I'm not as well-versed in this group's records as I may should be- maybe knowing that Syd Barrett lost his mind to drugs fronting them and Waters seems to have lost his to right-wing politics have obscured my feelings.
I appreciate this David, because I went through various stages of tackling the latter issue in this post. The original first draft was over 3k words long and I forced myself to cut it down. Eventually, the music had to come before the culture war stuff, though it doesn’t make Waters’ BS any less gross.
Gilmour's stellar playing aside, I don't consider The Wall a complete Floyd album. There's too much imbalance between Waters' vision and writing and the band's contributions. Richard Wright's firing early in the sessions opened up the project to Michael Kamen and other guests who further undermined any band dynamic that might have existed. With Dark Side of the Moon, the band provided an effective complement or counterbalance to the songwriting, but the music on the Wall simply echoes, enables and exclaims' Waters' ideas. I'd rather listen to lesser Floyd like More or Obscured By The Clouds where the music had equal claim on the tracks.
A fair assessment right there. The back and forth after The Wall between Floyd/Rogers and Wright ended in lawsuits too, so it's not like there was much of a mea culpa. Thanks for sharing!
Nice write up on an album that was ubiquitous in the early to mid 80's.
Don't pretend it has any applicability for anyone else, but while being a big fan of Pink Floyd in general, I've never had much interest in this album. Saw the film, have the book, heard it all the way through several times as a teen while hanging out, talking shit, smoking dope, but the bleakness of it all, and the near-absence of the spaciness which Rick Wright brought to the table for Floyd leaves me with an almost complete lack of interest.
The contrast between Ummagumma--where each member was given a half side to do whatever the hell he wanted--and The Wall, where the Pink Floyd collective had become completely subsumed to the Waters Vision, is literally night and day. It had been a space-rock GROUP that functioned as such; it became a thing that worked basically based on who had been sucking up to Waters recently.
Wish You Were Here had some darkness, Animals was in fact dark, but The Wall, it always seemed to me, was just depressing. And there's a market for that, but it doesn't include me.
I could go on about Water's deeply troubling antisemitism which--what do you know--does seem to germinate with The Wall, but I shouldn't: this is an album I've only heard all the way through a couple or three times. I'm not an expert and don't let me stop you. Decide for yourself. But I don't see myself ever buying this, downloading it, what have you.
One thing I might say to David Perlmutter is that I don't think Waters' is a right wing antisemitism; it is a left-wing one. Very very very far left.
Thanks for commenting! I appreciate all perspectives on this record. I’ll admit that I had a harder time getting through a front-to-back listen for the purposes of this write-up. But glad I did in the end though.
I’ve always loved this album as well as the accompanying film in which I thought Geldof was excellent. Of course, there’s self-indulgence here as to be expected from fabulously rich rockers. But there were so many themes in this album and in parts of The Final Cut that resonated with me deeply in my late teens and early twenties when I was listening to both albums regularly.
Although controversial, I have always found Pink Floyd to be overrated. Your writing, as ever, is brilliant, but I have tried several times over the years to like them, but no album makes an impact. Sorry.
I'm not as well-versed in this group's records as I may should be- maybe knowing that Syd Barrett lost his mind to drugs fronting them and Waters seems to have lost his to right-wing politics have obscured my feelings.
I appreciate this David, because I went through various stages of tackling the latter issue in this post. The original first draft was over 3k words long and I forced myself to cut it down. Eventually, the music had to come before the culture war stuff, though it doesn’t make Waters’ BS any less gross.
I think I'm more interested in the Barrett era; '60s music is awesome.
It is indeed awesome 👏
Gilmour's stellar playing aside, I don't consider The Wall a complete Floyd album. There's too much imbalance between Waters' vision and writing and the band's contributions. Richard Wright's firing early in the sessions opened up the project to Michael Kamen and other guests who further undermined any band dynamic that might have existed. With Dark Side of the Moon, the band provided an effective complement or counterbalance to the songwriting, but the music on the Wall simply echoes, enables and exclaims' Waters' ideas. I'd rather listen to lesser Floyd like More or Obscured By The Clouds where the music had equal claim on the tracks.
A fair assessment right there. The back and forth after The Wall between Floyd/Rogers and Wright ended in lawsuits too, so it's not like there was much of a mea culpa. Thanks for sharing!
Nice write up on an album that was ubiquitous in the early to mid 80's.
Don't pretend it has any applicability for anyone else, but while being a big fan of Pink Floyd in general, I've never had much interest in this album. Saw the film, have the book, heard it all the way through several times as a teen while hanging out, talking shit, smoking dope, but the bleakness of it all, and the near-absence of the spaciness which Rick Wright brought to the table for Floyd leaves me with an almost complete lack of interest.
The contrast between Ummagumma--where each member was given a half side to do whatever the hell he wanted--and The Wall, where the Pink Floyd collective had become completely subsumed to the Waters Vision, is literally night and day. It had been a space-rock GROUP that functioned as such; it became a thing that worked basically based on who had been sucking up to Waters recently.
Wish You Were Here had some darkness, Animals was in fact dark, but The Wall, it always seemed to me, was just depressing. And there's a market for that, but it doesn't include me.
I could go on about Water's deeply troubling antisemitism which--what do you know--does seem to germinate with The Wall, but I shouldn't: this is an album I've only heard all the way through a couple or three times. I'm not an expert and don't let me stop you. Decide for yourself. But I don't see myself ever buying this, downloading it, what have you.
One thing I might say to David Perlmutter is that I don't think Waters' is a right wing antisemitism; it is a left-wing one. Very very very far left.
Thanks for commenting! I appreciate all perspectives on this record. I’ll admit that I had a harder time getting through a front-to-back listen for the purposes of this write-up. But glad I did in the end though.
I’ve always loved this album as well as the accompanying film in which I thought Geldof was excellent. Of course, there’s self-indulgence here as to be expected from fabulously rich rockers. But there were so many themes in this album and in parts of The Final Cut that resonated with me deeply in my late teens and early twenties when I was listening to both albums regularly.
Thanks for sharing Mark! I don’t fall completely on that side of the aisle but I can appreciate it for sure. 👍
Although controversial, I have always found Pink Floyd to be overrated. Your writing, as ever, is brilliant, but I have tried several times over the years to like them, but no album makes an impact. Sorry.
To each their own Jon. 😊 I respect going against the grain. Appreciate your support and comment, as always.
A great album from the band (but my favourite is split between DSotM and Atom Heart Mother - that one is truly under appreciated.
Thanks for reading Bryan!
I recently ranked all 15 studio albums by Pink Floyd and The Wall fell in at #9. In my opinion, Animals is the last great PF album - and my #1!