AMUSED TO DEATH

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Actually , the best thing from any Floyd alumni or Floyd itself since the Wall. This was quite a surprise and the title had me worried that this would be somber than Kaos but I quickly realized that although no GonG album , this had the same cynical humour than Hitch-hiking. One cannot help but feeling that if he and Floyd had joined forces instead of tearing themselves apart, and a combination of Division Bell and Amused To Death had been combined , this would have made a gigantic album . Instead we have two good albums but this one is very much under-rated as Bell is slightly over-rated.

This recording remains today one of my all time favorites. Although this is an exceptionally dark and forboding album it does contain some of the most brilliant and thought provoking progressive material ever. This album has been recorded using the Q-sound Canadian technology (so too did FISH - "Sunsets On Empire") and offers incredible sound seperation. Roger is joined by some incredible musicians and guests. Jeff Beck add plenty of amazing guitar parts, exceeding anything that Gilmour had ever put to record in my opinion. Rogers surrounds "Amused To Death" with some of the most powerful lyrics ever written. Highly recommended!

This is the best album by Roger Waters. He uses here the technology to produce an OUTSTANDING record. Do you realize that the keyboardist is Patrick Leonard, the same guy who played keyboards for Madonna in the eighties? Leonard produces here brilliant, serious, addictive & very atmospheric textures, which have nothing to do with his previous work with Madonna. Like he did with Eric Clapton in 1983, Roger Waters hired here Jeff Beck on the electric guitars: it is absolutely impressive: he plays many visceral guitar solos, especially the ones on "What God wants part 3": the last solo is among the most POIGNANT ones in the music history: just play it LOUD! Beck's refined & clean guitar and Leonard's atmospheric floating keyboards begin as soon as on the spacy first track: "Ballad of Bill Hubbard", a very dramatic & ambient track reminding very much the Beck's "Where were you" track on his "Guitar shop" album. The National Philharmonic Orchestra provide the very subtle background classical arrangements, like on the "Late home tonight part 2", which has a beautiful "military award" ambience. This record is recorded with the Q-SOUND technology: Waters still uses TONS of special sounds: water drops falling into a sink, heart monitor evoking a flatline, exploding bombs, crying baby, TV sounds, whiplashes on horses and passing Christmas sleigh, contact of glass bottles, firing, dogs barks, crickets sounds, old man's narration, old telephone ring, car door closing, passing cars and train horn sounds, among others; those sounds must be heard using HI-FI products! Waters still uses many female lead & backing vocals: Katie Kissoon, Doreen Chanter and even Rita Coolidge, whose tender lead vocals on the "Amused to death" track are VERY addictive. Most of the tracks are excellent, except there are only 2 less good songs: "What God wants part 1" and "The bravery of being out of range": they are more straightforward hard rock oriented with incisive electric guitar riffs. If you listen to the lyrics on the hard to bear "Watching TV" track, you will notice that this song is for the memory of an Asian woman who died on TV. As the tracks go by, it seems the music tends to more floating and atmospheric moods, more keyboards oriented, especially on the 3 last tracks. The ambient "3 wishes", has dramatic & very sustained piano notes, CLEARLY evoking FATALITY: impressive! The "It's a Miracle" track is a total GEM: it starts with an ethereal background organ and a melodic & solemn piano a la Arena's "The crying for help 4"; Waters recorded some Quebec young boys playing hockey: one can notice a young one say: "Eille, les gars, elle a touche a la barre", talking about the hockey puck that touched the net pole; Leonard's weird keyboards effects and moog-like solos are OUTSTANDING on this track; it ends with a POIGNANT combination of a solemn choir and a nervous & emotional electric guitar solo, played by Beck the king. The last track is probably the best one on this record: "Amused to death" contains ethereal and VERY subtle electric guitars and keyboards. Rita Coolidge's duo with Roger is particularly impressive; this last track contains ambient New Age elements: I have rarely seen a more FLUID & atmospheric track than "Amused to death"; there is a heavy bit where Roger expresses how he sees the society: he is pretty right: he indirectly points the nowadays reality shows and violence shown on TV, which seem to amuse people: to AMUSE them TO DEATH; I know another band who condemn TV: "Visible Winds", and their "Face a la television" song. This serious album is another great gift from music!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

This album is really 2.5 stars, mainly for the excellent lyrics. The instrumentation is lacking, however.

