THE FINAL CUT

I remember when this album came out and Rolling Stone Magazine gave it a five star review. So I went out and bought it. Though I could sense the genius and power of the story being told by Roger Waters about his father's World War II service--and I cannot fault the pristine production, the album seemed to lack something. Cohesion. Flow. Floyd's usual walls of synths. The album was stark and in your face--and all Waters. Yeah, Gilmour got to play two awesome solos, in "Your Possible Pasts" and "The Fletcher Memorial Home" and there are tons of the usual recorded effects/incidental tracks that have by now become an integral part of the Pink Floyd sound and even expected from the band--but by now they're all familiar and old. And a lot of the melodies and catchy instrumental riffs are old--borrowed from previous albums. Still, this is by no means a bad or even poor album. It's just a bit . . . whiney.

Favorite songs: "The Hero's Return" (2:57) (9/10); "Two Suns in the Sunset" (5:15) (8/10), "Your Possible Pasts" (4:23) (8/10), and; "Not Now John" (5:02) (8/10).

3.5 stars rated up for amazing production and powerful story.