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IN THE FLESH - LIVE

Roger Waters

Crossover Prog


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Roger Waters In the Flesh - Live album cover
3.62 | 183 ratings | 25 reviews | 32% 5 stars

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Live, released in 2000

Songs / Tracks Listing

CD1: (72:24)
1. In The Flesh (4:41)
2. The Happiest Days Of Our Lives (1:36)
3. Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2) (5:52)
4. Mother (5:41)
5. Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert (0:52)
6. Southampton Dock (2:16)
7. Pigs On The Wing (Part 1) (1:18)
8. Dogs (16:24)
9. Welcome To The Machine (6:54)
10. Wish You Were Here (4:57)
11. Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts 1-8) (14:13)
12. Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun (7:10)

CD2: (75:02)
1. Breathe (In The Air) (3:23)
2. Time (6:24)
3. Money (6:11)
4. Pros and Cons Of Hitch Hiking Part 11 - Every Stranger's Eyes (5:20)
5. Perfect Sense (Parts I and II) (7:26)
6. The Bravery Of Being Out Of Range (5:04)
7. It's A Miracle (8:12)
8. Amused To Death (9:25)
9. Brain Damage (4:06)
10. Eclipse (2:19)
11. Comfortably Numb (8:08)
12. Each Small Candle (9:05)

Total Time: 147:26

Line-up / Musicians

- Roger Waters / vocals, guitar and bass
- Doyle Bramhall II / guitar and vocals
- Graham Broad / drums
- Jon Carin / keyboards, Lap Steel, guitar and vocals
- Andy Fairweather Low / guitar, bass and vocals
- Katie Kissoon / vocals
- Susannah Melvoin / vocals
- P.P. Arnold / vocals
- Andy Wallace / Hammond, keyboards
- Snowy White / guitar
- Norbert Stachel / Soprano and Tenor saxophone

Releases information

2CD-Columbia-C2K 85235-Can-2000

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ROGER WATERS In the Flesh - Live ratings distribution


3.62
(183 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(32%)
32%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(48%)
48%
Good, but non-essential (13%)
13%
Collectors/fans only (5%)
5%
Poor. Only for completionists (3%)
3%

ROGER WATERS In the Flesh - Live reviews


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Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by Sean Trane
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Prog Folk
3 stars After the superb but relative commercial failure of Amused To Death, an album that should feature in any Top 10 concept album list, Waters started doubting that he could ever make a really noticeable solo career, while the shadow of Floyd still hung over his head. So he turned the stool he was sitting on around and started acknowledging his former group's heritage as simply unavoidable and these all-time classic tracks became the centrepiece of his tours, unlike the Hitch-hiking shows where the two eras were separated in different sets. Actually the excepts from that very project are sounding a bit lost on this set, since they were torn out of their context, and haven't aged as gracefully as originally hoped. Present in Waters' band are the usual Floyd/Waters collaborators as Fairweather-Low, John Carin and Snowy White.

With this In The Flesh double live album, indeed the concerts mixed both Waters solo and Floyd material throughout the length of the evening. Of his solo works, Waters has rightly selected most of it from Amused to Death and a bit from Hitch-hiking, shunning (and rightly so IMHO) his Kaos album. To this listener, this is precisely that solo stuff that makes this live album worthwhile, as well as the especially-made for the occasion, the rather-involved (politically and musically) Each Small Candle, the Amnesty International ONG dedicated track that received a fair amount of airplay and pulled the whole album into the spotlight.

The Floyd material is very well played but really offers limited interest and unfortunately this makes up almost 2/3 of the content of this set; especially so when knowing that the rest of the old quartet were touring around and also releasing live albums at that time, thus diminishing the interest of the present. Indeed one can hear a bit to much that this is the Wright & Gilmour-less Floyd classic version (especially on Brain Damage), and most of the first disc is filled with them. Certainly not essential, but definitely not unworthy of the Floyd legacy (despite leaning/depending a bit too much on it); this is still a brilliant album from what remains a (if not THE) major actor in the Floyd-Alumni solo careers.

