#129 Pink Floyd, 'The Wall' (1979)
Previously #87
While The Who popularized the concept of the Rock Opera, Pink Floyd perfected it with ‘The Wall.’ The album was conceptualized by Roger Waters, who based its main character, Pink (a play on the media and fans thinking that Pink Floyd was the name a solo artist in their early days), on himself and former bandmate, Syd Barrett. The double record explores themes of mental health, bullying, drug use and even war. A very fitting record to listen to on ANZAC Day. Pink, a Rockstar struggling with his mental health, recounts his childhood, being bullied by teachers, who were in turn bullied by their “fat, psychopathic wives”; his overbearing mother and the death of his father during The Blitz. All contributing to the building of the metaphorical “the wall” in his mind. Later, the story tells us about his wife’s cheating, his encounter with a groupie and a drug overdose. Producer, Bob Ezrin, was brought in to collaborate on the album and help the band tie it all together. Ezrin wrote a 40-page script based on Waters’s concept. Waters and David Gilmour argued a lot and Ezrin was instrumental in mediating the arguments and pulling the album together. Waters wrote most of the songs, with Gilmour contributing ‘Comfortably Numb,’ ‘Run Like Hell’ and ‘Young Lust.’
The album really does play out like a Broadway musical. Out of all the Rock Operas I’ve heard, this is the most cohesive and easy to follow. It was later adapted as a film, an opera and a stage show performed by Waters. The album includes some of the most iconic songs in Rock history; ‘Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2,’ ‘Comfortably Numb,’ ‘Hey You,’ ‘Is There Anybody Out There?,’ ‘Mother’ and ‘In The Flesh.’ This album was on VERY regular rotation when I was 16 and 17 years old. Discovering Pink Floyd in High School opened my mind to so much. This album was Waters’s magnum opus. It was the last great thing he did with Pink Floyd and it was the last album with Rick Wright as an official member of the band (he would be fired following this but continued on as a salaried member). There’s so much more to say about this record, but I’ll stop myself before I get too carried away. Safe to say, it was a pleasure to listen to this again, an album I’ve listened to so many times over the years.
#rs500albums