IS THERE ANYBODY OUT THERE?

Since this acquisition, I actually have been listening to this boxset more often than my original studio vinyl but then again Comfortably Numb (user-friendliness) is the name of the game. Outside the supreb hey You (future absent in the movie), there is an extra track (not present on the studio album), which is obviously the main (but not the only one) interest of this release and it is great but I am still waiting for Floyd to release the very first number in the film on CD (you know, the one showing Pink's father getting killed). The fake Pink Floyd group plying is another strange invention, also one of the interesting features of this album, and frankly, you couldn't tell them apart from the real ones. Outside of these particularities, this release had the dubious honour of a terrible face/mask artwork in both formats, the normal jewel case and the much nicer "boxset" where the pictures of the shows are definitely helping to understand what Roger was trying to build, before the movie would appear a few years later.

The only good Pink Floyd effort from the 80's saw the band attempting to recreate their epic concept album on stage. The task at hand was to create a fascinating visual opus as well as keeping the music to par. Of course for Pink Floyd this is no problem with the amount of equipment and technitions.

The Wall Live has to be one of the best stages of Pink Floyds life and one of the most draw dropping live shows of their career. It is nice to see some of the songs that didn't make the studio album here. "What Shall We Do Now?", i think is a crucial track off this live album and is excellently placed as an extension to "Empty Spaces". "The Last Few Bricks" is just a filler instrumental and is is understandable that this was cut from the album. These two tracks reappear in the film of the wall. The visuals in the huge booklet that comes with the limited edition boxset show are a feast for the eyes and this is definetly money well spent. The interviews with the band are great for the fans and its nice to see that Roger and Richard came to terms again. This is probably the best full live album by Pink Floyd although i have to admit that Ummagumma is still better.

This album occaisionally is better than the studio version in some aspects, especially instrumentation. It sports some much improved guitar and sythesizer work as well as the occaisional added drum improvisation and bass. The music here is more effective than the studio version, but the vocals are lacking a bit. WATERS just isn't a that good of a singer live. Since it is live, the message has less impact than the studio version, sacrificed for the stage feeling and better instrumentation. But still, it is wonderful.

Buy it even if you already own the studio version and like it and especially buy it if you thought that the musical instruments used in the studio were lacking. The added songs and MC are great as well, especially "What Shall We Do Now?". But by far the greatest song on here is the live "Run like Hell." AWESOME. One of the best PINK FLOYD songs ever, musically. Do not shrug off this album. The sound quality is great as well, studio quality on most of the songs except for "Mother," where a faint humming can be heard. All in all, it's just as good (if not better) than the studio version of "The Wall."

This really is an excellent live set. No matter how long I tried to resist listening to this album eventually it won me over. The sound quality of this album of The Wall is excellent, the live versions of the songs really fresh. It is a great release even though the fat cats were continuing to release anything to avoid sitting down and actually writing a new studio album.

When I first purchased Is There Anybody Out There?, I was skeptical that anything could possibly live up to the grandiose vision of The Wall, even another PINK FLOYD performance. But within just a few songs, I knew that what I had was not only an excellent performance of The Wall, but something that completely puts the studio album to shame. Since I first bought it in November 2001, I'm not sure if I've even listened to the studio album more than three times. There simply isn't any need, with this masterpiece around.

Even though the audio quality probably isn't quite what The Wall is, or perhaps even the best that a live concert recording could be, the quality of the performance itself is absolutely stunning, and even makes up for the loud analogue hiss on "Nobody Home". One of the biggest problems with the studio album was the fact that PINK FLOYD was not working together as a band. Everything succumbed to Roger WATERS' dark vision. In fact, the band's keyboardist Richard WRIGHT had been cut out of the proceedings early on, and even forced to relinquish his position as a full member of the band. ITAOT was to be his farewell performance until A Momentary Lapse of Reason.

On ITAOT, although the personal problems were undiminished, it's clear that the band is functioning much more like a band than on the studio album, and this makes each rendition spring to life. In spite of all that was happening to him, WRIGHT works well with a second keyboardist and with the entire band to create moments of stunning beauty. One of the most beautiful, however, was left up to WRIGHT alone--the new ending of "Goodbye Blue Sky". As I purchased this album only a few months after 9-11, the song took on a much more personal meaning, and in that ending, WRIGHT somehow offered through his music both the opportunity to mourn, and a small bit of hope for the future. Even now this part can still bring me to tears.