Review by Menswear
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars A huge hello to All Mighty Rog and his crew. First, this album has to be SEEN to be fully appreciated. Yep, a rather 'skinny' DVD version of this show is available, and it worth the purchase. As a Floyd fan, I was, to the least, sceptic about this project. Waters went in my hometown Quebec to present this tour, and not much feedback has been heard from any media. Bad sign? Depends on which side you stand. Approach 1) It's another show from Rog with skilled musicians but, only to make a few bucks and step into the 'greatest hits' section with this album. Approach 2) A nice effort to immortalize his work with the Floyd and alone, a nice package to enjoy some of the best stuff he made, and to see on DVD how he aged so well (compared to Brando-Gilmour, Roger looks like a middle-age wonder out to get chicks). To say the least, Water looks great and sounds great. Brahmal on guitars sound fairly accurate to what Gilmour played and exchanges many hot solos with Snowy White, who sounds more vintage and therefore, more fun. Jon Carin is also part of the tour. Wow! That's right, he used to be keyboards and vocals in the P.U.L.S.E. tour with the Floyd, back in 1994. His skills on lap steel and vocals are more than welcome. My favorite, Andy Fairweatherlow (Clapton) is here to back-up Rog on bass and does a wicked guitar solo in Money (see the DVD, please!). Let's not forget excellent vocals by PP Arnod on Shine on. She used to sing for George Harrisson and also for the weird but catchy project that was THE KLF way back in 1992. The version of Mother, Set the Controls to the Heart of the Sun and Perfect Sense are highlights, but the whole show is very acceptable. Anyway, think of this a definte 'best of' but do not expect Floyd sound at a 100%. Water is the sound of Pink Floyd, and with this record, he show his supremacy over Gilmour, Wright and Mason. Sorry guys but, the King is still alive and well.
Review by loserboy
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars Recorded live during Roger's recent tour of the U.S. Songs selected in the set include a nice cross section of output from PINK FLOYD and his solo career. This superbly crafted live set includes loads of killer instrumentation. with guitars by Andy Fairweather Low, Snowy White and Doyle Bramhall II with bass and vocals by Roger Drums by Graham Bond, keyboards by Andy Wallace and Jon Carin. Roger also brought along a stunning female trio accompanists (PP Arnold, Katie Kissoon and Susannah Melvoin). Although the whole 2 CD set is a highlight in itself. I was totally blown away by his rendition of "Set The Controls For The Heart If The Sun" and "The Bravery Of Being Out Of Range". As you would expect all the original sound effects and sound bites used give this set a real "WATERS/FLOYD" feel. "The Dark Side Of The Moon" is split into 2 sections with a number of WATERS's solo songs In between to end the set. After a stunning version of "Comfortably Numb" as an encore, Rogers ends the concert with the unreleased "Each Small Candle" a poem written by a South American torture victim to which he put to music.

Review by The Prognaut
PROG REVIEWER
3 stars Playing before 90,000 people ain't no easy thing to do. But Roger is quite acquainted with that experience, and "In the Flesh" is the perfect excuse to do so. There's something about this live album I cannot completely get, I perceive a lack of strength and variation or maybe it's just me being obtuse and shortsighted about the mere intention contained in this 2 CD set album. I just cannot put my finger off the fact WATERS could've managed to depurate the classic themes like "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2" and "Wish You Were Here" and the fact he also could've used extensively the skills of such great musicians at its best and exploited the resources of playing live. I was simply amazed with the arrangements done to "Dogs" (with Jon CARIN on keyboards, acoustic guitar and vocals) and "Comfortably Numb" (taken all the way by Doyle BRAMHALL II and the exquisite guitar performing by Snowy WHITE), which to my concern, this last song taken from "The Wall", is the best prolonged piece in this live recording. The female backing vocals this time were superbly entwined than in other productions of the past, and they give that enticing touch the album claims for.

The structure of both CD's is somewhat inconsistent and incomplete. Roger tried to add up the "detailed touch" within this James GUTHRIE production by inserting a half CD with his own solo songs and that sort of interfered with the continuity the album carries on with the "Dark Side of The Moon" reprise.

An overrated album by a humongous musician: absolutely beautiful in passages such as the live version of "Shine on you crazy Diamond" and absurdly presented with only one new song; "Each Small Candle" (nothing new under the sun, but yet convincing piece). To sum it up, I believe it is pointless to release a tour album right before releasing another compilation CD, "Flickering Flame"; and expect an absolute response right away. Good, but not that good.

Review by Gatot
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars I just bought this CD 3 weeks ago. I was actually not interested to buy this CD as I think that I've got the DVD, why bother owning the CD? If I want to listen to the music only, I just need to turn my screen off. That's it. But no no no no .. I'm curious to buy the CD. So, I bought it. And .. I found it interesting to enjoy the cd after having seen them on screen.

All songs performed in this CD are excellent. It represents the creative works of ROGER WATERS with and without his Floyd friends. I come to a conclusion that with ROGER WATERS, Pink Floyd reached their peak performance. This has been proven that after WATERS leaving the band the musical quality of Floyd has deteriorated a bit. Even though they're not bad at all. But, I'd rather listen to Floyd with Waters than without him. Even the underrated "THE FINAL CUT" album which was considered as WATERS personal album, I still find it much better than any other Floyd without Waters albums. IMHO.

My utmost, top of mind favorite track of this live CD is of course DOGS (eighth track of CD 1). I like this song even in the original studio album "ANIMALS". But when it is performed live, it is much better. It's really wonderful performance. This song is performed similar to studio track but it has more "soul" and more dynamic. I am amazed with the performance of John Carin as lead vocals and acoustic guitar at the beginning. The solo guitar by "Doyle Bramhall II" is wonderful! I never knew him before but I'm amazed with his left-handed guitar playing. He looks like Jimi Hendrix but he plays like David Gilmour. "And when you lose control. You reap the harvest you have sown ." wow!!! Such a wonderful song performed excellently by the band here!!!

