THE WALL - LIVE IN BERLIN

Well OK , Mr. Adair says what I think so I won't make a long critic. But this had to come out as the Berlin Wall was collapsing ,and there was political recup and the original story was secondary as "BREAK DOWN THE WALL" was the dominant idea . Stick with the original studio version or better yet , try the double live "Is There Anybody Out There?" because this star-filled cast is under-rehearsed and does not do justice to the real projact.

When I got the laser disc (LD) of this show sometime in early 90s, I found the show was spectacular. Especially when the scene was opened by the government official that welcomed ROGER WATERS and his team. Well, the first act of the show I felt it was disgusting as Scorpions did "In The Flesh". Their performance did not fit the song, I think, they were overacting - especially when they performed "lip-sync" at the second part. Uughh . I almost vomit, my friend.!!! Wrong choice mr. Waters . You should not allow Scorpions to play any Floyd / Waters songs!

I also hate the performance of Joni Mitchell - uugh . her voice and performance do not go in line with the soul of the song. Disgusting. Van Morison, Paul Carrack, Cindy Lauper, The Bands also . they did not perform well. I think, if Mr WATERS sung, it would be much much much better than those pop artists. I think they don't know Floyd music well. They did not perform with their heart. They just performed for the sake of performing. Wrong decision, Mr. Waters.

What I consider spectacular was the stage design and how the musical performance was accompanied by the construction of walls that at the end was destructed, orchestration and also massive audience. It was great! I have to admit that. And .. at that time I had not heard or seen any performance as spectacular as this show. I was not alone. I had some friends who liked prog music, they considered the show was spectacular. It has the same quality as PETER GABRIEL's "Secret World Tour" and second to "Growing UP Tour" DVD. One segment that I like most is when BRYAN ADAMS and ROGER WATERS sung together under "Empty Spaces - Young Lust". Especially under high tone voice the two shout together at the end of the song "When I play my new guitar ." wow!! Great voice mannn!!!! I always repeat this track when I listen to the CD.

The other part that I like is when ROGER WATERS performed "Nobody Home - Vera". I like it very much. With the exception of Scorpions performing "In The Flesh" in lip-sync style, the rest of the songs after Vera is excellent. My all-time favorite songs as in the original THE WALL album was the last three songs "The Trial - Waiting for the Worms - Stop ". This trilogy is performed excellently!

Overall, I would recommend you to purchase the DVD (I give 4 ½ star , overall; with some notes as I describe above). For a CD format, I would rate with a three star. As far as this review, I give the rating for CD format. It's your call. Gatot Widayanto - Indonesia.

Great reason to stage this show....the Berlin wall came-a-tumbling down. Musically this is not very good but the intent and commitment of the guests is what counts and the mood of liberation for the people at the time. This was an event put onto disc and recommended for collectors only.

A Real Stinker! Even for hardcore FLOYD and WATERS fans, there is very little appeal to this 2-CD Live release. I use it alternately as either a drink coaster, or a doorstop, so I guess it is somewhat useful.

In WATERS' defense, the parts that he plays and sings on are decent. It's just all those horrible performances by the woefully under-rehearsed artists that get to you. UTE LEMPER, PAUL CARRACK and even BRYAN ADAMS' performance are passable, but you will seriously cringe when you hear many of the other FLOYD classics butchered by the likes of THE BAND, JONI MITCHELL, CYNDI LAUPER, SINEAD O'CONNOR and countless others.

WATERS organized this massive concert (attended by over 150,000+ fans) to celebrate the end of The Berlin Wall and to raise money for 'The Memorial Relief Fund' charity, and indeed a portion of the sales of these CD's went to charity. (Bear with me, since there is nothing good to say about the music, I'm trying to find some good, somewhere) In stark contrast to the Live CD's, the DVD movie version of this same concert is quite good actually. A lot of work went into this huge production, and it shows, even if the music is/was really bad! Seeing this concert puts it in a new light, and it may even allow you to appreciate the Live CD release, but probably not. I feel sorry for all the poor people who mistakenly bought this CD thinking it was the actual FLOYD studio version of "The Wall". 1/5 stars, barely...

