And with all the wonderful album covers they'd had, what's with this one?

Nik-
Thanks for your intelligent words. It's refreshing to see someone with a clear knowledge of the band and their music instead of the usual garbage that gets posted at RP. I connected with this album as a teenager and still find it very moving. PF really influenced the way I think about and write music.

I just am not capable of enjoying Pink Floyd's music.

I just am not capable of enjoying Pink Floyd's music.

Once again, I'm floored to hear RP pull out such a gem. I don't think I've ever heard this song out of context - played anywhere except on a stereo spinning the album. It's astonishing the effect it has, even removed from the slow-burn build of the entire album.

To those who see this song (and the album in general) as a Roger Waters, solo... I'd only say - go listen to Roger's solo albums! There's simply no denying David Gilmour's contribution. It may be a little more subtle in places, but even on this tune, the climax of which is the tell-tale Gilmour explotion of emotion, it's undeniable. ("Fletcher Memorial Home" and "The Postware Dream" are other excellnt pairings of the two, along with the more ovbious "Not Now John" and the undeniable simple eloquence of the guitar work on the last track.)

And as for it being derivative or a "copy" of "The Wall" - as some have pointed out and others have perhaps rightly observed - this is in many ways the "third disc" of "The Wall", but "The Final Cut" has a focus and a personal intimacy that trumps even "The Wall" - and this song is an excellent example. Perhaps this intense focus is part of what contributes to the "solo album" feel - how could such a cogent, deeply personal album be the work of a group? But the project seems so much an outgrowth of where nearly everyone in Floyd went with "The Wall." Yes, Rick Wright is missing, but Michael Kamen - who is in so many ways the "5th Beatle" on "The Wall" - fills in admirably and even appropriately, as the piano and keys work to completely integrate his dead-on orchestration. Just as his work on "The Wall" made it a Floyd album unlike any other. But you don't hear people complaining that "The Wall" was just a glorified Roger Waters rant draped in Kamen strings and brass... It's impossible to hear "The Final Cut" and not think of Pink Floyd. And no disrespect to the guitarists that Roger Waters teamed with later (hard to knock Eric Clapton...) but it's something very different from anything he did after, and something very much apart of all he'd done before.

That said, this is perhaps one of the most moving concept albums to come out of the prog-rock 70's/80's school of composition. Call it a solo album or Floyd's swan-song, either way it stands just as well on it's own - removed from everything that came before or after. At once a staggering comment on post-war Thatcherite England, a memorial to the generation that lived (and suffered) before, and all the while a blisteringly personal testament to grief and frustration on so many levels. The melding of compostion, of lyric, of music to serve these themes is nearly flawless. Floyd was never a group with virtuouso vocal ability, but Roger Waters (and yes, David Guilmore as well) put their voices to such effect, in so many varied ways, you feel that every possible nuance is being employed, and always for a reason. Never just because...

I'll admit, when I first heard this album, it was far from an instant attration. I heard elements of "The Wall" and thought they were repeating themselves. I knew the popular wisdom about tension in the band, about the clash of egos and ideas... It's not an album that comes easily to most, and with so much baggage attached, many are simply unwilling to take the time required to appreciate the work.

But for those who do, it's well worth it.

And RP is certainly a place where this sort of music belongs...

I'd love to hear more PF cuts off this album. It's a great album, and sadly underplayed since it lives in the shadow of PFs 70's albums.

> masterhead wrote:
> Well it is good to sing and talk about your life, but living in a constant
> ego-trip is not sane.
What an ignorant thing to say. I'm not slamming you, simply pointing out how obvious it is that you aren't an artist of ANY kind. You'd do best to trust the professionals as to matters of sanity, ego and philosophical craftsmanship.

Am I hearing things or is the keyboard in the background playing something very similar to the keyboard part in Comfortably Numb?

Am I hearing things or is the keyboard in the background playing something very similar to the keyboard part in Comfortably Numb?

Well it is good to sing and talk about your life, but living in a constant ego-trip is not sane.

I love the opening lyrics to this song.

Thanks RP!

To the "self indulgent" posters:

What is wrong with being self-indulgent as a songwriter? If you knew much about Roger Waters, you'd reallize how important that the subject matter of this album is to him. What is wrong with someone expressing themselves through their music? Not a damn thing.

Ah, that's the joe1 we all know and loathe!
insertlaughingoutloudsmileyherebutnotreallybecausejoe1issosensitiveaboutthemthewankingtosser!

Time?....Are you for real?

You are talking bollocks...Please wake up and stop taking crap drugs...

You are spouting toe-curlingly bad drug induced wank there!......goodnight and sleep it off....

Either that or get something that resembles a life....ok?

...To the "self indulgent" posters:

What is wrong with being self-indulgent as a songwriter? If you knew much about Roger Waters, you'd reallize how important that the subject matter of this album is to him. What is wrong with someone expressing themselves through their music? Not a damn thing.

It surely is a personal thing. Listen to 'When the Tigers broke free.' Hurts me every time.