Richard WRIGHT isn't the only one who shines on this album. Nick MASON, after a long time of playing rather simple rhythms on the FLOYD's studio albums (Wish You Were Here, Animals, The Wall), gets to cut loose in the middle section of "Run Like Hell", and shows he's definitely still got it. In fact, that entire section seems more like the chaotic part of "A Saucerful of Secrets" than anything. In many ways, ITAOT seems to look back to PINK FLOYD's brighter past, including wonderful improvisational elements that had mostly been forced out of the studio by Roger WATERS' imposition of structure on the band. Finally, the interviews and pictures are well worth having, both in the original and limited editions (the latter which I highly suggest).

This is truly THE definitive version of The Wall, and were it not for the recording flaws, I would award it the full five stars.

The most sensational progrock live act ever (both musically and visually) needed a sensational package must EMI have thought : a giant box contains 2-CD's and a luxurous booklet with lots of fascinating and exciting pictures (including Gerald Scarfe his unique and venomous painting skills, live-shots and architectural drawings) and interesting stories about the band from the members themselves and people around them (light, sound). How ironically to read that 1) Roger Waters wrote his semi-autobiographical story about nasty figures (politicians, teachers, mothers) but around that time he had been turned out to be a kind of psychopatic personality himself and 2) the story is about non-communication and that all members refused to communicate with each other...! But that's human and projection is one of the strongest defense-mecanismes once dr. Freud said. And now for something completely different, the music on this 2-CD box. Well, amazing and mindblowing, from the performance of the musicians and the instrumental improvisations to the sound and the atmosphere. If you close your eyes, you will be carried away to cloud number nine in progrock heaven!! An essential historical document but please, EMI: release that DVD footage from "The Wall"!

If you buy only one Live FLOYD album, buy this one and forget all the rest ("Ummagumma", "Delicate Sound Of Thunder", or "P-U-L-S-E"). Better than anything else officially released by the band, this collection of songs taken variously from the 1980-1981 Wall tour is a snapshot of the FLOYD at their musical apex, right before they self-destructed.

"Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980-81" is not just simply "The Wall" music live, but a testament to what it was like to be at the travelling "The Wall" stage show. Besides being a huge musical phenomenon (Top 5 selling record of all time!), "The Wall" as a movie, and as a travelling stage show/tour was just as important to its creator, ROGER WATERS. His idea of building a wall between the band and the audience was the whole basis for writing all these angst-filled tunes in the first place. To see it performed live must have been something. Ironically, WATERS' first vision for the stage show involved a simulated 'bombing' of the audience (hence the plane screaming across the stage). But unfortunately for Roger, and fortunately for New Yorkers, Angelinos and Londoners, killing paying audience members was, and still is, frowned upon.

The live music itself is generally better than its original studio versions. On that, most reviewers agree. Although 'Young Lust' falls horribly short of its already poor studio version, the haunting guitar on FLOYD staples like 'Goodbye Blue Sky', 'Mother', 'Is There Anybody Out There?', 'Hey You', the remarkable a cappella 'Outside the Wall', 'The Show Must Go On' and especially 'Comfortably Numb' sounds incredibly fresh, raw and if you love the original Wall, you will be floored by what these songs sound like Live! I'm as tired of hearing 'Comfortably Numb' as the next guy, but GILMOUR's vocal and solo performance here are arguably his best.

There are a number of 'extra' tracks on "ITAOT?", although they are really not 'extra' at all. They are integral parts of the Live stage show, that were never intended to be on the studio album. There is an MC who baits the crowd in the two sections prior to 'In The Flesh', as well as two other instrumental pieces of music ('The Last Few Bricks' and 'What Shall We Do Now?'). These two songs were necessarily added in order to give the roadies more time to build the actual wall in front of the audience before the first half of the show ended.

A masterpiece of live music. Highly recommended.

As a disclaimer, if you didn't like The Wall, this won't change your mind about it. The Wall, Pink Floyd's magnum opus, was released to the masses towards the end of 1979. The subsequent tour would be one of the most ambitious rock shows ever produced (possibly more ambitious than Rick Wakeman's King Arthur On Ice shows). The live set presented here is a complete performance of The Wall (with a few additions), and in my opinion it fares better than the original album itself. There are many extended versions of some key pieces on the album that really are a lot better than the studio counterpart (and if you consider at what point of the show it was at it just makes the experience a little more better). At this point in time Richard Wright was officially out of the group, but they decided to hire him to keep the fans happy, and he does a wonderful job on the keys live.

