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Rating: All right, I'll admit it: I fell for it too in that distant 1987... But after years of psychoanalysis, I can now definitively say it: I made a crappy album.
Why "why"? Isn't the fact that I never performed it again on subsequent tours a valid reason already? I composed it because the idea seemed good to me, indeed it certainly is. But the production... Yes, Bob Ezrin was supposed to take care of it, but in the end he decided to go with those other two bums and a half. And when I think about it, it makes me so mad that I want to forget twenty years of sessions, yet damn it, precisely for that I should have abandoned the project. But I'm stubborn and I wanted to do it anyway.
I'm listening to it right now, anyway. God, this electronic drum... These cheap sequencers... I didn't even play the bass, just on a few demos to set the tone for the songs. But why, why? Listen to that voice... I want to shoot myself. But I also want to harm myself psychophysically and continue with the torture.
The little choirs... What do the little choirs have to do with this? "Radiooooo", damn me. I am the creator of "The Wall", "Dark Side Of The Moon", "Amused To Death"... Yes, "Amused To Death"... Luckily, I redeemed myself there.
I'm digressing while I should focus on this album ("Wow!", at the end of "Radio Waves", I could have spared myself that).
"Who Needs Information": let's move on.
"Me Or Him": nice sound of the shakuhachi, isn't it? It's fake; it's part of a cheap Yamaha preset that was so fashionable (damn) back then.
"The Powers That Be": hmm, actually I kind of like this one more; it's not too bad. No, huh? Sure, I used to sing the high parts myself, but this time I had to entrust them to Paul Carrack. What the heck, if I smoke it's not my fault. In fact, yes, it is. Let's move on...
"Sunset Strip": "Whoo Whoo, Billy Come Home" no! Kill me now, or move the album forward!
"Home": yes, I kind of like this one. Very new wave. I even sang decently. Sure, it feels a bit like being on the streets of Miami Vice listening to this track. So what? I like Miami Vice. I'll save this one. Damn it.
"Four Minutes": here, if I had had the same compositional consistency I used for this track throughout the entire album, it would have turned out well.
"The Tide Is Turning (After Live Aid)": it's the best piece of the entire album. I even used it to close The Wall live in Berlin. It fits, it fits. And don't bust my balls. Sometimes I become psychopathic, I'm breaking the album myself. A few more sessions would do me well...
With these last notes, I feel cleansed inside. In the end, a track like "The Tide Is Turning" compensates for the other seven previous pieces. And I almost like the album. So why did I bust it? Mind your own business; what do you know about music? Oh God, if I listen to "Sunset Strip" again, though, I'll reconsider. Do me a favor: don't talk to me about "Radio K.A.O.S." anymore, or I'll send you to psychoanalysis sessions. Never contradict me.
Yours, Roger Waters.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Radio Waves (04:58)
[Jim:] "This is K.A.O.S.
You and I are listening to KAOS in Los Angeles.
Let's go to the telephones now and take a request."
[Billy:] "Hello, I'm Billy."
[Jim:] "Yes?"
[Billy:] "I hear radio waves in my head."
[Jim:] "You hear radio waves in your head?
Ah! Is there a request that
you have tonight for KAOS?"
Radio waves
Radio waves
Radio waves
He hears radio waves
Radio waves
The atmosphere is thin and cold
The yellow sun is getting old
The ozone overflows with radio waves
AM, FM, weather and news
Our leaders had a frank exchange of views
Are you confused, radio waves
Radio waves
Radio waves
AM radio waves
FM radio waves
Radio waves
Mind-numbing radio waves
Fish-stunning radio waves
Radio waves
Magic Billy in his wheel chair
Is picking up all this stuff in the air
Billy is face to face with outer space
Messages from distant stars
The local police calling all cars
Radio waves
Hear them radio waves
Radio waves
Jesus saves radio
Radio waves
Radio waves
AM radio waves
FM radio waves
All them radio waves
Radio waves
Radio waves
He hears radio waves
Radio waves
Radio waves
Hopeful radio waves
Dopeful radio waves
Radio waves
Russian radio waves
Prussian radio waves
Eastern radio waves
Western radio waves
Testing radio waves
One two
One two
Radio waves
Getting through to you
More code radio waves
Tobacco road radio waves
South to Paloma radio waves
Oklahoma City radio waves
Sitting pretty radio waves
Nitty-gritty radio waves
Radio waves
[Jim:] "Alright, that's a song called Radio Waves.
You are listening to KAOS
In Los Angeles and we've got Billy on the line."
[Billy:] "I'm from the valleys."
