November 30, 1979 - The Wall

Almost two months after my last release and nearly three years since "Animals" in January of '77, Pink Floyd released their eleventh studio album "The Wall" on November 30, 1979. It is a double album and it's also a concept album centered around fictitious rocker Pink. Bassist Roger Waters conceived of the idea and continued his dominance over the band's writing both musically and lyrically as only three of the 26 songs gave credit to someone other than Waters. The tour for "Animals" was Pink Floyd's first to be held in large stadiums and Waters hated this as he claimed their shows became a social event and most people didn't actually seem to care about the music. He came up with the idea to build a wall between the stage and the audience and this spurned him on to come up with the grand concept for "The Wall". It's a very complex and amazingly written story and would end up being regarded as one of the best albums ever made but Waters' absolute control over everything led to tensions between him and the rest of the band, especially Richard Wright, who wished to contribute to the music but Waters wouldn't allow it. Wright would end up quitting the band near the end of the recording process and this would therefore be the final Pink Floyd album with this line-up. That is a very sad thing to hear indeed, but let's listen to their final masterpiece before we mourn!

This album kicks off with "In The Flesh?" and we hear a quiet "came in" along with a very quiet opening that almost sounds like an accordion. Nick Mason's drums and David Gilmour's guitar enter suddenly and start up a rather heavy main riff. The drums sound pretty good and Gilmour's guitar sounds great! Wright adds some synths to complete this epic riff and after a slow build they play the chorus riff led by some nice guitar by Gilmour. Mason has plenty of good drum fills as he sounds great on this track and Wright's organ echoes the main guitar riff. Waters finally comes in on lead vocals and his voice fits the mood well. I like the line "if you wanna find out what's behind these cold eyes, you'll just have to claw your way through this disguise" and after Roger delivers it they resume the catchy chorus. Waters rambles overtop and this leads into the ending where we hear loud airplanes and other sounds of war. It gets quiet at the very end and the cry of a baby segues into the next song "The Thin Ice". "Mama loves her baby" is the first line sung, this time with Gilmour on vocals as Wright plays some slow but nice piano to lead this sad song. David's voice sounds great as always and after some oohing a new piano bit backs a new verse sung by Waters. I think Gilmour is a better singer overall but Waters' voice does fit some of these odder songs nicely. At the end of his verse they move into a really nice slow breakdown and Gilmour delivers some great lead guitar. I love this slow solo as David plays some great stuff and his final note extends into the next song, "Another Brick In The Wall, Part 1". Waters plays a nice backing bass riff that keeps the beat as Gilmour plays some cool guitar. Waters sings this song as well and I think he sounds pretty good on this one. After every line Gilmour gives us a little guitar flash and this song has a very nice vibe to it. "All in all it was all just bricks in the wall". That's the end of the vocals for this song as Gilmour continues his nice lead guitar over this cool backing riff. We do hear some voices in the background, including children playing but it all sounds pretty interesting as Waters plays some solid bass as well. Wright adds some epic droning synths that sound pretty cool and like most of the songs on this album this flows seamlessly into the next track "The Happiest Days Of Our Lives". The only thing that even let's you know you've changed songs is the sound of a helicopter in the background. It grows louder until it takes over and we hear Waters say in a very Scottish accent "You! Yes You! Stand still laddy!" and things kick right into a riff that's similar to the last song, but also is doing it's own thing. Waters bass sounds pretty good and he sings in a low voice on this one that sounds decent about teachers who loved to hurt their students at school. This is one of the traumas that Pink endured that is just another brick in his metaphorical wall. Waters returns to his normal voice for a few lines and things move into a happier vibe and Mason plays some more solid drums. This part climaxes at the point where the next song begins as we hear a loud yell that both ends this song and begins "Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2". "We don't need no education, we don't need no thought control". Waters and Gilmour sing together some simple but powerful lyrics and Gilmour plays some cool guitar to carry this verse. Waters sounds very British on this song I think and he does the "hey! Teacher!" part well while Gilmour continues his great guitar playing. After the chorus we hear just Mason for a few seconds before they repeat the exact same verse, only this time it's sung by a whole class of children! The message is certainly better coming from the kids and they too sound very British. This would seem like a weird choice, but it actually sounds pretty good as the children take us through the verse and chorus. Waters continues his solid backing bass riff and Gilmour goes off for one hell of a guitar solo. As he does so well, it's not like he's shredding his guitar but he plays all the right notes at the right time: h goes slow and smooth and also ramps it up for a really nice solo. At the end of the solo we hear the children playing once more and Waters resumes his Scottish accent for some hilarious rambling to finish out this song. I love how he sounds so taken aback when he says "How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?!" It's a very strange ending indeed that slowly fades out as we hear what sounds like an old phone off the hook. The first side ends with "Mother" and Waters plays the acoustic guitar that drives this sad riff as well as sings the vocals. He asks his overprotective mother several questions in this slow verse and the acoustic sounds really nice. "Mother do you think they'll try to break my balls?" is just one of the many lines that sticks out and Wright adds some cool light keyboards to the mix. Gilmour sings the next verse very nicely and once he's done goes off for a nice slow guitar solo. Wright's piano sounds good as well and it sticks around as Waters resumes vocal duties for the next verse. They repeat the same formula as Gilmour takes over for another verse, singing about how mama screens all his girlfriends and things quiet right down for the final line, "mother did it need to be so high?" This was a pretty great first side with lots of interesting stuff!

