THE FINAL CUT

The Marmite of Pink Floyd albums - you either love it or hate it. I was very skeptical when I first got this album because i'd heard so many bad reviews but since I liked The Wall I thought it best to give it a go and decide for myself. And i'm very pleased I did. I'll admit it isn't in the same vain as previous Floyd efforts and by no means is it up there with Dark Side and Wish You Were Here but it can certainly stand by itself. From the moment you press play this album sets out to touch you emotionally only stopping for five minutes to shake the shit out of you with the anthemic Not Now John. Once the final notes of Not Now John fade out the acoustic twang of Two Suns in the Sunset fades in and we get arguably the best, most complete ending to a Pink Floyd album ever - a song about the Nuclear Holocaust. These aren't the only two great songs on this album though; the other two that really stand up and make you take notice are the title track, The Final Cut and The Gunner's Dream. The latter paints a beautiful picture of a winter funeral before puncturing it with some soaring but below par Roger Waters singing and a great Sax solo whereas the former could be considered an anti-love song. The rest of the album kind of washes over you, there are certainly no cringeworthy moments a la AMLOR but the other tracks don't jump at you as potential classics.

Mr. Waters may have been on one of his biggest egotrips but he was certainly producing the goods. A great album that every Pink Floyd fan should own.