Pink Floyd - The Wall (Deluxe Packaging Digitally Remastered)

Basically what's said in the title. The album was cheap and works well. Furthermore, I ordered it on a Wednesday night and received it that same Saturday. I am very satisfied.

"The Wall" is a Pink Floyd standard. It has some of the commercial hits, but also some tunes you may have not heard in the mainstream but you will love these too. Great music to add or start your Pink Floyd collection.

After basically ignoring THE WALL for years once I decided that I had no patience with Roger Waters' whining all the way to the bank, I've come to the conclusion that the listener does not have to buy in to Waters' monomaniacal view of his lot in life to be bowled over by the songs and how they're presented. "Comfortably Numb," "Mother," "Goodbye Blue Sky" and "Hey You" still sound great after all these years, and kudos to David Gilmour, Nick Mason and the late Richard Wright--as well as Waters himself-- for giving them musical heft. Sonically, the album is magnificent. So, a great package, but as far as concept albums about how lousy it is to be a rock star go, I'll take WISH YOU WERE HERE over this any day. Or, for that matter, Syd Barrett's THE MADCAP LAUGHS.

This is one of my all time favorite CD's. I never get tired of hearing it. I love to ride in my Mustang GT Convertible top down playing this CD.
And of course it has to be LOUD!

I'm going to take a different approach to reviewing albums on Amazon. Instead of going in depth on each album and describe each album in detail, i'm going to simply rate each album with how many stars I feel each album is worth based on the below criteria. I hope this helps you make a better decision on purchasing this album with a simple individual rating. If it doesn't help read another review.
5 stars- Classic, Album goes beyond description, Perfect in every way, Could remind you of a certain time or place, Lifetime replay value.
4.5 stars- Near Classic, Incredible album, Maybe only one song that is skippable or just overall doesn't quite deserve classic status. High replay value.
4.0 stars- Awesome album. Very solid album from start to finish. Met every expectation and more. Maybe only one song or two that is skippable or just doesnt' quite deserve a classic or near classic rating. High replay value.
3.5 stars- Above average album. Solid from start to finish but there are a few songs worth skipping. Met expectations, minimal replay value.
3.0 stars- Average album. Nothing bad but nothing great either. After the initial appeal will collect dust.
2.5 stars- Major disappointment. You had high expectations that were ruined as this album is not good at all. There might be only one or two songs worth listening to. No replay value.
2.0 stars- Below average album. This album doesnt bother you to hear as background music but you would rather not listen to it if you didnt have to. No songs really appeal. No replay value.
1.5 stars- Terrible album. Makes one sick to hear it. No songs really appeal but there might be one song that you could stand to hear. Would rather throw in garbage than even waste space in your collection.
1.0 stars- Makes one cringe and the ears bleed!
*keep in mind, each album review might not be based on opinion of the band but the album itself in the bands discography

The best Pink Floyd album in the post Dark Side of the Moon years, this relentlessly bleak and bitter rock opera is three sides of angst and anger is so meticulously produced that - some 25 years later - it still strikes nerves. Be it Roger Waters' working through his own personal disintegration (the oft-repeated story of his spitting on a fan who kept screaming through acoustic passages), to a life-story of a rock-star with a bad/oppressive childhood or yet another glance askance at the band's lingering emotional weight about Syd Barrett, "The Wall" looks at the many ways we barricade ourselves.

Theatrically produced by Bob Ezrin (KISS, Alice Cooper), it also found the Floydians tightening their songs from meandering electronic experiments - think the multi-part "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" from Wish You Were Here - to the point where "Another Brick In The Wall Pt 2" unwittingly became a hit. It also found songs kicking up the tempo to the point were some of these compositions actually "rocked." "Run Like Hell" and "In The Flesh?" became AOR staples despite their segueing into each other. But some of the other songs were so perfect that they have become classics (or played to death, depending on your POV), like "Comfortably Numb" or "Hey You." Also, like so many of Bob Ezrin's best work, he pulls amazingly theatrical performances, particular the vocals. Waters' tortured wail on "Don't Leave Me Now" can give you shivers.