04 The Powers That Be (04:36)
The powers that be
They like a tough game
No rules
Some you win
Some you lose
Competition's good for you
They're dying to be free
They're the powers that be
They like a bomb proof cadillac
Air conditioned
Gold taps
Back seat gun rack
Platinum hub caps
They pick horses for courses
They're the market forces
(background : Nice car Jack)
They like order
Make-up
Lime light power
Game shows
Rodeos
Star wars
TV
They're the powers that be
If you see them come
You better run
Run
You better run on home
Sisters of mercy better join your brothers
Put a stop to the soap opera right now
They say the toothless get ruthless
You better run on home
You better run
Run
You better run on home
The powers that be
They like treats
Tricks
Carrots
And sticks
They like fear and loathing
They like sheep's clothing
And blacked-out vans
Blacked-out vans
Contingency plans
They like death or glory
They love a good story
They love a good story
Sisters of mercy better join with your brothers
Put a stop to the soap opera state
They say the toothless get ruthless
Run home before its too late
You better run
Run
You better run on home
You better run
[Billy:] "Goodnight, Jim."
[Jim:] "Goodnight, Billy."
[Uncle David's Great Dane:] "Woof, woof, woof!"
[Paraquat Kelly:] "Bull heads, three red snapper, one pink snapper
And your Pacific coastal trench hosemonster fish."
[Cynthia Fox:] "Ohhh!
At Sky David's juke joint of joy reports
Forty under the console giggle stick ling cod
Twenty-three purple perches
Four sledgehammerhead sharks
And what a surprise
Eightyfour crabs, and no red snappers."
[Paraquat Kelly:] "Hey, and that'll do for the triumphant return
Of the fish report with a beat."
[Jim:] "We think of it as mainstreet
But to the rest of the country
It's Sunset Strip
You're listening to KAOS in Los Angeles."
05 Sunset Strip (04:45)
I like staying with my Uncle Dave
And I like playing with his great dane
But I don't fit
I feel alien and strange
Kinda outa range
I like riding in my Uncle's car
Down to the beach where the pretty girls all parade
And movie stars and paparazzi play
The Charles Atlas kicking sand in the face game
And I sit in the canyon with my back to the sea
There's a blood red dragon on a field of green
Calling me back
Back to the Black Hills again
Ooh, ooh
Billy come home
Billy is searching for his native land
Flicking through the stations with the dial in his head
Picking up (background: static)
And a male voice choir on the short wave band
Billy taps out Jim's number on the phone
Sits shaking as he waits for Jim's answering tone
Come on my friend
Speak to me please
The land of my fathers is calling to me
And I sit in the canyon with my back to the sea
There's a blood red dragon on a field of green
Calling me back
Back to the Black Hills again
Ooh, ooh
Billy come home
Come on home
He sits in the canyon with his back to the sea
Sees a blood red dragon on a field of green
He hears a male voice choir singing
Billy come home
Billy, Billy, come home
Come on home
[Californian Weirdo:] "I don't like fish."
[Jim:] "You are listening to KAOS here in Los Angeles."
[Californian Weirdo:] "I don't like fish."
[Jim:] "Yes, we've established that.
Ah! Do you have a request?"
[Californian Weirdo:] "Shell fish
Guppy
Salmon
Shrimp
And crab
And lobster
Flounder
I hate fish
But I think most of all
I hate fresh fish
Like trout
I hate fresh trout
My least-hated, favourite fish would be sole
That way you don't have to see the eyes
Sole has no eyes."
[Jim:] "Oh no!"
[Woman:] "I'd like to be home with my monkey and my dog."
[Jim:] "Thankyou."
[Woman:] "I'd like to be home with my monkey and my dog
I'd like to be home with my monkey and my dog
I'd like to be home with my monkey and my dog
I'd like to be home with my monkey..."
[Jim:] "I don't care
Shut up
Play the record."
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Other reviews
By FLOYDMAN
"Radio K.A.O.S. is a perfect Watersian concept, obviously less mature than The Wall but nevertheless unique and in some parts unsettling."
"'The Tide Is Turning', as the last song is titled, wonderfully reflects that innocence, described earlier, of Billy. This is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard, ever."
By Shine
Radio Kaos represents a musical turning point, yet isolated, in Waters' career.
The album oscillates between decent and interesting outcomes, reaching Pink Floyd-like heights only a couple of times.
By orange77
Radio Kaos is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful, perfect, and rich albums of the whole decade.
If you move away for about forty minutes from the Floyd discography and listen to it without preconceptions, you'll discover a very pleasant, focused, and balanced album.
