King Crimson's masterpiece Red was released in November of 1974 just after Robert Fripp, the guitarist and driving force, ended the band; claiming that Crimson "ceased to exist." Red was Crimson's third album with the same line-up consisting of John Wetton on bass and vocals and Bill Bruford on drums. This incarnation of Crimson had two previous albums - Larks Tongues' In Aspic in 1973 and Starless and Bible Black in 1974.
Of the three albums with the same members, Red is musically the most concise and tight, seeming the band all had the same vision in mind for the record - at least Wetton and Bruford must have been on the same page, as Fripp was becoming seriously disillusioned with living the life of a "rock star" and consequently took the back seat during the recording and producing of the record.
The album starts off with the title track "Red", a six minute instrumental passage composed by Fripp. All throughout, the song features many guitar over-dubbs, very heavily-distorted bass, and manic drumming. With Bruford and his meticulous craft at the kit, "Red" smashes through 5/8 and 7/8 time signatures ("smashes" in a sense that he rides and crashes on an old, bent cymbal that sounds akin to a garbage can lid). The beginning starts with a climbing guitar riff and then enters into the main theme of the song. At around 2:52, a cello section enters, encumbering phased guitar chords before leading back into the main theme. Wetton's heavy and distorted bass tone makes it impossible for the casual listener to differentiate between what the bass and guitars are playing. Fripp's playing and style are both beautiful and cynical at the same time. "Red" is the perfect overture for the album.
The next track is "Fallen Angel". This song is beautifully put together musically and lyrically as well. The song's lyrics are about a boy who gets his younger brother to join a gang with him, and ends up watching him die in a knife fight. The music originated from live improvisations as early as 1972 in the Larks Tongues' era. The song starts out soft and alluring with gentle music to accommodate the sincere lyrics, and continues to the end with a seemingly angry and loud tone. Mel Collins, from an earlier incarnation of Crimson, makes an appearance, playing soprano saxophone.
Right in the middle of the album is "One More Red Nightmare". The song features a crunchy and sinister riff played throughout. Bruford rides heavily on some kind of a warped cymbal that sounds like a metal garbage can lid being thrown around. The lyrics are about a man who falls asleep on the bus and dreams he is on a plane that is about to crash. The theme of planes is even carried over to the track listing on the back of the album, which states the song is 7:07 (although actually being 7:10), possibly referencing the Boeing 707 airplane. The song also features a saxophone solo in the middle and at the end preformed by Ian McDonald, former saxophone player from the band's debut line-up in 1969. As this is the first song with lyrics written in whole by John Wetton, it is a rare glimpse of his writing style in Crimson, opposed to his usual lyrical collaborator, Richard Palmer-James.
Next up is "Providence". This improvisation was recorded live in Providence, Rhode Island in June 1974. The first half of the song is centered on Violinist David Cross's noodling which last for about five minutes before the full band comes in. Wetton's bass, similarly to the title track (as it is his trademark tone), is growlingly heavy. Bruford adds his own flair with exotic percussion and rhythms, pulling the improv together for something that seems more than an improvisation. There is also obvious chemistry and musical communication between Wetton and Bruford, as any rhythm section should. Fripp's soloing adds tension and suspense to the chaos, taking the spotlight from the violin.
"Providence" is about eight minutes long with a fade out at the end, while the full version of the song is just over ten minutes (the full version was included as a bonus track on the 40th Anniversary Edition release in 2009 along with different takes of "Red" and "Fallen Angel").
Lastly, the grand finally, "Starless". Wetton originally intended this song to be the title track to their last album, Starless and Bible Black. Instead, a different song was chosen. "Starless" was later revised and recorded for Red. As I can't think of a better way to start the album than with "Red", and I also can't think of any other way to close the album than with this song. It is an extremely well put together twelve-minute piece featuring a long and tenuous build up in 13/8 through which Bruford bangs on everything from temple blocks to a xylophone. Wetton keeps the song moving with his steady bass groove. Fripp overlays the groove with one-note guitar solos, utilizing his signature dissonance and creating an almost "creepy" mood for the music. Finally, to top it all off, the band breaks into a speedy rampage, again featuring a sax solo. The song ends with a much more haunting and moving reprise of the intro.