The first disc opens with a live addition of a Master of Ceremonies (who makes an introduction before both In the Flesh pieces). It gives a more official atmosphere to the performance, until the group (purposely) interrupt him to begin the piece. Highlights of the first half include extended soloing from Gilmour during Another Brick in the Wall Part 2 and Mother (which are both played wonderfully, despite Another Brick being not one of my favorite Pink Floyd pieces). Also welcome in the addition of What Shall We Do Now?, which was a piece that was cut out of the original album for continuity reasons. After the song ends, it allows for a brief pause and Roger to speak to the audience briefly. The Last Few Bricks is a brief instrumental piece between Another Brick in the Wall Part 3 and Goodbye Cruel World. It reiterates many of the themes in the first half of the show and is actually a pretty cool instrumental bit.

The second disc doesn't have really any added numbers, but the additions to Comfortably Numb (which must have been a memorable moment for those who watched it, as Gilmour would climb to the top of the large wall on the stage and have the lights cast a gigantic shadow over the crowd as he belted out arguably his greatest guitar solo ever). Run Like Hell also gets a nice synthesizer excursion and Rick Wright really comes out of his own on this piece. The version of Outside the Wall also gets a nice extension as well, with all the members coming out and playing acoustic instruments to help bring the entire show to a close. Sonically, the overall mix of this album (as with most Pink Floyd albums) is great and there's enough light shed on all the musicians and the vocals (which are the focal point of the album itself) are for the most part pretty good.

In the end, Is There Anybody Out There? is a nice live set that really shows the last shows of the four piece Pink Floyd were a spectacular gala of sight and sound (more emphasis on sight, though). If you're a fan of live albums and really loved The Wall, then this album is for you. If you didn't like the Wall in the first place, this won't convert you to like it. I still think, though, that this live album is a better representation of what The Wall was than what the studio album did. But that's just a matter of opinion. 4/5.

For me, this is the definitive performance of The Wall [actually compiled from a number of different performances] with breathtaking musicanship and audience reaction adding a vitality and humanity to a rather sterile studio production. Songs are played with life and emotion, they really rock when they should [Run Like Hell ... brilliant], Gilmour's soloing is as good as he has ever been, the guys' singing is spot on and I love the little 'live show' things like the 'Spare Bricks' extension and Roger Waters' taunting of the crowd before Run Like Hell. Comfortably Numb is of course comfortably brilliant, the solo performed by Gilmour atop the completed wall, a classic piece of theatre that sadly has to be imagined. Oh for a properly produced film of the show to put this audio into its full context, but nevertheless this is a masterfull record that should not be missed.

The Wall. Live.

I have never understood (although some research work) why this album was released so late. It was actually released for the twentieth anniversary of these sets of concerts. Due to the grandiosity of the performance, it was performed only thirty times or so. The first set of shows started in 1980 (in L.A. from February 7 to 14). Followed by New York (February 24 to 28), then at Earls Court in London (from August 4 to 8). In 1981 the show moved to Dortmund (from February 21 to 28). It ended up again at Earls Court in London from June 13 to 17.

The show will be a financial disaster since Roger did not want to play in stadiums any longer. Wright being the only one to make money out of this, since he was paid at an agreed fee (which has not been revealed) on a performance basis.

I have always had difficulties (and still do) to enter into this rock opera as it was the use to call such effort in those days. It is based on Roger's personal experience. From the very beginning of the studio project, it was decided to have a tour and a movie produced (The Who did this with "Tommy" as well). Is it the studio work or this live album : my opinion does not change a lot. This dark and pessimistic adventure has never brought me a lot of joy (on the contrary of "The Lamb" and "Tommy"). But this is personal feeling.

The live albums I like the most (I have made this remark already in some reviews of live albums from the Tull) are the ones that have been recorded in the same venue. With this one, we have a kaleidoscope of bit and bites from different concerts (although most comes from the Earl's Court's ones - but I was never able to identify which track was recorded when and where as if the band would like to prevent this). The whole lacks in unity as we can get with "Live At Leeds" by The Who.

The origin of the project are well-known, so I will not cover these. Maybe provide some comments from the inside.

