite me liking Amused to Death so much, I just cannot recommend this to any casual listener, it's really a fans only album. 2/5.

Wow. Just wow Roger Waters, what have you created? This is what happens when good musicians play because they have to, not because they want to. Waters told Nick Mason and David Gilmour that they were making an album and that was that, although I think it would be more proper to call this a Roger Waters solo album. Now let's get to the music, shall we? In my opinion this was the worst of the Pink Floyd's offerings just for it's lack of effort. It is lazy, rambling, and it sounds like a funeral procession. On the other side, I did particulary enjoy "Not Now John", "Two Suns In The Sunset", and even "The Fletcher Memorial Home" has its moments.

If you want to get started with Floyd, steer clear of this album!!!!! For die hards only.

Roger Waters last hurrah under the old moniker, and a rather difficult one to absorb. The Final Cut tends to separate fans into clear 'love' and 'love-not' camps - there is rarely a middle ground. The style that began to develop on The Wall would flourish here: generally intimate, with Roger's anguished vocal and wordy lyrics very dominant amidst very sparse acoustic based arrangements with generally quite short bursts of excellent classic band-generated passages, the musical highlights being a couple of stunning solos from Gilmour and some divine sax.

Gilmour's guitar sounds wonderful as always as in Your Possible Pasts, but much of the album passes slowly with just Roger and his bile-ridden tirades and world-weariness singing over simple backing. If lyrics are not your scene, then this will not be the album for you. The pervading atmosphere is one of sadness, loss, regret and pent-up anger at senseless waste of human lives. Very laudable, but perhaps Roger ought to have paid a little more attention to the sound he was making.

The Final Cut : The Final Waters.

Almost 25 years together... The last six being particularly difficult to live for the other three members of the band. So, Wright left the band unexpectedly; Mason was even replaced for some tracks (i.e. "Two Suns in the Sunset").

Let's be honest. This is not a good album. The poorest since "Obscured" in 1972 IMO. This album has the same mood as "The Wall". Its first chosen name was "Spare Bricks". It is an uninspired effort.

Only a few good songs, namely "Post War Dream", "The Gunner's Dream" which sounds more as a track from the DSOTM period with great sax playing, "Not Now John" is a clone of "Another brick" Part II, and finally "Two Suns in the Sunset". By no means, they are Floyd's classic of course. The title track is not bad either.

All the other tracks are sub-par for the Floyd (but again, this is more a Waters project than a Floyd's one). It will reach Nr. one in the UK and Nr. six in the US.

The atmosphere within the band is dreadful. To illustrate this, I would use some quotes to describe how it was.

Nick : "It was really Roger's solo album. The rest of us just sort of drifted into it." David : "It reached the point that I just had to say "If you need a guitar player, give me a call and I'll come and do it."

"If someone couldn't get enough of his vision on the table to convince the rest of us, it would have been dropped. "The Wall" album, which started off unlistenable and turned into a great piece, was the last album with this spirit of compromise. With The Final Cut, Waters became impossible to deal with."

Roger : "You can hear the mad tension running through it all and, that the making of TFC was absolute misery and a horrible time." "Well, there are those who contend it's not over, of course. But making The Final Cut was misery. We didn't work together at all. I had to do it more or less single-handed, working with Michael Kamen, my co-producer".

David : "I always made it absolutely clear to Roger that I liked being a Floyd member and had every intention of remaining one. Make no bones about it, WE would carry on."

Roger (textually) :"You'll never f.ck..g do it..."

ZowieZiggy : "You were completely wrong Roger !"

Two stars.

I fall into that category of Pink Floyd fan who discovered them with ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ as a teenager, albeit a couple years after it released; then really didn’t pay them too much mind until Rogers Waters bashed a big white brick into my skull with ‘The Wall’. After that they had my full attention.

For me, and probably many others who fit the same Floyd-fan profile, ‘The Final Cut’ is a peculiarity. Richard Wright was long gone, although most of us didn’t know it yet, but the keyboards are remarkably similar to those of ‘The Wall’, which in fact was much more sparse than most of their seventies albums. But for me at least this album has the same general themes and tenor as its predecessor, with gloomy arrangements; abrupt and discordant flair-ups to provide companionship to Roger Water’s angst-ridden lyrics; and that sense of incessant patience in the slowly-executed work as a whole. The album hasn’t held up well with most hard-core fans over the years, but it still sold quite well and ended up at or near the top of the charts on both sides of the Atlantic, which is more than just about anything else considered progressive was doing at the time.