The theatricity is also the album's final undoing. On the original double LP, it was side four that could not hold "The Wall's" weight. The operatic "Waiting For The Worms/Stop/The Trial" climax flies so over-the-top that it becomes the weakest brick. It's also kind of telling that, in Pink Floyd - The Wall Movie, it's almost entirely animated. It's as if it was so unrealistic as to be incapable of being portrayed by actual humans. And as the protagonist rocker ("Pink," who seems to be a snide reminder of the "Which one's Pink" line on Wish You Were Here) slowly drifts into emotional fascism, the mental/musical bombast of this CD overshoots itself.

Be that as it may, "The Wall" has few equals when it comes to the insistent self-loathing of self-centered rock and roll stars; perhaps The Downward Spiral comes closest. Perhaps the bleakest thing about "The Wall" is that Pink Floyd/Waters sees all this as a viscous cycle...the first words on the album are "we came in?" and the last ones are "Isn't this where..." Now if THAT isn't depressing, then what is?

This was one of the first CDs I ever spoke, and as a teenager its anger and bitterness really spoke to me. Now, looking back 15 years later, the music just doesn't resonate and some of it actually makes me cringe. That's not to say you shouldn't pick it up - lots of people genuinely love this album - but that you should know what you are getting into.

In the case of The Wall, the tunes played on the radio are a fairly good representation of the album's best work. "Comfortably Numb", "Run Like Hell", "Hey You", "Run Like Hell" and "The Happiest Days/Another Brick #2" are all enjoyable, if (to many radio listeners) played so frequently that they offer few surprises at this point. There are a few gems hidden elsewhere - "Mother" may be the best song on the album, and "Nobody Home" is a very poignant Waters + piano + orchestra ballad. "Goodbye Blue Sky" and the acoustic guitar sequence on "Is There Anybody Out There" are worth mentioning as well.

And then there are sides 2 and 4 of the original double album. The album's key weakness is an excessive focus on lyrics over the music, and the second half of each CD really showcase this problem. The sequences from "Empty Spaces" to "Goodbye Cruel World" and "Waiting for the Worms" to "Outside the Wall" are, at best, boring and occasionally unlistenable. There's a common argument from Waters critics that the songs cowritten with Gilmour are the best on the album, but that conveniently ignores the lame "Young Lust". And "The Trial" - yikes - awful, awful, awful, even worse than "The Dogs of War".

The Wall remains enormously popular with many listeners - I think it is still Floyd's best seller after Dark Side of the Moon - and most people will enjoy it. But it is flawed, and for those who prefer Pink Floyd's "head music" through 1975, a likely disappointment.

By this time Pink Floyd were starting too reach the breakup and this was pretty much there last great album(The Final Cut was really just a Roger Waters solo album) Rick Wright was already out of the band at this time but they still mannaged too make a rock opera. The Wall is a story of about a rockstar named Pink the first disc shows his humble begginings but by track 9 he's grown into the Pink we know. By disc two he's pretty much gone insane and in the movie his sink is filled with blood and he cuts himself but the main song out of this album is, "Comftarbly Numb", about when he overdoses on drugs. All in all this album is timeless and is for every pink floyd fan alive new or old,
buy today

It's "The Wall"--- needed it on CD, Roger Waters tells all biography. If you haven't heard it-----your parents have. Or maybe the worms ate into your brain. Either way----- you love it or hate it on this one---- I love it.

I don't think this is Floyd's best album, but it is rock solid. I've always prefered Meddle to this. Still, it's a must own for any Floyd fan or rock enthusiast in general.

I was about 16 when this album was released, it became an anthem for me and my friends. The album and then the film transformed our lives and we didn't even know it at the time. All we really knew is that it was very, very good and we knew then (even as teens) that it was a masterpiece. The last great collaboration by the four remaining members post-Barrett. The Wall wasn't meant to be radio-friendly, however, the decaying AOR stations made many of the individual songs radio-friendly by means of minimal editing. Anyone who knows this work can tell you that any one song taken from the album can stand alone but the original color is lost if not consumed as a whole with all the parts intact.

No need to go on-and-on about this cornerstone of modern pop music, just give it a listen, judge for yourself.

Had to replace our copy of a scratched cd. Need to have a hard copy of this classic! Can't believe how much I can still enjoy THE WALL after all these years! Everyone needs this in their collection! Peace.

I've always wanted this record, but retail chains were too expensive. Thanks for making it available.

See title. This has been around forever, and everybody that's going to be interested in buying it MUST have heard it before.

I'm a huge Pink Floyd fan, and I honestly think they're the best Rock N' Roll band ever. From 1970 to 1983 they released one masterpiece after another, and Roger Waters is definitely among the few people that can be considered a songwriter genius.

