Pink Floyd Album Discussion Volume 13: The Wall

Excuse the pithy phrase (and pooping on the thread): Bloated nonsense.
 
Sure, a couple of the Gilmour contributions are excellent, but otherwise I find this a pretty unlistenable dirge of an album.
 
And whoever told Roger Waters he can sing should be the first one up against the wall when the revolution comes!

I just remembered how good this album is.

I just picked this up yesterday for nine quid. Its always twenty quid or so and the price on the back says 'was 25' and there's no way I'm paying twenty-five pounds for any album! So for nine, I had to jump on it. Just getting on it right now

The Wall to me, is a perfect example that an album shouldn't be too long.
It has a lot of great parts: The Thin Ice, Mother, Goodbye Blue Sky, Empty Spaces(Never understood why they cutted out "What shall we do now" though), One of my Terms, Don't Leave Me Now, Hey You, Anybody Out There, Nobody Home, Comfortably Numb.

But the rest.....is just not that good.

Pink Floyd made better albums ( Dark Side, Wish You Were Here, Animals and even Meddle)

By far my favourite PF album (the only three I really like are this, Meddle and Animals... I guess DSOTM's ok).  As for people complaining about how little Gilmour sings on the album...  That's a big plus for me.  I never could stand his thin, reedy voice.  I don't think either DG or RW are particularly good singers, but I'd take Waters over Gilmour any day. 

wait, neil peart slagged someone off for alienating themselves?

Yes he did.  And so the universe imploded.

ORIGINAL: Superted

wait, neil peart slagged someone off for alienating themselves?

 
No, he criticised Roger Waters for becoming consumed with writing about his alienation:
 
"I really respect Roger as an artist, but his alienation soon became his only subject...He had to write about what he cared about the most- and, unfortunately, what he cared about the most was his own alienation." (Neil Peart)

ORIGINAL: Cruithne

ORIGINAL: Superted

wait, neil peart slagged someone off for alienating themselves?

No, he criticised Roger Waters for becoming consumed with writing about his alienation:

"I really respect Roger as an artist, but his alienation soon became his only subject...He had to write about what he cared about the most- and, unfortunately, what he cared about the most was his own alienation." (Neil Peart)

 
ah, took a few reads of the quote to get it!
spose Roger waters writes from experience-i assume peart does, or hes smoking something pretty strong

Look mommy there's an airplane up in the sky.
 
 
One of the greatest musical gifts humanity has received. I believe this album
affected more people across the globe, in a very deep way, than any other album
has ever done.

So very excited about going to Ireland soon to see this played in full

Can't believe I never commented in this thread.  On any given day, my favorite PF album changes between Dark Side, WYWH, Animals and The Wall.  I still remember the first time I listened to The Wall.  It was December, 1986 and I was at Air Force basic training.  I was a few weeks in and had a weekend liberty on the base, so I went to the library and discovered that they had music there that we could listen to.  They had The Wall on reel-to-reel (how arcane).  I checked it out, took it to a listening room, set it up and put on the headphones.  It was quite the experience.
I was also fortunate enough to see the movie at the Dream Theater in Monterey, California.  They used to show it every so often and I managed to catch it while I was there.  Also very cool.

This record is absolutely breathtaking.
And it's not even in my top 5 of Pink Floyd records I think. That only tells us how AMAZING this band really is.
It is, together with "The Beatles"(White album), the greatest double-album of all time.
 
Thinking about the fact that I do not have tickets to go see this be performed this year makes want to cry. Fuck!

I somewhat echo prekambrium's statement in that this album ranks a distant third on my list behind Animals and Dark Side, so that's really all you need to know about the magnificence of the Floyd.
 
I am sorry for those who did not get to see this show over the last year or however long it's been going on now. It was worth every penny both times, and I'd go again in a heartbeat if it came back around.

Spinning side 2 now.
 
Vera.
 
I feel transported back into my room in high school with the shag carpet on the floor and on the back of my door. My Pink Floyd poster on the wall along with a freshly painted art deco mural. And a secret hole cut in the back of the closet where I kept my stash... writting lyrics for my first real band.

I fell in love with this album too late to get tickets to the live shows last year,,,, huge regret!

I hope I can articulate this thought clearly...
 
I love Floyd.  Big.  DSOTM or WYWH are my favorite albums by them.  
 
Having said that, The Wall is my favorite piece of art by them.  I know I am probably alone in this, but I don't think The Wall should be evaluated on the same terms as, say, Animals.  The comments about "musical dreck" and how "Waters can't sing" I think really miss the mark.  Not that they are necessarily wrong, but I think it is like saying "ewww, the engine room of a cruise ship is really DIRTY".  Well, yeah, but it shouldn't be viewed in the same context as the main ballroom.  If that was one album, with all the connectors and what not out, that album would suck.  I think it is more than the sum of its parts, and I think it is an almost perfect piece of art.  I think Waters' vocals make the starkness more real.  Listen to Comfortably Numb. The edge, the strain of Waters vocal is CRUCIAL to making that song work in the context of the album, because it stands in such contrast to David's more soothing (I call them "numb") vocals in the chorus. 

liquidrsr


I fell in love with this album too late to get tickets to the live shows last year,,,, huge regret!

You know Roger is touring it again this year, right? Already have my tickets for Raleigh, NC.

pellie

liquidrsr


I fell in love with this album too late to get tickets to the live shows last year,,,, huge regret!

You know Roger is touring it again this year, right? Already have my tickets for Raleigh, NC.

I'm afraid he ain't coming back to my neck of the woods again (Finland).
That ship has sailed.
And I am a sad panda 
 

Stadler


I hope I can articulate this thought clearly...

I love Floyd.  Big.  DSOTM or WYWH are my favorite albums by them.  

Having said that, The Wall is my favorite piece of art by them.  I know I am probably alone in this, but I don't think The Wall should be evaluated on the same terms as, say, Animals.  The comments about "musical dreck" and how "Waters can't sing" I think really miss the mark.  Not that they are necessarily wrong, but I think it is like saying "ewww, the engine room of a cruise ship is really DIRTY".  Well, yeah, but it shouldn't be viewed in the same context as the main ballroom.  If that was one album, with all the connectors and what not out, that album would suck.  I think it is more than the sum of its parts, and I think it is an almost perfect piece of art.  I think Waters' vocals make the starkness more real.  Listen to Comfortably Numb. The edge, the strain of Waters vocal is CRUCIAL to making that song work in the context of the album, because it stands in such contrast to David's more soothing (I call them "numb") vocals in the chorus. 

 
I totally agree. While The Wall might not be my favorite Floyd album, it is truly special. It's really hard to compare it to Dark Side or Animals. And Roger's vocals are just devastating.