This is one of the last foldout album covers I can remember buying, and also was one of the first not to be released on 8-track, which undoubtedly caused many an old hippie to have to upgrade their car’s stereo as a result.

While this has been called a de facto Waters solo album, I think there’s enough of David Gilmour’s distinctive guitar to make it at least sound like a Floyd album, and to be honest Nick Mason’s drums hadn’t exactly been a dominant presence since ‘Animals’ anyway, and maybe even since before that. The orchestra and saxophone were definite plusses for me, and as a piano junkie I was more than happy to hear plenty of that as well.

But the best parts of this album are the lyrics. In addition to providing a sort of continuity to ‘The Wall’, this album also brings a sense of closure to that album, which didn’t really have one of its own. And there are some of Waters’ best lines here as well, including the unforgettable verse -

“If it wasn’t for the Nips being so good at building ships, the yard would still be open on the Clyde. And it can’t be much fun for them beneath the Rising Sun, with all their kids committing suicide.”

And the fitting tribute for those leaders who play chess with the lives of those who appoint them as protectors –

“Safe in the permanent gaze of a cold glass eye with their favorite toys, they’ll be good girls and boys; in the Fletcher Memorial Home for colonial wasters of life and limb”.

The link to ‘The Wall’ begins with “The Post War Dream”, and carries the tale on for the rest of the front side of the album with a series of vignettes about the madness of the aftermath of war in the battle-scarred psyches and broken lives. Waters never did seem to get over being a war-baby, and the emotions he reveals here are ones that most of us were spared for years afterwards. Unfortunately a new generation may live them again, which is what makes words like these important even now, despite what one might think of this album musically or in the context of the band’s career.

With the back side Waters seems to be shifting to laying blame and lashing out though, specifically Ms. Thatcher and her ilk around the world, but takes a few moments out on the title track to lay out the postscript of Pink’s story, and to reveal that the album’s title refers to that final gash in the arm of self-destruction.

And the album ends with a glimpse of a possible end for our world as a whole, in a firestorm of nuclear holocaust, mixed in the dual picture once again of self-destruction. It’s a pretty bleak ending, bringing finality but not necessarily closure. I think Syd Barrett wasn’t the only one in this band that danced with the muse of madness.

Anyway, all that aside I think that this is an important album, not only in the history of this band but also in our collective modern musical history. And being someone who listened to hundreds and hundreds of this album’s peers in about a ten year window before and after its release, I can say with confidence that it evokes as much or more emotion, good or bad, as any of them. So I don’t have any problem giving this one four stars, and recommending it to anyone who hasn’t experienced it. It's very close to a five star album in my mind, missing only because of its slightly sorded genesis. Anyway, the human portraits painted here (and the actions that led to their being experienced in the first place) are why we should all continue to hope for

peace

The Final Floyd Album

After the final masterpiece in the Floyd canon, The Wall, there was really nowhere to go but down given the state of relationships in the group. They should have stopped with The Wall but decided to put forth one final release. That's the conventional wisdom but in fact The Final Cut is yet another great album from the mind of Roger Waters, and it is the last true Floyd album (what came after I could describe in all sorts of colorful language, but I'll be nice and simply say it has nothing to do with Pink Floyd.)

The Final Cut is often described as the outtakes from The Wall and it would seem to be true. But since The Wall is an utter masterpiece it is bound to produce some good outtakes. There are some great lyrics and nice moments here: The Post War Dream, Paranoid Eyes, Fletcher Memorial Home, The Final Cut, Two Suns..pretty respectable stuff. Dave's contributions here are considerably less but when he does play his solos are still perfect for the songs.

The downside here is Not Now John which is really down among the very lowest of Pink Floyd moments. Truly awful. And I get a bit tired of Roger's vocal style that began with this album and continued into Pros and Cons, where he continually goes back and forth between the quietest whisper and then BOOM the full volume back in your face, and then the whisper again. But that's a minor nitpick.