Don't get me wrong. I also like other tracks like "Southampton Dock" (uuughh .. I love it!), "Welcome To The Machine" (even though I don't like the drum beat played here; it ruins the musical nuance of its original album. And also the female backing vocals. It should be "deleted". It bothers the song, "Wish You Were Here", "Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts 1-8)", "Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun".

As far as CD 2 concern, my top favorites are "It's A Miracle" and "Each Small Candle" (the new song by Roger Waters). Again, I don't want to demean other tracks as all of them are excellent as well.

What is the conclusion? Well, as you have seen my rating, this double CD is worth owning it. I never regret to purchase this CD even though I have the DVD format. Enjoying a live CD is giving me a sense of much appreciation on the music as I have to imagine who's playing what during the passage of the performance. My detail observation about the music is better when I don't see the screen. When my curiousity reaches the top, then I play the DVD to check it out. For me, having this CD is similar to having Peter Gabriel's "Secret World Tour": even though I have the LD/DVD, I still enjoy listening the CD. Decision is yours. Gatot Widayanto - Indonesia.

Review by Chris S
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars One of the best live albums to come out for many years. In fact it is impossible not to compare this with ' Pulse' from Pink Floyd. I do prefer this set though.The version of ' Dogs' is excellent as is ' Welcome To The Machine'.' Pigs On The Wing Part 1' all of Water's solo stuff. It is three hours of the highest calibre musicianship. I was fortunate to see this show live in 2002 and what stood out was the relaxed mood Waters was in, the warm interraction with the audience. The great game of poker in the middle of ' Dogs'. One small disappointment was ' Each Small Candle', although a new song by Waters with a great story to back it up it just is not in the same league musically as his ealier material. Refreshing though to hear some new material at the end of this three hour marathon.Due to the success of this show in 2000 Roger Waters continued with it in 2002.Good decision!
Review by FloydWright
PROG REVIEWER
2 stars This is certainly not an all-bad album at all. But I'm not sure if it really stacks up to PINK FLOYD (in any incarnation). My biggest wish for this album is that ROGER WATERS would have stuck to his solo work; this he does a pretty good job on, and I will say that "Each Small Candle" was an immediate hit with me. I think it may show that Mr. Waters has made some real strides in coming to terms with his past. Although I might have asked the drummer to back off a little on "It's a Miracle", I'd say the solo works were done well.

However--here's what lowers the rating of this album so much. The PINK FLOYD stuff. If you have a sensitive ear, you may not take well to this part of In the Flesh. WATERS does not do as DAVID GILMOUR did in PULSE and take over the "missing" vocals, which I could've respected a bit more; instead, he has one of his guitarists sing. I think this was a mistake--though the singer in question has a pleasant voice, it's rather sad hearing someone trying to imitate GILMOUR, rather than WATERS at least trying to put his own unique spin on it. Admittedly WATERS does do this on "Wish You Were Here", and it's one of the few PF songs on there that I really enjoy. The keyboards, under Jon Carin, aren't too bad--after all, this guy played alongside RICK WRIGHT on the PULSE tour. His study under the master shows. ;-) But the guitars...it's just not GILMOUR. Not even close. I think the guitars really ruin some songs--"Comfortably Numb", for instance. Instead of going with the flow of the song, it turns into a flashy duel of the guitars that I think doesn't fit very well with the song. And the drums--I don't think "Time" came off very well at all; the drummer overdoes it in a major way.

Now, as I said, not all of the PF material is bad. "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" is excellent (it's worth noting that the sound of the sax has an interesting resemblance to a certain Farfisa organ!), and the material from The Final Cut is in general pretty good. I also thought that "Wish You Were Here" showed WATERS' personal concert style at its best; you can almost feel a finger being pointed in your direction: "And I wish that YOU were here". But most of the PINK FLOYD material really falls short, in my opinion.

Now, a hardcore ROGER WATERS fan might well like this. I'm not saying it's an entirely bad album--but "fans only" really is a perfect description of it, hence the 2 stars. But if you have a sensitive ear and/or are very attached to the traditional PINK FLOYD musical sound, you may not want to buy this album. It's just not everyone's cup of tea, and I ultimately didn't find enough to compel me to keep this album; I finally ripped the tracks I wanted and sold it.

Review by Cluster One
PROG REVIEWER
3 stars I have to admit, I did not have 'high hopes' when I first bought this. I soon realized that I was very wrong to prejudge this concert release. I was pleasantly surprised by just how exquisite this 2 CD Live set sounds! Plus, unlike the DVD version of this concert, you can actually appreciate the axework of DOYLE BRAMHALL without having to watch him chewing gum on stage, wearing bad jewellery and a black one piece bell-bottomed suit, while playing his guitar left-handed and upside down!

Whereby WATERS does play a lot of FLOYD tunes here, not all of them were of the 'hits' variety, although there are plenty of those if that's what you are looking for ('Shine On', 'WYWH', 'Time', 'Money' and tons of stuff from "The Wall"). Most rewarding of the less commercially popular songs was JON CARIN's contribution to 'Dogs', as well as the significant back catalogue appearances of 'Set the Controls For The Heart of The Sun' and even a couple tracks from "The Final Cut". Rare stuff indeed!