Let's first start with the creator of the project. Roger : "A good deal of the creative impulse for The Wall derived from my disillusionment with rock shows in vast open-air football stadiums. In the days prior to Dark Side of the Moon the excitement of a Pink Floyd performance lay in a certain intimacy of connection between the audience and the band. It was magical. By the late Seventies that magic and opportunity had vanished, crushed, as I saw it, by the dead weight of numbers - the sheer incoherent scale of those stadium events".

"There was a kind of discovery and an exorcism involved in the writing of The Wall. I had to get all that stuff out or spend the rest of my life as that man in black off to the side at the party, apparently aloof behind dark glasses and cigarette, but in reality scared to death of any ordinary human encounter".

About the shows, David will say : "For me, the best bit of The Wall was standing on top of it. We were a few songs into the second half of the show. The band had been bricked in, the audience left to confront a vast, blank barrier. 'Is there anybody out there?' sang Roger, a tiny figure now appearing stage-right. Then, a trick of the light, there I was, 30 feet up, with the heat of four enormous spotlights at my back, throwing my shadow as far as I could see over the audience while I belted out the solo to one of the best pieces of music I'd ever written: "Comfortably Numb".

"Roger's plans required a schedule so punishing that he even moved his home studio next door to our recording space. The demo had to be turned into an album, the album into a split second show and the show into a film - all at the same time. For the upcoming live performances, I took the role of musical director: choosing and rehearsing the extra musicians, then keeping them up to scratch. For the recordings, I switched between producing and writing. And, of course, playing the guitar and singing".

Nick : "I have to say that the show itself was ground-breaking. Most rock 'n' roll is conducted on the basis that there are various personalities in a band who want to show off onstage. There's nothing wrong with that, but Pink Floyd was always more interested in theatrical presentation than in promoting, as stage personalities, its individual members. This subordination of the band into images which relate to the music was always a feature of our work and The Wall in performance was the summit of that development".

Rick : "I wasn't keen on Roger's idea for The Wall show when he first presented it. I felt that building a wall on stage would deliberately exclude the audience and this infringed my conception of what a rock 'n' roll show was essentially about. As his plans developed and he introduced elements into the show which would directly appeal to the audience (such as Gerald Scarfe's animation and the wall collapsing at the end), my fears no longer applied. In fact, I could see that the show was going to be a very powerful visual experience, as well as a musical one".

What we learn here, is that even if there were lots of tension within the band, each member was quite supporting the project.

As for the studio album, I am missing a grand finale like "We're Not Going To Take It" for instance or even "It" (respectively from "Tommy" and "The Lamb" to go on with the comparison).

As for the studio work, I will rate this effort with three stars.

I was never really a big fan of the original Wall studio release back in 1979 (in my review, I gave it three stars), but I will admit it was a good album, just not anywhere near their previous three albums. It seemed to me that they could have had a better record with a shorter, less complicated storyline, on one LP, and with more musical development. Even though I didn't think The Wall was essential, nonetheless, I wanted to hear this live version of it from Is There Anybody Out There? Especially since it was only performed a small amount of times in its entirety.

Is it any better than the studio album? My initial reaction was yes, and after repeated listens, yes again. Still, I find myself skipping many of the (what I consider) sub-par selections. What makes this performance better than the studio version was Roger Waters interactions with the audience. He sounds as if he is really enjoying himself on this recording. The other thing I noticed was more musical development and a stronger Richard Wright influence in the performance (he left during the studio sessions, but was part of the tour). I would say if Wright and Waters could have gotten along better, Wright's contribution to the music on the studio version would have really been beneficial. I guess I never realized this before until I heard this live rendering. Even though Wright played more of a backing role in the band, unlike Gilmour and Waters, there is no doubt in my mind now that Wright was a key ingredient of the Pink Floyd sound.

I'm still going to have to give this three stars, because it just isn't enough for me to justify a four-star rating. Essential for Pink Floyd fans. For others, first get their masterpieces, then you might want to seek this one out. And yes, it really is better than the studio version.

This is definitely an excellent live set or...if you are Genesis' fan, this is Pink Floyd's Seconds Out album. Ofcourse the major difference is that while Seconds Out played tunes from different albums, while this Is There Anybody Out There? is basically the live performance of their groundbreaking concept double album the Wall. Actually, you another choice about this live set, ie. those performed by Roger Waters. Bu of course I'd rather have this one because i's performed by four original members of the band: Waters, Gilmour, Wright and Mason. In most cases, I'd like to play this live set compared to the studio version due to two reasons: 1. There is a track, a great one, which was omitted in the studio version called What Shall We Do Now due to vinyl limitation to accommodate this short track. 2. I love live show than studio recording even though the sound quality is not as good as the studio version.

