THE FINAL CUT

The suitably titled Final Cut was the last Pink Floyd album with Roger Waters on it. The tension between Waters and Gilmour and Mason was apparently too much that after this album was recorded they unofficially split up and pursued their respective solo careers. Richard Wright also does not appear on this album as he left the band during the recording sessions for The Wall. Waters dominates this album, with Gilmour and Mason playing a much lesser role in the group's affairs. The result, as you might expect, is a dark album in a similar format as The Wall and Waters' later solo albums, sparse on instrumentation and loaded with scathing anti-this and anti-that lyrics. Subject matter tends to be about the so called "Post-War dream" (referring to World War II), World War II, the Falklands War, nuclear weapons, Margaret Thatcher, and pretty much everyone that was in power in 1983. In other words, dark and bleak stuff.

It's not quite as good as The Wall, and is clearly dissimilar to the band's pre-Wall albums. The one thing I find entertaining about it is that no matter how depressed I am, when I listen to it, it cheers me up simply because I now know there is someone even more depressed than me. I'm not sure if that was what Waters had intended, but it sure does work for me. The Final Cut is as or more depressing than The Wall. It also has the advantage of being only one LP, unlike the 2-LP The Wall. Two LPs of depressing music can really be annoying after awhile. Still, a good album, but far from essential. Waters and Floyd fans should have this. Three stars.