By the end of 1977, Pink Floyd found themselves in debt. This was caused by several factors, but mainly because of the Norton Warburg Group, who was entrusted to invest the band's money to help avoid large taxes from the government. The investment group, though, invested the money into failing businesses which made the Floyd lose even more money. Once the band found out, they demanded what was left of the money back. For the next year or so, the members took a break from the band to focus on family and solo work. Because the band now found themselves playing huge stadiums and headlining huge tours, the band, guitarist David Gilmour particularly, were almost depressed because they felt as though there was nothing left to do next, that there was nothing to look forward to. It was during this year off that Dave Gilmour released his first solo album, David Gilmour, and keyboardist Rick Wright released his solo album, Wet Dream. Roger Waters, however, was busy during this time working on new Floyd material, and was very prolific.
Once the band reunited in July of 1978, Roger presented to the band two new albums, each 90 minutes long, enough material for four albums. He played demos he recorded of the entire albums, one called Bricks in the Wall, and the other entitled The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking. After a nearly unanimous vote, the band agreed to the first, although the latter would become Roger's first solo album after his departure from the band. The band set out for the rest of the year and much of the next year to write and build off of Water's songs and record them. During the process, the band argued often and grew apart. Roger's relationship with Rick Wright particularly fell apart, with him asking for Rick to quit the band because he wasn't pulling his weight in the recording. Rick complied, as he did miss his family much and his marriage was beginning to falter. Wright was, however, employed as keyboardist for the subsequent tour on the album. Because he was the only salaried performer, he was the only one who walked away with money, as the band walked away with less than they started with as the shows were very theatrical and costly.
Through all of the fights and arguments, the band did manage to release the album by the end of 1979. The album spawned three hit singles, the number one gigantic single "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)", "Comfortably Numb", the song now well known for Gilmour's excellent guitar solos, and the iconic fast paced "Run Like Hell". The album sold extremely well, certified 23x platinum in the US alone, and is now the second best selling album in the world, second only to an Eagle's greatest hits album. The album has since become one of the most well known albums in the world, and even spawned a movie, released in 1982. The album, as dark as it is, is still beloved by fans around the world 30 years later.
The album opens in an unexpected way, with the soft sound of recorders playing a quiet tune. At the very beginning of track one, "In the Flesh?", you can here the words "...we came in." which is completing a sentence from the last track, so that if you play the album on repeat, it appears like a cycle with the last and first track connecting. The song takes a dynamic change at 17 seconds in with a distorted guitar and the whole band. The guitar and organ are most prominent for the intro and the main riff, which is pretty catchy itself, features Wright's keyboards very loudly. The verse is soft and kept to just the keyboard and Roger's vocals. He sings quietly until the end of the verse where he begins shouting which continues through the rest of the track. At the end of the verse, the main riff comes back in with Roger shouting "action" and "lights" until the end. The ending has the sound of an airplane crashing loudly, ending with a baby crying, transferring into the following track. This symbolizes that the main character, Pink Floyd, was born at the same time that his father died in war.
The next track, "The Thin Ice", opens with the continuation of the crying baby which is followed by the piano with synthesizers playing a repeated chord sequence. Gilmour sings pleasantly as the mother in the story for the first verse. A sense of unease is achieved at the end of this verse as Roger sings his vocals for the second verse. The second verse ends with a key change into a dynamic solo by Gilmour. This is an abrupt change from the softness of the first half of the song. The solo reaches a climax at the end as it transfers into the next song. The lyrics drive home the point that his mother has to fill dual roles to fill in for the absent father, which is a reflection of Roger's own personal life, as his father was killed when he was a young child.
The third track, "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 1)", details how the first bricks in the protagonist's wall were built from the pain he felt because of the loss of his father. The song is soft, sticking to just guitar and bass and vocals. Roger's vocals are mostly soft, but towards the end of the verse, they have a dynamic volume rise, though it is subtle. This is followed by a guitar solo that lasts until the end of the song, which features the sounds of children out playing. The music fades out into the sound of a helicopter that transfers into the following track, "The Happiest Days of our Lives". This track begins with the sound of a teacher yelling "Hey you, yes you, stand still laddie!" that is followed by a single note guitar and bass riff that eventually plays down a scale. The drums are quietly introduced throughout the verse, which is sung quietly at first but then loud and maniacally at the end by Roger Waters. The vocals feature backwards echo, which is taking the echo from the vocals and putting it before the words begin themselves, which achieves a brilliant sound if used correctly. Jimmy Page uses this effect on his guitar at the end of "You Shook Me All Night Long" off of Led Zeppelin's debut album. The track ends triumphantly with female vocalists singing wordless vocals over the whole band, ending with a loud scream from Waters, similar to the screams of "Careful With That Axe, Eugene".