Side two kicks off with "Goodbye Blue Sky", sung by Gilmour. It opens with birds chirping and we hear a young boy say "look mommy, there's an aeroplane up in the sky" before Gilmour's guitar comes in to make a nice soft riff. He leads the wah with some nice guitar and Wright plays some very ominous keyboards that sound very dark indeed! Gilmour sings some nice oohing vocals at first and then moves into some faster vocals that sound really nice. They repeat this process again and Gilmour sings a high-pitched chorus part that sounds pretty good before it quiets down again. It moves right into the next track, "Empty Spaces" and Waters is back on lead vocals. It's a short song with a trippy background made by Wright's keyboards and some faint guitar. After a slow beginning the guitar becomes louder and takes over while the trippy noises continue. Waters plays some cool bass that segues into the only verse a he sings some slow lyrics that fit the mood nicely. This verse leads directly into the next track "Young Lust" which is one of the songs credited to both Waters and Gilmour. It's the latter who sings this song and his voice and guitar sound great right from the get-go. Waters' bass sounds good as well and Wright adds some nice synths to make this pretty sweet main riff. Gilmour's guitar is the driving force but everything sounds good as they move into a catchy chorus. It's easy to remember and sounds great which is why this would be another successful single. They resume the verse and Gilmour's voice sounds amazing on this song as he sings passionately. After another chorus it's time for a guitar solo and as usual Gilmour plays some awesome stuff. Wright and Waters both play some cool stuff in the background as well but it's David's show as his solo leads right back into another chorus. They continue to jam out this main beat as it very slowly fades out and we hear a phone once again, but this time there's an answer. We hear an operator trying to get a hold of Pink for a phone call but he just keeps hanging up. The sound of the phone off the hook connects us to the next song "One Of My Turns" as Wright plays a keyboard note to mimic the noise and we hear a a door slam. Pink has brought a roadie back to his place and we hear her describe a very lavish apartment with several guitars and lots of other riches. Pink turns on the T.V. as we hear it in the background while she checks out the place. Wright plays some interesting synths and after she asks "are you feeling okay?" Waters begins singing a soft verse. He sounds pretty good as he leads this verse and Wright continues his epic synths. Mason's drums cue a shift in the mood as the pace picks up and they move into a more standard rock riff with some nice guitar and piano. I like Waters half-yelling vocals in this part as he does a good job singing over this cool new riff. Wright plays some excellent piano and after the verse Gilmour gives us a short but pretty sweet guitar solo before Waters wraps things up with a "why are you running away?" as he holds the "away" for a long time, leading into the next song "Don't Leave Me Now". It's driven by some slow keyboards by Wright that sound very dark and Gilmour adds some echo-y guitar. Waters is on lead vocals for the rest of this side and he sings in a high-pitched voice and does a good job at sounding desperate. He strains his voice on a few notes as he's giving it his all while Wright continues to carry the tune with some cool keyboards. This one is certainly slow paced but they move into a nice slow rock beat for the final minute with nice contributions from everyone as they bring this almost to the end. We hear the sound of flipping through radio stations and a scream from Waters connects right into the next song, "Another Brick In The Wall, Part 3". We hear some smashing noises at the beginning of this very short song before Waters sings a verse that fits right into the melody from the first two parts. It's only just over a minute long but it's a nice reprise for this cool riff and it still sounds pretty great. After the chorus it leads into the final song on this side "Goodbye Cruel World" which spends about half of the song just fading out the previous riff. We finally get to just Waters as he plays a slow couple bass notes and sings what sounds like his suicide note. It sounds pretty sad and his last "goodbye" does sound very final as this pretty incredible ride of a disc comes to an end.