The solo stuff that WATERS plays, six songs worth, is also quite good. He sneaks in his probably lesser-appreciated material without 'overdoing it' and won't alienate his traditional FLOYD-First type of fan. Although I question the solo songs chosen, the live versions offered of these tunes should be cherished, as they are the only 'official' live releases available of said material.

As stated by other reviewers, the musical performances by WATERS veritable army of virtuoso performers is top notch. The only negative to this record being those traditional GILMOUR-vocalized songs like 'Numb', 'Another Brick' 'Time' and so on, are sung by others. GILMOUR's voice is unique, and these songs do sound different without him singing them, but again musically they are excellent.

At almost 3 hours of music this release offers both the FLOYD and the WATERS fan plenty of bang for your buck. Not as good as FLOYD's "P*U*L*S*E" or "Is There Anybody Out There?", but probably better than "Delicate Sound of Thunder". Recommended.

Review by Raff
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars I've always been a big fan of Waters' contribution to Pink Floyd, so when I first saw the album in the shops I didn't hesitate to get it. Being much less familiar with Roger's solo output, the album was a good opportunity to get acquainted with some of the best examples of his work after he left Floyd. "In the Flesh" is a fine record indeed, with excellent musicianship throughout, great backing vocals (much better, in my opinion, than those on PF's "Pulse") and, above all, Roger's inimitable half-sung, half-whispered delivery. I know, having seen him live in the immortal 1980 "The Wall" show in London, that Roger's vocals are much of an acquired taste. His range is limited and there's no doubt that Gilmour's voice is the more traditionally 'beautiful' of the two. However, I think he can be extremely expressive, with his precise British diction perfect for his complex, disturbing lyrics. He doesn't sing in the way, for instance, Lake or Jon Anderson do: he interprets his songs in a way which reminds me of Peter Gabriel or the other Anderson, Ian - incidentally, both great lyricists as well.

On the first CD Waters and his band perform a selection of well-known PF tracks, including a magnificent version of the bitter, intense "Dogs" and an intriguing interpretation of the eerie "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun". The second CD features mostly songs taken from Roger's solo albums: at first I found these tracks a bit samey, even boring, at a definite disadvantage if compared with his stellar output with PF. However, they slowly grew on me, and now I appreciate them more and more with each listen, though none of them are easy listening, the lyrical content being quite dark, complex and politically-charged. Then it's PF again, with two tracks from "Dark Side of the Moon" and the immensely popular "Comfortably Numb", a great song even without Gilmour's signature guitar solos. However, the highlight of the album is reserved for the end: "Each Small Candle", a previously unreleased track inspired by the bitter war in Kossovo, which never fails to bring tears to my eyes. The lyrics are uplifting and full of hope in the better side of mankind, and the music is deeply moving as well. An essential listen.

A final mention for the three guitarists appearing on this record. Together with a veteran of the rock scene like Andy Fairweather-Low and a long-time Floyd collaborator like Snowy White (who also briefly played with Thin Lizzy!), the young but extremely gifted Doyle Bramhall II does a great job of replacing Gilmour. Overall, a very satisfying live album, warmly recommended to everyone.

Review by memowakeman
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars I lived in my flesh a concert of Roger Waters with this tour, and im sure that the track list in this album is pretty similar as the one in Mexico, it`s quite obvious that being a Pink Floyd fanatic i loved that concert for sure, sadly i think the majority of the musicians who left the band haven`t been as succesful as when they were in their Main bands, what i mean is that the most of the people who assist to a Roger Waters show, expects to see and hear Pink Floyd tunes, with some Waters good solo moments, but the ex - members almost always have to return to their past moments to please the people.

This isn`t different, what we`ll find in this live album is a mix of Pink Floyd highest moments, and Waters highest moments as well, released as a 2CD record with 12 songs per CD, fortunately i can say that is an extraordinary album, not only because i saw this tour in Mexico, but when i listen to it i always enjoy it.

Do you want some The Wall?, OK!, in fact is the first thing that you will find, In the Flesh is a very representative song (most representative of Waters because The Wall was an album almost completely idealized by him), so powerful song to start a great concert,"Happiest Days" - "Brick Part II" - "Mother" completing this batch which is very emotional, then a couple of Final Cut`s songs and then one of the best moments of the album, "Pigs on the Wing Pt. 1" and the superb performance of "Dogs", this last one is a song that i really love, included in a great album which is Animals, but the version here isn`t less good, in my opinion it could be the best song of the entire album, 3 singers, 3 guitars , everything great.

Do you want some Wish You Were Here? OK!, another 3-song batch but this time with "Welcome to the Machine", "Wish You" and "Shine On", with it`s particular Waters touch for example the melody of Welcome to the Machine is not the same as we already know, but its not bad, a moment to relax, to remind and to sing. Finishing this CD 1 with a surprisingly "Set the Controls ..." with a very good performance.

CD 2, Do you want some Dark Side? OK!, What more can a Pink Floyd fan could ask in a Waters concert? (well actually i would kill to see Atom Heart Mother, One of These Days among others haha), starting with "Breath", then "Time" with a very well performance again, and finishing with "Money", giving us another grwat moment to enjoy and sing.