The scream transfers into the hit single "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" which begins with the iconic delayed guitar sound overtop a disco beat. The band sings the first verse as a group, followed by the looped disco beat of Nick Mason left alone for two bars. The second verse has similar lyrics to the first and is sung by a group of school children. The school children reflect the point of the song that the second part of Pink's wall was built by the school teachers who would reek havoc on the students and bring them down. The song ends with another solo by Gilmour that brings the song to a close as the drums and bass fade out with the sound of school children over top. This is ended with the sound of a telephone tone played over and over again alone.
Track six, "Mother", closes out the first side of the album. The track begins with a simple breath in and out followed by Roger singing vocals over an acoustic guitar. The time signatures change much during the verses going from 3/4 to 4/4 several times in the blink of an eye. The second verse stays acoustic, but introduces Rick Wright's keyboards. The second verse ends with a second guitar coming in and a refrain by David Gilmour, who portrays the mother. This section is slightly louder than the first verses, but not by too much. The end of this section finally brings in the rest of the band, as the drums and piano come in full force, and Gilmour plays a slightly distorted guitar solo. This transfers back into another Waters sung verse that talks about how Pink consults his mother about everything, even about the women he likes, asking his mother for advice about a girl he is considering starting a relationship with. This verse is played in 4/4 which contrasts with the following chorus, sung again by Gilmour, which is played in 6/8. At the end of this, Roger sings the final line, "Mother, did it have to be so high?" which refers to the wall that he can't escape. The line ends the first side well, and in suspense as you wonder what will happen next.
The second side of the album opens up with the seventh track "Goodbye Blue Sky" which begins with the sounds of birds chirping, followed by the voice of Roger Water's son saying "Look mommy, there's an aeroplane up in the sky." This transfers into a dual acoustic guitar riff, with the guitar parts harmonizing themselves at points. This is light hearted sounding, but is followed by a short sinister synth section in a minor key, although it does transfer quickly back into the opening melody. The melody is played again with harmonizing voices singing "Ooh" over top, all done by Gilmour. This happy sounding riff is followed by a minor verse that talks more about how Pink's father died. This cycle of major riff and minor verse is repeated twice until the refrain of "Goodbye blue sky" is sung, followed by a repeat of the riff that fades out eventually.
The fade transfers into the following track "Empty Spaces" which is a shortened version of a track called "What Shall We Do Now?". The shortening of the track was done to better fit the album onto vinyl as the album was already exceeding time limits. The track opens up with various sound effects, such as the sound of marching, in a thumping beat. This all builds up with synth until Roger comes in with soft, but creepy vocals about the last remaining places to put bricks in his wall, which are taken up by his separation from his wife. The "What Shall We Do Now?" version of the track is much more dynamic, as it changes halfway through to the full band coming in and vocals in an almost chant like manner. This version is in the movie and was played live, but does not appear on the album. Instead of getting dynamic within the piece itself, the track ends with an extended line of Waters that doesn't complete until the beginning of the following track. This transition works, as the following track "Young Lust" is louder and faster than "Empty Spaces" just as the second half of "What Shall We Do Now?" is.
"Young Lust" is a bluesy rocker, with a simple riff similar to the sound of Led Zeppelin. The song features Gilmour on lead vocals, and Roger on backing vocals, which is different for this album. The song is one of the few on the album to feature a proper chorus, and the song generally fits within the verse-chorus technique of most songs, which, although it gets old with bands that only write songs that way, is a nice change up for the album which doesn't follow many molds itself. After the second chorus of the song, Gilmour plays a ripping solo that leads into a third repetition of the chorus which is followed by the main riff that leads out the song. The lyrics detail how, after being alienated from his wife, Pink cheats on his wife and, through a call over a pay phone, finds out that his wife is cheating on him. This adds to Pink's growing isolation from the world as his wall gets bigger and bigger. Over the end, we hear the dialogue of the call that goes on over the phone that leads into the next track.