You guys are being a bit cruel rating this as a one-star stinker to be avoided at all costs. OK, it's true that for a serious Pink Floyd fan - and especially for those loving The Wall album above anything else (don't count me in) - this is a hard one to swallow. I have nothing negative to say about the idea itself: Roger Waters performing The Wall in Berlin, one year after the tearing of the Berlin Wall, with a large cast of guest singers and players from the pop fame. I remember watching it from the TV and it was a spectacular event. Technically the playing and the stage-show worked very seamlessly all through the massive opus. The negative side of it, I think, is not the rather overblown cast in itself, but some vocal performances that really test the nerves of the Pink Floyd loyals, or anyone's nerves, for that matter. They are the reason I'm not giving a third star.

SCORPIONS are a fit choice for 'In The Flesh' numbers. CYNDI LAUPER's 'Another Brick #2' is absolutely irritating! SINEAD O'CONNOR's 'Mother' is otherwise beautiful but marred by the backing vocals of the old farts who areTHE BAND members. JONI MITCHELL is good in 'Good Bye Blue Sky', and also BRYAN ADAMS fits well to 'Young Lust'. The speaking role ("oh my God what a fabulous room!" etc) of a whore meeting Pink is horribly overacted by JERRY HALL. Waters in his leading role re-enters the stage many times throughout the story and he's doing it allright.

The second part opens with PAUL CARRACK (e.g. Mike + The Mechanics) singing 'Hey You'. That's one of the most succesful numbers here. In all the second part/disc has less guest vocalists than the first one, and thus works more safely. The Military Orchestra of the Soviet appear on 'Bring the Boys Back Home'. The multi-charasteristic 'Trial' sequence has UTE LEMPER as Pink's poisonous wife, MARIANNE FAITHFULL as his mother and THOMAS DOLBY as the schoolmaster. They all give their best, remaining very faithful to the original album's 'Trial'. The original minor epilogue 'Outside The Wall' is replaced by 'The Tide Is Turning' (a Radio K.A.O.S. song) gathering the guest vocalists together.

It goes without saying that this product cannot take the place of PINK FLOYD's The Wall (studio album, live album or the film), nor is it actually recommended to a Floyd fan, but it was a memorable event where rock and Europe's history met. "Tear down the Wall!"

I personally didn't care much for the original The Wall album, giving it a rating of three stars. It had some good material, but was excessively overdone and longer than it needed to be resulting in endless CD-skipping filler. Now with the dismantling of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Waters obviously saw a commercial opportunity to perform The Wall live at the remnants of the Berlin Wall. Clearly the bulk of the storyline of The Wall has nothing to do with the Berlin Wall. It is probably only at the ending through the lines of "tear down the wall" do the two have somewhat of a similar yet vague meaning, chiefly dealing with the concept of the problems of building up walls between us. Yes, at its simplest, this is the only connection they have. However, I believe there were some charitable reasons for the concert, so I can't knock the idea completely. One of those "take the good with the bad" situations.

I guess to make the performance more palatable for public consumption, Waters invited numerous 1980s pop stars to make guest appearances. These included the Scorpions, Cyndi Lauper, Thomas Dolby, Paul Carrack, the Hooters, Sinéad O'Connor, Bryan Adams among others. Not the biggest names, but enough to catch the attention of the mainstream music media. Indeed, I believe 300,000 or more showed up to the concert, with many millions watching it on TV. Unfortunately, at best, the performance is mediocre. The guest stars rarely fit their roles well in the character portrayals or the songs they performed. O'Connor singing on Mother was a misfit at best, though she does have a beautiful voice. The overall feel to me was a transformation of the "Pink Floyd" Wall into an almost 1980s pop version/Radio K.A.O.S.-ized version of The Wall. In other words, rubbish.

Definitely for collectors and Roger Waters fans only. Two stars.

Nothing compares to. . . the DVD

It has to be said right up front that the only way to experience this concert is to get the DVD. While my review of that release is critical of the way the film is directed, it would be impossible for it to completely fail to capture the sheer scale and spectacle of the event.