The Final Cut is a beautiful and personal document that still finds Waters capable of expressing with unbelievable effectiveness all that is haunting, stark, bleak, cold. And yet I feel great joy listening to these albums which are so efficient, melodic, and perfectly constructed. It is unfortunate what happened to the band after this record and I wonder what could have been. But from Piper through The Final Cut, this band put together a string of albums that few other groups can match and together they have a body of work that will be remembered long after they are gone from this Earth. Not many groups can say that.

The suitably titled Final Cut was the last Pink Floyd album with Roger Waters on it. The tension between Waters and Gilmour and Mason was apparently too much that after this album was recorded they unofficially split up and pursued their respective solo careers. Richard Wright also does not appear on this album as he left the band during the recording sessions for The Wall. Waters dominates this album, with Gilmour and Mason playing a much lesser role in the group's affairs. The result, as you might expect, is a dark album in a similar format as The Wall and Waters' later solo albums, sparse on instrumentation and loaded with scathing anti-this and anti-that lyrics. Subject matter tends to be about the so called "Post-War dream" (referring to World War II), World War II, the Falklands War, nuclear weapons, Margaret Thatcher, and pretty much everyone that was in power in 1983. In other words, dark and bleak stuff.

It's not quite as good as The Wall, and is clearly dissimilar to the band's pre-Wall albums. The one thing I find entertaining about it is that no matter how depressed I am, when I listen to it, it cheers me up simply because I now know there is someone even more depressed than me. I'm not sure if that was what Waters had intended, but it sure does work for me. The Final Cut is as or more depressing than The Wall. It also has the advantage of being only one LP, unlike the 2-LP The Wall. Two LPs of depressing music can really be annoying after awhile. Still, a good album, but far from essential. Waters and Floyd fans should have this. Three stars.

The PINK FLOYD album that provokes the most extreme reactions. This review will not disappoint.

This record ought not to have been made. WATERS has already had his say ad nauseam about the war and the death of his father: from 'Corporal Clegg' on 'A Saucerful of Secrets', barely an album has gone by without the obligatory war reminisce. But a whole album of off-casts from 'The Wall' does nothing but establish that WATERS has far less to say than he thought.

Here's what's wrong with this album. First, it's bereft of musical ideas, substituting the tedious, repetitive sudden shift in dynamics from piano to fortissimo for the gradual build that made PINK FLOYD listenable. Soft, loud, soft, loud, ten times a song. Here's a tip, ROGER, we've got the point. I can barely believe this gifted man has become a one-trick pony, but it's true, as evidenced by this and his first solo album. Where's the subtlety in this? The enjoyment? Second, what music exists is second-hand, having been culled from 'The Wall': throughout the album we hear motifs 'The Wall' reprised. Listen to 'The Hero's Return' and the rhythm guitar straight from 'Another Brick'. Third, the singing. There isn't any. WATERS in turns either whispers or shouts. Appalling. Fourth, it's just so damn obvious. How about some sound effects that make us think, rather than bludgeoning us over the head? This feels like the musical equivalent of watching one of those naive History Channel docos. I'm anti-war, but this is just so one-sided it's not credible. Fifth, and most damning, the rest of the band are invisible. WRIGHT has been fired, replaced not by a keyboardist, but by an orchestra. GILMOUR is dusted off to do the odd truncated solo and gets to sing for a few seconds. MASON slaps the skins like a metronome, bored with the proceedings.

WATERS is a hypocrite, protesting the selfish actions of politicians ripping the world apart while acting like a tyrant and dictator as he destroys his band. But we're well beyond hypocrisy here. This stuff is puerile. Infantile. Simplistic. His megalomania is breathtaking: he designed the album cover, played many of the guitars (clearly GILMOUR wasn't good enough), got drummers in to do some of MASON's parts, and even had his brother-in-law make a video of four tracks from the album. And on the back cover he graciously admitted that PINK FLOYD helped him perform it. Staggeringly, he later admitted that 'there was no band' (Mason, Inside Out). Why not?

I'm not going to bother talking about the musical highlights, because there aren't any. The songs pass by in a melange of simplistic orchestrations and soft/loud dichotomies. The album has a definite highlight, however, a moment that rises well above the rest. It's the appalling moment when someone shouts 'Get your filthy hands off my desert!' I guess WATERS meant for it to be funny, but the incipient racism is breathtaking, as though a desert couldn't possibly be worth fighting over. People live in them, ROGER.