The 10th track, "One of My Turns", is one of the most dynamic pieces on the album. The song opens with the dial tone from the previous track which crossfades with the synthesizer note while dialogue of the girl who Pink takes back to his place can be heard. The verse comes in after the talking, and Roger sings very softly and with much sorrow in his voice. All the while, Rick plays a pretty cool synthesizer riff on the piano. The whole verse stays soft until the very end which transfers into a very fast and loud verse of Pink finally bursting from all of his inner anger. The whole band joins in as the vocals get louder and more threatening. In the background are the sounds of furniture being thrown and things being smashed. This is followed by a short solo by Gilmour, that adds to the song greatly. The song resumes in this speed for two lines and is followed by Roger yelling "Why are you running away!?" in a self-pitying way.
The next track is "Don't Leave Me Now", which is rather scary and dark to say the least. There are essentially two parts to the track. The first is composed of Roger screaming his sarcastic vocals that complain of how he can't hold his own marriage together or even be with a groupie along with some dissonant piano parts and synth parts with heavy echo. This seems like a look into the dark mind of Roger Waters, and it is dark and frightening. The second part introduces the whole band with voices singing in melancholy "Ooh, babe" over and over again. After this section, we hear various television noises followed by a scream from Pink as he smashes the television and throws it out of the window. This leads into "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 3)" which is considerably faster than the other two parts. The main structure is the same, but the band plays with seemingly more aggression. This ends quickly with a loop of a synth pattern played over and over.
The last track on the first disc is "Goodbye Cruel World". This short song is played with just bass and has soft vocals from Roger. This represents his last words to the world before the last brick of the wall is placed. The song ends abruptly with Roger saying "Goodbye." This is a very simple end to disc one, but very interesting and suspenseful.
The next side of the album begins with the minor acoustic guitar notes of "Hey You". The track starts soft but changes to a much louder part gradually. The first verses is sung by Gilmour overtop of an acoustic guitar riff with Rick Wright's piano overtop. The second verse introduces the rest of the band and many harmonies that create a wonderful vocal part as they sing "Help me to carry the stone." This transfers suddenly into the classic riff from "Another Brick in the Wall" that is thematic through the album as Gilmour solos nicely over top. This section ends as Roger sings a short bridge part in a major key for a short while. This then transfers back into the main riff for another verse sung by Waters, and quite menacingly so. His voice sounds distraught, and really portrays how Pink is feeling frustrated and alone behind his wall. The song ends with the last line "Together we stand, divided we fall", with the word "fall" being echoed several times.
The following track opens up with a sound collage of television sounds and Roger saying, rather than singing, the line "Is there anybody out there?" several times. This whole section of the song is very creepy, again showing the dark mind of the protagonist and Roger himself. This section is followed by an acoustic piece, that is played by an unknown session man. This piece is played finger style, and sounds very classical and minor. This goes to the end of the song and transfers back into the sound of the television to go into the following track, "Nobody Home". This song is mostly piano based, with some orchestra coming in now and then. The lyrics are Pink's reflections on himself and his life, and the fact that there was no one to talk to except his possessions. This is actually based on how Roger felt on their last tour, isolated and alone. This song is definitely a shiner on this album, and there isn't any other on the album quite like it.
More television sounds lead into the next track, the short "Vera". This song is a mostly acoustic piece, with bass in the background and keyboards over top in places. Roger references singer Vera Lynn who wrote the song "We'll Meet Again" that the protagonist has a liking for as it is hope that he might just see his father who he never met. This leads with an orchestration note into a drum line into "Bring the Boys Back Home". This track is another short one, and is entirely an orchestra, resembling a marching band as Roger sings a lead vocal above a chorus of others. At the end, he sings the final line with a struggle, representing how distressed the lead character is. This all transfers into a sound collage ending with the line "Is there anybody out there?" again.
