THE FINAL CUT

Generally unfairly maligned by a lot of classic-era Floyd fans, TFC is often pointed as the object where Waters' power trip grew out of proportion leading to a final coup or putsch. Those un-fans regard (understandably) TFC a bit as a Waters solo album, since the remaining g two Floyd members had minimal input and not that much more executive tasks on it, Mason even losing his stool for the final track (the final cut for fans?? ;o))). The least we can say is that Water's concept is not quite as clear as it was with the Wall or Animals, the sober artwork not giving anymore hints than the album's title.

Musically, if you like The Wall, you'll find that TFC is down the same alley, but lacks the few landmarks that its predecessor had. In general Roger is less inspired than the The Wall, and it's regrettable that he chose to ignore Gilmour's input that might have this album another success, rather than being unnoticed. Another thing that does not serve the album is the terribly depressive mood and caustic humour of the lyrics (more or less an afterthought of The Wall's history) and catastrophic Nuke blast ending (Two Suns In The Sunset) that tend to suffocate the music to the point that many fans can't really remember or single out a single track of the album. Just like The Wall, the huge majority of TCF's vocals are Roger's, and his distinctive style and almost recitative delivery are miles away from Gilmour's more familiar voice. Strangely enough, the synths have disappeared and the piano (Nick Kamen) and the organ returns (Andy Bown ? brother of Alan Bown) and the sax is now played by Ravenscroft instead of Parry, while Roger's now holding the acoustic guitars (a bit normal if you're the songwriter, but reducing Gilmour's vital space furthermore. Water's detractors are usually Gilmour fans, but I'd urge them to listen to David's About Face with Not Now John in mind and let them draw their conclusion, the same could be applicable to Lapse Of Reason.

One of the problems is that Waters doesn't give us much explanation to his unclear (for me anyway) concept story and that too many moments of the album seem to be a rewritibng of The Wall, even if it is related to war in all its states: from his father's (Fletcher's Memorial Home) sacrificed life in WW2 to Roger's understandable hatred of Maggie and unilateral invasion (Bermuda, Afghanistan, Falklands, Lebanon) and the Cold Nuclear War still happening, all of these should normally endear us to sympathise Roger's plights and state of mind. On a different angle, Gilmour's musical contribution are mostly limited to some brilliant guitar interventions and solos (notably the title track, which is clearly of Wall-ian inspiration), while Mason's drumming is just what Roger ordered, as Nick was more interested at the driver's seat (racing) than the drum stool.

I doubt that those having lived the album's release in the then-context - the recession, Ronald Reagan's Star Wars program, USSR's quick succession of Brezhnev, Andropov and Tchernenko, Maggie's fight against the miner's un ion , the Malvinas/Falklands war and more, plus given that Floyd's MTV clip had nuclear explosion - I doubt they will ever be able to look at this album from a different angle and Water's sordid fixations and thoughts and future paranoid actions against his future former mates will never help either. But even those that missed the context of the album's release cannot escape it, unless discovering this album blindly, then they could compare it favourably with most of the 80's prog albums (RIO excluded). In the meantime, this is one of Floyd more difficult album and not my fave by a long shot?. But I think it's a better than anything Gilmour and the Waters-less Floyd will do in the 80's. .

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