First off, I'd like to clear up a few common misconceptions about this album. The first is the meaning of the "What God Wants" trilogy of songs in the album. Many people take this to be Waters' biased attack on organized religion. But, in context of the album, I don't think that's what it is. Some of the things listed as being "What God Wants" are not even relevant to the song, so it seems. "God wants chain stores? No way! Waters must be an atheist," is the first reaction. But on closer look, the song is about what PEOPLE say God would want. Example: George Bush saying,"God is on OUR side. He wants us to go to war. He supports US, not them." or "God wants YOU to send in money for OUR cause. He wants YOU to make a contribution." It is the blatant use of God's name to further a single cause. If you read the New Testament of the Bible, you'll find that God is the ultimate neutral. He is neither on one side or the other, neither US nor THEM. He loves everybody. That's what this song is about: the use of religious fundamentalism to further a cause.

That out of the way, I'll get started on the rest of the album. The music here is very dark and night-ish. The lyrics are absolutely amazing, Waters' best since "The Wall." It opens with "The Ballad of Bill Hubbard," an excellent minimalist instrumental backed by Alf Razzell's story of WWI and a hard descision he had to make. Then it enters into a roaring rock song, "What God Wants Part One." Probably the best song on the album, it and Part Two. Just remember what it really means by God (right-wing fundamentalist's use of God to further their cause), and you'll love it (if you like concept albums and are a lefty in politics) It's as misunderstood as "Another Brick in the Wall Part Two."

Next up is "Perfect Sense Parts One and Two." The first song is pretty good, but you have to understand the lyrics to like it. Otherwise it sounds a bit awkward, with all of the metaphors it uses. Part Two is better. Then it's "The Bravery of Being Out of Range." A great rock song about 1984-esque/neoconservative mindset about war. Then it's on to "Late Home Tonight Parts One and Two" about the mindlessness of a pilot ("no questions, only orders") as he bombs the enemy, inadvertantly killing innocent people. Part Two is his return home to be hailed as a hero, much like a football star would be after he wins the game for his team.

"Too Much Rope" is a mediocre song, followed by "What God Wants Parts Two and Three," more about people's useage of God's name to further causes and the confusion of outsiders at our activities. "Watching TV" is a pretty good song, about how people who die on TV are more important to those who watch than others less famous who died for a cause just as noble.

"Three Wishes" and "It's a Miracle" are the reasons this album isn't five-star. Boring musically, lyrically mediocre. It closes with "Amused to Death," a great closing song for a great album. The song ends with a 1984 reference in Alf Razzell's final thought about Bill Hubbard's death as told in the first song.

Overall, an nice album from the greatest member of ex-Pink Floyd, but lacking instrumentally. Buy it if you are left-wing and really enjoyed "the Wall". I personally think very much like Waters, except that I have a much more optimistic view of the world and am less experienced in lyrics (although I'm told I write great short stories). Buy this album if you think like Waters and his world view, etc. Hope this review wasn't too political.