At last a Waters solo batch of songs!, and actually is great i like it so much, not for being less known it is a weak moment, not at all, in fact i like a lot these following songs, back in 1984 "Every Strangers Eyes", followed of 4 graet songs included in his Amused to Death album, his most succesful and better album, "Perfect Sense" with a superb performance of the girls in the backing vocals, "Bravery", "It`s a Miracle" and "Amused to Death", this last couple of songs giving us a take a deep breath moment, very soft and beautiful songs.

Back to Pink Floyd roots, "Brain Damage" ( oh Barrett) "Eclipse" and "Comfortably Numb" with the last exciting moment of the album (talking about memories and songs that we know very well). But finishing the album we have "Each Small Candle" with the Waters`style and touch, and which in my opinion is a great song.

As you can see i would say this is an excellent concert, highly recommendable to any prog fan, not a masterpiece, so 4 stars.

Review by Easy Livin
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin
4 stars A fitting tribute

The CD version of "In the flesh" is a straight double CD packaging of the music which appears on the DVD of the same name. The 5.1 surround sound is of course replaced by conventional stereo, but there are no differences in terms of the track order or listing.

"In the flesh" is by and large a rendition of Pink Floyd classics. Space is found for a couple of Waters solo albums, in particular a lengthy extract from "Amused to death" (but notably nothing from "Radio Kaos"), but it the Floydian classics which dominate the performance. The concert (recorded in Portland, Oregon, USA in 2000) took place during the infamous Pink Floyd cold war so there is of course no sign whatsoever of any of the band members other than Waters. While Waters was the writer or co-writer of the material, his contribution to the original performances was largely confined to bass and vocals. He therefore gathers together 6 supremely talented musicians and three female backing vocalists to form what is effectively a top of the range tribute band. This in turn give the performance an air of clinical perfection, indeed it might be described as comfortably numb. Little room is found for improvisation or interpretation, the renditions are note-perfect and entirely faithful.

This is though an inspired statement by Waters. He selects songs from each album and batches them together. Starting with "The wall", which contributes four songs, we visit "The final cut", "Animals", "Wish you were here", "Ummagumma", "Dark side of the moon", "..hitchhiking", and "Amused..". The performances are powerful, and despite what I said earlier, sometime emotional. The under-recognised journeyman Snowy White adds some fine Gilmour like guitar, sharing lead guitar duties with Doyle Bramhall and Andy Fairweather-Lowe.

Waters own contribution to the performance is somewhat understated, being mostly confined to bass and most but by no means all of the lead vocals. Vocally, Waters sensibly relies heavily on the talents of his band, special mention being warranted for PP Arnold, Susannah Melvoin, and the wonderful Katie Kissoon. It is just a pity Roger did not allow "Time" to continue into "Great gig in the sky" where any of the trio could have stolen the show.

The set climaxes predictably but effectively with a return to the "Dark side.." then "Comfortably numb". The closing track, "Each small candle" is a strange choice, as it had not previously appeared on an album

In all, the performance lasts for a little under two and a half hours, incorporating some twenty four songs. Waters skilfully balances the crowd pleasing with his natural inclination to get the message across. While I have no hesitation in recommending the album, the extra dimension offered by the DVD renders it the essential option.

Review by snobb
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
2 stars Not bad album, but having it is only heavy fans interest. In fact, Waters plays mostly well known Pink Floyd songs ( ok, and few own songs from solo albums, but its are even less interesting there). Sound is uninspired and down tempo. Main instrument sounding is acoustic guitar.

Yes, any Pink Floyd fan will hear there almost all his beloved songs. But nothing new or different at all. The musicians are all competent, but not innovative. And there is not drive at all!

I think it is interestning for heavy PF/Waters fans to hear that one of greatest rock musicians is still in quite good form, and plays live his great songs. But all of them are better when played but Pink Floyd ( in studio or live). And his solo songs ( which are mainly of heavy fans interest in studio version) don't sound better there as well. Even musicians participated ( as Fairweather Low and Snowy White) added nothing special or new to album's music.

For me, this album is a monument ( in form of recorded live sound) Roger Waters build to himself at the possibly end of his great career. Listenable, but would be interesting for heavy fans only.

Review by Bonnek
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
2 stars The difference between the commercially successful Pink Floyd live albums and Water's In The Flesh is huge. Not only does the setlist reflect other sides of Floyd, also the production choices are entirely different. Considering this is also recorded by an 11 members counting band, the sound is still quite organic. Nothing like the overblown pathos of Gilmour's take on the Floyd material, but his guitar playing is very much missed here.

Actually, the guitar playing is one of the two worst aspects of this album. Even with 3 guitar players in the band, they stumble clumsily through the material and manage to get all life, tone, feel and sensuality out of Gilmour's original solos. It's a clear proof that Gilmour's so-called easy guitar parts aren't all that easy to render in the end.

A second disappointment are the vocals. Waters hadn't got much of a voice at all in the last 20 years and making up for that by those cliché female soul choirs all over the live performances isn't the brightest idea that both Waters and Gilmour ever had.