Interestingly, this song recalls many musical moments in KC's back catalogue. The middle section in 13/8 recalls the rhythm in "The Talking Drum" on Larks Tongues' ('72), the beginning mellotron echoes the style in "Epitapth" on In the Court of the Crimson King ('69), and the erratic jazz section at the end recalls "21st Century Schizoid Man" also on In the Court... ('69).
Because of King Crimson's ending without and before touring the album, many would feel that Red was left in the dust and forgotten about. But I think that's what makes this album so daring and legendary - that this was it for the so-called "fathers of progressive rock", the ending of an era of great exploration, experiments, and creation. Crimson would later re-emerge in 1981, but the progressive style and sound of the 1970s was already long lost. Red has influenced the likes of Tool and even Kurt Cobain (too bad the music didn't rub off on him much; in fact, I suppose the old saying "opposites attract" would fit in this senario). As Robert Fripp wrote concerning the album,
"Magic remains available. But today it doesn't walk up and bite you on the ear. That moment passed. It did not return. Question - 'Where does music come from?' Answer - 'Where was the world before it was made? Find that place and you will find Music'."
After releasing their huge album Fragile in 1971, Yes were not phased by their sudden rise in fame, and that showed as they weren't going to give in and let the money go to their heads. They continued to do new material, more and more complex, rather than just going for the simplistic 3 minute songs with two chords. Their recent addition of Rick Wakeman on keyboards also helped get the band up to speed, leading to even more complex music. Their follow up album is no disappointment, and I find it to be better than Fragile, and even my favorite Yes album to date.
This new album was their most ambitious at the point of its release. The new album, released in 1972, was called Close To The Edge. The album featured their first sidelong epic song, the title track, which clocks in at just under 19 minutes. On the second side of the album were two 10 minute songs, both incredibly complex in and of themselves. When it was released in September of 1972, the album was another huge success, becoming Gold in the US alone just a month after its release and making it to number 3 on the Billboard Charts. The album remains as a many Yes fans' favorite album.
The album opens up with the epic title track "Close To The Edge". Divided into four main sections, the whole song goes through many movements, all including wonderful musicianship by the five members, Jon Anderson, who is the angelic voice of the group, the insane Chris Squire on bass, the accomplished Bill Bruford on drums, the great Rick Wakeman on keyboards, and the legendary Steve Howe on guitar. The first movement is called "The Solid Time of Change" and it begins very unassumingly with a fade in of nature sounds such as birds and a waterfall and also a small bit of synth setting an unsettling mood. Then, at the apex of the fade in, the band booms in with a rather unorthodox guitar solo played by guitarist Steve Howe along with the rest of the band playing their individual roles, creating an almost cacophonous mix at time. There's not much of a structure for this section, going from time signature to time signature, but still sounding amazing because the musicianship is amazing. All the while Chris Squire plays an ascending bass riff, often adding to the mood going from menacing to happy with ease of just a note. Interspersed are random wordless vocal shouts, which are multilayered by vocalist Jon Anderson, and some other members in the band. About 3 minutes into the song, the whole band comes in with a main theme and structure, which is just beautiful to hear because the band shows themselves to be very diverse. This whole section seems happy almost, that is, until the words come in a minute later. This vocal section lets the guitar take a break from relentless soloing, but puts the bass and keyboards in the front, as Chris Squire plays a minor and prominent bass line for the first verse. Jon's vocals are wonderful, sung in an almost chanting style due to the amount of words per line. At the end of the verse, one of the song's most prominent themes comes in with Anderson singing "Close to the edge, round by the corner. Close to the edge down by a river", which gets used a lot later in the song. This transfers into a major sounding verse, different than the first musically, but ending with the same "Close to the edge, round..." lyrics coming in. This is where the song takes a big leap into the most prominent theme of the song with Anderson singing "I get up, I get down". These words end the first section, although the whole song really doesn't feel like there are big differences in the sections as they beautifully and organically flow through each other and into each other. The whole song feels like a complete unit, which is great because it wasn't just several songs all pasted together with an odd chord change and then sudden change of tempo or a fade out and fade in, put together haphazardly as other prog rock groups would do (such as Rush's first sidelong epic "The Fountain of Lamneth" and even