MoeFOH's Album of the Week... Week #25

[MoeFOH]

MoeFOH's Album of the Week 🎶

Same as the movie thread, each week we're going to spotlight an album... be it a classic, new release, hidden gem, or outright turd... and open it for discussion: i.e. post up your favourite tracks, clips, lyrics, experiences if you saw live, etc... or dive deeper and give us a critique on why you think it's great, overrated, or a complete train wreck... And finally score it for us...  

All contributors go into a monthly prize draw for a 3-cigar sampler! 

PM me with suggestions if there's an album you want to nominate for next week's discussion. 

 

Week #25: The Wall

Moe says: One of my all-time faves. Top 5 without breaking a sweat. 

Wiki says: 

The Wall is the eleventh studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released on 30 November 1979 by Harvest/EMI and Columbia/CBS Records. It is a rock opera that explores Pink, a jaded rock star whose eventual self-imposed isolation from society forms a figurative wall. The album was a commercial success, topping the US charts for 15 weeks and reaching number three in the UK. It initially received mixed reviews from critics, many of whom found it overblown and pretentious, but later received accolades as one of the greatest albums of all time and one of the band's finest works.

Bassist Roger Waters conceived The Wall during Pink Floyd's 1977 In The Flesh tour, modelling the character of Pink after himself and former bandmate Syd Barrett. Recording spanned from December 1978 to November 1979. Producer Bob Ezrin helped to refine the concept and bridge tensions during recording, as the band members were struggling with personal and financial issues at the time. The Wall was the last album to feature Pink Floyd as a quartet; keyboardist Richard Wright was fired by Waters during production but stayed on as a salaried musician.

Three singles were issued from the album: "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2" (Pink Floyd's only UK and US number-one single), "Run Like Hell", and "Comfortably Numb". From 1980 to 1981, Pink Floyd performed the full album on a tour that featured elaborate theatrical effects. In 1982, The Wall was adapted into a feature film for which Waters wrote the screenplay.

The Wall is one of the best-known concept albums. With over 30 million copies sold, it is the second best-selling album in the band's catalogue (behind The Dark Side of the Moon) and one of the best-selling albums of all time. Some of the outtakes from the recording sessions were used on the group's next album, The Final Cut (1983). In 2000, it was voted number 30 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums. In 2003, 2012, and 2020, it was included in Rolling Stone's lists of the greatest albums of all time. From 2010 to 2013, Waters staged a new Wall live tour that became the highest-grossing tour by a solo musician.

Over to you...

Who's a fan? How highly do you rate this album?

Thoughts, memories, experiences, favourite tracks...? 

Post em up!

Score it out of 10!

[MoeFOH]

 

[Chibearsv]

Great album. I love the message and the music. However, it’s not my favorite Pink Floyd album. I’ll take Animals, Wish You Were Here and Dark Side of the Moon over it. It’s a very solid 9/10.  The Roger Waters movie The Wall from 2015 was really well done and gave a personal glimpse to the lyrics of the album. 

[rcarlson]

Love The Wall. 

Went to Berlin for The Wall at the Wall concert in 1990.  The whole thing was a 3 day surreal event (one day concert, 3 day hang with the most diverse, eclectic crowd imaginable).  Wish I could travel back in time for another go.     

[MoeFOH]

5 minutes ago, Chibearsv said:

Great album. I love the message and the music. However, it’s not my favorite Pink Floyd album. I’ll take Animals, Wish You Were Here and Dark Side of the Moon over it. It’s a very solid 9/10.  The Roger Waters movie The Wall from 2015 was really well done and gave a personal glimpse to the lyrics of the album. 

I'm a massive Floyd fan and I agree, well, sort of... it's hard to rank the albums... I often find myself shuffling the order largely based on the mood I'm in. They all require a certain appetite to fully appreciate them. DSOTM is probably the only one I could go to no matter the mood. 

[Hemclas]

Love Pink Floyd and The Wall.  Got to see them in concert in Orlando many years ago.  Unfortunately, I was very far from the stage and I remember very little.

[JC67]

Brilliant album.. The movie (with Bob Geldof starring) was great as well. 

The guitar solo on Comfortably numb is one of my favourite of all time.  When the album first came out i was abut 12 years old. Our music teacher asked us to bring in a song ( cassette for those that remember) to play in the class. i brought in "Mother" from this album. My class mates were not ready for it and it was soon thrown out... All the little bits and pieces like "the show must go on" make this a great listening experience.

[M1B]

Absolutely love it.  9/10

[JohnS]

I remember our teacher playing "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2" in class. In 4th grade, as a 9 year old I distinctly remember the chorus. "We don't need no education". We all had a good laugh. This is a cherished memory.

[Chucko8]

Will never tire of the lyrics :

If you don't eat yer meat, you can't have any pudding
How can you have any pudding if you don't eat yer meat?

[La_Tigre]

10/10 listen end to end

[Tdm_86]

It’s my dads favorite Pink Floyd album. I’m more in the Dark Side and Wish You Were Here camp. 
 

Still a solid 8/10 

[KCCubano]

Mother do you think they'll try to break my balls? Classic. 9/10

[Doctorossi]

I'll go 9/10, as well. Really, from this album, I just listen to "Goodbye Blue Sky" over and over.

[bassistheplace]

it's a 10/10 in terms of stature and impact in rock music. It's so damn depressing that i don't put it on anymore just to listen

[Ford2112]

I found it to be a meandering ,sad album . Great guitar work from Gilmour on some of those songs, but little in the way of textures from Richard Wright. It's really a Roger Waters project. The good of it is stellar. Some loss of direction in parts I feel. 7/10. Animals on the other hand...

[joeypots]

Not a big fan. it’s OK but not a top choice. 

[Islandboy]

I’m a huge Pink Floyd fan, perhaps now more than ever, but the Wall is probably my least favorite of their “classic album” era. Agree with @Ford2112 that, musically, it meanders and sputters at times, while being brilliant at others. Definitely a Roger Waters album, and the word smithing showcases his brilliance there. 

I also agree with @MoeFOH that my favorite Floyd album varies and depends on the mood I’m in. Usually, my favorite album in the Roger Waters era is Meddle, but lately I’ve been focusing more on the brilliant musicianship and synergy of the David Gilmour/Rick Wright productions, and I have to say my favorite Floyd album is currently Division Bell.

To be clear though, I give The Wall a 9/10, Meddle a 9.6/10, and Division Bell a 9.8/10, with everything else somewhere in between.

[Ites]

On 9/6/2022 at 6:38 AM, JohnS said:

I remember our teacher playing "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2" in class. In 4th grade, as a 9 year old I distinctly remember the chorus. "We don't need no education". We all had a good laugh. This is a cherished memory.

I have similar a similar memory, but from 9th grade. A very cherished memory for sure. 

 

Don't think I've ever heard the whole album from start to finish, so I tried today. But I got bored about halfway (remastered version, so probably extended compared to the original). Rating 6/10 from me, probably 5 of those are due to the one song which brings back memories though.. 

[riderpride]

It's not really my jam, but it's my jam.

Stone cold sober but feel stoned when I let the music envelop me. 

In a word - spiritual.

Cheers