Finally, the sluggish pace and lifeless playing kicks any remaining life out of this music. But there is some good news as well. Jon Carin proves to be an excellent vocalist and he does an amazing performance on Dogs. Also Welcome to The Machine comes in a new and refreshing arrangement and Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun is simply essential. Of course, this eastern tinged gem had always been one of my Floyd favourites. The version here deviates a lot from the original but still does it justice. The songs from Dark Side of The Moon don't work at all for me without Gilmour's vocals and guitar.

I've never cared much for Waters' solo albums and the material here can't convince neither, though It's A Miracle and Each Small Candle have their moments.

For Pink Floyd fans, and count me in for sure, you will need to hear this album and maybe see the DVD at least once. I wish you a good public library to fulfil that need.

Review by tarkus1980
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars Ha! Who'd have ever guessed that a late-period live album with one Pink Floyd band member would sound so much more "authentic" than a late-period live album with the other three members? This document of Waters' first tour in 12 years is so much better than P*U*L*S*E that it boggles my mind. If it weren't for the inclusion of a new song at the very end (the oh so dragging Each Small Candle) that totally destroys the momentum of the show, this would be an easy ***** and a strong candidate for one of my 100 favorite albums of all time.

The greatness of this live album lies in the details. One of the things that I got used to about P*U*L*S*E, but that never totally stopped bothering me, was the feeling of Gilmour, Wright and Masons performing as the chairmen of Pink Floyd Inc. The inclusion of "Astronomy Domine" (and on the DVD, "One of These Days") notwithstanding, the setlist on P*U*L*S*E is very tame, and strongly caters to the mindset that the stereotypical Floyd fan has of the band. With In the Flesh, though, I really get the sense that, with the possible exception of "Money," Roger chose the songs he did because he actually really liked them and considered them an important part of his legacy, and not just because they'd be expected by fans. In the liner notes, Waters basically says the he considers the three most important albums of his career to be Dark Side of the Moon, The Wall and Amused to Death, and the setlist bears this out. Yes, DSotM and The Wall are what most people think of when they think of Pink Floyd, but the way the material from them is positioned in the setlist, and the material from other albums that Waters chooses to complement them, really suggests he was playing these songs because he wanted to, not because he "had" to.

Take, for instance, the great decision to do "The Happiest Days of Our Lives/Another Brick in the Wall Part 2" as the second performance of the evening (after a fun "In the Flesh," where the line "Pink isn't well, he stayed back at the hotel, and they sent us along as a surrogate band ..." suddenly takes on a cheeky meaning that it lacked originally). Let's set aside that this is easily the best live performance of the song I've heard, completely devoid of the cock-rock vocal inflections Dave would use on it and the incredibly tedious jamming Dave and Rick would push forward in it (the extended soloing here, by contrast, is very energetic). Instead of using the track as an obvious encore piece (like was done when I saw Roger and his touring band in 2007), the song ends up getting treated as just another great song, and the effect is a total breath of fresh air.

After the initial Wall chunk (after "ABItW2," we have a nice run through "Mother"), there's a quick detour into The Final Cut with "Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert" and "Southampton Dock," complete with a final allusion to the title track in the end. And then we get the grand highlight: "Pigs on the Wing part 1," followed by "Dogs" in all of its glory. John Carin (who also toured with Floyd back in the late 80's and early 90's) does a great job on the driving acoustic lines and in the vocals that once belonged to Dave, and does an OUTSTANDING job on the atmospheric keyboard meanderings in the middle that once belonged to Rick (I think it's John, anyway; it might have been the other keyboardist doing that, I'd have to go back and watch the DVD to check). The various guitarists (more on that later) do all of Dave's aggressive electric parts very well, and Roger's bass playing is as professional as it had ever been. I'll tell you, there's no way in a million years that the remnants of Pink Floyd would have ever dreamed of doing this track in the 80's or 90's, and this track's presence makes the album golden to me almost all by itself.

After the Animals chunk, we come to the Wish You Were Here chunk, featuring "Welcome to the Machine," the title track and "Shine On You Crazy Diamond." WttM is done decently enough, but the title track and "SOYCD" both (in my opinion) obliterate the performances done on Delicate Sound and P*U*L*S*E. Roger's live singing may be less pleasant than Dave's live singing in both places, but I feel Roger's passion and conviction in every note, whereas I felt like Dave was singing just because he had to. Plus, the abridgement of "SOYCD" is pretty much perfect; the somewhat tedious ending jam of the original is replaced with a depressing reprise of the opening synth meanderings, and the meat of the song doesn't neglect the more menacing portions of the original (the cool leadin to the second half of the piece is preserved well). This is "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" with no modifications to make it more "listener friendly," and I totally love that. And finally, the first disc ends with an incredible shocker: "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun!" This is a very cool rearrangement, by the way, as it has a weird saxophone solo in the middle and some gruff guitar noise in the middle.