parts of the famous "2112"). At the 6:00 mark or so, the song goes into the second section, "Total Mass Retain" which stays in the same style as the first part, but the bass line changes to a more frantic style. During this section, there are a few different movements, but the tune stays within what has happened already in the song. This also is one of the only parts with Steve Howe playing rhythm guitar as most of the time in this tune he is ripping it up playing lead in cool ways, or leaving the space open for keyboards and bass to take the front. Very mature in his guitar playing indeed. This repeats the "I get up, I get down" theme another time and is followed by a short riff played by guitar and bass with keyboards slowly becoming the main section to transfer into the third section which is dominated by keyboards. This third section is called "I Get Up, I Get Down", and it is titled this rightfully so as that phrase is repeated several times. The whole part is mostly quiet, with atmospheric keyboards playing at the beginning and then transferring into a standard melodic beat played on a keyboard softly. Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, and Steve Howe then perform some of the most beautiful harmonies as they sing the lyrics. Chris and Steve take the backing vocals most of the time with Jon singing lead overtop. This whole section is so beautiful and well constructed. This is definitely the most diverse part of the song, as the quietness is unexpected in the context of the song. There is a somewhat verse-chorus structure here with several verses coming and ending with "I get up, I get down". After this cycle is repeated numerous times, Jon Anderson sings the line louder as his voice soars followed by a loud and lovely church organ played by Rick Wakeman. Jon then sings the line again at the end of the organ piece, which then goes back into the organ piece. The organ is so powerful and creates a wonderful sound in the tune. At the end of the organ solo, a synth comes in, transferring into "Seasons of Man", the fourth and final part of the song. This whole section begins with Rick ripping it up as he plays an amazing synth solo. He is truly talented, playing intricately fast. The music in the background is similar to earlier parts of the song's verses. At the end of Rick's solo, which lasts for nearly 2 minutes, Jon comes back in to sing a final verse in the song, leading up to the climax. The whole band gets progressively louder, building up gradually. At the end of the verse, the several themes in the song, "Close to the edge, down by a river", "Seasons will pass you by", and "Now that it's all over and done", come back building up into a final three repeats of the triumphant "I get up, I get down", sung beautifully with added orchestration and fervor from the band. This ends with a keyboard line getting repeated several times, fading into the sounds of nature heard at the beginning. This truly is Yes's greatest piece, at least in my opinion! The musicianship is insanely talented, and the song is so well put together.
The second side opens up with the ten minute "And You and I", which is considerably softer than "Close to the Edge" and the following track "Siberian Khatru". The song opens up with Steve Howe playing an acoustic guitar and speaking a few words such as "Okay". He plays some harmonics for about 30 seconds as he tunes up until he goes into the intro riff, played on a twelve string acoustic guitar, the riff is minor in contrast to the major riff that follows. This next riff is just a simple three chord progression with different percussion sounds coming in and out as well as a Moog playing a short and simple solo. Jon's vocals come in at the end of the synth solo, singing nicely. This continues for another few minutes, until the whole band comes in, with a sharp difference in chord progression. This section only lasts for a few seconds though, as Jon comes in with a harmonizing chorus that lasts for a short while, until going into the next section, a slow, orchestrated part, with everyone slowing down to half speed. Rick Wakeman leads the pack with another synth solo played on Moog and Mellotron. Jon sings a short verse that leads into the third section which reprises the intro riff played on twelve string, but this time Steve plays a different riff at the ending. Rick plays a little more synth before Jon comes back in with his singing as he sings another verse. This verse ends with the full band coming in, following most of the structure in the previous verse. Chris and Steve both seem to play the lead parts, with them seemingly taking turns in front. Rick ends it with a keyboard and synth solo which leads into a verse sung by Chris, Jon, and Steve with a beautiful harmony. This reprises a melody found earlier in the song's first section. Once the harmonies end, the band comes back in with the half speed slow section as Rick creates synth noises that sound like shooting stars. The song ends with the soft chorus found at the beginning of the song, with just Jon singing and Steve playing acoustic. This song is wonderful and is definitely the softest on the album. Also, it features some excellent musicianship from each of the members, with each section feeling refreshing and new, even the reprises.