The second disc and third side begins with "Hey You", another successful single with both Waters and Gilmour singing. Gilmour plays a nice guitar riff that sounds pretty epic and Waters bass sounds pretty sweet as well. Wright adds some eerie piano to the mix and together this all sounds very cool. Gilmour comes in to sing the first verse and he sounds pretty great as usual. After the first few lines Mason finally joins in with some nice drumming and Gilmour continues to lead another solid verse. After this verse we hear a nice instrumental part with Waters playing a nice backing track while Gilmour goes off for a brilliant little solo that sounds so good! Waters takes over vocals after the solo and Gilmour plays some nice acoustic culminating in the line "and the worms ate into his brain" before they resume the main riff once more. It sounds pretty dark, and pretty awesome I think as Waters sings the final verse in his exaggerated voice. His last two words "we fall" echo over and over and fade right into the next track "Is There Anybody Out There?" We hear what sounds like a T.V. again as Wright plays some trippy keyboards in the background of this slow opening. Waters and Gilmour sing the name of the song together as they slowly build up this creepy sounding tune with lots of crazy keyboards by Wright. Gilmour starts a cool guitar riff that sounds pretty epic and he takes this in a new direction with his great playing. He takes it right to the end of the song with some cool stuff and we hear the T.V. again as it shifts to the next song "Nobody Home". We hear the Scottish voice again briefly before Wright takes over with some beautiful piano. I think Waters' voice sounds really great in this song as it's just him singing overtop of Wright's wonderful piano. There are lots of interesting lyrics in this song and the line about elastics keeping your shoes on was something that Syd Barrett used to do. I also like the line "I've got 13 channels of shit on the T.V. to choose from" as that line somehow rings even more true today with our thousands of options. There is an orchestra in this song as well and it makes this already great song become even more epic as they add lots of cool stuff to the verse and chorus. They play another really great verse and chorus and this is one of Waters' best vocal performances I think. As is the norm on this album this flows right into the next song "Vera". This short song starts with more sounds of war before Waters comes in to sing a sad verse. The music is slow and sad as we hear some light guitar and keyboards backing Roger. The orchestra shows up again, heightening the saddening feel and this leads into another very short song called "Bring The Boys Back Home". Mason plays a quiet marching drum beat and we hear the orchestra and a choir singing the name of the song in what sounds like a triumphant song. Waters echoes the choir singing in his desperate voice once again as we hear some cool trumpets amongst the orchestra. It quiets down after about a minute and the rest of the song is a mash-up of a bunch of different voices we've heard throughout the album so far. We hear the Scottish man, the groupie and a few others as this weird recap culminates in what turns out to be the opening note of the next song, "Comfortably Numb". This was another hugely successful single and would become one of Pink Floyd's best known songs. Waters keeps the beat with some nice bass and Wright plays some great keyboards as Waters kicks right into the first verse. Waters wrote the lyrics of this song after getting a muscle relaxant from a doctor that clearly had a lasting effect on him. His singing is decent as he leads this verse but Gilmour's voice in the chorus sounds almost heavenly. The orchestra and Wright's keyboards sound really beautiful together as Gilmour leads this peaceful chorus and afterwards takes off for his first guitar solo. It's slow and not too flashy, but as always he seems to be playing the perfect notes in this great little solo. Waters resumes lead vocals for the next verse and I think he does a better job in this verse than the first one, especially his big yell. They play the soothing chorus once more and things sound pretty epic as they move into Gilmour's next guitar solo. This one is much longer and it goes right until the end of the song as David plays some absolutely amazing guitar. He ebbs and flows, plays slow and fast and reels off one of the best solos you'll hear! If sounds pretty damn excellent the whole time and it slowly fades out to end the side.