To sum up, the album is an unmitigated stinker. And yes, I'm coloured by my deep disappointment on purchasing this record. Others find merit in it, though I cannot. Look in the dictionary under 'self-indulgence' and you'll see a picture of ROGER WATERS singing 'The Final Cut.'

Don't know about this one being really 'Progressive', but it's a phenomenal production and a great offering of more misery from the Waters-dominated era of Floyd. As has been said in the past, 'The Wall' part II perhaps. The album flows effortlessly as one, lots of incredible dynamics and bombastic orchestral arrangements, but suggests a band in the grip of turmoil - Wright had been sacked, Mason provided his Drumming, and Gilmour's input was barely minimal, but his few moments in the spot-light shone ever so brightly - his lead-breaks in 'Your Possible Pasts', 'The Final Cut', and especially his solo on 'The Fletcher Memorial Home' are among his best ever committed to vinyl, and of high musical value to an otherwise negative, conceptual project where the story of one who lost his Father during WWII, and various political issues, are the main focus, the musical arrangement being a tad 'secondary'. Various guests help fill the gap : Michael Kamen (Piano, Harmonium) Andy Bown (Hammond), Ray Cooper (Percussion), Raphael Ravenscroft (Tenor Sax - from Gerry Rafferty's backing band), and Andy Newmark providing the Drums for the track 'Two Suns In The Sunset', a piece featuring some odd rhythms within its arrangement. Overall, it remains an excellent album falling under the name of Pink Floyd, and worthy of exploration.

Just another brick in the wall

Coming into the '80s most prog bands had changed their style dramatically to adapt to the coming times. One of the '60s and '70s most creative and innovative bands, Pink Floyd, however, decided to stick to what they know. Yessir, this album by them still feels late '70s, but only because it feels like they wanted to continue on a worn path. Seen by Roger Waters as a tribute to his father, it seems that he was inspired by his own work on The Wall to do something along these lines.

One of the things that is noticeable immediately on the album is the line-up on the back cover. Especially where it says "Written By: Roger Waters, Performed By: Pink Floyd". Talk about an ego trip. However, this album has always been seen as a Waters solo album by the band, who really doesn't acknowledge the album at all.

That's all okay of course, the album is still good. What's different about this album to The Wall is that this one is more of a concept album than a rock opera (if you want to nit-pick), and it definitely plays out more that way. Also nice is Water's emotional delivery with his vocals on all the songs since this seems to be a topic he really cares about. The melancholic opener, The Post War Dream, is a good indicator as Waters shouts out the lyrics at the listener. Other standouts are few, however, as the album does tend to meld together into a thick paste at times. The Gunner's Dream is another excellent track which carries on the sad feeling, as is Paranoid Eyes.

Two Suns In The Sunset has to be the biggest standout on the album, however, as a dark and almost loathing song played with a sad voice with apocalyptic lyrics. This is a very welcome addition to the album and an unfortunately overlooked track in the Late-Floyd discography.

There are a couple of lower points to the album as well. The two singles, The Fletcher Memorial Home is another melancholic song that unfortunately takes it one step past mourning and more into whining with its lyrics. This was seemingly Pink Floyd's attempt to make a catchy song, but it doesn't work that well. Not Now John is something Pink Floyd have never done before, and that's a hard edged standard rock song. "F*** all that! We gotta get on with this!" and then the chorus of girls sing behind "F*** all that, ooooh!" Kind of fun, but not really the kind of thing the prog heads are looking for.

In the end this is still a good album, but I wouldn't recommend it further than people who really want to hear The Wall disc three. 3 stars. Water's last attempt with the band which he unfortunately abused.

Good album, but the worst to that date for Pink Floyd! It is interesting release with the fact that it's almost Roger Waters' solo album, but counts as Pink Floyd one. Richard Wright is not included any more in the band and we can feel it. The composition of the album is extremely strained, black and pessimistic. The songs are not memorable enough. The tensions between Waters and the others became bigger and bigger. There isn't enough synchronism and logical links between the instruments. The album is little boring. But it contains some interesting ideas for bad mood. Appropriate only for melancholy mood. It looks like The Wall, but much more without its own shape. 3 stars!!!

