THE FINAL CUT

I used to think The Wall was a deeper and overall better album, but after being more familiar with The Final Cut, I hear it as a more sophisticated album musically, and lyrically much more effective as an anti-war statement. The orchestrations are very tasteful, and are a very important part of not just the sound, but the compositions, and the album as a whole has a quieter, more reserved feel, but when it rocks, it really rocks, and it does get very loud in places. (There is something to the holophonic effect, for those interested in that aspect of the production.) Also, about the loud, rocking sections, there is more of a focus on sound texture than there was on The Wall, as much as there already was on that album... but listen to the mixing and just the sounds in general on "The Hero's Return" and "Not Now John" for an example... What really makes the album as great as it is, though, are that Waters' lyrics have moved into a new realm, and even just reading them, you can tell you're listening to a genius who is deeply concerned about the world, and knows how to connect to many different types of people emotionally through his songs. It's a very fluid album, and there are a few songs that always stand out in my mind, like the title track (with some of Waters' most emotional singing, and a very great and much overlooked guitar solo from Gilmour), and "The Fletcher Memorial Home", but every song is very good, and "Two Suns In the Sunset" is about the best way to end an album as serious and unpredectable as "The Final Cut." The album was issued on CD, but I would recommend looking for either the vinyl or one of the early CD's with the tracklisting that's listed here on PA, as the later versions place "When The Tigers Broke Free" (also a good song) in between "One of the Few" and "The Hero's Return", interrupting a very smooth transition that I always thought was one of the best parts of the album. I don't know if that was a decision made by Pink Floyd or the record company, and I can understand why they would add it as a bonus track, as the song does sound more like The Final Cut than The Wall, but I think it would have been better placed at the beginning or end, seeing as how The Final Cut was already a masterpiece the way it was orginally recorded.