In 1979, Pink Floyd released The Wall, their second best known album. It immediately hit it big getting to the top of the charts with songs such as Another Brick in The Wall (Part 2), and Comfortably Numb. The tour to this famous album followed two months after the album came out, and this is the recording of the concert. During the show, a giant wall was built in front of the band. By the end of the first half off the show, the band was barricaded in, and the audience didn’t see any of the members of the band until David Gilmour played his haunting Is The Anybody Out There? guitar solo. In my opinion, this album is better than “The Wall” because it doesn’t sound over produced, like some of the songs on “The Wall” do, and there are two extra songs, What Shall We Do Now, and The Last Few Bricks. The songs are taken from shows throughout the entire tour. In short, this concert had it all. (Including the giant pig!)
Pink Floyd is-
Roger Waters-Vocals, bass
David Gilmour-Vocals, guitar
Nick Mason-Drums
Rick Wright-Keyboards
Story Behind “The Wall”
For those of you who don’t know the story behind “The Wall”, here is the basic idea of the story. The wall is the story of Pink, and his miserable life. Pink hates his life, and in his mind he builds a wall to keep himself away from the world. Early in the story, or during In the Flesh?, his father dies during the battle of Anzio in World War 2. During his childhood, he had a teacher that would “hurt the children anyway they could” (referring to more than one teacher) Since his father died, his mother has been over protective, keeping a close eye out on young Pink. As the story progresses, Pink gets older, and becomes a rock star. He finds out that his wife has cheated on him, and looses it. He then finishes the wall, and goes into seclusion. After being in self seclusion for awhile, a doctor comes and gives Pink medicine, hoping that they will cure him. But the medicine doesn’t cure him, instead it gives him visions that he is a Nazi dictator for a group called the Marching Hammers. He then stops himself, and goes into a trial in his head that ultimately tells him to “Tear down the wall!”
First Half
The first disc starts with an introduction, M.C. Atoms. The “Surrogate” band, which isn’t actually Pink Floyd but the band that plays with Pink Floyd during the show plus Roger Waters comes out and performs In The Flesh?. The Thin Ice is then played, followed by Another Brick In the Wall (part 1), which has an added keyboard solo at the very end of the song. The Happiest Days of Our Lives/ Another Brick In The Wall (part 2) are the highlight of the first half of the show. You can here Roger’s emotion when he sings “But in the town it was well known when they got home at night their fat and psychopathic wives would thrash them within inches of their lives”, which then leads into Another Brick In The Wall (part 2). This song is especially good because it has the tapes of the teachers yelling at the kids, and the kids singing. Another bonus of this version of Another Brick In The Wall (part 2) is that it has extended solos. It has two guitar solos, and a nice keyboard solo courtesy of Rick Wright. The wall across the stage begins to be built in this song, as well. Next is Mother, which is very powerful. It has an extended guitar solo, and also has a nice intro guitar part that Roger is playing. Another highlight of this song is the keyboard part. Goodbye Blue Sky has a good balanced, guitar part, but other than that, it’s nothing special. Empty Spaces is different because it is in a different key and the lyrics are different, which makes this version of the song even better than the studio album version. Lyrics: “What shall we use to fill the empty spaces, where waves of hunger roar? Shall we set out across the sea of faces in search of more and more applause?”