I can agree with many Pink Floyd fans' assertion that The Final Cut should have been a Roger Waters solo album. On this one, the other members of Pink Floyd had been relegated to Rick Wright status, which is to say, session musicians with little or no collaborative effort. In the same breath, however, many of those same fans will readily admit that Roger Waters was the songwriting genius of Pink Floyd, and the one that is ultimately responsible for producing something that eludes nearly all progressive rock musicians: Commercial success without suspending personal creativity. Without Waters, there would be no Animals, Dark Side of the Moon, or The Wall. But on those great albums, there was clearly collaboration as well as variation; The Final Cut has a stripped-down sound and little variety. Regardless of all that, it stands as a great and poignant work, one that never ceases to sadden me, to appreciate soldiers past and present, to reflect on the difficulties of war, and to enjoy myself, all at the same time. I should state, that while this is clearly an anti-war album, I only consider myself anti-war in that I hate war but recognize its necessity to maintain peace. I state this only because I disagree with the attitude of the main, nay, only, songwriter, but I find it a profound and thought-provoking album. It's rather unfortunate, however, that Roger Waters was such a heel to his band mates.

"The Post War Dream" It starts off with the sound of a radio dial and various news reporters, and then Waters's soft sing, before giving way to the shouting and shrieking that will characterize the most dramatic parts of the album. There are extreme similarities between "The Post War Dream" and John Prine's 1972 song "Sam Stone," which is also about a war veteran. The two songs share the same chord progression, melody, and are in the same key.

"Your Possible Pasts" Featuring a swampy rhythm guitar and more soft-sung lyrics, this is a very dramatic song, much like the whole album. Gilmour produces an absolutely screaming guitar solo here- perhaps one of his best.

"One of the Few" Here is a track that offers insight into the character of the teacher in The Wall.

"When the Tigers Broke Free" A slow dirge commemorating the memory and lamenting the death of Roger Waters's father, it's a moving song, even if it has little to do with Pink Floyd, per se. It was not included on the original release.

"The Hero's Return" This short one features a great group of guitars. The lead guitar plays a neat melody on top of a delayed electric guitar that is reminiscent of several songs on The Wall. The acoustic guitar adds to the richness of the melody. Waters's vocal performance is initially an aggravated one, but becomes soft and haunting on a later verse. The final part (using a common chord progression that has been well-frequented throughout Water's work) flows into the next song.

"The Gunner's Dream" Even those who denounce this album as Pink Floyd's worst rarely criticize this song. It's one of the most chill-inducing and saddening pieces of music ever written. From the explosion, to the first piano chords (with that haunting, steadily ascending fifth note), to the reflective lyrics, to that moment when Roger Waters cries out to hold on to the dream and his voice transforms into saxophone- this song is remarkable in so many ways. It forces those of us on safe civilian soil to consider the uncomfortable loneliness of soldiers who are in the corner of some foreign field, having a dream that those of us back home are protected, well fed, and have "recourse to the law."

"Paranoid Eyes" Slow and brooding, this song relays the disillusionment a veteran has with his world after the war. He tries to make merry, but only becomes more sullen and drunk. It's sad, but beautiful. Again, there is an economy to the music, but the sound effects (like the footsteps and the laughter in the pub) and the descending piano runs are amazingly effective.

"Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert" This is another short track, naming names and describing Waters's loathing for the administrative decisions of his time.

"The Fletcher Memorial Home" By far the most scathing number on the album, Waters makes the bold claim that war-mongering leaders (in his opinion, the likes of Thatcher and Reagan) should be placed in a home bearing the middle name of his late father. There, they could feel important and wage war without disturbing the rest of us. The song features Waters at his whiniest. The music is sparse: Most of the instrumentation here is mere background sound to accompany Waters's snide poetry. While certainly not dreadful, it isn't the best this record has to offer. Waters's attempt to wax political only makes him come across as arrogant and condescending, especially for a man with such little foreign policy experience. Gilmour gets a rare chance to rip through a guitar solo, and this he does, but while mostly sticking to the notes in the chords.

"Southampton Dock" More of an introduction to "The Final Cut," this short song does a terrific job expressing the sadness of war ("there were too many spaces in the line").

"The Final Cut" Flowing directly from "Southampton Dock," Waters sings over a lone piano before the rest of the band comes in. This song features one of the best melodies present, and is definitely one of the most powerful pieces. It is difficult not to reflect on the post-war loneliness and misery many veterans must endure. An orchestral motif from "Comfortably Numb" is revisited during this piece, and Gilmour delivers a stunning dual guitar solo.