Now about the album, what else is there to say? Is the 3rd best-selling album in USA history, with 23 million copies sold. As a matter of fact this number is bigger, as the last time that RIAA updated the numbers from this album was in 1999.

The mixing is astonishing, is at the same level of audio quality that any digital album released nowadays, just crystal clear. The package is really deluxe, and the music and lyrics are perfect.

Just look to the ranking of sales in Amazon right bellow the product information, the last time I saw it was in the top 100. This album is timeless!

Great for what it is... a walk through my pimply teenage years in the late 80s.
What can I say I wanted to re-live that era of my life for a week, then I sold the CD to a re-sale record store.

Excellent just as I remembered, but since I overplayed it in my geeky youth, I felt no need to keep it around from fear that someone might think me a pot-head redneck midwest spaz.

Still, if yer into the Pink.... buy it.

There is no doubt that The Wall has been a huge success since it was released in 1979.But I have never been able to consider this a true Pink Floyd album.This is a Waters project,with pink floyd as session musicians.Its boring,depressing,and sloppy.The biggest draw back for me is waters nasal and whiney vocals.Is it any surprise that the biggest hits are the ones Gilmour sang.Its also extremly long and I cant sit through two cds of waters singing.If it wasn't for Gilmour this might be what Dark Side would have sounded like.

While this album is a bit on the dramatic side and is a rock opera of sorts, it is definitely a Pink Floyd classic, not to be overlooked. So many great songs on this album, a real thrill from beginning to finish. It's just great and any fan of rock/Pink Floyd should have it. It's a timeless classic.

I bought this album when it first came out. I only listen to it when I have time to listen to the whole thing. It's like watching a favorite movie.

The sound quality of the instruments and sound effects are amazing. The story is creepy, psychotic, a bit disturbing at times, and just an amazing imaginary masterpiece.

Highly recommend this if you are going to occasionally listen to the whole thing.

Enjoy,
Jmck

Absolutely awsome. The best Pink Floyd album on the planet. I've worn out 3 albums of the wall in fours years.

While "Another Brick in the Wall Part 2" may be the most overplayed track in the history of rock n' roll, it does little to diminish the wealth of good material on this album.

Many consider this the band's true master work, and they can hardly be blamed. Concept album? Rock Opera? I rarely use those terms, because many disagree about their meaning, but it could be considered either or both of the those, and Waters's song writing really shines on this album because he's able to tell a cohesive story, with all of its ups and downs, over the course of the album's 81 minutes. While the band often alternates between Roger Waters and David Gilmour on vocals, here Waters's impassioned singing, which truly seems tinged by madness, is on display. He's not a great vocalist, and many of these songs are out of his range, but that makes his performance all the more convincing, as he portrays a man slowly going mad with paranoia, xenophobia, and cynicism. As he reaches for notes he can't quite hit without sounding like it's the effort of a lifetime, the listener becomes more and more convinced of the story.

The last Pink Floyd album with Roger Waters. A Sweet remastered edition that all Pink Floyd fans should have in their colection. Truly a band that introduced a NEW and ground breaking sound to Rock & Roll and changed the music world with a sound that is timeless.

...why so many people love this album so much. I am a HUGE Pink Floyd fan but this album doesn't rate as a great album, let alone a great Floyd album. I can't think of a Pink Floyd album much worse than this. Nothing really than Roger Waters wailing and whining about stupid B.S. The lyrics are very uninspiring. While there are a couple of songs on here worth listening to there just is not enough to warrant listening to this entire album. Don't let someone fool you into thinking this album is anything special.

"The Wall" was one of the single biggest albums of the 70's and proved to be a commercial landslide for Pink Floyd. The two album concept piece is Roger Waters masterpiece about a musician named "Pink" and the wall he builds around himself. The album is primarily autobiographical and served as the final link in the Waters takeover of the band. It is also the last album with the Waters, Gilmour, Mason, and Wright lineup (Keyboard player Richard Wright would be fired shortly after the albums completion). The album was an unlikely smash hit with the band getting airplay on top 40 radio stations for the first time in their long career. "Another Brick In The Wall", "Comfortably Numb", "Hey You", and "Run Like Hell" are still staples of classic rock stations to this day. The album was also made into a movie in the mid - 80's. As overplayed as this album was and as much as I have listened to it over the years, I still enjoy it and think it is a great piece of work. David Gilmour's guitar solo on "Comfortably Numb" can still send chills up my spine and is one of the great melodic solos of all time in my opinion. "The Wall" is one of the classic progressive rock albums of all time.