The best album to come from a ' Floydian/s' since The Wall. This is an essential masterpiece and even Waters says, this, The Wall and Dark Side Of The Moon are like a trilogy in a way and conceptually you may well agree with that. The album starts with the ' Battle Of Bill Hubbard', the moving story of the desperation of trying to save a comrade in the battle lines, the failure of saving him and the having to live with the ' whatever happened to Bill Hubbard?' question for many years. It is very moving and made more so by Jeff Becks brilliant guitar work. The album moves along at a steady pace with the ' Prefect Sense' songs and ' What God Wants' themes. All the time angst, self ridicule and cynicism run deep. The only way Waters knows how!The background theatre between sets is magical. Ways of life portrayed in mere conversations, the sound of a jet flying over a hedgerow...the sound of a hangman's rope going taught on 'Too Much Rope'. Don Henley is on lead vocals on ' Watching TV', the moving story of the world famous live killing of the Chinese student in Tiannamen Square. All this through the portal of TV..get it yet, amused to death? For me the final three songs are what distinguish this masterpiece and set it on such a high pedestal. ' Three Wishes' begins with a South African mother relaying how she gassed her three children to death.The pain of humanity, the cruelty, the torture and torment of so many but thanks to media we are almost numbed by the news items that crash into out living rooms day after day. Musically ' Three Wishes' is stunning and if ever there was an album where Waters returned to the more mainstream Floyd sound then this is it.' It's a Miracle' is very sarcastic in content, again musically very slick. Waters manages some humour here joking how an earthquake managed to cause a piano lid to come down and break Andrew Lloyd Webber's fingers!A farmer from Ohio manages to repay a loan, A Brazilian grew a tree, a Doctor in Manhattan saved a dying man for free....It's a miracle....' Amused to Death' finishes the album off. A nine minute classic, lots of cynicism and sarcasm as usual from Waters but delivered in a very real, poignant and moving way. The album ends with the soldier realizing that upon seeing Bill Hubbard's death certification on a war memorial, how now all his doubts were complete and his mind could be put at rest. Bill Hubbard was at rest. Amused To death is a defiant but beautiful potrayal of mankind and the terrible mess it is in. As always though Roger Waters manages to leave a thread of hope in his works somewhere. An epic work in every sense.

Before you dismiss this review immediately just based on my nickname, I want to make it clear that I have tried to review this album as objectively as possible. Where I had to insert emotional and personal perspectives, I've tried to mark them accordingly. Where things about this album were enjoyable or well-made, I've tried to call attention to them, because I do think there are aspects a person could like about this. That's why I haven't rated it lower than 3 stars...I have to acknowledge the high quality in certain respects. However, the matter stands that I think this just barely qualifies as prog (more like Bob Dylan than anything), it retreads over old opinions, and quite frankly may cross the line in the eyes of some, myself included. I finally ended up getting rid of my copy because I could tell I was never going to listen to it again.

But before I get into the reasons for that, let me tell you who should consider buying Amused to Death. First, if you consider yourself an audiophile, if you have a sound system that needs showing off, or if you're interested in music for its production aspects, I think this is a good album for you. Amused to Death is mixed in Q-Sound and rivals The Final Cut (nominally PINK FLOYD, but really ROGER WATERS) in terms of the quality of its production. All instruments and sound clips are positioned and mixed perfectly relative to each other, and you can't help but notice that even if you like nothing else. That alone earns a star for this album. The other major reason I would recommend Amused to Death is if you are an aficionado of Jeff Beck's guitar playing. He is nothing short of incredible, and this album was responsible for getting me into many other of Beck's albums. The highlights from Jeff Beck that I can recall offhand are "What God Wants", Part 1 and 3. The solo in Part 3 is especially heartwrenching. Otherwise, the music is quite passable, but nothing special.

The rest of the album I become ambivalent about if not outright irritated by, however. While WATERS sings well in some places, in others it's very clear that his voice is completely shot. The lyrics and concept, on one hand, are quite talented. It's very clear that a lot of thought went into them, as with most of ROGER WATERS' works. However, I think they go too far in many respects. First, there are many references that are so convoluted or obscure that it ends up subtracting from the album as far as most listeners are concerned. Secondly, while there is supposedly a concept (aliens observing the demise of mankind), it's not really made clear...the real concept, in my opinion, is political rantings, typically of an anti-American, anti-religious bent. (Yes, I know "What God Wants, Part 1" is not necessarily anti-ALL-religion, but I haven't ever heard WATERS have anything nice to say on the idea) And that is a point I'll get to later. The other thing I want to mention, before I deal with that, is how the personal touch sometimes evident in other works by WATERS like "If" and "The Final Cut" is not at all evident on Amused to Death except for "Three Wishes", which does make a nice change of pace, and I have to admit I don't mind that song at all. I rather like it, in fact.