"Not Now John" "Not Now John" is the heaviest song on the album, one which was censored as a single. Once again, the lyrics, which dominate the song, are clever and well-written. The music is similar in feel to the heavier tracks on the previous album.

"Two Suns in the Sunset" The last song is mostly a quiet song mainly played on acoustic guitar. The lyrics, despite the pleasant major key the song is played in, reflect the doom that faces humanity after the dropping of a nuclear bomb: "The sun is in the east, even though the day is done-" hence the fireball of the destructive holocaust. In the middle section, it gets briefly heavy and Waters emits one of his piercing shrieks. The song returns to its peaceful form for the final verse, after which an oxymoronic saxophonist plays an easygoing solo.

A personal affair....

Roger and Co. had decided to release a ''Spare Bricks'' compilation with un-released material which was mainly featured on the The Wall Movie, however with some time and conmovation, this brought Roger use the new songs, and write more, and in the end resulting a entire new album, called The Final Cut. Which it focused on the ''Falklands War'' which had happened recently, and had concerned a lot to Roger. If we talk about war in music, you definitely will know from the very beginning it will be something pretty depressing, and not very up-lifting to say the least. Though, that was not it, depressing albums can be done wonderfully and be a work of art, though this was not the case due to Roger's, already achieved in their previous work, complete domination over the band, not letting any other member interfere in the album's compositions, this leading to Rick's already kick-out from the band, way back in The Wall sessions, however he played, nonetheless, in the following massive tour for it. So just like The Wall, this was really another Waters album, with Pink Floyd(half of it really) as a decent backing-band, however, Dave and Nick didn't let Roger make it a solo-effort, since they said that ''they knew songs didn't grow on trees'', whatever that means.

Despite the down's of pretty much everything said before in which Roger was the song-writer and was deeply influenced by the recent war, making a total personal, depressing album, the album as a whole resulted very cohesive and sounds well from start to finish, yes, it is depressing and it obviously doesn't sound like a 'Pink Floyd' album, but still with David apporting some few brilliant guitar solos, it can still be considered a 'Pink Floyd' album as much as The Wall was. The album carries a very slow and gentle, yet emotive, feel, very much in the likes of Side 3 of The Wall, with the exception of the one-song that was supposedly to be a single, 'Not Now John', which ironically, was the only song off of the album that sounded out-of-place, since it was rock-headed and featuring the only vocal-duties by David, which really corrupts the whole gentle and slow flow the album was having due to Roger's low-timbre vocals and melancholic melodies, as well as the effective, though a bit excessive, bomb sounds, and of the like, to make it as most war-driven as possible. Another positive factor are the lyrics, while definitely not positive, they're very powerful and meaning, also the already mentioned dark, low-timbre, mood, ends up being very effective for some specific times of your life.

Besides the album as a whole, I would really like to dedicate this review to dear Antoine, a forum member, which really motivated me and was a grandiose music fan, as well as a marvellous person, unluckily never had the chance to meet him personally. He was, surely, the biggest Final Cut fan, he loved it to pieces even if during his life-time in the forum talking with me, I bashed it, of course intentionally in a friendly way, saying it was the most depressing piece on earth. Now I am proud to say I have found a lot to enjoy from this album, the already mentioned calm and tranquil moments are moments which are great to contemplate and listen, and very effective to sleep with, despite the 'war sounds'.

In conclusion to the review, The Final Cut is a good album, no, it definitely doesn't stand along their classics (prog-wise), still Final Cut's unique essence, which is a mix of melancholy and depression, plus the essential addition of it being written straight from Roger's heart, is surely what makes this a rewarding listen, and surely what made Antoine a *very* rewarding listen. Lovers of tranquil generally, yet with a effective war-themed lyrics, music, this album is waiting for you.

I love The Wall. That albums is among my 10 or 15 favorite recordings of all time. When I learned, years ago, that there was another album that pretty much was a collection of outtakes from The Wall assembled together by Roger Waters, I was clearly interested. I thought the bad press and reviews were exaggerated.