I saw the movie when I was in HS back in the 80s and have always enjoyed the songs when they come on the radio. I decided to finally buy the CD and I'm not disappointed. Even my kids enjoy the music. We especially like "How can you eat your pudding if you don't eat your meat?" "We don't need no thought control." Pink Floyd has stood the test of time. I ended up purchasing Dark Side of Moon, too.

Another classic from Pink Floyd. I listened to it in my car three days in a row.

The Wall (Deluxe Packaging Digitally Remastered)-------What can I say? This double CD is really a top musical document.It's a reference which all musical lovers and investigators should have.

When I bought my copy of the Wall in 1997 (the year I graduated from high school) I was enthralled with it. I thought it was a great album, perhaps one of the greatest albums of all time. However over the years I began to lose interest. I used to be able to listen to the whole thing in one sitting, but not any more. I still think Disc One is generaly good. As for Disc Two the only songs I still listen to are "Hey You", "Comfortably Numb", "Run Like Hell", and sometimes "Waiting for the Worms".

I finally came to realize how overdone, over produced, and over hyped this album is. However, "Comfortably Numb" is still one of my favorite Songs. David Gilmour's solo alone deserves five stars. Unfortunatly it is the unnecessary fillers that made me give the Wall a three star rating.

Pink Floyd's The Wall was released in December of 1979 and is a classic and regarded as the band's most ambitious masterwork.
This double album ranks up there with classic double studio albums The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, Tommy, Exile on Main Street, Quadrophenia, Blonde on Blonde, London Calling, The White Album, Physical Graffiti, Electric Ladyland and many others.
The concept for The Wall still holds up over 25 years after its initial release.
The idea came to bass player/singer Roger Waters whom was upset with himself after spitting on a fan on the last gig of the Animals tour at Montreal's Olympic Stadium.
In 1978, Roger was writing and recording demos that would become The Wall. Meanwhile, drummer Nick Mason was off producing other acts (The Damned and Steve Hillage) whilst guitarist/singer David Gilmour and keyboard player Rick Wright were recording their first solo albums.
In late 1978 the band, along with KISS/Alice Cooper/Peter Gabriel/Lou Reed producer Bob Ezrin, began demoing the songs for The Wall at Britannia Row Studios in London.
The band properly began recording The Wall in April of 1979 in two studios in France (and later at studios in Los Angeles and New York) with Waters, Gilmour, Ezrin and engineer James Guthrie producing to avoid the crazy English tax laws as the band was almost bankrupt due to their agents stealing the money in a way that they still owed the British tax companies taxes.
All of the songs, save four, were written by Roger. The album's three best tracks "Young Lust", "Comfortably Numb" and "Run Like Hell" were co-written by Gilmour. Then, "The Trial" was co-written by Ezrin.
The Wall was a concept album which told the story of a character named Pink (a composite of Roger Waters and Floyd founder Syd Barrett).
After we begin with the bombast rock of "In the Flesh?", The Wall story begins when Pink goes through a traumatic childhood of losing his father in war ("The Thin Ice" and "Another Brick in the Wall (pt.1)"), cruel sarcastic teachers ("The Happiest Days of Our Lives", the chart-topping single "Another Brick in the Wall (pt.2)"), an overbearing mother("Mother"), problems with adolescence ("Goodbye Blue Sky" and "Empty Spaces"), groupie troubles ("Young Lust", "One of My Turns") and many other problems (like the wife beating in "Don't Leave Me Now") one goes through before walling himself off from the rest of the world ("Another Brick in the Wall (pt. 3)" and "Goodbye Cruel World").
The second disc starts with Pink walled off from society (starting with the classic "Hey You" and "Is There Anybody Out There?") then ponders his life in a hotel room ("Nobody Home") and thinks back to his father's death ("Vera" and "Bring the Boys Back Home"). The highlight of the album is "Comfortably Numb" which tells the tale of Pink being confronted by a doctor to take something before he could go on with the show. The song was first intended for David Gilmour's solo debut but was thankfully left off. The track is a classic and always in the Top 10 greatest rock song polls! The track "The Show Must Go On" is Pink being led to the show and then as a fascist dictator Pink is performing like a madman as depicted in "In the Flesh", "Run Like Hell" and "Waiting For the Worms" before having his own trial ("Stop" and "The Trial") and is ordered to knock down his wall to start life fresh ("Outside the Wall").
Band turmoil during 1979 reached an all-time high and Roger eventually kicked Rick Wright out of the band citing Rick wasn't doing squat when in fact Roger was setting Rick up to fail from the word go. Rick was let go but stayed to finish the album and did The Wall shows in 1980/81 as a paid musician (the other three members lost money from staging the shows). Rick played on half of the album as does Nick whom is not on drums for half the record (Jeff Porcaro played drums on Mother and Jeff's father Joe played snaer drum on Bring the Boys Back Home).
Despite the band turmoil, The Wall became Pink Floyd's third US chart-topping album (stayed at #1 for 15 weeks), sold over 23 million in the US alone (third best selling album in the US and best selling double album ever though some configurations were on one cassette and one heavily edited 8-track cartridge), spawned the greatest rock concerts ever produced (review for Is There Anybody Out There to come soon) and a classic film (review due soon).
The 2000 Capitol remaster is basically the 1997 Columbia remaster with improved sonic quality remastered by engineer James Guthrie and Doug Sax whom mastered The Wall originally.
The Wall is still a classic today and is highly recommended!