The next track, "Comfortably Numb", closes out side 3 of the album. The song begins with the bass taking the lead as Nick keeps up a standard 4/4 beat and Rick playing some haunting keyboard lines overtop. The verse is sung rather creepily by Roger, which is a complete difference to the nice sounding choruses which are sung by David Gilmour. The chorus brings in an acoustic guitar and orchestration overtop. The chorus is such a wonderful sound, bringing some relief from all of the dark and sad tones of the other songs on the record. After he sings with a harmony the final verse of the chorus, "I have become comfortably numb," Gilmour launches into his first solo on the song. This solo is in a major key and is short compared to the second one. The solo ends with the repeat of "I have become comfortably numb" and then transfers into the second verse, again sung hauntingly by Roger Waters. This verse is shorter than the first, and transfers rather quickly back into the chorus. This time, though, the chorus is followed by a solo in the minor key of the verses. This solo has been often ranked one of the best in classic rock history, and understandably so as it is truly an epic guitar solo. The solo is a constant onslaught of distorted guitar which is just amazing to hear. Gilmour shines very much on this track, which is a nice break from all of the dark Waters tracks. This song fades out at the end of the song, ending the third side of the album.
The last side of the album opens with the 20th track, "The Show Must Go On". This track starts with some stunning vocal harmonies like those of the Beach Boys. In fact, the Beach Boys were going to do the harmonies, but canceled right on the day of the recording session, so they hired Bruce Johnston to come help out with it. The song has chord changes similar to "In the Flesh" and "Mother", and also is reminiscent of something Queen might do. Gilmour sings the lead vocals on the vocals which are overtop an acoustic guitar along with the rest of the band. The song ends with another stunning harmony which is a cappella. As a side note, the song had an extra verse which was cut due to time limits, but was played live by the band.
This track ends with applause like that of a live show's crowd, which is simulated for the next couple of tracks in Pink's mind as he starts riots against minorities and others in the track "In the Flesh". This track is almost identical to the first track of the album, with the only differences being the lyrics, an extra round of the verse melody before the verse with wordless vocals singing overtop, and an extra verse after the first. This one is also more aggressive than the first one, with the drums coming in more during the verses. The second verse of this track resembles a political rally, with Pink telling his followers to throw out the "undesirables". Although this is a joke, this can be taken very seriously unfortunately, and there are people who still do this today, hate crimes against minorities. The song ends with the crowd chanting "Pink Floyd" over and over as Gilmour's delay ridden guitar comes in and plays the thematic D note associated with "Another Brick in the Wall" for the next song "Run Like Hell". The rest of the band then comes in as Gilmour plays some very melodic triads overtop of the band. This transfers into a round of people yelling "Run!" over and over. This gets even more uneasy as Roger comes in with his vocals, telling the crowds to run and raid the towns, and on another level, telling Pink to run away from himself. This sequence of the triad riff and then verse is repeated until a short synth solo comes in. This whole section was originally much longer, but had to be cut short for the album. The following section features Nick playing a groove on the drums as the guitar still plays the rhythm of the D note while the sounds of tires swerving and marching can be heard in the background. This whole section ends with a shriek like that of "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" by Roger. This leads the whole band back into the main riff for one last time.
The next song, "Waiting for the Worms" opens up with the words "Eins, zwei, drei, hammer!" which are the German words for "One, two, three" and then the word "hammer", which is another theme of the album and the movie. This leads into another vocal harmony, like that of "The Show Must Go On". This song is very dynamic, as the first verse is very soft and harmony laden, which changes dramatically as a heavy section with a voice yelling orders into a megaphone comes in. This heavy section features voices chanting "Waiting" in the background while the voice in the megaphone tells his followers his orders of how to discriminate against minorities. This whole song is very weird and disturbing, because it really does resemble a fascist dictator telling his people to do all sorts of crimes, even though it is not real. The song transfers several times from heavy to light, and the ending of the song reprises the theme of the album from "Another Brick" while the megaphone voice gets louder and louder, and the crowd chants louder and louder, until Pink finally shouts at the top of his lungs "Stop!" which is the segue into the next track, "Stop". This track is very short, only 30 seconds, and features just Roger's distraught vocals and a piano in the background.
The piano notes transfer right into the next track, "The Trial". This track is very odd, again reminding me of something Queen would do, like a rock opera. The track opens with orchestration doing all the music as a lawyer opens up a case to the judge, referred to as the Worm. Throughout the song, we here stories from various people involved in Pink's life, such as the school master, the cheating wife, and the mother. In between verses, we here Pink admitting that he must be going crazy. Most of the song is composed of Roger imitating all the people as an orchestra provides a "score" of sorts for the song. At the end though, the albums main theme comes in on electric guitar along with the rest of the band as the Worm sentences Pink to tear down his personal wall. The rest of the song is the guitar riff played over and over as the crowd chants "Tear down the wall!" which is followed by a loud crash, which leads into the final track "Outside the Wall". This final track is a very quiet and depressing end to the album. The only instrumentation is quiet recorders with a choir singing the words to the tune as Roger speaks the words over top. Roger's words are almost preachy, but leave you with a sense of "what really happened?" because it ends with only you knowing that the wall has been broken down. The words don't add to the story, but really just sum up the point of the album. What a strange way to end an epic album! The ending of the song features the beginning of the sentence which started the album, with the words "Isn't this where..." which, when put together with the opening of the first "In the Flesh?", makes the sentence "Isn't this where we came in?", giving the album a cyclical feel.