I don't think I need to elaborate on track by track basis but I just need to emphasize that these consecutive three tracks Another Brick In The Wall pt 1 (4:12) - The Happiest Days Of Our Lives (1:39) - Another Brick In The Wall pt 2 (6:18) were performed brilliantly with a great ambient. Of course, I also love the other three tracks Empty Spaces (2:14) - What Shall We Do Now? (1:40) - Young Lust (5:16) nerely due to the reason I mentioned at the above. On Disc 2 I also love the ambience and live vibes of Is There Anybody Out There? (3:09) - Nobody Home (3:15) - Vera (1:26). The other three consecutive great tracks are : Waiting For The Worms (4:13) - Stop (0:32) - The Trial (6:00) which they sound like an opera.

On top of the music, the CD package is also great. Mine is with bigger size package complete with full-colour booklet of the show. Overall, this is a highly recommended package. Keep on proggin' ...!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

The studio version is the masterpiece

The Wall is one of my favorite albums and one of the greatest rock classics for its scope, vision, grandiosity, and courage, let alone the lyrical and musical accomplishment. I read with amusement all the time those who will swoon over Meddle and Animals but then bash The Wall for various reasons. Some of those folks feel that this live version redeems The Wall somewhat for bringing more life and looseness to what they see as a tight, sterile studio album. That ironically is one of the biggest problems with this album. The Wall is supposed to convey feelings of abject grey, coldness, tightness. This material is not supposed to make you feel like happy-prog does. The reason it is a masterpiece (in studio form) is that it is so perfectly and so tightly constructed, with every single little note and orchestration in exactly the place ole Rog wants it. Chapter after chapter of perfect lyrics tied to outstanding melodies and maniacally crafted into one of rock music's most legendary experiences.

That's not to say this is a horrible album although it would have made infinitely more sense to release this as a DVD, to give people the visual experience. But nothing here is better than the studio version and many things are markedly worse. Without the Waters quality control in place certain parts have lost their crisp and elegant edges. Gilmour gets the biggest hits here from me for introducing some out-of-place road swagger to certain sections that do not benefit from it. Most problematic is that his contempt for the project cannot be hidden during his singing: he is not delivering the lyrics as if he is behind them. He is professional but I can hear in his voice what he has admitted verbally time and again: he didn't like The Wall. Some might think I'm crazy for saying that but I swear I can hear the little verbal tics and indifference, conscious or not, that convey his displeasure for Water's theme. That's fine and I understand why it would be difficult to go through this tour feeling that way, but the fact is that he is so much more convincing in the studio recording, perhaps because he had Waters breathing down his neck, perhaps because he wasn't under the stress that filled this tour. I'm not going to comment about Mason and Wright other than to parrot what both Water and Gilmour have said in interviews: both musicians had let their commitment wane and were not up to past standards. Many know that Wright was fired but do not realize Gilmour agreed with the decision-many are also not aware that Mason was discussed for early pasture too briefly. Given that Gilmour is the most talented musician and singer in the band, his being luke-warm on the project keeps this from being the definitive live recording that Floyd fans have never been given since Pompeii. What the fans really deserve is a great Dark Side or WYWH show released simultaneously on CD and DVD video. It has to be in the vaults somewhere and given what other bands are releasing now from their archives, it is a travesty the band hasn't coughed it up yet. Another issue is the constant crowd noise between tracks which is fine for most concerts but it does alter the feel of an album for which "the feel" matters a lot. Last I found the live keyboard sound on some tracks to be that cheesy 80s/90s Grateful Dead live keyboard sound that I can't believe they ever thought was a good idea (listen early in the "Show Must Go On" for an example.) Now that is nit-picky but it's these little things that add up to make this live album less perfect than the original and that's why I rate it lower and recommend Floyd noobs (if any still exist) save their cash for the real thing. Even Waters solo Berlin Wall show was more exciting for me because of the visual aspect, something that could be remedied here with a DVD-video release. The upcoming 30th anniversary would be the perfect time boys.

There are some points of interest to the release such as the material not present on the studio album, the presence of other musicians, Roger's amusing remarks, and one hell of a nice pair (no pun) of CD booklets. Great packaging here. That and the inherent strength of Water's material (even when swimming with a brick tied to its foot) is enough to warrant a 3 star rating but this stops well short of the studio album. Mostly this one is for hard core Floydians who just can't resist. I'll be selling this and going back to listening to the real thing. And waiting for that live DVD from the '75 tour. I know, I know, when pigs fly.

