Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live (Pink Floyd)
5
Just as this review's title says, this is WAY better than the original. As a long time fan of Pink Floyd, I eagerly awaited the original release of "The Wall" in 1979, knowing it had been in progress since 1978, with the seeds being planted as far back as 1977. But when it came out, I was strangely disappointed; I just didn't like it that much. Sure, it has its moments, but there was missing something. I was aware of the problems between Roger Waters and the rest of the band, particularly with Rick Wright, and if one is more than a casual listener, it becomes apparent that this is Waters' trip. David Gilmour said the demos were "excruciating" to listen to, but the ideas were there, and they overflowed into "The Pros And Cons Of Hitchiking," as well as "The Final Cut," which I feel is actually a better record than "The Wall."
The movie, a friend told me, as he saw it before I did, said it was "a piece of crap," but I know some Floyd product can be labored enjoyment, even to a die-hard fan as myself. So I watched the movie in the theater, and later someone gave it to me on VHS, as a gift, but I kind of agreed with Ralph, I didn't like it all that much, save for the animated sequences, which I feel are among the best I have ever seen. But it is a bleak, disjointed, sprawling, two-hour music video, which is an indictment of all the people who ruined the main character's life. Bob Geldof did a fine acting job as Floyd Pinkerton, the person who took on the name "Pink Floyd," or "Pinky," as his friends called him in the script, but I just don't like the movie very much. It is well made, but I just can't get into it.
Many years later, when the live shows from 1980 and 1981 were culled into this disc, I gave it a shot, as I had some money to throw away, and was pleasantly surprised to listen to this recording. I have never really rated Roger Waters as a vocalist, but he sounds pretty good here. The band is tight, despite having four auxiliary musicians and four backup vocalists to pad the sound out, and the ambience I feel is missing from the original recording is here in these live versions of this material. The presentation is somewhat sterile, as a show of this magnitude has very little wiggle-room, but given what the musicians and road crew had to work with, everyone involved did a remarkable job, well worth the wait, even though it would have been nice not to have waited so long. But releasing "The Wall" twice in quick succession might not have been a very good idea, people would've said they were only cashing in on a popular record. This was wise, waiting to put this out, as it all is in perspective now; Waters took the wheel and pushed the band foreward, while Gilmour tried to keep it on course. Wright and Nick Mason seemed to be lesser elements, but all the input from four men made Pink Floyd what it was, albeit in varying degrees.
Despite all the infighting, this was a band which did something truly special in modern music, and this release only further cements my opinion.