All in all, this album is wonderful and a great thing to listen to. Although the work is dark in places, you can tell that there was a lot of work put into this, and that this album really is a great work. I give this album a 10 out of 10.
Through all of the fights and arguments, the band did manage to release the album by the end of 1979. The album spawned three hit singles, the number one gigantic single "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)", "Comfortably Numb", the song now well known for Gilmour's excellent guitar solos, and the iconic fast paced "Run Like Hell". The album sold extremely well, certified 23x platinum in the US alone, and is now the second best selling album in the world, second only to an Eagle's greatest hits album. The album has since become one of the most well known albums in the world, and even spawned a movie, released in 1982. The album, as dark as it is, is still beloved by fans around the world 30 years later.
The album opens in an unexpected way, with the soft sound of recorders playing a quiet tune. At the very beginning of track one, "In the Flesh?", you can here the words "...we came in." which is completing a sentence from the last track, so that if you play the album on repeat, it appears like a cycle with the last and first track connecting. The song takes a dynamic change at 17 seconds in with a distorted guitar and the whole band. The guitar and organ are most prominent for the intro and the main riff, which is pretty catchy itself, features Wright's keyboards very loudly. The verse is soft and kept to just the keyboard and Roger's vocals. He sings quietly until the end of the verse where he begins shouting which continues through the rest of the track. At the end of the verse, the main riff comes back in with Roger shouting "action" and "lights" until the end. The ending has the sound of an airplane crashing loudly, ending with a baby crying, transferring into the following track. This symbolizes that the main character, Pink Floyd, was born at the same time that his father died in war.
The next track, "The Thin Ice", opens with the continuation of the crying baby which is followed by the piano with synthesizers playing a repeated chord sequence. Gilmour sings pleasantly as the mother in the story for the first verse. A sense of unease is achieved at the end of this verse as Roger sings his vocals for the second verse. The second verse ends with a key change into a dynamic solo by Gilmour. This is an abrupt change from the softness of the first half of the song. The solo reaches a climax at the end as it transfers into the next song. The lyrics drive home the point that his mother has to fill dual roles to fill in for the absent father, which is a reflection of Roger's own personal life, as his father was killed when he was a young child.
The third track, "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 1)", details how the first bricks in the protagonist's wall were built from the pain he felt because of the loss of his father. The song is soft, sticking to just guitar and bass and vocals. Roger's vocals are mostly soft, but towards the end of the verse, they have a dynamic volume rise, though it is subtle. This is followed by a guitar solo that lasts until the end of the song, which features the sounds of children out playing. The music fades out into the sound of a helicopter that transfers into the following track, "The Happiest Days of our Lives". This track begins with the sound of a teacher yelling "Hey you, yes you, stand still laddie!" that is followed by a single note guitar and bass riff that eventually plays down a scale. The drums are quietly introduced throughout the verse, which is sung quietly at first but then loud and maniacally at the end by Roger Waters. The vocals feature backwards echo, which is taking the echo from the vocals and putting it before the words begin themselves, which achieves a brilliant sound if used correctly. Jimmy Page uses this effect on his guitar at the end of "You Shook Me All Night Long" off of Led Zeppelin's debut album. The track ends triumphantly with female vocalists singing wordless vocals over the whole band, ending with a loud scream from Waters, similar to the screams of "Careful With That Axe, Eugene".
The scream transfers into the hit single "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" which begins with the iconic delayed guitar sound overtop a disco beat. The band sings the first verse as a group, followed by the looped disco beat of Nick Mason left alone for two bars. The second verse has similar lyrics to the first and is sung by a group of school children. The school children reflect the point of the song that the second part of Pink's wall was built by the school teachers who would reek havoc on the students and bring them down. The song ends with another solo by Gilmour that brings the song to a close as the drums and bass fade out with the sound of school children over top. This is ended with the sound of a telephone tone played over and over again alone.