A brief word on the guitarists on this album. A mistake that Roger could have easily made was trying to replace Gilmour with a single young guitarist who could do a spot on imitation of Dave, both in singing and in guitar style. Now, he does have such a player in his ensemble, one Doyle Bramhall II, and he certainly does a very good job on this album. The coup, though, was making sure to supplement an imitation of the young Gilmour with people who could bring the veteran understanding of the music of Pink Floyd (and solo Waters) that Dave would have brought were he not busy not playing with Roger. The two men who fill this role are Snowy White, the same Snowy White who regularly played on stage with Pink Floyd during the 70's, and Andy Fairweather-Low, a really cool guy in a suit who's played with everybody (including Roger for a bit in the 80's), and Roger couldn't have chosen better in a thousand years. It should also be noted that, while Fairweather-Low plays bass in a couple of places when Roger is otherwise occupied, Roger performs most of this album's bass duties himself, and that should say something; I really get the sense from watching the DVD of this concert that Waters took his bass-playing very seriously, and it's cool that he doesn't farm out those duties very much.

Anyway, the second disc starts with perfectly servicable versions of "Breathe" (with great steel guitar from Carin), "Time" and "Money," then goes into a lengthy stretch of Waters solo material. Radio K.A.O.S. is ignored, but Pros and Cons is represented by "Every Strangers Eyes," which suddenly turns into a gargantuan anthemic classic when taken out of the dreck that made up the rest of that album. We then have four songs from Amused to Death, and they're all good ones ("Perfect Sense," "The Bravery of Being Out of Range," "It's a Miracle," "Amused to Death"). They're done very close to the album versions, sound effects and all (though "Perfect Sense" has the additional feature of a sample of the death pleadings of H.A.L. from 2001: A Space Odyssey), but they have all the power of the originals too. Keeping the ending portion of the interview about Bill Hubbard was a nice touch, too.

The show finishes off with "Brain Damage/Eclipse" and "Comfortably Numb" (the tradeoff of solos between Bramhall and White is breathtaking), before inexplicably finishing with 9 minutes of icky ickyness. And there's your great live album. An even higher grade is out of the question for various reasons (the excessively close replication of the AtD material; the roughness of Waters' voice, which can get a little wearing at times; and of course Each Small Candle), but this is a marvelous live album that belongs in the collection of every Pink Floyd fan. I also highly recommend the DVD.

Review by AtomicCrimsonRush
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
3 stars I saw this in a bargain bin and felt it calling me. I was not disappointed. Roger Waters "In The Flesh" is actually a very accomplished rendition of the best of Roger Waters with brilliant bursts of Pink Floyd. It is a very different sound with David Gilmour and took me some getting used to but it is great to hear a new Floyd sound with Waters at the helm. I like what he states in the liner notes, "Dark Side of the Moon has been performed almost ad infinitum by another band.... It seemed pointless to replicate this material, instead I chose representative songs from ('Dark Side of the Moon' and 'The Wall') ... and placed them alongside more obscure pieces from my back catalogue..." the "other band" he refers to is of course Gilmour's Floyd that performed DSOTM on "Pulse" to much acclaim.

Are these renditions as good? They are different, I cannot really compare, though I miss Gilmour's soaring guitar solos. Waters does a fine job of translating the classic tracks without the aid of his fellow band members. He is great on 'In The Flesh', 'Mother', 'Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun' and 'Pigs On The Wing'; I mean they are his songs and they sound more like the studio versions with his estranged vocal style. He was never the greatest singer but the atmosphere is bleak and appropriate with his caterwauling.

'Shine On' (14 whopping minutes!!!), the 5 tracks from DSOTM and 'Comfortably Numb' are all masterfully performed by all involved. The concert falls down for me when he plays stuff from his solo career. I had avoided his solo albums as a strategic move. If these tracks are anything to go by I think that was a good decision. Occasionally the solo stuff reaches some resonance as a good song, but it's all so poppy, although I am a bit of a fan of 'The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking Part II' which was in reality rather a bland album, apart from the eye candy saucy cover.

I had heard recently David Gilmour's solo performance "Live in Gdansk" and it's streets ahead of this, however the Roger Waters concert is not a disaster at all, I actually enjoyed this new experience of Pink Floyd immensely. Good, but not essential indeed!

Review by Rune2000
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars Whenever I think about Roger Waters, the first memory that always comes to mind is the vivid recollection of this his live performance from right around the summer of 2002. This is why I consider In the Flesh to be one of my most profound concert experiences to this day.

This was the time when Pink Floyd had already called it a day, almost a decade prior, and the tribute bands like The Australian Pink Floyd Show weren't exactly visiting Scandinavia during their tour of Europe. The only way that I could get the live fix of the band was through local tribute gigs that weren't exactly the most spectacular performances out there and usually resulted in a band playing a couple hits and then filling out the rest of time by playing the original studio albums through the speakers all through the night.

Then came a sudden announcement concerning Roger Waters' In The Flesh Tour finally reaching my home town of Stockholm and I didn't waste much time debating on my reaction to the news. I bough the tickets within the first few hours of their release and marked my calendar for the event that would take place almost 5 month later! Since this was still the time where the marvelous world of Internet was in its early stages of development, I could only guess what the set-list for the tour would be and was hoping that Waters would throw in a few Pink Floyd tracks into the repertoire.

