•
Rating:
Let's suppose we are in an exciting period of rock revival, surrounded by a thick bubbling of new music scenes, and that the era of classical concept albums is somewhat fading... Let's assume you are the leader of a rock band that has spent the last scraps of creativity for almost a decade, and yet you continue to rake in millions no matter what flatulence you emit... Let's also assume that your nights are troubled by guilt over a father aviator who died in war, and a genius friend who went mad, whose best ideas you have pilfered but no longer have time to visit... Then it's likely that your name is Roger Waters and that you are about to craft one of the most unbearable monstrosities in rock history. A colossal work of classic rock in double LP format (in the midst of the new wave... talk about capturing the zeitgeist), which actually doesn't contain much rock but is stuffed with plenty of seriousness that fills the mouth well, like Alienation, Depression, Oppressive Society, the Wall That Divides Us from the Other (from whom?... Syd?... Daddy?). Waters as despot or the irresponsible, degenerate other band members? The fact is that the vast majority of the project is attributable to Waters, with Gilmour merely composing a bit and constantly inserting his usual, predictable guitar solos. Drummer Mason seems lobotomized, and he reduces himself to doing the same "TUM, PA" throughout the album, while due to arguments, there's almost no trace of Wright nor the reassuring and colorful keyboards of old times.
So how to fill the songs, then? Why, with some fine symphonic scores that bring a sense of importance and a fair amount of technological noises that fans still enjoy! Well, but compared to Dark Side, the sound of The Wall is a bit drier and different anyway - someone will say. Too bad the final result is a dull and colorless hodgepodge of worn-out stadium hard rock, techno-instrumental appendages, second-hand disco music, classical-like wallpapers, and fake 30s cabaret, all seasoned with the unbearable verbosity of Waters who doesn't keep quiet for a minute. Not to mention certain repulsive musical-like choruses that occasionally remind us that things could have been even worse if this had been a Queen album. Sure, for those easily pleased (and forgetting records from 12, 10, or even just 6 years before), one might settle for a handful of acceptable songs, but from a band with this past and, especially, as a result of such grandiloquence, all this looks like the famous mouse born of the mountain... Azz! too bad there's no "geriatric rock" in the proposed DeGenres...
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
02 The Thin Ice (02:29)
Mama loves her baby,
And Daddy loves you too
And the sea may look warm to you babe
And the sky may look blue
Ooooh babe
Ooooh baby blue
Ooooh babe
If you should go skating
On the thin ice of modern life
Dragging behind you the silent reproach
Of a million tear stained eyes
Don't be surprised when a crack in the ice
Appears under your feet
You slip out of your depth and out of your mind
With your fear flowing out behind you
As you claw the thin ice
05 Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2 (03:59)
The opening quote is from the 1933 light heavyweight boxing match between Max Baer and Max Schmeling
We don't need no education
We don’t need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave the kids alone
Hey! Teacher! Leave us kids alone!
All in all it's just another brick in the wall.
All in all you're just another brick in the wall.
We don't need no education
We don’t need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave the kids alone
Hey! Teacher! Leave us kids alone!
All in all it's just another brick in the wall.
All in all you're just another brick in the wall.
Spoken:
'Wrong, Do it again!
Wrong, Do it again!
If you don't eat yer meat, you can't have any pudding.
How can you have any pudding if you don't eat yer meat?
You! Yes, you behind the bikesheds, stand still laddie!'
06 Mother (05:35)
Mother, do you think they'll drop the bomb?
Mother, do you think they'll like this song?
Mother, do you think they'll try to break my balls?
Ooh, Mother, should I build the wall?
Mother, should I run for president?
Mother, should I trust the government?
Mother, will they put me in the firing line?
Ooh, is it just a waste of time?
Hush now baby, baby, don't you cry
Mama's gonna make all of your nightmares come true
Mama's gonna put all of her fears into you
Mama's gonna keep you right here under her wing
She won't let you fly, but she might let you sing
Mama's gonna keep baby cozy and warm
Ooh, babe
Ooh, babe
Ooh, babe, of course Mama's gonna help build the wall
Mother, do you think she's good enough for me?
Mother, do you think she's dangerous to me?
Mother, will she tear your little boy apart?
Ooh, Mother, will she break my heart?
Hush now, baby, baby, don't you cry
Mama's gonna check out all your girlfriends for you
Mama won't let anyone dirty get through
Mama's gonna wait up until you get in
Mama will always find out where you've been
Mama's gonna keep baby healthy and clean
Ooh, babe
Ooh, babe
Ooh, babe, you'll always be baby to me
Mother, did it need to be so high?
08 Empty Spaces (02:09)
''{spoken backwards} Congratulations, You have just discovered the secret message. Please send your answer to 'Old Pink', Care of the funny farm, Chalfont...
[interruption] Roger, Caroline's on the phone...''
What shall we use to fill the empty spaces
Where we used to talk
How shall I fill the final places
How should I complete the wall
09 Young Lust (03:30)
I am just a new boy,
Stranger in this town.
Where are all the good times?
Who's gonna show this stranger around?
Ooooh, I need a dirty woman.
Ooooh, I need a dirty girl.
Will some cold woman in this desert land
Make me feel like a real man?
Take this rock and roll refugee
Oooh, baby set me free.
Ooooh, I need a dirty woman.
Ooooh, I need a dirty girl.(X2)
''{spoken} [Phone rings..Clink of receiver being lifted]
Hello..?
Yes, a collect call for Mrs. Floyd from Mr. Floyd.
Will you accept the charges from United States?
[clunk! of phone being put down]
Oh, He hung up! That's your residence, right? I wonder why he hung up? Is there supposed to be someone else there besides your wife there to answer?
[Phone rings again...clunk of receiver being picked up]
Hello?
This is United States calling, are we reaching...
[interrupted by phone being put down]
See he keeps hanging up, and it's a man answering.
[whirr of connection being closed]''
Loading comments slowly
Other reviews
By charles
"This is not an album, but a true 'masterpiece'; that no one will ever remove this album from the foundations, the 'Bibles' of music history."
"'The Wall' is irremediably in each of us, and it always will be. After listening to it once, it will never leave us."
By AngeloLecce87
The Wall is Roger Waters' outpouring, developed between the loss of his father during World War II and the deterioration of his friend Syd Barrett.
The songs must be heard in the context of the album and not individually; small details like a baby's cry and warplanes make this album so touching.
By Francesco123
"Watching the film, it’s not just the eyes that are working, nor the ears: what is most affected is our imagination, our fantasy."
"What is The Wall really?... on one side, the surrender to what life offers us... on the other, the opportunity to give something to life... two things separated by a huge wall..."
By jimi
The Wall, for me, is the ultimate work I’ve ever heard capable of conveying emotions.
When you think that in this album, everything about solos has already been said, here comes Dave, who turns everything upside down, with superlative bends and accelerations that are terrifying.
By Emanuel Fantoni
Roger Waters’ ability to express himself is outrageously clever. He is a genius.
The Wall is not just an album to listen to; it is an album to be explored.