Track six, "Mother", closes out the first side of the album. The track begins with a simple breath in and out followed by Roger singing vocals over an acoustic guitar. The time signatures change much during the verses going from 3/4 to 4/4 several times in the blink of an eye. The second verse stays acoustic, but introduces Rick Wright's keyboards. The second verse ends with a second guitar coming in and a refrain by David Gilmour, who portrays the mother. This section is slightly louder than the first verses, but not by too much. The end of this section finally brings in the rest of the band, as the drums and piano come in full force, and Gilmour plays a slightly distorted guitar solo. This transfers back into another Waters sung verse that talks about how Pink consults his mother about everything, even about the women he likes, asking his mother for advice about a girl he is considering starting a relationship with. This verse is played in 4/4 which contrasts with the following chorus, sung again by Gilmour, which is played in 6/8. At the end of this, Roger sings the final line, "Mother, did it have to be so high?" which refers to the wall that he can't escape. The line ends the first side well, and in suspense as you wonder what will happen next.
The second side of the album opens up with the seventh track "Goodbye Blue Sky" which begins with the sounds of birds chirping, followed by the voice of Roger Water's son saying "Look mommy, there's an aeroplane up in the sky." This transfers into a dual acoustic guitar riff, with the guitar parts harmonizing themselves at points. This is light hearted sounding, but is followed by a short sinister synth section in a minor key, although it does transfer quickly back into the opening melody. The melody is played again with harmonizing voices singing "Ooh" over top, all done by Gilmour. This happy sounding riff is followed by a minor verse that talks more about how Pink's father died. This cycle of major riff and minor verse is repeated twice until the refrain of "Goodbye blue sky" is sung, followed by a repeat of the riff that fades out eventually.
The fade transfers into the following track "Empty Spaces" which is a shortened version of a track called "What Shall We Do Now?". The shortening of the track was done to better fit the album onto vinyl as the album was already exceeding time limits. The track opens up with various sound effects, such as the sound of marching, in a thumping beat. This all builds up with synth until Roger comes in with soft, but creepy vocals about the last remaining places to put bricks in his wall, which are taken up by his separation from his wife. The "What Shall We Do Now?" version of the track is much more dynamic, as it changes halfway through to the full band coming in and vocals in an almost chant like manner. This version is in the movie and was played live, but does not appear on the album. Instead of getting dynamic within the piece itself, the track ends with an extended line of Waters that doesn't complete until the beginning of the following track. This transition works, as the following track "Young Lust" is louder and faster than "Empty Spaces" just as the second half of "What Shall We Do Now?" is.
"Young Lust" is a bluesy rocker, with a simple riff similar to the sound of Led Zeppelin. The song features Gilmour on lead vocals, and Roger on backing vocals, which is different for this album. The song is one of the few on the album to feature a proper chorus, and the song generally fits within the verse-chorus technique of most songs, which, although it gets old with bands that only write songs that way, is a nice change up for the album which doesn't follow many molds itself. After the second chorus of the song, Gilmour plays a ripping solo that leads into a third repetition of the chorus which is followed by the main riff that leads out the song. The lyrics detail how, after being alienated from his wife, Pink cheats on his wife and, through a call over a pay phone, finds out that his wife is cheating on him. This adds to Pink's growing isolation from the world as his wall gets bigger and bigger. Over the end, we hear the dialogue of the call that goes on over the phone that leads into the next track.
The 10th track, "One of My Turns", is one of the most dynamic pieces on the album. The song opens with the dial tone from the previous track which crossfades with the synthesizer note while dialogue of the girl who Pink takes back to his place can be heard. The verse comes in after the talking, and Roger sings very softly and with much sorrow in his voice. All the while, Rick plays a pretty cool synthesizer riff on the piano. The whole verse stays soft until the very end which transfers into a very fast and loud verse of Pink finally bursting from all of his inner anger. The whole band joins in as the vocals get louder and more threatening. In the background are the sounds of furniture being thrown and things being smashed. This is followed by a short solo by Gilmour, that adds to the song greatly. The song resumes in this speed for two lines and is followed by Roger yelling "Why are you running away!?" in a self-pitying way.
