OK, so I’m going out on a bit of a limb here but finally feel like I need to come out and say it: The Wall is pretentious, indulgent b0llocks.
Huge respect for DSOTM and WYWH but it seems to me that by the time of The Wall, RWs personal issues have got overblown and the rest of the band are dragged along into acquiescing with his preoccupations. It’s a portent of his subsequent irrational eccentricity and is overated cobblers.
There, I’ve said it!
Back you up on that one
Never did it for me - over the top
It was played to death in school - we don’t need no edukashun - and has dated badly. It was also responsible for breaking up the band. I’m sure there could be concept albums which made a lasting contribution, but ‘The Wall’ was overrated. It kept my generation listening to stuff we should have moved on from. The most musically aware white British lad in my school was into Motown and jazz. He was roundly abused and ridiculed. A herd thing really in the Black Country. I think it was a generational thing, but such was the power that no-one dared say anything against it. Saint Bob’s reaction was apparently along the lines of your first comment, but he took the money to make the film.
100% agree on the irrational eccentricity bollocks.
But I do like wallowing in The Wall for the genius of DG’s guitar & vocals, and dare I mention the more difficult bass guitar passages.
Succinct and to the point.
Difficult to argue with that analysis.
Yeah but with some great tracks and lyrics.
Amazing really it was a hit during the punk/new wave nexus.
I don’t listen to it with any regularity but wouldn’t dish it entirely either,
“wanna take a bath?”
.sjb
The Wall is so close to parts of my life that I have to call you out on that. Though some differences, Roger Waters clearly grew up in a similar world to mine, and tge music/lyrics are wonderful. Retract or tell your second, pea-shooters at dawn tomorrow.
In my view awful genres, should have been banned from public airing!
My sentiments exactly!
In the 43 years I have that album in my posession I maybe played it a dozen times. Just doesn’t do it for me. Couldn’t get on with it.As you say,highly overrated
It may indeed be pretentious bollocks, but it’s pretty wonderful pretentious bollocks (as much of rock music is). It’s my favourite Pink Floyd album - and by some distance. Roger Waters clearly has his troubles, as is all too clear from the lyrics on this record, but his own pain produced wonderful, tortured music for the rest of us.
I think that I may have been able to order a copy of the album with red graffiti writing on the cover, but I’m not sure about that. And I still don’t understand why there were two different colours of graffiti, one red (pretty uncommon) and one black (standard, apparently).
Wow @Svetty, excellent post. And cheers to you for saying it! I’ve been a huge PF fan for over 50 years and I like many of their albums, but The Wall is the only one that I try to ignore the lyrics while I’m listeing to it. RW’s childhood issues don’t interest me in the least, but I enjoy the music that the whole band puts together. My father attended British boarding schools for all his education and must have experienced much of the same.
And pointing out RW’s irrational eccentricity is putting it mildly. It’s a bloomin’ pity his pretentious indulgence had to break up the band.
And I don’t know why he does the vocals at his concerts, he can’t sing worth a s**t. Gilmore and Wright did all the singing. Well, Mason sang one song …
On another thread here, one poster said that The Wall came off like an RW solo album.
… shame on you … 
There is some great playing and some good songs on The Wall. Several that were a part of Floyd concerts till the end.
However, as an album I dislike it. I can honestly say that I’ve only listened to the whole album start to finish twice and fully agree with most of the OP’s opinion.
“Tear Down The Wall!”
The Wall is an immortal project. Everybody heard a song or two from it. However, it is very difficult to listen to it, as it floods with anxiety.
I saw 
them do it in concert 
. It is pretentious , but that night still lives in the memory
Not a huge fan of The Floyd I was in my early teens and listening to mostly Soul and Reggae (Jazz came much later) when The Wall came out but I do like Roger Walters and agree with much of what he has to say and he is not afraid to say it which you have to respect.
I enjoy DSOTM and WYWH once every few years but don’t own The Wall I sold the BG copy I had after one listen but Comfortably Numb is a great track.
I struggle with side 4 these days but the other 3 sides are an absolute master piece - comfortably numb gave is one of the all time great guitar solos.
I do understand why some don’t get it but for me it was a gateway into Floyd and a very atmospheric album and very different from everything else about at that time - kudos to the Floyd for making a record of this style at that moment in time.
I have never understood starting a thread on music you hate - if you don’t like it don’t listen to it!
Gary
Is it worth making a distinction, perhaps, between the music - which I think is pretty good - and the lyrics/themes, which I think are what is mostly culpable for the accusations of pretention?
Just because one is good, doesn’t mean the other has to be.
Mark
Back in 1979, I cured a friend of constantly listening to the dreary nonsense by introducing him to XTC’s “Drums and Wires”.
Yes and no.
Some fantastic tracks that work on their own and a lot of drivel driving the narrative.
I listen to albums in their entirety on vinyl so with The Wall I listen on CD so it’s easy to skip tracks. Comfortably Numb, Run Like Hell and One Of My Turns never fail to get the air guitar going.