There was a time when I was really, truly enamoured of this album, many years ago. I did not agree with many things that WATERS said, but I could listen in a very interested and detached way. However, that changed after the attack on America and the subesquent Iraq War. I know some will feel differently about these issues...however, for me, it made the subject matter much more personal, and I became aware of the intense hatred and hypocrisy in WATERS' words. It becomes clearer that WATERS is someone who has never overcome the wounds of Vietnam, let alone his personal past, and in trying to claim a wish for pacifism turns instead to the "bravely out of range" violence of words, which is equally hateful as a physical act. "The Bravery of Being out of Range" is one of the ugliest examples--he does not stop at attacking politicians, which is almost to be expected when one runs for office...but instead he continues and attacks the common soldier.

I daresay his father--who lived and died a soldier against the forces of Fascism--would've been quite ashamed of that indeed.

I know others will not agree with this...and I HAVE tried to give as high a rating as I can even with this, but I feel I need to say it.

I've avoided reviewing this album for quite some time now, not because I disliked it, but because there is just TOO MUCH to say about it. Deep, rewarding, thought-provoking and reflective, it is by far Mr. WATERS solo masterpiece. It is not even my most-favourite album by WATERS ("Pros & Cons" is), but I do recognize its significance. It is just not something to be taken lightly.

"Amused To Death" is an audiophile and philosopher's "Wet Dream" (Rick Wright reference). Musically, it is full of textures. Whether they come from the dream-like state of Bill Hubbard in the initial album track, or from HAL the computer in the Kubrick 2001 Film samples, or from Jeff Beck's guitar on 'What God Wants - Part 3", this album is extremely rich in texture.

There are a number of good rock tracks that 'stand alone' and can be enjoyed out of the album's conceptual framework: some good examples being 'What God Wants - Part 1' and 'The Bravery of Being Out of Range'. As good as they sound musically, you don't have to dig very deep to find WATERS' criticism of today's organized religion and military conflict (The First Gulf War in particular).

"Amused To Death" is also closely associated with Stanley Kubrick's film (also Arthur C. Clarke's book) "2001: A Space Odyssey". Read and watch both and you will gain a better appreciation for/of the themes presented in WATERS' magnum opus.

"ATD" has been referred to by WATERS himself as the third and final part of his "The Wall"/"The Final Cut" Trilogy. Although closest in form and feel to FLOYD's "The Final Cut", "ATD" can, and should be enjoyed/appeciated/revered on its own. Just don't expect to "get it" on the first go 'round. As with any lyric-heavy prog rock piece, read the lyrics and give it about 20-25 spins, and it should start to sink in.

Not for the faint of heart, or the weak of mind. Think CONCEPT, and multiply it by ten. A thinking-man's record, and an underappreciated gem. 3.5/5 stars

First of all i must say this was my fav Roger solo album for a long time. Still, it is very far away from being a masterpiece, it is a nice work, and if i was making this review some months ago i'd clearly give this album 4 stars. Now though i think this deserves 3, mainly coz it could have been much better and it has some really weak and annoying parts. Despite the horrid boringness of some songs (Watching TV and Too Much Rope anyone?), it has some great moments. It starts with a really trippy instrumental, this song is surprisingly probably my second favorite one from the album. When i listen to it i feel like i am in an astral voyage, the guitar work here is excellent, definitely a great opener (much more superior than Cluster One, from P.F.'s The Division Bell, though i love it as well). Then, it leads to another great rocking and cacthy track, the first one of the 'What God Wants' trio. I was pretty shocked with the lyrics when i first read them at the album's booklet, but then i was informed that it is actually talking about what human beings do and put the 'fault' on God for their actions. This only shows how amazing and creative Roger's mind is. After this great moment, we have other 2 amazing tracks: Perfect Sense pts 1 and 2. Now, PP Arnold HAS the voice! Her vocals kill Roger's pretty weak ones (he seems to be having an orgasm at the first lines of pt2, but let's just forget it...) - signs of Roger's ageing, we'll never hear vocal works like the Sheep ones again = (. But even though his voice got weaker, his lyrics remain amazing through the entire album. After pt2, we have the horrid Bravery of Being Out of Range. The instrumental is vey annoying, i just can't stand this kind of music. Fortunately, it ends to give space to the decent Late Home Tonight pt 1. It is a good track, though its sister is very weaker and everytime i listen to Rog saying "Hey boy, you're a hero, take this cigaaar" i feel like scratching my stomach to see if i can get a pain worse than the one my ears get when i listen to that line. Too Much Rope is a boring song, that i usually skip, fortunately What God Wants II comes and starts in a awesome way, with those very catchy lines along with the backing vocals saying the chorus, which will lead to more nice lyrics by Roger. Part 3 is very different from its two sisters, and it is very good, the best of the 3 parts, it has a Gilmour esque guitar solo that really brings back some wonderful Floyd moments. Roger's vocals weirdly get decent here, compared to some of the other tracks. I guess this is my fav track from ATD. Too bad that after the best comes the worse...Watching TV is: annoying, boring, weak, mediocre and it has those horrid lines saying "we were watching tv, we were watching tv" #$$%@!!!! Surprisingly this can be worse than the ''hey boy, take this cigar" part. To save the album, Three Wishes arrives. It is a very good song and very creative as well. Has some great moments, and it is one of the outstanding ones from the album. It's A Miracle is another strong momment. That keyboard intro is very moving, and i get touched everytime i listen to it. Plus, that guitar solo at that cosmic ending is so awesome that i dont get why so people consider this song 'boring' (though i respect their opinion, everyone is entitled to them). The last song is a bit weak, and i think it is an unnecessary one. I think that It's A Miracle would be the PERFECT closer, mainly due to the short though touching guitar solo.