But they weren't. The album is one of the weakest in the whole PINK FLOYD catalogue. At times it gets difficult even to include in the PF catalogue as it's more of a Roger Waters' solo project than a true collaboration with his soon-to-be (at that time) ex-bandmates. The music is similar to that of The Wall but completely devoid of the energy, the impulse, the melodies, the story-telling, and the brilliance of the tracks in the double-disc masterpiece. Here, in The Final Cut, the music sounds repetitive, all songs seem to play in the same time, at the same speed, with the same themes. Roger Waters steals the show but not in a good way: he just obliterates Gilmour's presence, thus killing one of PINK FLOYD's most magical elements, his solos and his outstanding guitar-work. To add insult to injury, Rick Wright was left out of the band so even the keyboard has lost any distinctive touch.

A disappointing follow-up to the masterpiece. The Final Cut by PINK FLOYD was actually one cut too many.

In a perfect world PINK FLOYD would have called it a day after "The Wall" sessions.That would have been going out on top.Can you imagine the outcry if that had of happened, but hindsight is 20/20 and looking back that would have been the perfect way to do it. Instead we get "The Final Cut" that sounds so much like a Roger Waters solo album that i still look at it as such.PINK FLOYD's final two albums both sound like David Gilmour solo albums.It would have made more sense if these last three FLOYD album were released as solo records instead of under the guise of a PINK FLOYD collaboration which none of them really were. "The Final Cut" is very lyric heavy if you will.And i do believe that Waters is one of the best at writing great lyrics,and this is no exception. I find this album very emotional at times, especially when looking at those who have been terribly affected by the war and yet must live on.That of course includes Roger who lost his dad in the war.Interesting that there are many melodies and sounds that seem like they were taken directly from "The Wall". "Your Possible Past" opens with samples as Roger comes in vocally.It kicks in after a minute as contrasts continue.The lyrics are so emotional as he looks at those who have been changed by the war."Do you remember me?How we used to be?Do you think we should be closer?". The guitar after 2 1/2 minutes is great. "When The Tigers Broke Free" is pure emotion.Roger has a right to be angry,to be sad,to be broken. "The Gunners Dream" is Waters again at his best lyrically.Who needs guitar solos and bombast with words like these."After the service when you're walking slowly to the car and the silver in her hair shines in the cold November air you hear the tolling bell and touch the silk in your lapel and as the tear drops rise to meet the comfort of the band you take her frail hand and hold on to the dream".Gulp. "Southampton Dock" opens with strummed guitar and spoken words.It ends with these words "but in the bottom of our hearts we felt the final cut". "The Final Cut" has this swirling melody that comes and goes just like on "Comfortably Numb". The album ends in rather an optimistic and bright but honest way with "Two Suns In The Sunset". This album sits beside "Amused To Death" on my shelf.Two special and meaningful recordings.

The Final Cut is the twelfth full-length studio album by UK progressive rock act Pink Floyd. After the hugely successful last album The Wall (1979) it was expected that Pink Floyd would release another great album. The Final Cut turned out to be a very controversial album in the band´s discography though. Loved by some and loathed by many. The album is essentially a Roger Waters solo album and in hindsight probably should have been released as such. Keyboard player Richard Wright had already left Pink Floyd during the sessions for The Wall ( allthough he would return for some live session work on the tour supporting the album) stating that Roger Waters ego problems poisoned the atmosphere in the band. Listening to The Final Cut it´s very obvious that guitarist/ vocalist David Gilmour and drummer Nick Mason were also only "session" musicians in their own band on this album. The Final Cut is Roger Waters album. It would also be his last album with Pink Floyd.

There are 12 tracks on the album. If you know how the more quit yet intense and desperate sounding Roger Waters led tracks on The Wall sounded you´ll have a pretty good idea of how the music on The Final Cut sounds. It´s like the tracks on The Final Cut were outtakes ( and some of them might be) from The Wall sessions. The problem with outtakes are often that they don´t reach the quality of the original product and that´s also the case with the tracks on The Final Cut. The quality is still high enough though and I rather enjoy the album albeit mostly in small doses. Sometimes I´m not that impressed but when some of the songs reach their climax there are great emotions at play and I´m touched.

The production and the musicianship on the album are great. Roger Waters distinct desperate vocal style has a way of tiring me after a while though so that´s a minor flaw. It´s of course an aquired taste.

The Final Cut should not have been released under the Pink Floyd monicker IMO. For that it´s way too much of a solo work. It´s a flawed album yet still pretty great and I think The Final Cut deserves a 3 star rating. My feeling is that it´s the kind of album that only really clicks with a select crowd.