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Rating:
I begin immediately with the fundamental premise: I have absolutely no intention of revisiting the longstanding and tedious issue of who is or is not "Pink" in its abstract and spiritual conception (although my preference will inevitably emerge at the end of the review), the Pink Floyd (obviously in the post-Barrett era) were the union of two distinct, genius and essential personalities and two others as supporting members but still of fundamental importance, especially the late Rick Wright, who formed the framework of what was the greatest band of all time, then as often happens everything went up in smoke and that dream ended forever until 2005, but we will also talk briefly about that at the end of the story.
In 2000, this double live album is released, the result of the massive world tour held by Waters with his band. It has been 17 years since his last album with the mother band, that "The Final Cut" considered unanimously the lesser episode of the group's discography despite still presenting some good gems. Waters, as mentioned, is accompanied by his band, a group of great musicians who hold their own well against his old companions. Roger is helped with the voice here by the very talented (and beautiful) backing vocalists here by the more than excellent Doyle Bramhall II or other comrades, on guitars we find the same Bramhall II and the great and seasoned Snowy White, even if here we come to the second important premise: Gilmour is unique and inimitable despite many having tried unsuccessfully to emulate his feats, so something is inevitably missing from the historical songs.
Now let's move on to the first disc: the setlist presents a non-ordered but not confused mix of historic and legendary tracks by Floyd. It starts with four explosive tracks from "The Wall" which are "In The Flesh", "The Happiest Days Of Our Lives," "Another Brick In The Wall pt2," and "Mother," the latter being one of the symbolic songs of the legendary opera that has been the soundtrack to many of our lives and a small rediscovery since in the following years after his departure it was never performed live by the three survivors; in this case, Gilmour's voice is excellently replaced by the backing vocalists, mainly one of the three.
Following are two tracks from the previously mentioned "The Final Cut": "Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert" and "Southampton Dock," and we come to one of the best moments of the entire work: first the duo from "Animals" "Pigs On The Wing pt1" and especially the almost 20 minutes of "Dogs," two more rediscoveries and really intense and moving interpretations, particularly the latter where the voice is of the aforementioned guitarist. Now comes the emotional peak: the trio "Welcome To The Machine," another forgotten track and one of the band's all-time greatest tunes, "Wish You Were Here," sung entirely by Roger, and "Shine On You Crazy Diamond pts 1/8," these three songs deeply touch you and virtually never let go, even if the absence of David is felt at times, the first act concludes with "Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun," an incredible song, the first great 100% Waters song in the Floyd repertoire, belonging to the band's first real album "A Saucerful Of Secrets," that is, the first without Barrett, always great emotions.
We now begin the journey on the second disc: it starts strong with the classics from "Dark Side" "Breathe (in the air)," "Time," and "Money," the ghost of the former guitarist companion is always felt but not too much, the versions flow smoothly while not failing to deliver further emotions.
Now we witness a selection of the leader's solo career and it is here that the pleasant surprises come because if before the only thing to check were the "new" versions of his band, now we are dealing with pearls unknown to most, "The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking pt11" or nothing else but the 11th track of Waters' first eponymous post-Floyd album dated '84, and "The Bravery Of Being Out Of Range," "It's A Miracle," and "Amused To Death," all belonging to the eponymous '92 album, the most important known and appreciated in his solo journey and in fact still today the last one with unpublished material, four tracks that magnificently showcase the immense class of the English artist, four long ballads that certainly do not fail to move us once again and prove to be almost equal to the greatest PF classics, particularly the last three. We return to Floyd and "Dark Side" with "Brain Damage" and "Eclipse," two timeless classics again worthily interpreted, and we arrive at the band's iconic piece, the most beautiful and profound: the extraordinary "Comfortably Numb," the umpteenth comparison with Gilmour is inevitable, here the guitarist has always given his best showing the most beautiful, famous and moving solo ever in the history of rock and not only, in this case, the heavy task is assumed by the two guitarists who share equally the solo parts and the result is as good as in the other cases and all in all they do not make you regret the original, it all closes with the unpublished "Each Small Candle," another more than dignified track.
These are not the Pink Floyd, it's not the Live 8, that was pure magic, the kind that moves you deeply and leaves you sleepless for nights, this is a testament to what was the solo career of the band's purest and truest soul even though it cannot fully represent its essence itself, over the years he never hid the rightful frustration in seeing the companions play his songs in arenas and stadiums and he performing in front of sometimes only a few hundred souls, this time he found himself facing a more suitable audience for someone like him (aided by the withdrawal of the others), who with his lyrics and compositions marked history like few, like no one, particularly his lyrics embodied the atrocities of modern society and the existential anxieties of its protagonists, this album testifies to the passion he always put into it, someone who has always strongly believed in his works and who still today works hard around the world unlike someone else who has announced the preference for his villas over composition and life on the road, an imperfect album but ideal for those who want to breathe this pure air, personally I prefer this work over other double albums where that air is not felt too much, only a pity for the absence of tracks belonging to those two masterpieces called "Atom Heart Mother" and "Meddle" but you can't have everything, if he had put all the pearls of his incredible career, I would have reviewed a quadruple instead of a double.
It's hard to ask for more.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 In the Flesh (04:41)
So ya
Thought ya
Might like to
Go to the show.
To feel that warm thrill of confusion,
That space cadet glow.