It has some amazing moments and very weak ones, therefore this album is a great Roger's try, and worthy having, though it is not even close to be a masterpiece as i considered it some time ago.

I really do enjoy this album. I find it a lot better than The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking, as well. The lyrics are dark and brooding, the guitars (by one of my favorites, Jeff Beck), the bass, the keyboards, it all makes a great mixture and really creates a great experience. While it does not sound like Pink Floyd, it certainly is a unique sound. This album is truly Waters at his cynical best, sniping every little aspect of the government.

Songs worth mentioning are the Ballad of Bill Hubbard, an amazing and breathtaking instrumental with some of the best Jeff Beck guitar work. Perfect Sense is an outstanding two part song, with a great and catchy chorus in the 2nd part, and great vocals from PP Arnold in the first part. It's a Miracle is a slower, more atmospheric track that has some of the best post-Floyd Waters lyrics. The Bravery of Being out of Range is a great rocker, with a great riff, and great vocals from Roger. The lyrics in this song are a great example of Roger trying to fit more syllables than necessary into a verse, but it still sounds great. The final song, Amused to Death, is a great rocker as well.

Overall, I was very impressed with this piece of work. Roget Waters has had a hit/miss solo career, and this one is a hit to me. I recommend to any Pink Floyd fan who wants to delve into the solo careers of its members. 4/5

The emphasis on this album are the vocals and the lyrics.So it's a bit of a shame that Jeff Beck doesn't get to show off his skills more.I prefer great instrumental music to great lyrics any day,but...this is something very special.I can't get over how good these lyrics are,they are so sarcastic,so critical,so funny,so wise.Roger takes a lot of shots at people, and groups of people,and he doesn't pull any punches.Andrew Lloyd Weber is probably still holding his jaw,ha ha."The Ballad of Bill Hubbard" sounds so much like a PINK FLOYD song,the guitars and samples.Jeff Beck really shines on the first two tracks.He lays down some scorching guitar on "What God Wants partI"This song rocks out pretty good,and the female vocals are great.Waters is criticizing all the groups of the world who claim God supports their interests."Watching TV" works very well with Don Henley from the EAGLES contributing on vocals.Terrific tune."It's a Miracle" is a very emotional commentary on our society.I was blown away by all the lyrics in the liner notes,i've never seen so many words for one album.This is Mr.Waters best solo release and well worth checking out.

Anything for a laugh

Roger Waters third solo album after leaving Pink Floyd finds him still mining the seam which created albums such as "The wall" and "The final cut". The opening guitar chords of "The Ballad of Bill Hubbard" may be by Jeff Beck, but they echo David Gilmour's familiar opening sounds, with a lilting, lazy feel. The addition of spoken word also harks back to "Dark side of the moon".