1979... I bought this on cassette back then and it immediately became my favorite album and still is! Dang...almost 30 years! Where has the time gone!

The Wall is the first CD I bought in my life. My mum had brought me to the cinema. The movie we wanted to watch was not on display anymore. So here we were wondering if we would go back home. Then my mum said "we've been driving all the way to the cinema, it would be a pity to go back now, let's watch this movie. This movie was "The Wall".

And it was such a revelation. I was 13 and I didn't understand English at all (actually I'm French). But it was such a blow. So intense, so deep, so powerful. After watching the movie I had only one idea : buying the CD.

A few days later I was entering the CD shop. What a suprise when the seller told me that it was a double CD (and therefore a double price).I still remember the price : 250 francs (about 40 euros). And when you are 13 years old, 250 francs is quite a lot of money.

Anyway I bought the CD. It was 22 years ago. I still have it. I still listen to it. I love it like in the first day.

Pink Floyd is not only music, they definitely have something that goes behind "normal" music and that manages to touch a very deep thing that lies in us.

Buy the CD and enjoy...

beware - when auto importing into iTunes on the Mac that "1 - In The Flesh_ (1994 Digital Remaster).mp3" and "(Disc 2) 8 - In The Flesh (1994 Digital Remaster).mp3" will be in conflict, so you might want to make sure you have both imported correctly.

Like the other reviewers, I've always wanted to pick up this album, and I'm pretty impressed with the prices on Amazon here. $8.99 for The Wall compared to $17 on iTunes is just to good to pass up. The download was flawless, and it sounds great.

And of course, the album is a masterpiece, so go get it!! :P

Thank you Amazon!

The process couldn't be any easier. I downloaded the Amazon MP3 Downloader. Click on by the album and it starts downloading. The Downloader automatically puts the mp3s into your music collecting. The sound quality is great and a big plus is it comes already with the Album art.

This is by far the best deal on Amazon's new mp3 download store. It's a great album at an incredible price. $8.99 for a double album with no sales tax and no DRM. You won't find this album in stores for any less than $20 + tax and iTunes sells it for $17 + tax. Like another reviewer, I've been wanting to get this album for quite some time but I'm a cheapskate. But now was the perfect time!

"The Wall" is one of the most overrated pieces of music, in the last 50 years. Overtly Negative (there is a reason many stop listening to this after their teen years), overly Long, pretentious, and worst of all, musically very boring. Even if earlier Pink Floyd was pretentious at times, they had the heart and GROUP creativity to pull it off. Roger Waters, at this point, just bore me. He is whining about this character Pink who has all these terrible, yet very "average" events happen to him in life, sounds like a character with no life. It's just so bland and colorless. Whenever I hear Pink Floyd's "Mother", I think of how much better and more affective John Lennon's song with the same name was. At this point Pink Floyd was all about the "I" it seems, and what is so obvious on the wall is the music usually sucks. Overdone classical orchestra with Roger yelping, o please, is it really that good? I feel like he was trying to hard, way to hard, to be deep and poignant. Pink Floyd were at their best when Syd was with them, but during the "Meddle- Animals" era they were also quite amazing, because they worked as a creative team. Not the Roger Waters era, and now David Gilmour era. Despite some alright moments here and there, a poor album for me.