The third and final track on the album is the nine minute "Siberian Khatru". This track is also opened with Steve Howe playing a riff, but this time, though, it is more of a rocker. Steve plays the riff twice through with the whole band coming in at the end. Rick plays some organ chords with Chris playing lead for a few bars until Steve comes back in with the main riff of the song. Steve plays the simple 4 note riff in three different octaves (four when he plays it live) and it just builds up tension as it leads into the verse. I like this main riff because the time signature is pretty cool as there are two bars of 4/4 and then one of 7/4 (or three of 4/4 and one of 3/4 if you like) which is a snazzy structure as Bruford catches the guitar's rhythm by accenting certain beats. The verse features a different riff which is a much funkier affair. Steve and Rick play the riff together with Chris holding up the rhythm section along with Bill Bruford. The verse ends as it leads into the short chorus. The guitar part of the chorus reminds me of something Hendrix would have done, granted that it is a lot faster that Hendrix would play most of the time. Jon sings his lyrics and ends the chorus with harmonizations with the other members. Steve plays a slower and softer version of the main riff along with Chris accenting some points a few times before launching back into the harmonious voices of the second verse. The verse is basically the same as before, as well as the following chorus. There are several odd time signatures, as Bruford often plays a 4/4 beat while the guitar plays in 6/8, which is a cool idea that is well executed. Steve gets a solo on sitar after the second chorus as well as an interchange between keyboards and guitar that leads back into his introductory guitar riff. This time though, the intro riff leads into a softer verse sung by John that leads into the third and final verse. This time, however, Jon ends the verse with random two syllable words that build up tension as orchestration and drum rolls get louder and louder with Chris playing a steady riff. This all leads back into the final reprisal of the main riff that lasts until the end of the song. A few bars in, Jon sings wordless vocals overtop, which again lead into the main riff, which features a wonderful guitar solo by Steve. Steve plays a clean guitar overtop of the rest of the band, with each member contributing their own style to make a big sound. This lasts until the end of the song as the band fades out, ending a wonderful album wonderfully. This is another favorite of mine; in fact, every song on this album is a favorite of mine, with "Close to the Edge" being my all time favorite Yes song.
All in all, this is, in the view of me and many others, Yes's greatest work! I find each song to be a journey in and of themselves, never getting stale or boring. I give this album a 10 out of 10.
After releasing their hugely popular album The Wall in 1979, Pink Floyd had become extremely busy, with multiple projects going on all at one time. After the release of the album, the band went on what would be their final tour with leader Roger Waters, which spanned from 1980 to 1981. The shows were extremely elaborate, featuring giant inflatable characters and a giant wall that was constructed during the show. The giant wall was built up, following the story line of the first disc until Roger sings the last track on the first half of the record and the final brick was placed. The wall also featured large projections on it, which were created by animator Gerald Scarfe, which reflected the storyline and also kept people occupied, as the whole band was behind the wall. The wall would eventually be knocked down at the end of each show as the story ended. The show cost millions of dollars to put on, and with tickets rather inexpensive (by today's standards), the band managed to lose money from the tour, except ex-keyboardist Rick Wright who agreed to quit the band during the album's recording, but was hired as an employee to play the keyboards for the tour, as he was payed a regular wage, unlike the contractually signed rest of the band.
The band also released a film based on the album entitled Pink Floyd The Wall. The film, released in 1982, featured Bob Geldof, of the Boomtown Rats and also the creator of Live Aid and Live 8 charity concerts, as the lead role of Pink Floyd. The movie followed the same story line as the album, and used the album's music (some tracks re-recorded especially for the film) extensively, utilizing very little dialogue except for the songs' lyrics. The film also featured many animations by Gerald Scarfe, which really give a huge glimpse into the dark mind of the protagonist, and, more specifically, Roger Waters. The movie performed well at its opening, and is still seen by many to be a great cult film. I enjoy it very much, as creepy and disturbing as it can be.
For the release of the film, Roger had another project in mind, a soundtrack to the movie entitled Spare Bricks. The record would have included songs that didn't make the cut for The Wall (like "What Shall We Do Now?" and "Your Possible Pasts"), songs from the album that were re-recorded or changed for inclusion in the film (such as "Mother" and "Bring the Boys Back Home"), and some newly recorded material. After some consideration and also the onslaught of the Falklands War, though, Roger envisioned a new project. This album idea, which was very political, was based not only on his annoyance with how Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was handling the war, but also his own experience of having lost his father, Eric Fletcher Waters, in a battle in World War II just months after Roger's birth.