The next track is "Don't Leave Me Now", which is rather scary and dark to say the least. There are essentially two parts to the track. The first is composed of Roger screaming his sarcastic vocals that complain of how he can't hold his own marriage together or even be with a groupie along with some dissonant piano parts and synth parts with heavy echo. This seems like a look into the dark mind of Roger Waters, and it is dark and frightening. The second part introduces the whole band with voices singing in melancholy "Ooh, babe" over and over again. After this section, we hear various television noises followed by a scream from Pink as he smashes the television and throws it out of the window. This leads into "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 3)" which is considerably faster than the other two parts. The main structure is the same, but the band plays with seemingly more aggression. This ends quickly with a loop of a synth pattern played over and over.
The last track on the first disc is "Goodbye Cruel World". This short song is played with just bass and has soft vocals from Roger. This represents his last words to the world before the last brick of the wall is placed. The song ends abruptly with Roger saying "Goodbye." This is a very simple end to disc one, but very interesting and suspenseful.
The next side of the album begins with the minor acoustic guitar notes of "Hey You". The track starts soft but changes to a much louder part gradually. The first verses is sung by Gilmour overtop of an acoustic guitar riff with Rick Wright's piano overtop. The second verse introduces the rest of the band and many harmonies that create a wonderful vocal part as they sing "Help me to carry the stone." This transfers suddenly into the classic riff from "Another Brick in the Wall" that is thematic through the album as Gilmour solos nicely over top. This section ends as Roger sings a short bridge part in a major key for a short while. This then transfers back into the main riff for another verse sung by Waters, and quite menacingly so. His voice sounds distraught, and really portrays how Pink is feeling frustrated and alone behind his wall. The song ends with the last line "Together we stand, divided we fall", with the word "fall" being echoed several times.
The following track opens up with a sound collage of television sounds and Roger saying, rather than singing, the line "Is there anybody out there?" several times. This whole section of the song is very creepy, again showing the dark mind of the protagonist and Roger himself. This section is followed by an acoustic piece, that is played by an unknown session man. This piece is played finger style, and sounds very classical and minor. This goes to the end of the song and transfers back into the sound of the television to go into the following track, "Nobody Home". This song is mostly piano based, with some orchestra coming in now and then. The lyrics are Pink's reflections on himself and his life, and the fact that there was no one to talk to except his possessions. This is actually based on how Roger felt on their last tour, isolated and alone. This song is definitely a shiner on this album, and there isn't any other on the album quite like it.
More television sounds lead into the next track, the short "Vera". This song is a mostly acoustic piece, with bass in the background and keyboards over top in places. Roger references singer Vera Lynn who wrote the song "We'll Meet Again" that the protagonist has a liking for as it is hope that he might just see his father who he never met. This leads with an orchestration note into a drum line into "Bring the Boys Back Home". This track is another short one, and is entirely an orchestra, resembling a marching band as Roger sings a lead vocal above a chorus of others. At the end, he sings the final line with a struggle, representing how distressed the lead character is. This all transfers into a sound collage ending with the line "Is there anybody out there?" again.
The next track, "Comfortably Numb", closes out side 3 of the album. The song begins with the bass taking the lead as Nick keeps up a standard 4/4 beat and Rick playing some haunting keyboard lines overtop. The verse is sung rather creepily by Roger, which is a complete difference to the nice sounding choruses which are sung by David Gilmour. The chorus brings in an acoustic guitar and orchestration overtop. The chorus is such a wonderful sound, bringing some relief from all of the dark and sad tones of the other songs on the record. After he sings with a harmony the final verse of the chorus, "I have become comfortably numb," Gilmour launches into his first solo on the song. This solo is in a major key and is short compared to the second one. The solo ends with the repeat of "I have become comfortably numb" and then transfers into the second verse, again sung hauntingly by Roger Waters. This verse is shorter than the first, and transfers rather quickly back into the chorus. This time, though, the chorus is followed by a solo in the minor key of the verses. This solo has been often ranked one of the best in classic rock history, and understandably so as it is truly an epic guitar solo. The solo is a constant onslaught of distorted guitar which is just amazing to hear. Gilmour shines very much on this track, which is a nice break from all of the dark Waters tracks. This song fades out at the end of the song, ending the third side of the album.
