IN THE FLESH - LIVE

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 Death", both of which far surpass those on the studio album, although I wanted most to hear "What God Wants" (but alas, it is not in this set). This live album is also notable for the new song "Each Small Candle", which is pretty good although not quite in the same league as his best (of which "Every Strangers Eyes" is among - a great song, and well done here). Of the Floyd material here, the Dark Side stuff suffers from a lack of Gilmour. The Wall material does better, but one still misses Gilmour's guitar and voice on "Comfortably Numb" and also on "Dogs". I am not sure those two should have been included here. Both "Welcome to the Machine" and "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" are great though, with a jazzed-up production, leading to some excellent solos (very similar arrangements to his Pros and Cons of Hitchkinging tour with Eric Clapton). However, the real old-Floyd gem here, quite unexpectedly, is "Shine On you Crazy Diamond". Despite no Wright or Gilmour, or Mason, the piece does very well. Part of the reason is the excellent sound quality, which allows for the quiet parts, especially the bell-like guitar notes near the begining, to really shine. In fact, the sound quality makes even the more lacklustre tunes (like "Breath") pretty decent (and thankfully those are brief). So, while on the surface this might not seem like a compelling set, after multiple listens I find it quite musical and a great addition to the Floyd/Waters catalogue. It reaches excellence most of the time, but is not essential. I give it a straight 8.0 out of 10 on my 10-point scale, which translates to (low) 4 PA stars.

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