The Wall

Alnico

It's come back around again, i knew it would.

I haven't played it in anger since i was in my cab 18 months ago and the title track came on, i've just got a new strat, compressor and delay pedal and, well one thing led to another and now the album is back on the daily playlist.

I had genuinely this time forgotten just how good this is.
I've also got the live version at earls court, 1980 and that's just as good.

My Father introduced me to this and The Wall was the first album i remember along with Wish You Were Here. He used to call it "Wonderfully simple music, wonderfully arranged and played perfectly".

I call it "Timeless".
(My Dad's daft 'Dad Joke' used to be to follow me saying that with "Yes because that one is on Dark Side of the Moon !" - Miss you Man !)

Veganic

Bob Ezrin's finest work.

Discuss.

richardhomer

My 14 year old son has discovered it on Spotify (whatever that is) - and loves it.

Gilmour once described it as 'a bit of a winge'. That's my opinion too....

stickyfiddle

It's a bloody good sounding whinge...  

richardhomer

stickyfiddle said:

It's a bloody good sounding whinge...  

I always thought it was a bit like The White Album - it would have made a much better single album. I know serious Floyd fans seem to consider it their best work - I suspect I'm just not enough of a Waters fan to 'really' get it.

Gassage

It is one of the few albums that you need to listen to at some point in precisely the correct running order.

Alnico

It's probably worth mentioning that i am a massive Roger Waters fan and not much into Floyd post '84.
I like some of it, the odd song but that's all.

lustycourtier

Gassage said:

It is one of the few albums that you need to listen to at some point in precisely the correct running order.

Its why PF don't work as a 'best of' band. You expect songs to follow on and they don't. I can't say Ive listened to the wall in 10 years tbh, but Ill give it a spin today

Gassage

lustycourtier said:

Gassage said:

It is one of the few albums that you need to listen to at some point in precisely the correct running order.

Its why PF don't work as a 'best of' band. You expect songs to follow on and they don't. I can't say Ive listened to the wall in 10 years tbh, but Ill give it a spin today

Agreed.

Their shortest ever single was 7.55mins long.

ICBM

I think it's a masterpiece, not in any way too long, and has to be listened to fully in the right order - taking songs (even ABITW or Comfortably Numb) out in isolation removes some of what it's about.

It's not something I can listen to unless I'm in the right frame of mind though - it's too powerful and personal. In my opinion Gilmour describing it as a 'bit of a whinge' means he never really got it - despite clearly knowing Waters far better than I ever will and contributing some of its best musical parts.

He also didn't get The Final Cut at all, which in my opinion contains possibly Waters' greatest writing. Gilmour said that the songs were ones that "weren't good enough" for The Wall, whereas I think they simply didn't fit - the narrative of TFC is slightly different from The Wall. (Shoehorning When The Tigers Broke Free into The Final Cut on the re-release doesn't really work either - it needs to be either at the start of The Wall, or the start of TFC.)

It has to be said that I'm clearly a Waters fan rather than a PF fan though - I've never really liked the Syd Barrett period at all, and I don't like "Pink Floyd" after Waters left either. Although I do like Wish You Were Here a lot, and that's probably the least Waters album in the middle period.

DesVegas

We don't need no education - yes you do as you've just used a double negative

fftc

The Final Cut is better!

Alnico

Whilst we're discussing the pre-post Waters thing, i have to say the 'Lost for Words' isn't just the finest Post-Waters song for me but lyrically it's the best actual song i've ever heard, or at least one the top few. It's as mature and refined as it could be and though maybe sounds basic at first, once i paid attention to the words and listened it struck me how poetic and powerful it really is. 
It's maybe relevant that I seem to remember it was written about the relationship between the two of them ?

ICBM

DesVegas said:

We don't need no education - yes you do as you've just used a double negative

Point



























missed.

fftc said:

The Final Cut is better!

I think it probably is too - although for me it's always been somewhat spoiled by the last two tracks. But the best of it is better.

I also think Amused To Death might be, which Waters himself seems to think.

Gassage

The Final Cut is a RW solo album effectively.

Ironically it has some of David's best work on it.

As with all these things, DG + RW, NM and RW2 together are a figure greater than the sum of the parts.

ICBM

Gassage said:

The Final Cut is a RW solo album effectively.

Ironically it has some of David's best work on it.

As with all these things, DG + RW, NM and RW2 together are a figure greater than the sum of the parts.

Agreed.

The frustrating thing about Gilmour and The Final Cut is that the song he plays best on is The Fletcher Memorial Home, which although not bad is far from the best song on the album - although he's also good on the title track, which is one of the best. The real power of that album is the first side though, and Southampton Dock.

bbill335

The Wall live album is where it's at for me. The studio version feels like about 1 1/2 sides of good stuff stretched out to fill 2, but it all makes more sense live. It's theatre more than rock music.

Gassage

bbill335 said:

The Wall live album is where it's at for me. The studio version feels like about 1 1/2 sides of good stuff stretched out to fill 2, but it all makes more sense live. It's theatre more than rock music.

I remember covering In the Flesh as a segue intro to ABITII live- amazing fun.

Tone71

According to Wikepedia PF had the choice The Wall or Pros and Cons of Hitchiking, both massively similar, I would love to have heard DG on Pros and Cons and Mr Clapton on The Wall.

The Final Cut is excellent but hard going, still one of my favorites though and I think the three albums entwine nicely.

UnclePsychosis

Gassage said:

It is one of the few albums that you need to listen to at some point in precisely the correct running order.

The correct running order is as fast as possible, in the opposite direction to the stereo where some misguided soul has put it on. Run fast enough and you won't hear more than a second or two. 

Chuffola

Gassage said:

Agreed.

Their shortest ever single was 7.55mins long.

Really? Another Brick in the Wall Pt 2 was around 4 mins surely?  Or did I miss something...