The Wall is last still strong Pink Floyd album, and live version of The Wall ( what is this double album) is very similar to it's studio version.

If in case with studio album, I enjoyed with some great songs, but all album was too bulk and too long for me ( I believe that one LP work with concentrated and reworked The Wall material could be a really great album!). In live version this minus is not so obvious: as in all live recordings, there is enough place for longer solos,improvs and you usualy prepared for longer recording.

Another strong side - many songs sound heavier and with higher energy, than in studio album. In case with The Wall it is a positive change IMO. All the album ( as often happens when you're comparing studio and live recordings) sounds more rock. A bit more acoustic, with slightly simplier arrangements, sometimes a bit faster.

Still very close to studio original, this live album is as strong and contains even some attractive sides. But I can recommend it to band's fans: for regular listeners it's too similar too studio The Wall album.

Excellent live performance!

Pink Floyd have always been a favorite band of mine, since I was younger I truly enjoyed their music because it always lead me to some place, I mean it causes something on me that makes me feel pleased with what I listen. One of the things I would have loved to witness has to be a Pink Floyd concert, but you know, sadly It is impossible.

Anyway, the closest thing to that is to enjoy their live concerts that were recorded and put in both, video and audio, this time, a complete performance of their extraordinary "The Wall" was done here and fortunately for us fans, released as a double CD album.

This is not exactly a copy of the studio version, here the Master of Ceremonies was added so you can funnily feel part of the crowd, for instance I remember in Run Like Hell when Roger says that song is for everyone in the audience weak, I mean, you are there, you all of a sudden are one more attendant and are witnessing an amazing show.

The ambient is excellent, so is the music. While the songs are passing, you will remember those parts in the movie and enter into a world of a mix of feelings, but in the end, your musical journey will be a total success. There are some parts that really take you into them, that cause you goose bumps, because they really sound good.

If you like The Wall, then you wont have a problem with this live performance, you may like it better or not but you will enjoy it without a doubt; on the other hand, if you do not like The Wall, you may try this and see how good it sounds live, or you can simply avoid it.

A great live album, 4 stars.

Enjoy it!

The Wall shows have always fascinated me, and they seem to me a unique contribution at a unique time for such a thing. I wish I could have seen them. Recreations are fun of course, be they from tribute bands, Waters in Berlin, or even Waters in 2010, but this is original, the real deal, the one that blew people away who didn't know what they were in for.

I have the boxset version, not the jewel case, and I have to say it's a great package. There are lots of beautiful color photos of individual players, the lightshows, and the puppets, and even some schematics. Put together with brief interview segments from major players, production people, and creative influences, this really does give me a sense of the sheer scale of the undertaking.

The music is also quite good. I find The Wall hit or miss, but I still find it fascinating, and can get new things out of it once in a while. Major benefits include longer solos on Mother, Young Lust, and Brick II. One major highlight is What Shall We Do Now?, which was supposed to come right after Empty Spaces. It works great, particularly live. If I had to cut The Wall into one disc, What Shall We Do Now? would still make the cut. How some of the filler songs remained and this didn't, I'll never know, but then again, I never said the album was perfect.

I also love Roger's intro to Run Like Hell. Even if you don't get into Roger's message, you can certainly tell that he does! You know he's getting a smarter-than-thou feeling getting people in the audience to cheer that they're weak. This is reinforcing his worldview--and it's a mildly demented one at that--but it is fascinating to hear it coming true, at least in Roger's mind, live.

Floyd have released their share of non-essential extra material. This is not in that category. A good buy for the unique place of these shows in prog history, and a must-have for big fans of The Wall.