The first of the two newer songs, What Shall We Do Now? explains Pink’s life as a rock and roll star. Roger’s vocals are very good, and the keyboard part to this song is softer, but very mysterious, fitting the mood of the song. Lyrics: “Shall we buy a new guitar shall we drive a more powerful car shall we work straight through the night shall we get into fights leave the lights on drop bombs do tours of the east contract diseases bury bones break up homes send flowers by phone take to drink go to shrinks give up meat rarely sleep keep people as pets train dogs race rats fill the attic with cash bury treasure store up leisure but never relax at all with our backs to the wall.” Young Lust follows, with a different intro, a keyboard solo, and a guitar solo at the end of the song. The vocals on Young Lust are kind of annoying, but it is still a good song none the less. One Of My Turns is a lot like the studio version, but you can here Roger’s emotions in this version more. Don’t Leave Me Now is probably the most emotional song in the first half of the concert. Roger is really emotional and powerful, and the keyboard part fits the lyrics very well. “Why are you running away” and after is the highlight of the song. Another Brick In The Wall (part 3) is short but sweet, with Roger’s fiery vocals, and the angry guitar part in the background. The Last Few Bricks is a combination of The Happiest Days, Another Brick In The Wall (part 2), Young Lust and Empty Spaces. The Last Few Bricks is all instrumental. The last song on the first disc is Goodbye Cruel World. As Roger sings the final line of the song, the final brick in the wall is put into place, and ends the first half of the show
Second Disc
Hey You starts the second half of the concert. By now the band is barricaded in completely, and plays the song behind the wall. This song has a great guitar part with great lyrics, and as a bonus, has an extended guitar solo. The real end of this song shows plenty of power from Roger’s voice, yelling “Hey You! Out there on the road always doing what you’re told can you help me? Hey You! Out there beyond the wall breaking bottles in the hall can you help me? Hey You! Don’t tell me there’s no hope at all! Together we stand, divided we fall.” Is There Anybody Out There? is a dark and sad and has an awesome acoustic guitar solo at the end. The next song, Nobody Home, is my favorite album, because it so powerful and has a great piano part. Roger’s emotions in this song are also very strong. During the concert, Roger comes out on a hotel room setup. Vera and Bring the Boys Back Home are sung by Roger in front of the wall while video tapes play in the background. Next is the mighty Comfortably Numb, with Roger singing the doctor part, and Dave, who is standing on top of the wall, singing Pink’s part. This song has to blistering guitar solos, and some great instrumental parts in the background. The vocals to this song are great, and this is just an awesome rendition of Comfortably Numb.
Next on the track list is The Show Must Go On. Let me be the first to tell you this version is a million times better than the album version. There is a short keyboard intro at the beginning of the song, and than everybody else comes in. Dave sings a verse that was not originally on “The Wall.” “Do I have to stand up wild eyed in the spotlight what a nightmare, why don’t I turn and run?” M.C. Atoms is next. It’s like the one on the first cd, except the guy is saying it slower. In The Flesh starts with a bang, and the band is out in front of the wall again. Just like in the first version on this cd, there is an added intro part. Roger doesn’t show that much emotion during in his vocals, but it’s still a tight version. Run Like Hell is one of the best tracks on the album. In my opinion, Run Like Hell is one of David Gilmour’s best songs that he plays on guitar. The intro is great, and the dueling lyrics from Dave to Roger sets up one of the highlights of "Is There Anybody Out There". At 7:05 minutes, Run Like Hell is one of the longest tracks on the record. Waiting For The Worms follows. It starts by Roger asking “Are you ready?” to the crowd, then he yells “Eins Zwei Drei, Alle” showing that in the story, Pink has now become a Nazi-like dictator for the Marching Hammers. David comes in with some creamy lyrics. As always, the instrumentation is top notch. As Waiting For The Worms progresses, the song becomes more intense by the moment, eventually leading into the climax of the second disc, Stop.
At only 32 seconds, there is nothing to discuss about Stop, except for Rick Wright's piano line. The Trial greets us with an extended intro part. One of the toughest songs vocally to sing on "The Wall", Roger exerts a forceful energy that flows out of his mouth and into the mike beautifully. The Trial may be the biggest letdown on "Is There Anybody Out There", as it does not match up to the likes of its sister version on “The Wall.” The teacher, mother, and wife come in to testify, and the judge makes the ultimate decision of making Pink tear down the wall. After chants of “Tear Down The Wall!” The Wall comes down in Pink’s head and on the stage as well. Outside The Wall closes the album out with a bang. Roger sings the lyrics “All alone, or in two's, the ones who really love you, walk up and down outside the wall. Some hand in hand, and some gathered together in bands. The bleeding hearts and artists Make their stand. And when they've given you their all, some stagger and fall, after all it's not easy Banging your heart against some mad bugger's wall.” After the band wrings out the last few riffs of the song, the band members leave the stage, letting the goosebumps set in for the members of the peanut gallery. The band comes on for one final bow, one taken over by the cheers and applause of the fans.
I have listened to this cd time and time again, and it still amazes me how well it sounds. This cd is better than the studio wall album, for so many reasons. I would recommend this cd to anyone who likes Pink Floyd, and anybody who has never heard the wall before. In short, this album is hard to top.