The fourth and final side begins with "The Show Must Go On", a short Gilmour-sung tune. He plays a nice light guitar riff and we hear Wright singing some oohing and ahhing backing vocals before Gilmour comes in on lead. Wright plays some nice piano and also adds some cool other keyboards as Gilmour sings quickly in this one and he sounds great as usual. He ends this short song with an epic singing of the name and things move right into "In The Flesh" as they reprise the same epic riff that kicked off the whole album. It still sounds pretty sweet with Mason and Gilmour both playing some great stuff. Wright does some more "ahhhh"ing backing vocals that seem to last a while before Waters finally comes in to sing the verse. It sounds similar to "In The Flesh?" with a lot of the same lyrics, but it also has a new, darker spin to it. Waters sings pretty well on this one and when he says "we're gonna find out where you fans really stand" we're seeing some of the anger he felt at those shows last tour. He tells the audience to get several people "up against the wall" and it does sound sinister as he picks out gays, Jews and stoners as those punishable and ends the verse with "if I had my way, I'd have all of ya shot!" Wright plays some pretty nice organ in the background of the main riff and they bring it to an epic rock and roll finish to complete this cool throwback. Track 22 of this album is "Run Like Hell", the third and final song to give Gilmour a writing credit. Waters starts it off with some cool bass and Mason settles into a nice drum beat before Gilmour comes in with the lead guitar riff. He plays some cool stop-and-start stuff while Waters carries the beat on bass and we hear some repeated "run, run, run" backing vocals by Gilmour. Waters sings lead for the verse and his high voice sounds alright but I think Gilmour would have been better for this song. They repeat the same formula and after another verse Wright goes off for a rare keyboard solo. It's a slow-paced one but his crazy keyboards sound pretty cool and are a nice change to spice this up a bit. They continue to jam out the backing riff and we hear some nice little bits of percussion that sound pretty good. They bring this right back into the same main riff that kicked it off and after one final play through they bring this song to an end. Some chanting in the final seconds connects us to the next tune "Waiting For The Worms" which begins in the same way as "The Show Must Go On" with an identical opening riff. It quickly takes on it's own tune though and after we hear "walk on by" Mason keeps the beat on his bass drum as they move into the first verse. Gilmour sings the low parts and sounds great as always and Waters sings the higher parts while Wright plays some nice piano. A Mason drum fill takes things to a new part as Gilmour repeats "waiting" in the background as Waters sings a cool new verse. The guitar and bass sync up for this simple new riff and then it's back to the low-high verse. They move into another new part with some nice heavy guitar by Gilmour as Waters rambles on quickly. This dark part builds and builds with the chanting getting louder and culminates in Waters yelling "stop!" which signals a shift to the next song "Stop". It's the shortest on the record at only 30 seconds long but Wright plays some nice piano still and Waters sings a short verse and the last line "have I been guilty all this time?" is a prelude to the next track, "The Trial". Pink is the prisoner being tried and Waters resumes several of his different voices in this song as different witnesses testifying. The music has an almost farcical feel to it as the orchestra does a great job making things sound very ominous. Waters sounds very animated as the prosecutor and I think it's great how he really gets into these personas. "Showing feelings of an almost human nature. This will not do." The Scottish schoolmaster returns and Waters really leans into the accent sounding pretty great. They check in on Pink and Waters does some more good vocal work with his "crazy. Toys in the attic I am crazy." He tells this crazy story perfectly and the orchestra adds drama in all the right places as I like this maniacal song. After a second return of the British children Gilmour's guitar comes in as he plays some heavy stuff in this verse. Waters now acts as the judge and he sounds almost scary in another well done voice. "Since my friend you have revealed your deepest fear, I sentence you to be exposed before your peers. Tear down the wall!" Chanting of the last line continues in this epic scene as it sounds like Pink's metaphorical wall is crumbling. We hear a huge crack of thunder that ends the music and this storm carries right into the final song on the album, "Outside The Wall". We hear a sole clarinet playing a sad riff before Waters comes in to sing his final song. He's echoed by the British children, but they sing at different paces in this very sad sounding finale. They seem to wrap it all up nicely and we hear Waters say "isn't this where" and the album cuts off. This gives the whole album a cyclical nature as I seems to just perfectly repeat forever. A clever way to end a one of a kind double album.

That is the end of "The Wall" and I thought it was a superbly delivered story with tons of great music, ultimately another masterpiece of an album by Pink Floyd. Each song flowed into the next and it was interesting the whole way through. It also had several songs that not only fit perfectly within the story, but are also just great songs on their own, especially "Comfortably Numb" which I think was my favourite. I thought Pink Floyd's last three albums were their best ones and that trend of amazing music continues! I like "The Wall" even more than their last album "Animals" but I don't think it surpasses "Dark Side". For this to be their third best album is a testament to how great these guys have become. It's so sad that this is the end of the road for this line-up though. How will Pink Floyd look their next time out? We will have to wait and see...