Heard in an audio only environment, the short-comings of the project become all too evident. Instead of Pink Floyd performing one of their most respected albums, we have Cindi Lauper, Sinead O'Connor, Joni Mitchell and Van Morrison among countless others. There is no doubt about the credentials of such artists in their own fields, but here they are like fish out of Water. Morrison's rendition of "Comfortably numb" belies both his own legendary status and the songs place at the top of any list of Pink Floyd's finest achievements. The impression is gained that he really does not know the song at all, and that he is far from comfortable delivering it. On the other hand, Bryan Adams has clearly immersed himself in his role, to the extent that "Young lust" sounds like it has been lifted from one of his albums.

With the fine Pink Floyd live album "Is there anybody out there" capturing the essence of "The Wall" perfectly, there really was no need for this gig to have been released on CD. The only redeeming virtue is that the profits from sales were destined for a good cause.

Great DVD, oh wait, this is only the CD, so, not that great.

Sometimes, several artists have decided to release a concert for both, you viewing and listening pleasure, I mean, as a CD and as a DVD, sometimes both are equally good but sometimes there is a huge difference, like in this one.

You may remember Roger Waters played a complete The Wall show in 1990 with some guest artists, and he decided to put in on video and give a really entertaining and amazing show, now that I know he will be touring again playing The Wall, I really hope he comes to Mexico City because witnessing a show like that I bet would be something unforgettable; returning to the point, there is a huge difference here if you decide to watch the DVD, you will enjoy the show, you may feel part of the Wall's characters and sing along with the guests, but if you decide to only listen to the audio CD, then you may feel disappointed, and even bored.

For those who don't know, in this concert there are some guests artist who are (or were) famous at the time, such as Cindy Lauper, Bryan Adams, the beautiful Sinead O'Connor, Joni Mitchell or Paul Carrack among others, each and everyone of them giving a piece of themselves to the song(s) they performed, does not sound very attractive actually, but if you watch the DVD you will be pleased, though if you only listen to the CD you will want your money back.

If you like The Wall, you may try this, not bad at all, but if you don't like that album in particular, neither Pink Floyd, then, for God's sake do not buy this.

I recommend watching the DVD first, before you decide to get this CD. My final grade 2 stars, anyway?

Enjoy it!

I have rated 2 stars only The Pros and Cons of Hitch-Hiking and to be honest this live version of the wall is not that valid. I watched it on TV in real time and it was a so big disappointment that I couldn't imagine how this stinky stuff could have been later released on CD or VHS. Later I heard that some of the artists dubbed their performances in studio, as the live exhibition was too poor.

There have been a couple of good moments, unexpectedly the most rock: In the Flesh played by the Scorpions was an excellent and promising introduction, but unfortunately we had to wait for Bryan Adams and Young Last to hear something else decently executed.

Sinead O'Connor is not a bad singer and her performances in Wright's Broken China are excellent, but the way she interpreted Mother was ridicolous. I still don't understand what Cindy Lauper, who's one of tho few pop artists of the 80s that I don't dislike too much, was doing there. Van Morrison was completely out of the stage, like he was playing on a different gig and nobody should be allowed to destroy a masterpiece like Comfortably Numb.

Waters himself appeared in a bad shape. His only good moment on stage was on One of My Turns, the rest is forgettable.

Playing The Wall live on the ruins of the Berlin Wall appeared to be a good idea, Waters was actually obsessed by war and his project didn't look so bad on the paper, but the only thing that The Wall has in common with Berlin's Wall is just the wall.

The show is closed by "The Tide Is Turning" from Radio K.A.O.S. with all the guests on the stage. It looked like a new year's day celebration. Where the trumpets are?

Forget it. It doesn't have any value, neither historical.

Review Nº 457

"The Wall - Live In Berlin" is the debut live album of Roger Waters as a solo artist. It was recorded by Roger Waters and was taken from a live show made with numerous guest artists. As its name indicates, it was based on the eleventh Pink Floyd studio album "The Wall", released in 1979. As we know, "The Wall" was an album largely written by Roger Waters during his years as a Pink Floyd member. The live show was held in Berlin on 21 July 1990, to commemorate a very important historical world event, the fall of the Berlin Wall occurred eight months before. A live album of this concert was released in September 1990, and a video of the concert was also commercially released precisely in the same year.