Despite "The Wall" album is still not one of my favourites from Pink Floyd, I recognize that I stiil had some cuiosity to listen to this official live album recorded during a few shows between 1980 and 1981. And after listening to this live album I have to say that this musical work was played very well by all the musicians who were then involved: the three then members of Pink Floyd (Roger Waters, David Gilmour and Nick Mason), the then recently fired but re-hired as paid musician Rick Wright, the members of the so-called "Surrogate Band", and the backing singers, who particularly sang very well, in my opinion. And while this"The Wall" musical work is predominantly Waters` show, Gilmour`s presence on lead guitar and vocals really helped the live performances sound much better than the studio album versions. Mason still plays very good drums too, but by having another drummer to play the drums parts along with him is not so easy to know by simple listening who is playing what. The same happens with Wright, who also had another keyboard player playing along with him, but both keyboard players did a very good job. Waters and Gilmour also had some help from other musicians, with even Gilmour letting play to the other guitarist a lead guitar solo during the last part of "Another Brick in the Wall Part Two". The highlights of this live recording are, in my opinion: "In the Flesh", "Another Brick in the Wall Part Two" , "Young Lust", "Nobody Home", "Comfortably Numb", "Run Like Hell", "Waiting for the Worms" and "The Trial". I discovered while listening to this live version of "The Wall" that the lyrics and some of Waters` vocals have some humour and sarcasm, something which in the studio recordings is sometimes not very easy to listen to. It also seems that they used some backing tapes to reproduce some of the parts of the studio recordings in concert (particularly the orchestral arrangements).I have to say that even if I agree with some of the ideas shown in the lyrics, this musical work still doesn`t convice me very much to really like it because it is almost the whole work from one person in the band (Waters), and for me this is almost a solo work by him helped a bit by Gilmour. Pink Floyd became by then Waters plus the other musicians as his sidemen, in my opinion. And for me, when a member of a band becomes the dictatorial force above the others, there is not a real band in existence. I still don`t like very much some of Waters` visions of the world and of the human relationships which he shows in "The Wall" lyrics. There is not very much hope in the lyrics, and for all this it is not a very optimistic musical work and one which I would like to listen to frequently (in fact I have not listened to the whole studio album since a lot of years ago). But it should have been a very impressive experience to seesome parts of this "The Wall" show played by Pink Floyd. I don`t know if some of the shows were filmed in its entirety, but if it was the case, it could be very good to see them on DVD or Blu-Ray as official releases. I think that this live version is better than the one Waters recorded and filmed in Berlin in 1990 as soloist. This Pink Floyd`s live album version, which was released in 2000, was also very well assembled and mixed by James Guthrie from different shows recorded during the "The Wall Tour".

My opinion of the studio album of The Wall has wavered back and forth over the years, but on hearing Is There Anybody Out There? I am greatly impressed, and I actually prefer this to the studio version of the album.

A big part of this is because, as is well-known, The Wall is an album that was formulated around an idea for a stage show. Whilst the visual aspect of this obviously can't translate into an audio-only format, and whilst admittedly this set is somewhat Frankensteined together (though absolutely seamlessly) from a range of of shows, it nonetheless seems to benefit somewhat from the concert contexts.

You have concert-only inclusions like the band rudely interrupting the MC both times for In The Flesh?/In The Flesh, or Roger's in-character patter preceding Run Like Hell ("This is for all the WEAK PEOPLE in the audience!!!") which really adds to that section of the narrative. You also get some tracks that, whilst they didn't make the cut for the main album, also feel like natural parts of it - The Last Few Bricks is a little jam restating some themes from disc 1 to cover for the completion of the onstage wall, whilst What Shall We Do Now? adds a much extra dimension to the character of Pink at just the right time.

(To unpack that more: What Shall We Do Now? comes right before Young Lust and One of My Turns, and in that context makes really helps contextualise those two songs; the song effectively marks the beginning of a manic phase of Pink's bipolar disorder, during which he's able to momentarily draw people in - Young Lust - before he drives them away again - One of These Turns. The triptych of songs really does provide a very accurate depiction of the way this particular disorder affects people and as such I feel that cutting What Shall We Do Now? - and thus robbing the other two songs of some of their context - was a serious mistake.)

Most of all, though, you get a harder, more rock-oriented take on the album material, combined with some more scope for improvising and the like - there's some jamming during Another Brick In the Wall Pt. 2 which takes it well away from its disco-influenced studio rendition, for instance.

On the whole, I consider this the definitive edition of the album. Others might propose tweaked running orders or additions here and there - fans of the film love to try to crowbar in When The Tigers Broke Free into the Wall's running order, for instance, but it feels more appropriate to The Final Cut anyway and the early parts of The Wall don't really need more griping about a father that Pink never really knew in the first place.

On the other hand, Is There Anybody Out There? presents The Wall in, as closely as an audio format can, the context it was supposed to be heard in, with all of its constituent parts restored. If you like The Wall at all, you're in for a treat - and if you're on the fence about the studio album you might find that this answers a lot of your issues with it.