$8.99 for the double album? A great deal, wot? I have been waiting to get this classic for a long time, because I am so ding danged CHEAP!! But now I could no longer resist. Put another brick in the wall, for me.

For Christ's sake, the idiot fired keyboardist Richard Wright for his cocaine addiction while he was doing every drug under the table. This album not only disgusted me with it's direction, but also made me loose every bit of respect for Roger Waters. It's almost like the last few albums with Roger Waters almost ended up being like solo albums of his (which I hated all of his solo stuff as well). I'm sorry but this one and "The Final Cut" bit the dust for me!

Simply put, this is a masterpiece and it tells a story as well as paints a picture. One of the defining rock opuses that extends the creativity and talent of the members of Pink Floyd. I have to mention though that this is Roger Waters baby, he is the godfather of this project as well as Wish you Were here and Dark Side of the Moon. Make no mistake about it, Waters songwriting, Bass playing and singing was the center that did hold for a long, long time for this band.

The Wall is epic, so large nobody can touch it. It is something that takes a lifetime to truly experience and understand, and even then you are amazed at how it just continues to grow and change while still showing some of the same things hold true years and years later. Some of the songs really seem like nothing more than toe tapping rockers but if you know the story then you know the depth that is behind those songs.

One of the greatest Dual Album studio releases of all time. Forget the cartoon and the drugs and all that other hocus pocus and just soak this in, one day at a time for a lifetime. You won't regret it, it will one day be your baby also. They just don't make records like this anymore, with so much meaning and feeling and power and social and political ideas all melded into one thing...and that thing is THE WALL by Pink Floyd.

SIMPLY STATED:Magnum Opus with a beautiful dose of David Gilmour


There are some really terrific reviews here already, but I couldn't resist adding my two cents. As others have stated, THE WALL is a polarizing album -- people tend to love it or hate it. I'm one of the ones who love it. When I was introduced to THE WALL, I was going through some pretty rough times psychologically and my misery needed some company. I bought the double album and rented the movie from my local video store. I watched the movie first. I really think that this helped me to be able to grasp the narrative.

The music is somewhat dark, but not inaccessibly morose. Anyone who has ever experienced periods of melancholy should be able to tap into these feelings when listening. It is not an easy listen though. In order to fully appreciate the work, it is best to actively listen, preferably while blocking out other senses and thoughts (i.e., in a darkened room without distractions). I also find that it is impossible to share with others. If the co-listener is not a fan, it is embarrassing to listen to. It makes one feel exposed, uncomfortably naked. If the other participant is a fan, however, the experience is akin to the parallel play observed in toddlers. They are playing alongside each other, but they are not truly interacting.

Although the music is subordinate to the narrative, there are some truly sublime musical moments. The song "Comfortably Numb" is my favorite song of all time. If I can let myself relax, it transports me to another realm everytime I listen to it. The high-pitched ding heard during the chorus focuses my attention and makes me feel as though I am floating on air. Other standouts are "Hey You," "Mother," and "Run Like Hell." Each is beautiful in its own way. "Hey You" is haunting both lyrically and musically. "Mother" is both stark and soothing. I love the back and forth between Waters and Gilmour (as in "Comfortably Numb"). "Run Like Hell" sets strong anti-fascism lyrics to a killer dance beat.

If you are psychologically-inclined, you will love THE WALL. Listen to it when you have the time, alone and in the dark. It just might transform you.

What else can be said about this album. I was ten when "Another Brick in the Wall" hit the charts. This was one of the first albums I ever owned. Went through a cassette, two copies on vinyl and this was my first CD I purchased in the late 80s when CDs hit the market. Absorbed the movie (the movie box covers became my notebook cover in high school) and everything Pink Floyd I could. It was the defining album of my youth, Waters capturing that anguish and angst of maturing in a cynical world.

I grew out of it over time and it has become something of a memory machine, revisiting the past and the intensity of that time as I sought meaning in life. It has no relevance on that level anymore.

However, I stumbled across "Pink Floyd: Under Construction" which contains demos of the process by which The Wall came to be. Apparently, Waters, in the late 70s, came to the band with ideas for The Wall and what would become The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking. The band thought the material for The Wall had potential and began to build on it (though there are traces of The Wall material in the Hitchhiking album or vice versa).