The band, however, was not very happy with Roger Waters' new idea, feeling it was too political for a Floyd album. Roger responded by offering to use it as one of his solo albums, but the band knew a very important thing: even though Roger was hard to work with, manipulative, and often just a plain jerk, the band needed him. Roger was the mastermind of the band, having written their previous four huge albums, and the band recognized that at that point in time they needed him in the group and they needed the record for the band.
A few of the songs on the record were leftover cuts that were deemed not good enough for The Wall. One of guitarist Dave Gilmour's biggest complaints about the album's material was "If they weren't good enough then, why are they good enough now?" Roger often asked, however, what sort of material Gilmour had created, which was none, so that left Roger Waters to write the material.
Another stumbling block for the band was trying to write and record the album without longtime keyboardist Rick Wright. To make up for Wright's absence, the band hired composer Michael Kamen, who had worked with band on The Wall. Kamen also held the role of mediating between Gilmour and Waters in the studio as their relationship had been on the brink of destruction.
During the recording of the album, everyone was getting on each other's nerves, which made everyone uncomfortable to be around and the recording an unpleasurable experience. The band members often express their dislike of the work, primarily because of the fighting and turmoil that was going on within the band. Even through all of this, though, the band did manage to record the entire album. The work was released under the title The Final Cut in March of 1983. The title and imagery of the album (specifically the picture of a soldier holding a film canister with a knife in his back) was related to Waters' very bad relationship with the director of the movie Pink Floyd The Wall Alan Parker.
Upon its release, The Final Cut went to number 1 in the UK, something that didn't happen even to their albums The Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall, but it was less successful in the US, and, even though it went double Platinum, it was their lowest selling record since Meddle. The album, even with its low sales and not-so-nice reviews, still touches many today, particularly those who have lost their own families in war.
The first cut on the album is called "The Post War Dream". The track begins with the sounds of a television with channels being flipped through. This is very similar to much of the third quarter of The Wall, as the television sound effects are used a great deal throughout this album too. Eventually, a soft orchestra crossfades with the television sounds, playing a few bars of the song's melody before the vocals enter in. The track becomes very dynamic from here on, going from soft to very loud. The music plays in a very army-band style as Roger sings his very heartfelt, but soft lyrics. He sings about various misunderstandings throughout history, all relating to his near inability to grasp with the death of his father. This soft verse section gradually gets a bit louder, introducing some trumpets into the mix. This is followed by a soft refrain of "What have we done? Maggie what have we done?", the words and melody of which are thematic throughout the album, just as "Another Brick in the Wall"'s melody was thematic in The Wall. At the end of this, the drums and electric guitar come in with the melody very loud in comparison the the verse, with Roger shouting his vocals overtop. This whole section is very short, but very dramatic. This all ends with the orchestra playing the melody one more time, transferring into the sound effects which lead into the second track "Your Possible Pasts".
"Your Possible Pasts" is a track from the sessions for The Wall that was not considered good enough for the album, but made it to the movie. This track led to much quarrel between Waters and Gilmour as Gilmour didn't like it enough back when recording their previous album, so he wondered why it was suddenly good enough for this album. The song did, however, get a good amount of airplay in the US, more than the actual single from the album "Not Now John". "Your Possible Pasts" opens up with the sound of wind and a flanger laden guitar playing a soft riff. Roger sings interesting vocals over top, going from soft to loud very easily with just the sound of the synthesizers over top changing from major to minor and a loud drum hit here and there. The chorus is much louder and angry sounding, with lyrics that make sense to The Wall's plot line, as Roger sings/shouts, "Do you remember how we used to be closer?". This whole soft/loud sequence is repeated a few times throughout with the organ and synths done by Michael Kamen coming in and out. Nick Mason does some powerful drumming, different from his usual soft style. After the second chorus, Gilmour plays a loud solo, similar to that of the second chorus of "Comfortably Numb" and some from "Dogs". This song is kind of a mixed bag, as to me it seems they could and should have added more to the song or shortened it as the simple sequence tends to get boring after a while because of repetition. The track ends with an echo of Roger saying "closer", which leads into the following track, the short "One of the Few". The track features the sound of a ticking clock keeping the beat as Gilmour plays a minor sounding acoustic guitar riff similar to the sound of "Is There Anybody Out There?". Roger sings soft, but haunting lyrics over top. In the background are several sound effects of cars going by and people talking.