Waters is in good form though, the album having a fluidity to it which sets it apart from his previous solo efforts. His penchant for instrumental and vocal themes which gently tumble down the scales comes across in many of the tracks. "Perfect sense", "Bravery of being out of range", "Watching TV", etc., all feature this easy on the ear type of melody. The music is as ever generally doom laden, or at least downbeat, with little opportunity for a heads down boogie or anything so crude. Lyrically, the album bears the hallmark cynicism and political commentary which has become the trademark of much of his work.

Waters surrounds himself with highly accomplished musicians here, who undoubtedly serve to take the album from the potentially mediocre to a set of high quality performances. The aforementioned Jeff Beck contributes exemplary guitar work throughout, but it is PP Arnold who unquestionably steals the shown. Her intrusion on "Perfect sense" (singing a tumbling melody!) is simply breathtaking.

The contributions of other well known artists may be less striking, but they are nonetheless essential to the overall quality of the product. Andy Faithweather-Lowe, a stalwart of Water's "In the flesh", may be playing second fiddle to Beck, but his guitar playing provides a solid basis for the entire album. Don Henley (Eagles) and Rita Coolidge (singer of one of the finest of the James Bond theme songs) provide backing vocals on one track apiece.

It is perhaps Water's own contribution which is understated. Songwriter, bassist and vocalist he may be, but albums such as this with its lengthy list of supporting artists, only go to show that he is essentially a band musician and something of a fish out of water in a solo environment. This is emphasised by the occasional dip in quality control, with a couple of the tracks being overlong or simply dull. In a band situation, such indulgences would have been quickly curtailed. For example, the album appears to be concluding as "What God wants part 3" reaches its climactic conclusion, but we have a further half hour of closing tracks before the end is finally reached.

In all, a well produced, impeccably performed album. Only the occasional weakness in the song writing department prevent this from being acclaimed as a true masterpiece.

The Anti-War Concept album .

For sure, this is Waters' masterpiece - at least for me personally. Looking at the theme of this album which was dedicated to Private William Hubbard (1888 - 1917), Eighth Batalion of the Royal Fusiliers, City of London Regiment, this must be a very emotional album for Roger Waters. Who cares with what has happened in the past? At lest, Roger does! As my spiritual guru taught me: "If you wanna succeed in life, you have to understand history and learn people characters, comprehend them and take the best parts with you and know how to manage the worst parts when you deal with people with such behaviors", history means something for me. Oh yeah, I don't read a lot about history but it does not mean that I don't care about history. For one thing, Mr Waters taught me through his wonderful compositions that history does mean a lot!

Why liking this album?

It's better to start with what this album means to me. First off, when I looked at this album displayed at local music shop in Jakarta, I was in doubt on whether or not to purchase it. By the time I was not into internet heavily so the information about this album was not available for me. So I decided to buy the cassette version because it's cheap. I liked it at first spin so I purchased the CD couple of months later.

The way I see this album was very similar with Pink Floyd's "The Final Cut" and "The Wall" as it contains many reflections of what happened in the past and its meanings to life that went on. As for the Pink Floyd "The Final Cut", 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 similar experience happened to me with "Amused To Death". Having it on CD format is much better than the cassette as I can eliminate all noises. The albums starts beautifully with "The Ballad of Bill Hubbard" (4:19) in which Alf Razzell telling the story of how he had to leave the wounded Bill Hubbard behind enemy lines. What a sad story! This ambient piece is augmented wonderfully with guitar work that at first listen was like the work of David Gilmour. It's not! When I looked at the CD sleeve, it's being played by Jeff Beck. Jeff plays emotionally and in line with the music characters of this atmospheric opening track.

The stream of music flows beautifully to next track "What God Wants, Pt. 1" (6:00) in an R&B style using female and male vocals plus blues-rock guitar work. The "Perfect Sense, Pt. 1" (4:16) and "Perfect Sense, Pt. 2" (2:50) continue in the similar style. My favorite track is "It's a Miracle" (8:30) which has a very tight composition, catchy melody, excellent lyrics and great ambient.