Though for the most part it is the same album, there are some subtle and significant differences in the songs as we know them, mostly in the lyrics.

Comfortably Numb originally began for Gilmour's first solo album but made its way into The Wall. Gilmour brings the melody; Waters adds the lyrics. However, imagine these lyrics in "Comfortably Numb":

"Wake up now, pull yourself togeather
Get out and meet new people (Scream)
I'm sure they'll understand
Come on, put away the shotgun,
Here have another blue one(Scream)
Have your fingertips gone numb?"

Or these for "Mother":

"Mama's gonna check out all your girlfriends for you
Mama won't let anyone dirty get through
Mama's gonna burn all your pornography
She'll watch what you see and watch what you hear..."

It's fascinating to listen to these demos after knowing the album so well. It's as if I'm hearing it for the first time and it is mind blowing this time from a more historical, archival point of view rather than as music that defines my emotional life.

You'll find the song What Shall We Do Now? in the film but not on the album, though the lyrics are on the inner sleeve of the original album. The song is on the Under Construction disc. Young Lust is just an instrumental. This is a fan's dream. It's like being there as the creative process unfolds and you can see the roll Bob Ezrin played in bringing this to its finished form that we all know.

Hunt down a copy of Under Construction and really, really appreciate just how amazing this album really is.

You can also get hints of Roger Waters taking control of the direction of the sound and how it would culminate with Floyd in The Final Cut, the trajectory Waters taking climaxing with The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking (also very recommended).

What is there that I could possibly write that hasn't been written before about perhaps one of the greatest concept albums ever? (Genesis' "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" being the other....yes, Genesis actually existed before Phil Collins took over vocals when the genius behind the band, Peter Gabriel, departed...but I digress) The only bon mot I could add is the fact that after all these years, "The Wall" still succeeds in captivating listeners. I introduced my 6 year old daughter to the cd first, then the movie...she is now a huge fan of not only "The Wall" but earlier Floyd stuff as well.

My first exposure to the Floyd was in '73 (DSOTM)- Problem is, DSOTM set the bar so high that every subsequent Waters effort work became narrower in scope...so with The Wall we are no longer conteplating the life's looming questions but rather seeing the world from the inside out of an individual, isolated, bitter, musician. It doesn't leave much room for personal interpretation.

That being said, there are enjoyable musical moments on this work. As others have noted, The Wall, is colored to a much greater extent by the personality of Roger as his works became lyrically denser at the expense of the fine instrumental passages of the earlier works. There are also songs that you simply want to skip (thank goodness for CDs). Some songs, such as "Comfortably Numb", have personally become more meaningful due to circumstances occuring in my life (my dad was in a coma). So, I wouldn't dismiss the entire work as rubbish...just be prepared for a Pink Floyd on steriods/cocaine (seems the Lysergic had declined in popularity).

That first review pretty much sums up the whole "The Wall" album. there's not much I can add except just this is a slow paced but enjoyable musical experince. This is well worth getting and is actually my first Pink Floyd CD, and is a good introduction to them. I highly recommend it to people who like classic rock as the music is very soft played, so no head thrashing.

This is a great listening experience. Many of the songs on this classic two CD set are amongst the best Pink Floyd has released. Some of them are just okay; however, the majority make for a five star experience. I suggest making yourself comfortably numb and enjoying one of the more popular rock experiences of all time.

All has been said after more than a thousand review. This is a must have double cd, a great conceptual double album. All kind of musical style, rock (In the Flesh, Young Lust, Run like hell), melodic ballads (Mother, Goodbye blue sky), radio hit (Another brick part II), prog classic (Confortably Numb), classic (The Trial)
As Amazon, I agree, this is an essential cd. A must have.

I'm glad to see today's generation getting into The Wall.

I was a teenager in 1980 when this album came out. It blew me away. After listening to Wish You Were Here, Animals, Dark Side of the Moon, Echoes, and their earlier music, I was amazed that the Floyd could top themselves again.

The only thing that disappointed me was the story. At first blush, I thought the story of epic alienation was about an ordinary guy. I thought it shouldn't apply to a rock star. Since when has a rock star ever elicited sympathy anyway? How much of the population has ever been lonely at the top? Most of us scurry at the bottom, enduring the kind of alienation that comes from being "nobodies." It's this kind of pain I can relate to, not the pain of isolation that comes from being more successful and famous than anyone else.

