RADIO K.A.O.S.

I'm pretty surprised to see that Radio KAOS has a lower rating than Pros and Cons. Respect to that one, this has a stronger concept even if not properly a masterpiece of literature. From a musical point of view it features more sax than guitar, but after the poor (IMO) performance of Clapton on Pros and Cons this is not a bad thing. Also the sax is played by Mel Collins.

When it was released it caused different reactions within the Pink Floyd fans: from one side Waters' style is still recognizable. Gimmicks are everywhere but less invasive than on Pros or on Final Cut and his singing is helped by a number of singers including Clare Torry (The Great Gig in the Sky voice) and Paul Carrack.

The counterpart is the horn section. It's very well played and arranged, but the funky parts are a bit too much for a former Floyd's album. Just to make a comparison, Gilmour's About face contains only one "funky" song, even if it's the main track: Blue Light. Radio KAOS has at least three tracks full of funky accents. Not bad, but this is not what Floyd fans are used to look for.

Speaking about the songs, none of them is outstanding on its own, but effectively the album follows its route and all are good contributors to the final result. Only The Tide is Turning, played also at the closure of The Wall concert in Berlin, has something more. Another good track is for me "The powers that be". This is the seed from which Amused to Death probably came from. The guitar here sounds very similar to what Jeff Beck will later do on What God Wants.

I don't think it's an album for collectors only. The average quality of the songs is acceptable, there a story concept and is played by skilled musicians. Some songs are poppy, most have funky contaminations, as I wrote, but if this is a weakness for Pink Floyd fans, can be appealing for all the others.