Thursday, August 11, 2011

"Hold on to the Dream"

Pink Floyd: The Final Cut



Track List:

01 - The Post War Dream
02 - Your Possible Pasts
03 - One Of The Few
04 - The Hero's Return
05 - The Gunners Dream
06 - Paranoid Eyes
07 - Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert
08 - The Fletcher Memorial Home
09 - Southampton Dock
10 - The Final Cut
11 - Not Now John
12 - Two Suns In The Sunset


By the end of the touring in support of their mammoth album "The Wall", relations between Waters and Gilmour had reached an all time low. Waters, who was becoming more egotistical and harder to work with as time went on, had kicked Richard Wright out of the band mid-tour . While it wasn't unusual for him to write a majority of the songs, The Final Cut is often regarded as "a Roger Waters solo album" rather than a Pink Floyd album. Due to the fact that he wrote and performed vocals exclusively on all twelve songs (with the exception of "Not Now John", where Gilmour shares vocal responsibilities), this album gets brushed off by most critics and by the most avid Floyd fans. I find this to be such a shame, because in my opinion, The Final Cut is one of the best releases by the band. What Waters had envisioned for this album is successfully portrayed through his heart-wrenching lyrics and almost theatrical-like approach, while David Gilmour and Nick Mason also showcased the best of their abilities. Everything about The Final Cut is damn near perfect, and listening to it takes you away to a foreign place. The imagery produced not only by Waters' vocals but each instrument and each noise is unreal, at times it feels like you're watching a movie rather than listening to a concept album. Although The Final Cut will never be publicly agreed upon as being one of Pink Floyd's best albums, I still personally believe it to be the most underrated and overlooked of all their releases. Anyone who is skeptical, I dare you to listen to "The Gunner's Dream" and tell me otherwise.

10 comments:

  1. Interesting, I always did like reading about Pink Floyd's internal conflicts, and I have a few songs from this album I really like. Good post, +1 following

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  2. Yeah I agree with Jacob, plus this album is amazing!

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  3. brilliant album, and gd blog :) followed

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  4. haven't listened to this album yet, i'll give it a go. Must be a sweet pick for you!

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  5. God damn I love pink floyd. It's a shame when stardom goes to someone's head, though at least it didn't make for bad music. Just goes to show what heart and theatricaity can make up for.

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  6. Ok i'm going to put that in my Hi-fi stereo first thing in the morning. Pink floyd have some amazing chilling tunes, i can't imagine how good it will feel listening to their finest work.

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  7. I didn't realize the background on this album. Great info find there!

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  8. Good album review of a classic band.

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  9. I love this album. The Gunners Dream is an amazing song. *-*

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