THE WALL

Together We Stand, Divided We Fall...We Fall...We Fall...

Growing up in the 80's and graduating in 1990, there was really no album as important as Pink Floyd's the Wall. From grade schoolers blindly singing "We don't need no education" to teenagers gravitating to the morose dark themes, this album held a social place for a wide span of time like really no other during that decade. Released in 1979, it's sounds looked definitely forward. The use of the triplet slap-back delay, used by Floyd as far back as Meddle, becomes a defining element on the Wall, and the Edge used the sound to form one of the biggest bands in the history of rock.

This album, among others, taught me how to play guitar, starting with the perfectly concise solo on the "Another Brick in the Wall" single, on through "Hey You" and "Comfortably Numb" being among the most played and enjoyable songs in my playing career. In college, late night viewings of the movie were a regular pass time. I remember a girl singing "Mother" a capella for a class project. The album appealed across clics, it's introspective ruminations and depression hitting home for almost any adolescent.

Indeed, this is Roger Waters' magnum opus. It is his vision and his psyche that make the album go. And for one last album, the rest of the guys still bought in and made significant contributions. (Unlike the Final Cut, basically a Waters' solo album with perfunctory appearance of his band mates) It is this lopsided balance of power that leads to the albums drawbacks. As many have said, it's too long, too morose, not enough balance.

It is extremely difficult to sustain a work through 2 whole CDs and the pacing here is the major problem with the work. Unlike the Lamb, which was clearly conceptualized more like a story or play, the Wall seems to have evolved as a concept and songs brought in to feed the concept. Certainly, many musicals work this way. A loose plot to tie the big numbers together. But here the plot is so dark, and the intervening pieces are so ponderous, the work looses gas under its own monsterous weight.

The high points are of course all time classics. And this fan, for one, has always listened to the disc piecemeal. And I've always enjoyed it that way. It is without a doubt excellent.

But the fact that I fell asleep during at least half of those late night viewings tells you something.