Pink Floyd - The Wall

The Wall is a rock opera presented as a double album by Pink Floyd, released by Harvest Records on 30 November 1979, in the United Kingdom and by Columbia Records on 8 December 1979, in the United States It was subsequently performed live, with elaborate theatrical effects, and made into a film.

Like their previous albums, The Wall is a concept album which deals largely with the theme of personal isolation. The concept was inspired by the band's 1977 tour promoting the album Animals, with regards to an incident where Roger Waters' frustration with the audience reached a point where Waters spat in the face of a fan who was attempting to climb on stage at the Olympic Stadium on 6 July, 1977; this, in turn, led him to lament that such a wall exists. The Wall featured a notably harsher and more theatrical sound than their previous releases.

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'The Wall' when it first appeared must have surprised many Pink Floyd fans, being a double album of an astonishingly large amount of songs, twenty six in all. 'Another Brick In The Wall Pt 2' was the first Pink Floyd single to be a hit in the UK since 'See Emily Play' way back in 1967. The concept for 'The Wall' ( there has to be a concept! ) revolves around a Rock star named 'Pink' ( ha, ha! ) who is basically a jerk. Write about what you know, and all that. Sorry Mr Waters. Pinks fathers life was taken in the name of duty, and Pink builds a mental wall between himself and the rest of the world, every emotional trouble and stress becoming another 'brick' in Pinks mental wall of pain, disillusioned with stardom and fame. Roger Waters father, Eric Fletcher Waters died in the line of duty, during World War II. Sorry again, Roger. Maybe you're not a jerk after all, although Rick Wright may have thought so. Out of twenty six songs, not a one of them was written by Rick, who was pretty much just a session guy here, and would leave the band altogether before the groups next album project. So, if 'Animals' had 'sort of' introduced a new sound to Pink Floyd, although a new sound sat on top of largely old, previously unused compostions in the throes of writers block, 'The Wall' really does see Roger Waters write his little heart out. 'The Wall' is beautiful and bleak, impressive in scope and production. There is genuine beauty in songs like 'Is There Anybody Out There?' with it's pretty guitar and the string assisted 'Nobody Home', for examples. There's the groovy bass lines and sing-a-long of 'Another Brick In The Wall Pt 2', which released in the Punk ( post-punk? ) era, as a single - was a tremendous and deserved success ...

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