The show began, just like the title suggested, with the opening track from The Wall and Pink Floyd tunes just kept on coming! After a few tracks from The Wall came the logical continuation with a brief hint at The Final Cut, followed by short escapades into Animals, Wish You Were Here and The Dark Side Of The Moon. It was only here that Waters gave us a short taste of his solo career, concluding things with the ending to The Dark Side Of The Moon and Comfortably Numb! This was pretty much everything that I could have wished for from this concert experience and I definitely felt like the luckiest person in existence when I left the venue.

This live album is pretty much the perfect continuation of that album experience and even though I would recommend the DVD version for everyone who did not attend the show, my visual memories restrain me from watching that filmed performance. This is actually one of those few instances that it made more sense for me to get the CD version and I cherish it and my memories still to this day!

***** star songs: In The Flesh (4:42) The Happiest Days Of Our Lives (1:34) Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert (0:57) Southampton Dock (2:16) Wish You Were Here (4:55) Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun (7:15) Breathe (In The Air) (3:22) Brain Damage (4:07) Eclipse (2:19) Comfortably Numb (8:10)

**** star songs: Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2) (5:54) Mother (5:37) Pigs On The Wing (Part 1) (1:18) Dogs (16:27) Welcome To The Machine (6:57) Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts 1-8) (14:43) Time (6:24) Money (6:11) Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking Part 11 - Every Stranger's Eyes (5:20) Perfect Sense (Parts I And II) (7:26) The Bravery Of Being Out Of Range (5:05) It's A Miracle (8:12) Amused To Death (9:24) Each Small Candle (9:09)

Latest members reviews

4 stars Each Small Candle.... This is the opportunity to hear live versions of songs from 'The Final Cut', as well as from his from his solos albums, including 'Amused to Death'. Indeed, the most interesting songs here are those from that album, including "Perfect Sense", "It's a Miracle" and "Amused to ... (read more)

Report this review (#1698238) | Posted by Walkscore | Friday, March 3, 2017 | Review Permanlink

3 stars As if Roger Waters fans weren't already depressed enough, it seems that the once proud purveyor of everything`Pink has resurfaced as a mere caricature of himself, offering up barely recognizable renditions of Floyd classics, this time heavily laced with female accompaniments designed to mask Roge ... (read more)

Report this review (#902913) | Posted by mdmirne | Wednesday, January 30, 2013 | Review Permanlink

3 stars Not too bad. Not a Pink Floyd live album, but it does contain many Floyd standards such as "In the Flesh", "Dogs", "Money", "Breathe", etc...In fact, there seems to be more Floyd music here than Water's solo music. He does give us about 6 of his solo tunes. The energy of this concert can be cl ... (read more)

Report this review (#513867) | Posted by mohaveman | Saturday, September 3, 2011 | Review Permanlink

2 stars Not the brightest record from Waters, honestly there are a couple of bootlegs from this time that where much better recorded, yet there are some good moments, the problem is the bad quality of Roger's vocals, specially on songs that he didn't originally sang, amazingly he's the man when we are t ... (read more)

Report this review (#262412) | Posted by FenderTramp | Monday, January 25, 2010 | Review Permanlink

4 stars In sight, Roger Waters have not confidence to his ability, so several Pink Floyd songs were played on this live album. Do you have any consideration plays Pink Floyd songs, Mr Waters? Why you did not play your solo material on this live album ? Although I'm not agree Pink Floyd material were ... (read more)

Report this review (#29209) | Posted by torro | Friday, April 1, 2005 | Review Permanlink

4 stars Recorded live, Roger presents a selection of his past works. Roger and his backing band perform a large selection of material from both his solo and pink floyd albums. The album kicks off with a big chunk of the wall. This is then followed by a great selection of past music. It is good to see ... (read more)

Report this review (#29207) | Posted by Prog_head | Friday, March 11, 2005 | Review Permanlink

4 stars This one, I have only in DVD format, and I think it´s great. For those who are loking for a nice Pink Floyd movie, you should get both this and "Live In Pompeii". Of course, the DVD, not the CD. The CD is only a sort of a PF "best of", cos' the songs are performed just like in the studio albun ... (read more)

Report this review (#29206) | Posted by | Thursday, January 27, 2005 | Review Permanlink

5 stars Excellent live album, I'd also say a great introductionary album to Floyd/Waters. It is almost a best of performed live. The band is great - John Carin and Andy Wallace on keyboards do the justice, three guitarists - ex-Floyd touring band member Snowy White, the long time Eric Clapton and Roger Wate ... (read more)

Report this review (#29200) | Posted by | Monday, April 12, 2004 | Review Permanlink

4 stars The Floyd songs take on a slightly new bent due to being played by different personnel but all in all retains enough of the original feel to be enjoyable. Did anyone who owns the DVD notice that that Doyle Bramhall II bloke is left handed and plays a right handed guitar upside down? Flash git. ... (read more)

Report this review (#29198) | Posted by Jools | Tuesday, April 6, 2004 | Review Permanlink

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