Progarchives, the progressive rock ultimate discography
Pink Floyd - The Wall CD (album) cover

THE WALL

Pink Floyd

 

Psychedelic/Space Rock

4.10 | 3309 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

UMUR
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
4 stars "The Wall" is the 11th full-length studio album by UK progressive rock act Pink Floyd. The album was released through Harvest Records/EMI Records in the UK and Columbia Records in the US in November 1979.

After "Dark Side Of The Moon (1973)", "The Wall" is the most commercially successful album by Pink Floyd. The album has up until now sold around 30 million copies. The album is a concept album. The main theme is personal isolation and the title the wall is supposed to symbolize the the seperation between the main character Pink and his surroundings (family, society...etc.). The Pink character is close to being autobiographical for bassist/vocalist Roger Waters who wrote the initial concept which was reworked into the lyrics on the album. Roger Waters wrote most of the music for the album too but guitarist/vocalist David Gilmour also contributed with material. At that point the members of the band werenīt exactly friends anymore and producer Bob Ezrin was brought in to make sure that the two main songwriters Roger Waters and David Gilmour were able to work together despite their differences. Keyboard player Richard Wright left the recording sessions but returned for some of the later concerts supporting the album. This time not as a full-time member of Pink Floyd but as a hired musician.

The music on the album is quite different compared to the music on their last album "Animals (1977)", which was a very progressive and at times even experimental album. The tracks on "The Wall" are generally short and vers/chorus structured and the longer instrumental sections which were a dominant part of "Animals (1977)" are few and far between on "The Wall". The songs that are are not vers/chorus structured are usually shorter interludes or desperate sounding ballad type songs. Roger Waters sings most lead parts on the album and his distinct and desperate sounding vocals are rather original sounding but also a bit hard to appreciate in larger doses. There are some absolutely brilliant tracks on the album like "In the Flesh?", "Goodbye Blue Sky", "Hey You", "Comfortably Numb" and the orchestral and quite dramatic "The trial" but all tracks on the double vinyl/double disc CD release are high quality material.

The production is the most clean sound production an a Pink Floyd album up until then. Itīs a very professional sounding production and the music prospers greatly from the sound. Itīs also what I would call a timeless sound production, that doesnīt necessarily tell you that "The Wall" was released in 1979. It could have been released 30 years later and you would probably still think it was brilliantly produced.

"The Wall" is a classic rock album in any way possible. Itīs sold millions of copies and itīs widely regarded as a great artistic achivement and as a result it holds iconic status among many rock fans and deservedly so. "The Wall" is a one of a kind type of album and a 4.5 star (90%) rating is deserved.

UMUR | 4/5 |

MEMBERS LOGIN ZONE

As a registered member (register here if not), you can post rating/reviews (& edit later), comments reviews and submit new albums.

You are not logged, please complete authentication before continuing (use forum credentials).

Forum user
Forum password

Share this PINK FLOYD review

Social review comments () BETA







Review related links

Copyright Prog Archives, All rights reserved. | Legal Notice | Privacy Policy | Advertise | RSS + syndications

Other sites in the MAC network: JazzMusicArchives.com — jazz music reviews and archives | MetalMusicArchives.com — metal music reviews and archives

Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.