Hello,
Pink is the main character of "The Wall". He's a very troubled rock star going through the motions and slowly going insane, which leads to delusions. Throughout "The Wall" we see those things that added bricks to his wall. His mother, his teachers and his wife cheating on him. Pink has lost touch with all reality and is essentially living in a catatonic state. "The Wall" is Pink Floyd's classic double CD about Pink's alienation from life. Each new piece of alienation adds another metaphorical brick to Pink's very real wall of alienation. "The Wall" has been released in different versions by Pink Floyd over the years selling millions of copies in the 35 years since it's release. It has a firm place in the pop culture of the world. Alienation seems to be universal and an every generation malady.
"The Wall" was recorded June-December 1978 in London, England. Then "The Wall" recording was moved to France, where they worked on it from January to July 1979. They also worked on it at other studios. "The Wall" album was released on November 30th, 1979. The movie version of "The Wall", starring Bob Geldof as Pink, was released July 14th, 1982 in England. It was also shown at Cannes earlier the same year.
The four members of Pink Floyd during the recording of this CD were Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Rick Wright (sort of) and Nick Mason. Obviously this CD is more than just the work of musicians. "The Wall" was produced by Waters, Gilmour, Bob Ezrin and James Guthrie. Since it's release it has sold millions of copies and it's influence continues to be felt to this day.
"The Wall" has sold millions of copies in the 35 years since it's release and has a firm place in the pop culture history of the world.
As much as possible I'm going to add the Work in Progress versions, which are are rough versions from the 2011 release of "The Wall". Some of these rough drafts had quite dramatic changes before the final version that are on the 1979 release. I'll include selected original versions, alternate versions, clips from the movie and live versions. That will include songs that didn't even make the CD. In 2011 Pink Floyd released "The Wall (Deluxe Experience Edition)", which is where most of the alternate tracks are. I usually dislike it when musicians release slightly different versions of their classic works. However in this case this was worth the money. It's interesting to hear all the transformations these songs went through before its 1979 release.
"The Wall" Disc 1:
This is "The Prelude", which isn't actually on the original version of "The Wall":
1) "In The Flesh?, (Part 1)" (Original version) (Lead Vocals: Roger Waters):
"In The Flesh? (Part 1)" from the movie:
2) "The Thin Ice" (Original version) (Lead Vocals David Gilmour, Waters):
"The Thin Ice" (Rough demo version):
3) "Another Brick In The Wall, Part 1" (Original Version) (Roger Waters):
"Another Brick In The Wall, Part 1" (Work In Progress Version):
"Another Brick In The Wall, Part 1" (Live):
4) This song is the linchpin to making "Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2" so powerful, I find Rogers Waters "The Wall: Live in Berlin" overall is extremely powerful. Waters sang the lead vocals on "The Happiest Days Of Our Lives":
Cyndi Lauper seems to be a strange choice here, but ultimately it works. This is the magic that happens when the two songs are played together.
5) "Another Brick In The Wall Part 2" (Gilmour, Waters) :
This is one of the most memorable scenes from the movie and this song has one of the most amazing guitar solos in the history of rock music which starts at 4:25:
"Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2" (Work in Progress version). This video is made of "Goodbye Blue Sky", "Teacher, Teacher" and "Another Brick In The Wall". (In the final version "Goodbye Blue Sky" comes after "Mother", not before.) I'm so glad they didn't use this version for the final recording.
6) "Mother" (Original version) (Gilmour, Waters) Boy the things that Freud would talk about with Pink about his Mother. Do you notice that it's Pink who asks his Mom if he should build the wall? Later Gilmour sings Mother's line "Of course mother is going to help you build the wall":
"Mother" (The Work in Progress version):
"Mother" from "The Wall" movie:
"Mother": Roger Waters and Sinead O'Connor "The Wall: Live in Berlin":
7) "Goodbye Blue Sky" (Original version) (Gilmour):
"Goodbye Blue Sky" (Works In Progress version) This isn't radically different than the final version:
"Goodbye Blue Sky" (Live):
8) "Empty Spaces" (Original version) (Waters):
"Goodbye Blue Sky"/ "Empty Spaces" (Roger Waters Live in San Francisco):
"Empty Spaces" (Work in Progress version):
9) "Young Lust": (Gilmour) "The Wall" movie version. This video isn't for the faint of heart:
"Young Lust" (Live)
"Young Lust" (Work in Progress Version):
10) "One of My Turns" (Original version) (Waters) (Pink is on tour in America and he's lamenting the state of his marriage as a groupie tries to figure out exactly what he wants. Too bad Pink doesn't know exactly, he wants a real connection but doesn't seem to know how to get it. The groupie is willing to give him any thing he wants, except for what he really wants. Both Pink and the song explode in violence and ends with the haunting line "Why are you running away?") :
"One of My Turns" (Live): This song gives us insight into how far Pink has fallen and lamenting the impending death of his marriage.
11) "Don't Leave Me Now" (Original version) (Waters):
"Don't Leave Me Now" (Live):
"Don't Leave Me Now": ("Work in Progress version) After he thrashes his hotel room, he asked the groupie why was she "running away". He realizes his boorish behavior and doesn't want her to leave. I get the feeling he doesn't care who the company is, he just wants some company.
12) "Another Brick In The Wall" Part 3" (Waters): (From the movie)
"Another Brick In The Wall Part 3" (Original version):
All 3 parts of "Another Brick In The Wall" (Original versions):
13) "Goodbye Cruel World" (Waters) (from "The Wall" movie):
"Goodbye Cruel World" Roger Waters "The Wall: Live In Berlin":
themusicaddict