This track ends the same way it opened, with a gush of wind. This leads into the track "When the Tigers Broke Free", which is only on the modern remastered CD versions. The original vinyl version of the album did not include this track, but when the album was remastered, this track was placed before "The Hero's Return", so for the sake of those who have this remastered version, I will include this track here. "When the Tigers Broke Free" was another track from The Wall sessions that was not included on the album. This cut was released as a single, though, and was also in the film. It opens up with the wind, which transfers into the sound of an soft orchestra and some brass playing the melody to the song. In the background are a wordless choir humming the melody as the track gets a bit louder. After one run through of the melody, Roger comes in and sings lyrics which are mournful of his father's death in war. The whole story of what went on when his father died. He sings two verses, each of which are quite soft, and then he sings the third and final verse which builds up quite loudly, with shouted vocals. It finished quickly with Roger singing the line "And that's how the army took my daddy from me!" ending the song with just a short amount of echo from his final shout. The whole ending is very sudden, but fits perfectly. I enjoy this song very much because, along with the rest of the album, Roger is so personal in his lyrics, and he is not afraid to let out his true emotions.
The following track opens with a "woosh" sound and a very cool guitar riff from Gilmour. This track is called "The Hero's Return", and deals with more personal struggles of Waters. The song doesn't follow a very normal sequence, which is nice and interesting. Gilmour's main riff is played on acoustic guitar, but has an electric guitar playing a chugging one note riff similar to the one from "Run Like Hell" and the rest of The Wall. Roger sings a first verse with shouting followed by a very odd bridge sort of part. This all leads into another verse, which is much softer than the first. The song details the death of a gunner, which leads perfectly into the next track "The Gunner's Dream". This song opens up with the sound of a muffled army officer's voice followed by an explosion. This track is definitely a favorite of mine as Roger is again very personal in his feelings. The words detail a dying gunner's dream about what heaven is like, with a general theme of despair, but, more importantly, hope. By the end of the song, the words tell to "hold onto the dream" and not give up home. The music begins with a wonder soft piano line by Michael Kamen as Roger sings the lyrics which are very emotional. This leads to a much more dynamic section that introduces the rest of the instruments. This transition is made by Roger shouting "And hold on to the dream!" at the top of his lungs. This part amazed me the first time I heard it because Roger's scream merges right into the sound of a saxophone, and it is unnoticeable until the sax player, Raphael Ravenscroft starts playing a solo. The following section is louder, featuring a steady beat from Mason and Gilmour. This loud section transfers back into a soft verse with more lyrics describing the soldier's vision of heaven. The guitar is a little more prominent on this verse compared to the first verse, which was mostly just piano. This verse ends with "and no one kills the children anymore", sung by Roger, which transfers into another loud section, this one shorter, but without the sax, and more guitar and orchestra. This section also features the most emotional vocals heard by Waters yet as he shouts and screams his vocals, giving the impression of sheer agony. He ends it with the words "This dream is driving me insane!" with the last word being screamed incredibly long and loudly. It's amazing how much emotion he displays in just this one song. The whole album is just like this: pure emotion. Roger's scream lasts for about 17 seconds, even going into the first half of the last verse. The song ends on a soft note, with Roger softly singing "Take heed of the dream", followed by a short piano coda, transferring into the following track.
The last track on the first side of the album is called "Paranoid Eyes". This one is definitely not one of my favorites, but it isn't too bad. The song begins with various sound effects as the piano and vocals enter in, describing a person's descent into alcoholism, destroying one's life. Most of the song stays soft, although there is a short middle section in the middle that features Mason on drums and Gilmour on acoustic guitar, playing a melody similar to that of "Mother" from The Wall. The song isn't very dramatically sung, even though the words are pretty dramatic, but it's on okay song overall.