Two things that make this album excellent: First, on vocal line, Roger delivers his best vocal range like he did with The Wall and The Final Cut where he sings in high as well as low register notes brilliantly - some with sighs. His delivery is really top notch! Second, this album offers brilliant composition where the music does not necessary being complex but it's not as simple as pop or R&B music. For example Jeff Porcaro does not need to play dazzling drum work but he's played it "just enough" to fit the music and nothing more. Observe how he plays it at "It's a Miracle" which to me sounds very simple but it gives excellent nuance for the music.

Why (you are) NOT liking this album?

If you expect something complex and challenging, this is definitely not meeting your expectations. This album is the kind of music (and story) that fits a peaceful condition because it contains reflections about life at war. As most of Pink Floyd music are not complicated at all, you should not expect something complex from this key member of Pink Floyd.

Conclusion

Overall, this album represents Roger Waters' masterpiece and it has tight composition, great vocal line by Waters and backing vocals. I really love how he sings "It's a Miracle" emotionally. It's so wonderful! "We've got a warehouse of butter / We've got oceans of wine / We've got famine when we need it / Got a designer crime / We've got Mercedes / We've got Porsche / Ferrari and Rolls Royce / We've got a choice / She said meet me / In the Garden of Gethsemane my dear .".For those who like concept album with strong story line must have this album. This also applies to all of you who love Pink Floyd. It's an excellent addition to any prog music collection. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

Five years after Waters' worst album, Radio K.A.O.S., he surprises us all with what may well be the best album of his solo career. I'd go as far as saying that Amused to Death is even much better than The Wall and The Final Cut. It's musically interesting, the underlying concept isn't filled with mindless wandering and countless characters and is such that most intelligent human beings will get the point. I'm not sure if this is what Waters had been striving all along for, or just his past experiences guided him to this wonderful gem.

Amused to Death was inspired by the book "Amusing Ourselves to Death" by Neil Postman, basically a critique of mass media culture and television. You can hear this inspiration from all of the sound effects of television programs playing in the background between songs. This theme is used effectively throughout the album causing the individual songs to take on the feel of being "television programs." Between many of the songs one can hear the sound of channels on a television being changed, thus implying each song being a "program on another channel." This tie-in is just plain genius on Waters part and he pulls it off quite nicely. Furthermore, Waters briefly throws in a theme within the overall theme, basically using animals as human counterpart analogies (on the What God Wants trilogy), very similar though not as overarching as the Animals album. You may get the initial feeling that the subject matter jumps around a bit, basically various subjects that explore Waters' disillusionment with modern human civilization. But when you consider the context, a perfect analogy would be the different news stories on a CNN program, or like mentioned before, the flipping of channels. Waters really thought this one out and like most thought-out arrangements, the listener often discovers something new with each listen. I just love albums that feature this quality.

For the musical aspect of this album, Waters brought on a long list of guests and session musicians, including the likes of Jeff Beck (who provided some really stunning guitar work), Andy Fairweather-Low, Rita Coolidge, P.P. Arnold, Jeff Porcaro, bassist Randy Jackson (the American Idol judge!), among others. For the most part, this album leans more towards AOR, but with a healthy dose of progressive leanings. Many of these songs could have been AOR radio station hits. Though not like the prog rock from the 1970s Pink Floyd, it's a vast improvement over the countless whispering vocals over minimalistic pieces of music he had done on previous albums dating back to The Wall. There are places where Waters' vocals sound strained, but for some reason (at least to me), the strained style fits him and the music nicely. The album does have many dark moments, but how could it not with this type of subject matter: war, misuse of God's name, money, power, etc.

Overall, almost a masterpiece, but indeed an excellent album. Definitely worth four stars (perhaps 4.3 would be better). Recommended to Waters fans, Pink Floyd fans, and those interested in high quality conceptual works.

Tired, overwrought and bitter, this album draws my appreciation but not my enjoyment.

WATERS still has something to say, seemingly. Although, frustratingly, his message sounds remarkably like the message he's been peddling since 1973: war, madness, politics and the comparison of humans to animals, all connected by TV sfx. Sound familiar? 'Amused to Death', while clever, covers no new ground either lyrically or musically. A star-studded cast are put through their paces, and many perform brilliantly - listen to those guitars - but only ROGER WATERS could miss the mark so badly in his estimation of what the public want. Actually, many of us would rather have something that doesn't sound like an unsubtle caricature of itself.