Anyway, the music is constantly gripping, even if it reeks of self-pity at times. The movie is psychedelic and wonderfully animated. This album is an undeniable classic, even if it is ocassionally overwrought. I've listened to it hundreds of times, and I'm sure I'll listen to it hundreds of times more.

Enjoy!

When this album was recorded and released, Pink Floyd were on top of the world having achieved all the success they wanted to achieve. But sometimes success has a price tag. The price tag is the "wall" which sometimes separates yourself from the rest of society. American society in particular worships success and material gain at the cost of one's physical and mental health. It also creates a kind of competition and even hostility between you and the rest of the world. That's what Dark Side Of The Moon looked at. The Wall gets more specific and tells the story of the pressures of being a rock n' roll star. Most if not all rock musicians strive for fortune and fame and hanging out with all the groupies. But sometimes that lifestyle leaves you with all your personal demons and those demons can drive you insane. Those demons may be your own responsibility or those created by family or business issues. The album begins with "In The Flesh?" and the character portrayed is a famous rock n' roll musician getting ready to go on stage. But he is suddenly confronted by all his demons such as his father getting sent off to a foreign land to go to war. This segues into "The Thin Ice". His wife comforts his newborn son telling the baby that his grandfather will be OK. The first brick in the wall is the separation he feels as his father is being sent off to war. The next brick is that of abuse at school by both classmates and teacher when he was a young boy. This type of treatment leads him ultimately to rebel against the educational system. He asks in "Mother" if he should cut himself off from all the people supposedly responsible for his tribulations. "Mother, should I build the wall?" In other words, he is asking if he should ever associate with these people again. In "Goodbye Blue Sky" the horrifying pictures of his father fighting and getting killed in the war are brought to his attention again. He then looks for something to fill in the "Empty Spaces". He tries having sex with all the groupies in "Young Lust" in order to numb his pain. He avoids all communication with the groupie back at the hotel by watching war movies on television in "One Of My Turns". Finally all the violence he sees on the television brings back to memory the death of his own father and he goes insane and starts tearing up the room. He is so beside himself that he hurls the television out of his hotel room window onto the street below. He feels remorseful of his behavior and pleads with his mate, "Don't Leave Me Now". Finally everything that drove him to his current state of mind comes back to haunt him. This is the third brick. He is so angry and upset that he avoids all physical contact with people in "Goodbye Cruel World". This closes the first half. The second half opens with him working hard to overcome his demons in "Hey You". He asks "Is There Anybody Out There?" who can help him. He returns to watching television and tries calling his wife on the phone in "Nobody Home". No one responds. He asks if there is anybody out there who can feel the pain he is feeling. He remembers somebody named Vera Lynn. He cries out against the apparent injustice of war and demands to "bring the boys back home". He then turns to drugs in "Comfortably Numb". He is given an anesthetic by the doctor to calm him down. He arrives at the show and is ready to perform no matter how severe his hardships. At the show, he weeds out the people he dislikes the most from the audience. He becomes kind of a dictator to his audience. The people who are in his favor give him a sort of "Hail Hitler" kind of salute. After the show, he takes to the streets to weed out the "weaklings, the queens, the coons, the reds, and the Jews" of the city. These people to him are nothing but worms in his sight and must be wiped off the face of the earth. Finally, he is tried in a court of law for all the atrocities he has committed. He tells the judge that insanity was the reason for his crimes. He is then sentenced to be "exposed before his peers". The crowd in the courtroom then chants to "tear down the wall" meaning they are glad he is getting his just deserts. The wall is finally torn down and the city tries to rebuild itself. This album applies not only to rock stars but also to anybody at the top of their profession who feels constant pressure to succeed and wants to lash out at the world in the midst of this stiff competition. Such people may turn to drugs, sex, or crime for their escape. Such themes is what makes The Wall such a powerful masterpiece.

This music represents the insanity in all of us we are no different than Pink Floyd.As fans of Pink Floyd we share the same genetic genious of these incredible Musicians,however our role is only to consume this music...Being genuine fans of this music clearly indicates that we are all crazy and can be very proud to be a member of this elite club of lunatics.

This is the Best that Pink Floyd did in all their years togeather this is the REAL thing .