About a year or two ago one of the TV streaming services (I think it was either Netflix or Apple) aired a documentary about RW. It showed many sequences of his staging of the Wall in concert. It also interposed this with some very personal pieces, including his visit (by 1960s Bentley of course !) to northern France to visit the war memorial of his father, and (I think) grand father who suffered a similar fate. It was all very moving and helped the viewer to understand the man. The concert and its staging looked nothing short of spectacular.
I don’t think that Beethoven was a barrel of laughs either (and from what I’ve read, he wasn’t a particularly nice man), but he produced music that has never been bettered.
And I don’t suppose that Wagner was the sort of chap that you’d rush to meet in the local pub, but I defy you to find an opera greater than ‘Tristan und Isolde’.
I’m not saying that I rate Rog, or PF as a whole, on the same level as Beethoven or Wagner, but history shows that you don’t have to be a nice person to write great music. Quite the opposite, in very many cases.
With it being such a familiar piece of work to me (must have played it hundreds of times!) I found the finale less satisfying as it really does peak on side 3, well for me anyway that’s how it is.
Not criticising, pull out the good songs if that’s your preference as there are some belters on there.
It was certainly “impressive”, but I always reckoned that the whole of the second half was a tape, and that the lads were all sat behind the wall with cuppas!
I enjoyed the Wall a lot more when it originally came out than I do now, in those days I was smoking a lot of illegal substances and some days even the Partridge Family sounded ok. Side 4 has always been a bit of a struggle though, it’s just too over blown and self obsessed imo. But as an album it cannot be overlooked or dismissed, it has some of PF best tracks, that said it’s probably my least played PF album.
Bu…er……i might have to re listen to the Partridge family….just in case😂
I did give the Wall a listen today……it is quite brilliant in places, but its a RW view of things. This was the last album i enjoyed by Pink Floyd with RW……never got on with his solo stuff.
The Wall is possibly my favourite album of all time; it never fails to entertain, scare and
move me. However, I can see it is not for everyone, especially if you do not buy into Roger’s view of the world.
Just listened to it on qobuz. Some fine moments and I may return to it again from time to time but still haven’t got the urge to buy a copy.
Unlike all the Floyd albums released prior to the Wall which I’ve bought at least 3 times each.
My sister was living in Los Angeles from '79 to '82, & while there, saw one of the first (if not the actual first) live PF Wall performance.
She said it was awful from start to finish. The band were behind the wall for all but the last couple of minutes simply because the wall refused to come down. She said that the scene resembled a ‘Carry On’ set as roadies frantically dashed about the stage trying to dismantle the wall. She also said the sound was horrible & sounded exactly as you would expect a rock band, or any other artist/band, to sound if they were performing for a couple of hours behind a bl00dy great wall!
Just goes to show, it can happen to the best of us!
I finally succumbed and bought a copy on Vinyl earlier this year. AND not just any old copy, but a 1979 UK Harvest 1st press in immaculate condition.
It played beautifully as I played it through start to finish the day it arrived. I maintain my opinion however. Great music, with some amazing songs, but certainly not an album I’ll be playing front to back again in a hurry. My friend Addie really likes the album, so he’ll probably want to hear it when he next visits.
Decided to have a good listen to this evening and I have to say when is good it’s very good. There’s clearly some of Floyd’s best work on this album, from the huge stadium filled wall of sound on track one to the utter brilliance of Comfortably Numb, just one highlight after another. However that’s where it ends and imo it still starts to fall apart soon afterwards. Side 4 is still a very uncomfortable listen.
My new Neats absolutely nailed this, the drum work is just magic.
Like a lot of people here I struggle to resist releases that are remastered, remixed or contain extra tracks. Revolver is in the hands of Santa even though he knows I’ve already got 4 editions.
Streaming is the prescription that is helping to control that urge.
My personal opinion is that it’s my favourite Floyd album and is a great piece of music. Yes, overblown/ pretentious in some places and very theatrical in others but great tracks and great musicianship. Some tracks stand up alone but overall needs to be heard as a complete piece of work. My wife hated it when she bustled in and out while I listened but after hearing it in full she loves it.