Speaking of sound, the rasping, broken remnants of WATERS' voice are a musical tragedy. Not only can I not stand to hear his recycled message, the voice it's delivered in is practically unlistenable. Every time I hear WATERS declaiming in that breathy spoken voice, or desperately attempting to slide towards a note, I shudder in remembrance of the disaster that was 'The Final Cut'. This is the inevitable consequence of trying to do everything yourself.

I don't mean to make it sound like I see nothing of value here. There's some nice funk, some nice art-rock and a couple of excellent solos, without coming remotely close to firing the listener's soul. And it's an impressive concept, worthy of installation in a gallery, along with a few Jackson Pollock works that really can't be distinguished from each other. There's no doubt that this album has more merit than the abysmal 'Pros and Cons' and 'Radio KAOS'. A shame, though, that such a creative man appears to have lost it so badly. ROGER WATERS is a classic example of a musician who should have remained a faceless member of a band.

Our species has amused itself to death

A very interesting social commentary by Roger Waters. Roger's fourth solo album and admittedly his best, this is a very well written concept album with a dark topic dealing with everything from war to modern society, religion and back to war. Quite interesting, especially since Roger manages to avoid being redundant by putting out some kind of The Wall Disc 4. It's quite a cynical look at things, so if you fancy yourself a very positive and upbeat person then this might not be the kind of thing for you. Roger doesn't sugar coat, but he does use some amusing commentary, one particularly fun part of the album has two football (or some other sport) commentators announcing a game of war between two countries - ''As I speak the captain now has his cross hairs zeroed in on the oil rig!''. You can tell that Roger had a lot to say simply by opening the liner notes. You don't even need to read them to see how opinionated he is... the book just keeps unfolding and unfolding and in the end it's about 2 feet long, filled with lyrics on either side. Not a bad thing of course, because Roger knows how to sing, and he clearly likes to do it, but it never seems to be overly intrusive.

Style wise we have everything that hasn't been in Pink Floyd since Roger left. Quite literally, actually, it's astonishing at points. Take The Wall and remove Gilmour's guitar and you kind of have the style of the album. There's a lot of guest musicians on the album - in fact everyone from Jeff Beck to Randy Jackson (he's on this site quite a bit isn't he?) - but none of the musicians really let loose with their talents as one would expect. Perhaps Waters tied them down and said, ''now you play this!'' as could possibly be expected, or maybe they just didn't want to take away from the overall mood of the album. The world will never know. Still, some flashy moments here and there where Jeff Beck actually kind of sounds like Gilmour for a second or two. The rest of the album is very bass driven as could be expected coming from Pink Floyd's bass player. It's a fairly midpaced album with no songs becoming overly fast or slow. We get moments of brilliance between times of tedium, but all in all the album flows very well and never loses site of it's intended target.

What makes this album great are the really angry moments. Listening to the military pace of What God Wants, Parts I - III really get the blood boiling (in a good way) and Roger's yelling of, ''give any one species too much rope and they'll f*** it up!'' really sits well with the listener (perhaps ironically). The social commentary and poking at cowardice in The Bravery of Being Out of Range (which discusses how people can sit far away and simply launch missiles at each other) makes for a great tune when mixed with some very soothing music. There's also a few sound effect parts which work very well in context with the album (explosions and what have you). The amused musing of the title track makes for the album's standout at it's coda (also the longest song on the album), as it seems that Roger was saving the best for last.

The rest is somewhat give and take as sometimes it gets a bit slow, making us wish we had that military anger back. What's redeeming about these parts is that they still contribute to the whole of the album, because really, it's not an album you can pick a song out of and listen to that one only. Roger must have designed it that way, but isn't that what prog has always been about anyways?

This one ultimately gets 3.5 wishes out of 5. A very good album which is recommended for people looking for some Floyd flavored music and for those who really enjoyed The Wall, although those who didn't might want to give this one a shot anyways. Slightly uneven but ultimately amusing, this one is recommended!