The next side opens with the short "Get You Filthy Hands Off My Desert", which begins with some shouting and a loud explosion. This all leads into the tune, played on some royal sounding orchestration and sung by Roger. The song's lyrics talk about Roger's hatred toward the handling of the Falkland invasions. Some acoustic guitar can be heard throughout, which turns the song into a very interesting sound change from the rest of the album. The song ends with the humming of the tune from "The Post War Dream", softly ending and going into the following track "The Fletcher Memorial Home". This song opens with Roger singing rather distraughtly about his hatred towards the leaders of the world, specifically Britain. He sings about how they are tyrants and overgrown infants, and should be put into segregated retirement homes. Roger sings the first verse over top soft piano and guitar, with the familiar orchestration. This verse is followed by a haunting orchestration tune being played as Roger speaks lines about who he doesn't like. He "introduces" these leaders in a very sarcastic way until the section ends with him singing once again for a short verse, similar to the first verse. This verse ends with a drum roll in, leading into a loud section, featuring one of Gilmour's most wonderful guitar solos not just on this album, but including all of their albums. His solo ends with several guitar overlays, which all harmonize together beautifully. This is followed by a third and final verse, which returns to the soft verse structure. This ends on a quiet piano note, as the sounds of seagulls chirping comes in.
The next track is the short "Southhampton Dock", which opens with Roger singing over some acoustic guitar. Roger sings words about a girl feeling the pains of leaving and returning war heroes, the pain of loss. This ends with another reprisse of "The Postwar Dream"'s melody, which leads into a partially louder section featuring piano and orchestra. This ends with Roger's line "In our hearts we felt the final cut", leading into the next track, the title track "The Final Cut". This one opens with some quiet piano chords, eventually leading into Roger's vocals, sung emotionally with bass in the background. This ends with a line and then transfers into a full band structure, with the drums and guitar coming in. Roger sings a short line which is interrupted by a loud bang, leading into an orchestrated section similar to that of "Comfortably Numb". Roger's vocals get louder here and more emotional, shouting them earnestly. This leads into a soft section, which again goes into a loud section, featuring the full band. This goes into another soft line, but instead of being interrupted, he cuts himself in the middle of the line and after a second coming in with the piano and drums shouting "Or would you take me home", which brings us into another great solo from Gilmour. This solo is very melodic, but ends quite quickly. Roger sings the final verse after this, with great emotion, ending with the line "I never had the nerve to make the final cut" followed by the orchestration playing the melody one more time.
The next track "Not Now John" is one of my least favorite songs by Pink Floyd of all time. I can't stand it at all. It is the only one with Gilmour on any vocals at all, which is weird, because the anger of this song would seem to fit Roger better. The whole song possesses an energy not found on any other poin of the record, reminding me of a dark version of "Young Lust". The whole song seems to revolve around extensive use of the f-word, which is just annoying, because after all of these wonderful and emotional songs, this one feels like the band is just a bunch of stupid jerks, which they really aren't This one just annoys me in general, but it really is the only annoying one in the whole batch of tunes on this record.
The final song is the beautiful "Two Suns in the Sunset". This one features mostly acoustic guitars, but the full band too. The song also features some tricky time signatures which drummer Nick Mason couldn't quite get, so they hired a session drummer, Andy Newmark, to take over on this track. The guitar repeats a simple three chord riff, but its a nice simple end to the album. The song is mostly soft and quiet, but in the middle, a much louder and emotional section comes in, which Roger once again shouting his vocals, with great emotion. The electric guitar is also present in this section. Roger does a cool scream in this middle section as well, similar to "Careful With That Axe Eugene". After this section, one last verse is sung quietly, followed by a fantastic sax solo, again played by Raphael Ravenscroft. This fades out, wonderfully ending the whole album. There isn't a better way to end such an emotional journey of an album other than this, I think. I'll admit, I am a sucker for sax on any album, but still, this is a great end to this album.
Although the record is no "Meddle" or "Atom Heart Mother", which are my favorite two records by the Floyd, this one is definitely a close third, just because of the sheer emotion on the record. Unfortunately, "Not Now John" really gets to me, so I give this album a 9 out of 10.
The music videos for "The Gunner's Dream" and "The Final Cut" from The Final Cut Video EP.