The last side of the album opens with the 20th track, "The Show Must Go On". This track starts with some stunning vocal harmonies like those of the Beach Boys. In fact, the Beach Boys were going to do the harmonies, but canceled right on the day of the recording session, so they hired Bruce Johnston to come help out with it. The song has chord changes similar to "In the Flesh" and "Mother", and also is reminiscent of something Queen might do. Gilmour sings the lead vocals on the vocals which are overtop an acoustic guitar along with the rest of the band. The song ends with another stunning harmony which is a cappella. As a side note, the song had an extra verse which was cut due to time limits, but was played live by the band.
This track ends with applause like that of a live show's crowd, which is simulated for the next couple of tracks in Pink's mind as he starts riots against minorities and others in the track "In the Flesh". This track is almost identical to the first track of the album, with the only differences being the lyrics, an extra round of the verse melody before the verse with wordless vocals singing overtop, and an extra verse after the first. This one is also more aggressive than the first one, with the drums coming in more during the verses. The second verse of this track resembles a political rally, with Pink telling his followers to throw out the "undesirables". Although this is a joke, this can be taken very seriously unfortunately, and there are people who still do this today, hate crimes against minorities. The song ends with the crowd chanting "Pink Floyd" over and over as Gilmour's delay ridden guitar comes in and plays the thematic D note associated with "Another Brick in the Wall" for the next song "Run Like Hell". The rest of the band then comes in as Gilmour plays some very melodic triads overtop of the band. This transfers into a round of people yelling "Run!" over and over. This gets even more uneasy as Roger comes in with his vocals, telling the crowds to run and raid the towns, and on another level, telling Pink to run away from himself. This sequence of the triad riff and then verse is repeated until a short synth solo comes in. This whole section was originally much longer, but had to be cut short for the album. The following section features Nick playing a groove on the drums as the guitar still plays the rhythm of the D note while the sounds of tires swerving and marching can be heard in the background. This whole section ends with a shriek like that of "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" by Roger. This leads the whole band back into the main riff for one last time.
The next song, "Waiting for the Worms" opens up with the words "Eins, zwei, drei, hammer!" which are the German words for "One, two, three" and then the word "hammer", which is another theme of the album and the movie. This leads into another vocal harmony, like that of "The Show Must Go On". This song is very dynamic, as the first verse is very soft and harmony laden, which changes dramatically as a heavy section with a voice yelling orders into a megaphone comes in. This heavy section features voices chanting "Waiting" in the background while the voice in the megaphone tells his followers his orders of how to discriminate against minorities. This whole song is very weird and disturbing, because it really does resemble a fascist dictator telling his people to do all sorts of crimes, even though it is not real. The song transfers several times from heavy to light, and the ending of the song reprises the theme of the album from "Another Brick" while the megaphone voice gets louder and louder, and the crowd chants louder and louder, until Pink finally shouts at the top of his lungs "Stop!" which is the segue into the next track, "Stop". This track is very short, only 30 seconds, and features just Roger's distraught vocals and a piano in the background.
The piano notes transfer right into the next track, "The Trial". This track is very odd, again reminding me of something Queen would do, like a rock opera. The track opens with orchestration doing all the music as a lawyer opens up a case to the judge, referred to as the Worm. Throughout the song, we here stories from various people involved in Pink's life, such as the school master, the cheating wife, and the mother. In between verses, we here Pink admitting that he must be going crazy. Most of the song is composed of Roger imitating all the people as an orchestra provides a "score" of sorts for the song. At the end though, the albums main theme comes in on electric guitar along with the rest of the band as the Worm sentences Pink to tear down his personal wall. The rest of the song is the guitar riff played over and over as the crowd chants "Tear down the wall!" which is followed by a loud crash, which leads into the final track "Outside the Wall". This final track is a very quiet and depressing end to the album. The only instrumentation is quiet recorders with a choir singing the words to the tune as Roger speaks the words over top. Roger's words are almost preachy, but leave you with a sense of "what really happened?" because it ends with only you knowing that the wall has been broken down. The words don't add to the story, but really just sum up the point of the album. What a strange way to end an epic album! The ending of the song features the beginning of the sentence which started the album, with the words "Isn't this where..." which, when put together with the opening of the first "In the Flesh?", makes the sentence "Isn't this where we came in?", giving the album a cyclical feel.
All in all, this album is wonderful and a great thing to listen to. Although the work is dark in places, you can tell that there was a lot of work put into this, and that this album really is a great work. I give this album a 10 out of 10.
A live version of "Comfortably Numb":
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