Personally, I have the two versions of this live show, the CD and the DVD versions. So, I'm going to make two reviews of this live show. However, as they cross itself one with another and are completely linked, I'm going to make both reviews as one being a complement of the other. So, in this review I'm going to write more about the music and the protagonists of this show, saving for the DVD the place and the concept of it. So, if you want you can read both reviews.

Initially, Roger Waters tried to get great and very well known guest musicians like Peter Gabriel, Bruce Springsteen and Eric Clapton but or they were either unavailable or turned it down. By the other hand, if both, Rod Stewart who was to sing "Young Lust" and Joe Cocker were originally confirmed to appear, when the original planned concert date was modified, the new date found both them unavailable too. On the other side, it seems that Roger Waters also stated that David Gilmour could play guitar on the show. However, either because Roger Waters never have invited David Gilmour, or he declined that invitation, soon it became clear that David Gilmour wasn't going to participate on the concert too.

So, in the end, Roger Waters had to bring some other guest artists, the artists that were available, including Rick Danko, Levon Helm and Garth Hudson of The Band, The Hooters, Van Morrison, Sinead O'Connor, Cindy Lauper, Marianne Faithfull, Scorpions, Joni Mitchell, Paul Carrack, Thomas Dolby and Bryan Adams, along with the actors Albert Finney, Jerry Hall, Tim Curry and Ute Lemper. Leonard Cheshire opened the live concert by blowing a World War II whistle.

Besides them, Roger Waters had the following band, The Bleeding Heart Band: Joe Chemay, Jim Farber, Jim Haas and John Joyce (backing vocals), Rick DiFonzo and Snowy White (lead guitars), Andy Fairweather Low (guitar and bass), Nick Glenny Smith (keyboards), Peter Wood (keyboards) and Graham Broad (drums). The concert also featured The East Berlin Radio Orchestra, The East Berlin Radio Choir and The Military Orchestra of the Soviet Army.

The music here is very faithful to the original Pink Floyd's album. It's true that here we don't have the real Pink Floyd band, but the various artists on this live show performed the songs along with Roger Waters each lending their own touch of understanding to his lyrics. The sound is incredible good with the added choir and the orchestra unfolding the rock written songs into the beautiful melodies that I and my friends could hear so many years ago. As we listened to the album, obviously a conceptual piece and it was shown here in all its beauty but still having that edge. The final result is a very powerful live album and where the sound editing is very good and beautiful. This is truly a classic piece, really.

Great was also the performance of the many musicians on stage. The two guitarists of The Bleeding Heart Band held up well the solos throughout the concert, even if both of them could not certainly compete with David Gilmour, just like the keyboardist and the drummer could not compete with Richard Wright and Nick Mason, still, they all managed to do a very decent work without trying to copy the peculiar style of the Pink Floyd members. In general, all guest artists are competent too. The Rundfunk Orchestra and choir helped creating a very solid accompaniment from the beginning to the end, especially throughout the most delicate passages. The Marching band of the Combined Soviet Forces in Germany lent a hand as well and made the musical atmosphere of the concert to be particularly powerful and glorious.

Conclusion: "The Wall" is a great album and it's also, in my humble opinion, one of the best conceptual albums ever made. It's also one of the most known progressive rock albums in the world, helping Pink Floyd to be the most known progressive rock band in the world. It's true that "The Wall - Live In Berlin" is far from to be a perfect album, especially due to the choice of several guest artists, which wasn't perhaps the best. But, we must understand this isn't properly a normal live album from a band. We have to consider this album celebrates a very important and significant moment in the history of those days. The criticism "The Wall - Live In Berlin" isn't a true team effort is, for me, irrelevant. Besides, we know that "The Wall" represents very much to Roger Waters and that "The Wall" was almost a personal bet of him and represents, in a certain way, his little baby. Concluding, and despite some weak points, "The Wall - Live In Berlin" remains, for me, an excellent live album with some great musical moments. So, I really can recommend it to all people.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)