I've got some bad news for you sunshine,
Pink isn't well, he stayed back at the hotel
And they sent us along as a surrogate band
We're gonna find out where you fans really stand.
Are there any queers in the theater tonight?
Get them up against the wall!
There's one in the spotlight, he don't look right to me,
Get him up against the wall!
That one looks Jewish!
And that one's a coon!
Who let all of this riff-raff into the room?
There's one smoking a joint,
And that one's got spots!
If I had my way,
I'd have all of you shot!
04 Mother (05:37)
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?
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 vibrant mind?
Is it just a waste of time?
Hush now baby, baby, don't you cry
Momma's gonna make all of your nightmares come true
Momma's gonna put all of her fears into you
Momma's gonna keep you right here under her wing
She won't let you fly, but she might let you sing
Momma's gonna keep Baby cozy and warm
Oooo Babe
Oooo Babe
Ooo Babe, of course Momma'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?
Momma, will she tear your little boy apart?
Mother, will she break my heart?
Hush now baby, baby, don't you cry
Momma's gonna check out all your girlfriends for you
Momma won't let anyone dirty get through
Momma's gonna wait up until you get in
Momma will always find out where you've been
Momma's gonna keep Baby healthy and clean
Oooo Babe
Oooo Babe
Ooo Babe, you'll always be Baby to me
Mother, did it need to be so high?
05 Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert (00:57)
(Soft) [Man1:] "Oi, Get your filthy hands off my desert!"
[Man2:] "What 'e say?"
(explosion)
Brezhnev took Afghanistan
And Begin took Beirut
Galtieri took the Union Jack
And Maggie over lunch one day
Took a cruiser with all hands
Apparently, to make him give it back
Ooo, Maggie what have you done?
06 Southampton Dock (02:15)
They disembarked in 45
And no one spoke
And no one smiled
There were too many spaces in the line
And gathered at the cenotaph
They all agreed with hand on heart
To sheath the sacrificial knives
But now
She stands upon Southampton dock
With her handkerchief
And her summer frock
Clings To her wet body in the rain
In quiet desperation
Knuckles white upon the slippery reins
She bravely waves the boys goodbye again
Ooo, Maggie what have you done?
And still the dark stain spreads between
Their shoulder blades
A mute reminder
Of the poppy fields and graves
When the fight was over
We spent what they had made
But
In the bottom of our hearts
We felt the final cut
08 Dogs (16:26)
You got to be crazy
You gotta have a real need
You gotta sleep on your toes
When you're on the street
Got to be able to pick out the easy meat
With your eyes closed
Then moving in silently
Down wind and out of sight
You've gotta strike when the moment is right without thinking
And after a while
You can work on points for style
Like the club tie
And the firm handshake
A certain look in the eye and the easy smile
You have to be trusted
By the people that you lie to
So that when they turn their backs on you
You'll get the chance to put the knife in
You gotta keep one eye
Looking over your shoulder
You know, it's going to get harder
Harder and harder
As you get older
Yeah, and in the end you'll pack up and fly down south
Hide your head in the sand
Just another sad old man
All alone and dying of cancer
And when you loose control
You'll reap the harvest you have sown
And as the fear grows
The bad blood slows and turns to stone
And it's too late to lose the weight
You used to need to throw around
So have a good drown
As you go down
All alone
Dragged down by the stone
Gotta admit
That I'm a little bit confused
Sometimes it seems to me
As if I'm just being used
Gotta stay awake
Gotta try and shake off
This creeping malaise
If I don't stand my own ground
How can I find my way out of this maze?
Deaf, dumb, and blind
You just keep on pretending
That everyone's expendable
And no one has a real friend
And it seems to you the thing to do
Would be to isolate the winner
And everything's done under the sun
And you believe at heart everyone's a killer
Who was born in a house full of pain
Who was trained not to spit in the fan
Who was told what to do by the man
Who was broken by trained personnel
Who was fitted with collar and chain
Who was given a pat on the back
Who was breaking away from the pack
Who was only a stranger at home
Who was ground down in the end
Who was found dead on the phone
Who was dragged down by the stone
Who was dragged down by the stone
09 Welcome to the Machine (06:57)
Welcome my son
Welcome to the machine
Where have you been?
It's alright we know where you've been
You've been in the pipeline
Filling in time
Provided with toys and scouting for boys
You bought a guitar to punish your ma
And you didn't like school
And you know you're nobody's fool
So welcome to the machine
Welcome to the machine
Welcome my son
Welcome to the machine
What did you dream?
It's alright we told you what to dream
You dreamed of a big star
He played a mean gituar
And he always ate in the steak bar
And he loved to drive in his Jaguar
So welcome to the Machine
10 Wish You Were Here (04:54)
So, so you think you can tell
Heaven from Hell
Blue skys from pain
Can you tell a green field
From a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?
And did they get you to trade
Your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
And hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
And did you exchange
A walk on part in the war
For a lead role in a cage?
How I wish
How I wish you were here
We're just two lost souls
Swimmin' in a fish bowl
Year after year
Running over the same old ground
What have we found?
The same old fears
And I wish that you were here
Oh, how I wish you were here
How I wish
How I wish you were here
Running over the same old ground
What have we found?
The same old fears
And I wish that you were here
"Thank you. I wish they were here."
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