The WallвЂ™ doesnвЂ™t always receive the same kudos as its older brother DSOTM and is regarded by some as an overblown solipsistic account of a poor rock starвЂ™s mid life crisis (a theme revisited on the songwriterвЂ™s solo follow-up вЂThe Pros and Cons of HitchhikingвЂ™). Listen: Pink Floyd вЂThe WallвЂ™ Musical Lead-Up Playlist However, Wright had the last laugh as he did perform on The Wall tour as a salaried musician and made more money than the proper band members who had to subsidise the hefty production costs. Waters was also believed Wright wasnвЂ™t pulling his weight and eventually kicked the keyboardist out of the band when Wright refused to cut short a family holiday to return to the studio in order to finish the album for a Christmas release. During the recording of вЂThe WallвЂ™ inter-band relations reached new lows and producer Bob Ezrin was brought in to help smooth the collaboration. Perhaps the remaining Floyd members were unsurprised by WatersвЂ™ dictatorial fantasies. The dark side of public celebrity and success rears its ugly head and Pink succumbs to drug use and infidelity and even has hallucinations of being a violent fascist. He is traumatised by his dealings with authority figures such as an over-protective mother and abusive schoolteachers and in the ultimate act of defiance, becomes a rock star. Like Waters, Pink is left with feelings of abandonment caused by the death of his father in World War II. While Dave Gilmour and Richard Wright went off to France to record solo albums and Nick Mason sat in the producerвЂ™s seat for Steve Hillage, Waters began writing storylines and ideas for two different albums, one of which featured a character named Pink who was somewhat based upon his own life. He fantasised about creating a wall between the band and the audience and used this as a springboard to build a story brick by metaphorical brick. It got so bad that Waters spat in a fanвЂ™s face (perhaps he would have preferred the reverent atmosphere of one of our CAS listening sessions). Watch: Colleen and Nick Mason discuss Pink FloydвЂ™s вЂThe Dark Side of the MoonвЂ™Д«efore recording, Pink Floyd had just come off a huge stadium tour on which the Waters experienced a sense of loathing and contempt toward audience members who were вЂsinging alongвЂ™ and exhibiting unhinged behaviour. Like вЂTommyвЂ™, вЂThe WallвЂ™ is a complete story with a beginning, middle and end (even if the finale alludes to the onset of a vicious cycle) and is a true rock opera that tells a tale of self-imposed alienation. However, these three albums were not concept albums in the sense of The WhoвЂ™s вЂTommyвЂ™ but rather albums based upon a specific theme.

It holds together so well.вЂ™ вЂ“ Roger WatersДЄs a lyricist, Pink Floyd singer, bassist and conceptualist Roger Waters has never been one to shy away from weighty topics as he illustrated with his exploration of mental illness, mortality and the need for human empathy on вЂThe Dark Side of the MoonвЂ™, his reflection upon the bandвЂ™s emotional state after their stupendous success, the superficiality of the music biz and the loss of their former bandleader Syd Barrett on вЂWish You Were HereвЂ™, and the socio-political вЂAnimalsвЂ™ which unleashed an unveiled attack on humankindвЂ™s corruption of power loosely based upon George OrwellвЂ™s вЂAnimal FarmвЂ™. вЂњI think вЂ The WallвЂ™ is stupefyingly good.

Pink floyd the wall album release